What is a market?

Market is a group of people who share a common need / desire for a product/ dervice and who can afford it. In eco – a point where forces of demand & supplu=y converge to establish prce for a product.Classifications:

Types of Markets

1) Consumer 2) Reseller3) Industrial4) Government5) International6) Online

What is a Public Market?Where buyers/ sellers converge to buy/ sell produce (usually in olden times for agr products) This is now become redundant due to mass distribution/ refrigeration technology. Examples of modern public markets are Stock exchange for buying / selling of shares/ bonds by investorsCommodity Exchange/ Markets for sale/ purchase of commodities like metals, crude oil etcMoney/ Currency Markets: for transacting large currency/ credit transactions within a country or internationally

What is Market Price:A price at which a product/ service is sold in open market

What is Market ShareA percentage of Sale of the product/ service achieved by a company compared to the competition in a particular period.

WHAT DOES MARKETING MEAN?

Derived for Latin word MERCARI meaning to truck & barter. Barter is exchange of goods with each other depending on need of consumer. This expanded as consumer needs went up beyond goods required for daily needs.

However in the current scenario it refers to the business activity directed & incident to the flow of goods & services from the producer to consumer. Marketing as a social process has also gained importance due to groups affected by monopolistic marketing practices. TO counter this emergence of Ombudsman (a refree to sort out disputes between producers & consumers) has also resulted. Also hotlines for consumer inquiry & complaints have also resulted to facilitate the feedback process from the market

Marketing thus refers to all activities resulting in equal- value exchange. It includes

1) Who are customers and their needs. 2) Using this info to improve exisiting & develop new products3) Strategise to execute the exchange

What is marketing mix? (V IMP)

A marketing program consisting of 4 elements to achieve a synergistic marketing outcome. Elements also reffered as 4 Ps product, promotion, price, place.

Product: refers to the value proposition to the consumer resulting in satisfaction. Involves identification of needs and then carry it to product design. The product can also be developed through positioning against a competing product.

A Product also has a life cycle of its usefulness/ value. The management of the product & strategies to market it depending on the stage of the life also is a part of this function.

Price: Pricing refers to what the consumers pay for the product. Companies use various pricing strategies to compete in the market.

Place: Where the product is sold/ distributed. Direct/ Indirect distribution strategies are used commonly depending on the product.

Promotion: Communication between seller & buyer. Personal selling, advertising, Public relations, Sales promotion, collateral. Advertising also known a non-personal selling is most effective when there is high demand for a product to be differentiated. It highlights the product attributes and simulates emotional appeal. Costly tool.

Divisions of marketing

1. Discovering Demand

2. Managing Demand

3. Physical Supply to meet demand

(Marketing begins with consumer—Policy begun by General Electric in 1950)

Instead of selling what you have or could sell Marketing refers to buying what you WANT to have. This requires Marketing research & Environment Scanning.

WHAT DO PEOPLE WANT FROM MARKETING ?

Consumer Needs: want to be supplied with products/ services. Consumers want varieties that can be economically suuplied to suit their budget. They also want the goods/ services with

convenience to avoid wasting time & effort to search them. The variety/ assortments of a large number of products is dependent on demand & while the organization is looking at economy of production.. This gives rise to marketing services to equalize the supply & demand process.

Business Needs: Profit maximization is the objective. Hence the business is on the lookout to identify opportunities, identify hazards to manage and supply to the demand. Private business wants minimum interference from the govt & stability in political & economic climate. They however also welcome protection the industry in case of recessions.

Social Aspects: Mktg is a adaptive feedback mechanism for mobilizing resources and allocating them according to the competing demands for them. Mktg also mobilizes & allocates the scarce resources by market supply-demand-price mechanism. This also leads to distributive justice where one group benefits at the cost of another. Hence marketing cooperatives organized by farmers to basically ensure a better realization of their produce and minimize price fluctuations. Environmentalists ssel control through laws on environmentally hazardous practices. Consumers seek protection against hazardous an substandard products.

What is cartelization?

Organisations enter into a live & let live arrangement with each other agrreing to stay out of each others trading areas or not to cut prices. This is called cartelization. This is an unhealthy and unlawful practice leading to restricting competition & disadvantage to consumers.

HOW DOES MARKETING WORK ?

Mechanics of Marketing: (1) Fully negotiated exchanges determine quality, performance parameters of goods, time & place of delivery, time/place/method of payment & extra services to be provided (like guaranties & warranties) . (2) Complex exchanges are required for widely spread customers by use of marketing intermediaries. (3) Market channels coordinate behavior & expectation of consumers, however, keeping the interests of their trading partners in mind. These channels help in delivery of quantities of goods to the scattered consumers.

Determine consumer demand: within the market exchange sector specialists discover & measure unmet needs & wants by tools like (4P’s of marketing) product & package design, promotion & pricing tools, physical supply & coordination of delivery to match location & timing of demand.

How is demand forecasted/ detected?

Through environmental scanning & marketing researck.

Marketing research (internal to the organization) consisits of sales forecasting surveys & experiments through marketing tools to find out about consumer preferences, prices, promotions to determine the positioning niche of the product.

Environmental Scanning (external to the organization) consists of studying competitors, new end uses of products, consumer behavior and social preferences.

What are the major Marketing fields?

Retailing, Advertising, Product Planning, Sales Management, Personal Selling.

What is the role of a marketing Manager?

Marketing manager coordinates product design, pricing, advertising, personal selling, physical display & distribution to lure purchase action by consumer.

What is the role of Distribution in Marketing?

Last frontier of marketing. Seeks to reduce costs and raise marketing productivity.. Matching supply to demand. Determine Quantities that are large enough to be shipped economically and to concentrate supplies, build up a decent inventory at sales point, most effective and economical route of supply to the consumption site. All this results in improving customer satisfaction. Leads to Demand supply equalization. Coordinated effort from producer to customer. Requires market news of supply demand, price reporting. This leads to marketer to know where, what, & when to ship. Products that are distributed by wholesalers who in turn sell to retailers & they to consumers. Wholesalers act as stockists where retailers can quickly get their requirements from. Both wholesalers & retailers are key in maintaining equalization.

WHAT RESULTS DOES MARKETING PRODUCE ?

There are both benefits & costs of business/ marketing. Modern researchers using complex models tend to do a cost benefit analysis through impact statements. These assessments must be done from the point of groups and must weigh benefits & costs against the social benefits/ costs to the participants. Marketing improves quality of life of consumers through innovation, invention, enhancing economic welfare. Marketing is also viewed as the technology that DELIVERS STANDARDS OF LIVING for workers by creating employment and communities where industries are located, returns for investors and in general technological improvement. It permits efficient use of resources and satisfies human wants and thus is an important tool.

What are the negative aspects of Advertising?

Sometimes attacked as misleading as it distorts consumer preferences by use os heavy advertising resulting in higher sales for a product. A poor product through use of heavy advertising can benefit in terms of sales than a better unadvertised product. Thus the cost of advertising is much higher as it passes on to the consumer a inferior product at a higher price.

What is A BRAND NAME? Importance?

Brand is a word/ term/ symbol/ design or a combination to identify a product/ service. This is to differenciate it from a competing product/ service. When registered it becomes a TRADEMARk which is a legal term of a brand.

It helps the prodcer to distinguish from a competitor and helps in the marketing process and creates a corporate & brand image. It helps the consumer to assure him about the quality, and offers security and prestige associated with the brand. National Brand are known nationally

NESCAFE, KEllogs. Private Brands are owned by local producers/ middlemen and are available only regionally.