Unit 1

What are the different types of pricing strategies for a firm?

i)Predatory pricing : this is followed to eliminate any other competitors in the market. ii)Premium pricing: where the price is kept high as in case of designer items so as it increase the reputation of the product and retain its goodwill iii)Cost plus pricing : here the firm simply adds its estimated profit to the cost to fix its selling price. iv)Skimming : Skimming is a pricing strategy adopted by firms under which goods are sold at high prices to capture their market value. v)Price discrimination: this is practiced according to different classes of people which maybe as per their age,sex,occupation etc. Eg.higher price maybe charged for higher income group for the same product which maybe charged at a lower price for lower income group.

Who generally designs the pricing strategies and programs for a firm?

Depending upon the size of a firm,the pricing strategies and programs for a firm are generally designed by the marketing manager in consultation with the top level management consisting of the CEO or MD and Board of Directors at the board meeting.In small size firms, the organisation may hire an external consultant to design the pricing strategy for a firm. The external consultant analyses the history and current business of the firm and then accordingly advises the proprietor of the firm as to what should be the pricing strategy and how it is to be implemented.

How are the other Ps of marketing related to the pricing program of a firm?

Product certainly influences the price level,higher the product quality is high, higher the company would price it and vice versa. Again a new product requires widespread promotion which leads to higher promotion costs and higher price. Supply chain

management also becomes crucial in the price determination. A well integrated supply chain in an organisation ensures an edge which it can enjoy over the others.

Enumerate the steps involved in designing a pricing strategy for a business firm.

i. Determining the objective of price determination. ii. Determing the level of demand for the product. iii.Estimating the costs. iv. Analysing competitors cost. v.Determing what pricing method to use vi.Select the price

What are the factors to be kept in mind while designing the pricing strategy for a firm?

We need to analyse factors like: 1. Who is the target market? 2. Whether the product has been doing well in the market or not. 3. Time frame- whether I intend to earn profits in the short run or long run. 4. Which category the product belongs to? (necessity,comfort or luxury) 5. What pricing strategy the rival firms are using? So to analyse these factors an indepth market research maybe required before designing the pricing strategy.

Explain skimming as a pricing strategy with examples.

Skimming is a pricing strategy adopted by firms under which goods are sold at high prices to capture their market value. Example electronic goods like LCD TV . The purpose of such strategy is to mint higher profits within the short run period in order to recover the costs incurred in product researching ,manufacturing, marketing etc as such costs associated with the product are high. However this strategy carries with it the risk of acceptance of the product in the market as other competitors may tend to lower their price range of the same product thereby forfeiting a large part of the market share.

Give an example of any firm that has implemented pricing strategy during the launch of a new product in the market and answer the following related to it:

a. Which type of pricing strategy did the firm use and why? Nokia used the skimming price strategy when it introduced the 1100 handset in the Indian market priced at Rs.5200. This was done in order to regain its R & D and promotion cost. As the sales gained momentum, the price of the product was lowered down to Rs.3800 in the market. b. Was it successful in the market or not? Give reasons. Yes it gained huge success in the market. Apart from the pricing strategy, Nokias promotional strategy was also well implemented on account of its widespread advertising using celebrity endorsements which added to its popularity in the market. How do buyers respond to price changes? Depending upon the increase or decrease in price rates, buyers may respond accordingly. Some buyers may assume that quality of the product may have reduced to to reduction in price or that the company may not be selling the product as per expectations. The other assumption that buyers may make is that prices may go down in the future and so may delay purchase. On the other hand increased price may lead to a decrease in demand as the product may be more costly for the consumers who may switch to another seller offering similar products at lower prices.

How do sellers respond to price changes of their competitors?

In the light of competition, it may be seen that competitors may initiate price changes. If the cutting off on prices does not affect the company, then the current pricing strategy itself can be continued to maintain the profitability of the company. However if the price change on one firm is affecting the other, then it can: a.reduce the product price at par with competitors price or below competitors price or b. Provide added advantage to the existing product like better quality, or a buy one get one free offer.

or c.Provide better quality of the product at a higher price thereby not being at par with the competitors. What is monopoly? Explain with an example.

A monopolistic market is one which is characterised by the presence of only a single seller which may happen on account of certain market barriers like regulatory, technical or economic barriers. The monopolist can fix the price rate at his discretion as there are no other competitors. Eg. The Indian Railways in India has been exercising monopoly over the railway industry.This type of market is generally seen to be controlled by the government and is a prominent feature of the socialist economy which prevailed a while ago in USSR and the Middle-East. What is Oligopoly? Give some examples of oligopolistic markets.

In an oligopolistic market, a few suppliers control the market by not allowing any new entrants to the market. A change in price by one supplier in the market will generate instant response by the other supplier who will also tend to change his price. So in this market, there is a high level of dependency amongst suppliers on one another. Examples of such markets maybe the automobile manufacturers or pharmaceutical industry which are generally price sensitive by nature

Unit 2
What is meant by marketing channels? Once goods are manufactured, they must be transferred from their place of manufacturing(factory) to the end consumer otherwise the goods would remain idle. Marketing channels give movement to such goods and help them in reaching the right consumer at the right time and place.They can also be called the media or vehicle through which goods reach the target market and to the end consumer. These comprise of the various intermediaries like wholesalers, retailers, agents etc. Eg. Big Bazaar , has huge retail stores all over the nation selling household goods, garments etc for various brands. Do all companies use marketing channels?

Not necessarily all companies use marketing channels.There are some that directly market their products to consumers. Eg. Dell computers ask its customers to directly login to their website , get their product configured and order the same on the internet. We also see that in case of industrial goods like raw materials, metal pieces, rods, bricks etc, goods are sold directly to the consumer which in this case is the industry itself, so there are no specific channels involved. Even in case of perishable goods like fruits, vegetables etc which are like to expire within a short span of time , they are directly brought in to the local markets from village farms without any channels of distribution as such. What role does the marketing channel really play?

a.Promotes communication : Information regarding the products is disseminated to the customers via the marketing intermediaries. b.Information provider: cutomers can provide their feedback on the product to the wholesalers and retailers who in turn provide the same to the manufacturers. c.Physical distribution: Goods are transported and stored in the respective warehouses or godowns d.Fosters relationship management: The intermediaries can identify the requirements of the customers and try to match the same with what he is supplying to them, thus enabling customer satisfaction.

Comment on the retail sector of today in India. There has been a significant growth in the retail sector since the past few years.This has been mainly due to factors like improvement in the standard of living of the people in India, increasing availability of international brands in the Indian market, easy access to credit facilities by banks, betterment of the infrastructure at large and increasing investment in technology as well as real estate. Today, the Indian Retail Market is the fifth largest in the world and is estimated to grow from US$330billion in 2007 to US$637 billion by the year2015, as per industry estimates. What are the factors to be considered before deciding upon setting up a channel?

a.Understanding the customer profile : the tastes,preferences, habits of the

customers may differ from person to person. b.Determining the objective as to who would be the target market, whether the company wants to go for cost minimisation or not etc. c.Type of channel members :Who all would be involved? Wholesalers, retailers? d.The criteria on which the channel members would be evaluated and selected. e.How many intermediaries will be involved in the overall distribution?

On what criteria can channel members be evaluated for their proper selection?

The SCPCA method can be used to evaluate channel members. a.Sales (S): How much sales each channel member can give within a cetain time frame b.Cost(C):How much cost would be incurred for each channel? c.Profitability(P):Which channel can give better profitability to the company? d.Control(C): Whether company can have better control over its channel members or not. e.Adaptability (A): Whether the channel alternatives are flexible enough to any changes or not. The channel meeting the objectives of the company is selected.

How are the channel members managed and motivated, once they are selected?

These days channel members are being accepted by companies as their partners. The intermediaries are even being asked to integrate their business with the companies which results in lesser costs, greater efficiency and improved customer service. Corporates like Airtel are adopting PRM (Partner relationship management) software to give that added advantage to their supply chain. They organise rewards and recognition programs for their channel partners and also organise proper channels though which partners can vent any of their grievances relating to payments, violation of codes etc.

What is Supply chain Management? Give an example.

Supply chain management related to the flow of goods, information and fund from the supplier to consumer. Basically it is the way in which the goods pass on from the factory to the indtermediaries and then to the ultimate consumer.Eg. Bharti Airtels supply chain management has a central core team comprising of supply chain subject matter experts as well as execution teams which operate under different business divisions nationwide. Bharti Airtel realised the importance of having competent partners for its better business prospects due to which its supply chain function enabled maximisation of mutual growth opportunities .

What are the major logistics functions? The major logistics function are: a. Warehousing : Under this goods are stored after manufacturing till the time they are required for consumption. b. Inventory management: Goods like raw materials which are required for day to day operations of the business also need to be properly stored and kept track of. c. Transportation : Goods need to be transported from one place to another. They may have to be shipped from supplier location to factory and thereafter from factory to customer.

What does the wholesaler do?

The functions of the wholesaler include: a.Selling: via their large network of retailers. b.Bulk Breaking : Buying the product in large quantities and selling them to retailers in smaller quantitites. c.Warehousing: Looking after the storage of the goods.

d.Transportation: The wholesaler may enter into agreements with the company to transport their goods to the retailers. e.Credit and risk taking: They undertake the risk of providing credit to retailers.

Have you heard about J-I-T in logistics management?

Yes. J-I-T or just in time is a strategy of production. It aims at fostering continous improvement in production and can help in the betterment of a manufacturing units return on investment,quality and efficiency. This can be brought about by smooth flow of operations, greater involvement of employees and better quality products. This process is based on the Japanese concept of Kanban which informs the system of production when to move on to the next step in the process after completion of one step. Kanban can be in t he form of visual signals eg.an empty shelf or a filled shelf in a factory which indicates the next step. J-I-T ensures production and delivery of goods just in time without any delay or gap between one process and another one.

Why is logistics management important for an organisation?

For a business, being able to provide the right product at the right place and in the right time could be a challenging task. Better storage and transportation facilities are being developed or outsourced by marketing managers to make goods available to the customers or rather ensure timely delivery of the goods and services to customers. To achieve this, it becomes increasingly important to keep track of the goods starting from its journey from the factory right upto the hands of the consumer. Thus, in the modern marketing era, the study of movement of goods or logistic management becomes an important subject in question.

Can wholesalers also be classified into certain categories?

Yes. Wholesalers may be classified into merchant wholesalers and brokers and agents. Merchant wholesalers independently own and undertake the risk of title to the goods. Brokers and agents however do not take the title of goods and their functions are limited. Brokers have good knowledge about the buyer and seller and act as the link

between them, helping in bringing about negotiation between the two parties. Agents act as representatives to the company, retailer or customer on a permanent basis.

What are the different types of retailing?

Basically, retailing can be categorised into store retailing and non store retailing. In the store retailing, the essence of a store in a particular location is taken into consideration, to sell the products.They can be performed in different formats like speciality store,department store, supermarkets, convenience stores, discount store, off price retailers,super stores. On the other hand, non store retailing deals in selling products through the use of electronic media or direct selling medium Example :direct selling, telemarketing,automatic vending or online retailing.

What are the functions of retailing?

The functions of retailing include : a.Sorting :The items are arranged in order by the retailers so that the customers are able to locate and pick up their needed goods easily. b.Storage: The retailer holds stocks of goods and thereby meets the day-to-day needs of the consumer. c.Channels of communication: The retailer spreads by word-of-mouth communication, valuable information to the customers about the product. d.Transportation: Nowadays, small grocery stores are undertaking the work of door deliver orders in case of durable goods. What are the essential characteristics of retailing?

a.Direct interaction with customers: The retailer acts as the final link between the organisation and its customer. The retailer knows his customer better than anyone. He even suggests the customer what to purchase and allows him credit facilities to encourage frequent buying behaviour in the customer. b.Small purchases: The customer purchases goods in small lots from the retail

stores. So there are frequent visits to the retail store by the customer. c.Instrument of marketing communication: via which information about the product is disseminated to the needy customers.

Unit 3
What does the promotion mix comprise of?

The promotion mix is a combination of advertising, sales promotion,public relation, personal selling and direct marketing which a company uses to promote its products. So it becomes an important task for the marketer to properly list out the promotion mix strategies and its benefits. It is like the ingredients that go into the making of any particular dish. The quality of the dish depends upon the way in which the ingredients have been used and mixed. Similarly, an organization must have an ideal promotion mix by which it should be able to promote its products to the masses What are the objectives of promotion?

a. Awareness: particularly when a product is new to the market, it must be known to the consumers that such a product exists in the market. Promotion helps there. b.Knowledge: one gets to know the advantages of the product via promotion. c.Liking and desire: even those who may not have a desire for the product, promotion helps to create that desire and liking for the product by using strategies like celebrity endorsements etc. d.Purchase: by promoting affordably priced products, the marketer can easily attract a large number of customers who would prefer such products over high priced ones. What is publicity?What is the difference between promotion and publicity?

Publicity is about getting others to know more about your organization and its business. Its objective is to gain more name and fame in the public. Promotion is much more vast in scope as compared to publicity which is just one aspect of promotion. There are other areas in promotion apart from publicity, which includes advertising, sales promotion,public relation, personal selling and direct

marketing as well. Eg. If a film is to be promoted, film producers would use all of these tools both before and after its release and for publicizing it, it would use publicity stunts much before the film gets released.

Do you know about IMC in promotions?

Yes. IMC or integrated marketing communication is the buzzword these days. Under this concept, all the elements of marketing communication are made to work together in order to achieve sales maximization as well as cost effectiveness of a product. All the elements including advertising, sales promotion,public relation, personal selling and direct marketing are integrated in such a way that they do not work at all in isolation, thereby contributing to a common goal. With the advent of specialized media vehicles, internet marketing and retailer dominated market, IMC has gained immense popularity among the corporate.

How would you promote our companys product (say X) if given a chance?

First of all I would identify the target market for the product. If at all the target market exists then identify if any other prospective target market could be there apart from the existing one. I would approach a celebrity to endorse it (Mention name of celebrity like mr so and so depending upon the product like if it is a health drink then a sportsperson, if it is a cosmetic ,then filmstar, reason for selecting the celebrity maybe mentioned). I would also organize roadshows to publicize the product and approach the media as well. As they say Charity begins at Home , so I would spread the word about the company product(name the product) to my family and friends and recommend them to use it. That would be a simple word of mouth promotion.(this line can be answered with a slight smiling expression).

What about the budget? We want our promotional campaigns to be cost effective enough. I dont think we can afford celebrity endorsements as of now!

No problem. We can use network marketing as an alternative. The company already

has its strong network of customers who can spread the word about its products. They can encourage referral rewards for say every three customers who will buy our product or avail our service. We can also announce a contest for the customers to buy the product and win a chance to get himself broadcasted for the product advertisement. We can ask them to send in their photo along with the contest application form which they get alongwith the product they buy. So we dont have to pay them as we would otherwise have to pay to a celebrity.

What is the difference between a marketing mix and a promotional mix?

A marketing mix and a promotional mix does have some differences, both being highly crucial for the success of a business. Marketing is very essential for the growth and continuity of business operations. It helps in creating new customers and retaining the existing ones to keep the business ongoing. Marketing focuses on all the elements of the marketing mix viz product, price, place and promotion while promotion focuses more on the customer- how to reach a product to its customers and how to sell it to them ultimately.

How or on what basis is the profile of the target customer prepared?

It may be prepared on the following criteria: a.Type of customer: whether individual or group. b. Income : whether he belongs to the upper class, upper middle class, lower middle class or lower class. c. Media exposure : print media like newspapers, magazines, journals or audio visual like TV, radio, street hoardings etc. d.Occupation : whether he is into service or business. How or on what basis is the profile of the target customer prepared?

It may be prepared on the following criteria:

a.Type of customer: whether individual or group. b. Income : whether he belongs to the upper class, upper middle class, lower middle class or lower class. c. Media exposure : print media like newspapers, magazines, journals or audio visual like TV, radio, street hoardings etc. d.Occupation : whether he is into service or business

What is direct marketing? Give some examples.

In direct marketing, there is a direct interaction of the customers with the seller without any intermediaries. Here, the role of the intermediaries is nil. The medium used is more direct using telephone, mail, internet where the seller can directly reach out to the consumer. Examples of such marketing include telemarketing, email, voicemail marketing, door-to-door selling etc. This kind of marketing is more time saving as the problem of distance which may otherwise exist between the buyer and seller is eliminated and is also cost effective as it minimizes commuting costs.

What according to you is sales promotion?

We can say that sales promotion is a cost effective technique by which an organisation can achieve its sales volume or the marketing objectives by providing value added product and not just an ordinary product to the end user or even the intermediaries. It is short term by nature and is suitable enough for generating sales within a short span of time. Sales promotion techniques are being increasingly used by retailing organisations some of which include advertising, providing discounts and allowances or a 'buy one get one free offer' etc. What is public relations?

Public relations or PR is basically about managing the communication- both internal and external to an organisation, in order to create and retain the goodwill or reputation of the company and its business that it is into. It entails highlighting the achievements of the company, keeping the public informed or updating them

regarding any changes or new things happening with the company, maintaining relationships with the investors , participating in charitable causes etc. Business is a part and parcel of the society within which it functions, hence arises the role of public relations.

What role does PR play in marketing communications?

PR establishes the rapport between the organisation and the local community and also the organisation's investors. A company which has a strong image among social groups can easily advertise through word of mouth. Any issues or misconcepts regarding the company and its products can be minimised via PR. PR also publicizes a company's products . Example, when Cadbury was confronted with the chocolate worm controversy, or during the pesticide issue faced by the MNC giant Coca Cola, it was the the PR of the company helped it to sail through.

What are the different methods of PR?

A good PR can be established in the following ways : a.Lobby groups: These groups play a crucial role in influencing the government policy, corporate policy or public opinion. b.Organising press conferences to attract media and customers. c.Use of eye catching written and audio visual media to reach out to the masses. d.Engaging in socially responsible activities like environment protection, cleaning drive etc. e.Organising roadshows, workshops, seminars etc.

What is pubilicity?

Publicity is an act of making known to the media which includes TV, radio, news reporters or journalist , film makers etc. , about the company and its products and asking them to disseminate such information to the masses. In addition to this, publicity may include any such information meant to attract public attention towards a

company-its products, its people or any event via a third party which may include the media.Publicity may or may not be a part of PR depending upon the circumstances. It may have positive or even negative consequences. Examples of publicity include organising events, contests, exhibitions, tours, sponsoring awards, scholarships etc.

How do organisations deal with bad publicity?

Publicity may turn out to be positive or negative. Negative publicity can be dealt with in the following ways: a.Giving the correct information and clarifying any doubts if required through press release, media interviews, advertising, websites etc. b.Active involvement of the company's top management or spokesperson in giving public statement or comment in the various media. c.Redesigning a good publicity message to eliminate the ill effects of bad publicity. d.Involvement in socially responsible activities like community work or environmental protection campaigns.

As per the Indian market, what are the different sales promotion methods?

There are three different kinds of tools used in sales promotion : a.Consumer promotion tools: which are directly targeted to the end consumer stimulating interest among them to purchase the products instantly. Eg. Price reduction, contests, 'buy one get one free' offer on products, exchange offers etc. b.Trade promotion tools:These motivate selling of the product and brand promotion for the wholesalers and retailers such as discounts offeed by the manufacturers and allowances provides to the channel managers. c.Business promotion tools: which help in lead generation, provide rewards to cutomers and motivate salespeople to sell more and more.

What is advertising?

Advertising is a paid form of non personal communication and promotion of ideas, goods or services by a company which sponsors it. It is a part of the promotion mix and is one of the most widely used form of communication. On account of its wider reach to the masses and greater influential power to influence the masses, advertisements have been and are gaining immense popularity as a suitable medium of expression of information about any company's products and services. Celebrity endorsements, user testimonials etc. are some of the commonly used tactics to advertise a company's products and thereby increase sales volume rapidly. What is institutional advertising?

Sometimes organisations aim at enhancing the image of the company. They focus more on the brand image than selling of the product. Such advertising covers all the products or services of the company under a single brand name. This is known as institutional advertising. Eg.WIPRO has been using 'applying thought' for all of its business , thereby promoting the company as well.Other companies which have been using institutional advertising include ' British Airways', 'Hyatt Group', ITC and so on.

What are the different types of product adverising?

a.Pioneer advertising: This is used in the starting phase of a product life cycle .Eg. TATA Docomo which initially advertised as to why a person should pay for the unused minutes, when talks may last for seconds. b.Competitive advertisements: In the growth phase of the product life cycle, an organisation may have different product lines , so to highlight the differences between them, competitive advertisements are used. c.Comparative advertisements: When the sales volume of a product starts to decline, or competition is high,comparative advertisements are used. Pepsi and Coca-cola used this type of advertising at one point of time. On what basis are advertisement media selected?

Advertising media can be selected keeping in mind the following:

a.One should assess the target customers who are to view the advertisement. b.The number of times the target customer is likely to come across the advertisement. c.The impact that the advertisement message is likely to have upon the target audience. d. The habits,tastes and preferences of the target customers.

How can advertising efficiency be measured?

Managers can keep track of their advertising efficiency in the following areas: a.Advertising costs incurred per hundred target customers . b.The percentage of audience who viewed or noticed or associated and read the advertisement or listened to it (depending upon the medium) c.Opinions of the consumers on the advertisement : how they found it. Obtaining their feedback whether positive or negative. d.Purchase response of the consumers after coming across the ad. e. Inquiries generated by the add: (how many and how frequent).

How can you say if an advertisement has been effective enough or not?

It is important to know whether an advertisement has been effective at all or not.We can evaluate the effectiveness of an advertisement through the following ways: a.recognition method: showing the people an advertisement and asking them if they have seen it before. b.aided recall: asking people to recall any brand that they may have or might want to use.

c.unaided recall: asking people if they can remember seeing any ads within an identified product category.

Which are the two popular forms of print media?

Newspapers and magazines. Newspapers have been dominating the local markets since its very inception particularly though its classified advertisements. They offer flexibility to the readers and provide added support in promotion as well as research related function relating to a product or service. Magazines are broadly categorised into consumer magazines and business magazines which may be further subdivided into monthly and weekly publications.They also offer wide reach to the masses. The fashion industry mostly uses this form of media to promote their garments and cosmetics and other accessories. What are the different types of media used in advertising?

The major media generally used by companies for advertising their product are: I.Broadcast media: comprising of radio and television. II.Print media: comprising of newspapers and magazines. III.Outdoor advertising : which is done though billboards, displays ,electric boards and has often been protested by environmentalists. Such advertisements may also be seen in buses and moving vehicles. IV.Online advertising : via emails etc. V.Other media : like movie halls, in flight commercials, yellow pages, pamphlets etc.

What should be kept in mind while developing the message for an advertisement?

a.The message should be developed only after the target profile has been completely created.

b.The interests of the target customers also must taken into consideration. c.The objectives of the advertisement program shoule be answered by the message. d.The message should be such that it should be easily understood by the viewers and should contain clarity. e.More of interactive communication tools should be used while developing the message.

Discuss the factors that influence the advertisement budget decisions.

1.Stage of the product in the product life cycle: The company has to invest more at the time the product is newly introduced in the market as at this stage the consumers have to be informed about the product as they are totally unaware about the existence of the new product in the market. At a late stage when the product gains popularity, it can cut down the costs of advertising. 2.The market share of the company: If the company enjoys a high market share, it can spend on widespread advertising while if it is low, but the market holds good prospects, the organisation can still spend heavily on advertisement.

What are the objectives of advertising?

There are many objectives of advertising. They are: a. To create awareness about the product among the consumers. b.To generate new or greater interest levels in a product of which the individual may not have shown an interest before. c. To inform more about the product to others. d.To stimulate purchase habits among the buyers of the product. e.To reinforce the product in the consumers' mind so that he gets reminded about purchasing the product which he would otherwise not have purchased. What is AIDA approach?

After deciding upon the objectives of communication, the marketer begins to focus on developing the right message which should ideally aim at creating attention, interest, desire and action (AIDA) for the customer. Prior to deciding the contents of the advertising message, a thorough understanding of the AIDA model is required. The main objective of a message should be to meet the requirements of the AIDA model even though the message may be limited by the product category to which it belongs, the ad budget and the creativity of the individuals involved in designing the message.

In the AIDA model, what does each of the letters stand for? Explain.

a.Attention: The marketing communication should be able to catch the attention of its customers.For eg.when a popular filmstar or sportstar endorses a particular brand of soap or health drink, it immediately captures the attention of the audience. b.Interest: Once the marketing communication has grabbed enough attention of the customers, it should be stimulated by the organisation to create further interest. c.Desire : a product in order to get sold must be backed by the willingness to purchase it. The interest developed by the consumer should be forced upon his mind so that he develops a desire towards the product. d.Action: Desires can be converted into action by the company higlighting the advantages of the product to its customers, in their communication messages. What is false advertising? False advertising is using false statements to promote products and increase profit lines for a company or a brand. Such advertisements use deception to persuade people. Such advertisements completely deny the right to know for consumers and are banned in many countries. Still they have been a trend by finding legal ways to deceive people.

What kind of appeal should the advertising message contain?

The advertisement can have two main types of appeal: a.Emotional appeal : Positive emotional appeals like love, pride, joy and humor maybe used in the message while negative emotions like fear,guilt,shame maybe

communicated across in the advertisement to attract the attention of the customer. b.Moral appeal: Such advertisements focus upon public health or environment or social responsibility. Eg. Cigarettes or pan masalas advertise their products with a statutory warning highlighting the moral appeal to show their genuine concern for the consumers. What is direct marketing?

When an organisation conducts its marketing activities particularly sale of goods to its customers directly it is called direct marketing. The final products are sold to the final consumer directly by the company , and immediate or early response from the consumer is expected. This type of marketing is also known as B2C marketing. Eg.direct door to door sales made by the salesman. This type of marketing involves direct communication with the customer and is found to be time saving and a cost effective method of selling.

What is online marketing? Give examples.

Online marketing is the exchange of products and services between the buyers and sellers on the internet.It is also known as e-marketing or internet marketing or online advertising. It may take the form of : a.B2C where the products are sold directly to the customers. b.B2B where trading networks or auction sites maybe used to reach out to the new customers and serve the existing one c.C2C where one customer may further sell the product to another customer. Examples of online marketing may include banner ads, blogs, social network advertisement.

What are the different types of online marketing?

The different types of online marketing are as follows: Display advertising: Here the advertisements are displayed on some websites in the form of banners or blogs are used.

 Search engine optimization (SEO): it helps to make the web page or website more noticeable via the use of search engines like Google. Social media marketing:here the marketing is done through social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn Email marketing: in which electronic mail is used as a medium of marketing Referral marketing: in which customer referrals are used to promote the products and services of the company.

What are the advantages of online advertising over traditional advertising?

Online advertising is less costlier as compared to traditional advertising.Companies can have access to a wider customer base at lesser costs. Consumers find it easier to research on the product and purchase them at just one click of the mouse sitting in the convenience of their homes. They do not have to run from pillar to post for purchasing a particular product. They can avail their much needed products instantly without any delays. The results of online advertising can also be measured instantly via the number of website visits, number of clicks on an advertisement. Thus the advertisement statistics can be measured easily in a cost effective manner.

What are the problems faced in online marketing?

Online marketing also brings with it disadvantages some of which are as follows: a.Authenticity: the authenticity of the product maybe questionable, as the real product is not available at the time of its purchase. The product may not turn out as expected by the customers. However, sites like Jabong.com or Myntra.com , keeping this point in view are offering its customers the option to return the product if they are dissatisfied with it after a trial. This has increased the goodwill and popularity of such sites. b.Internet marketing scams : Fake schemes like get-rich-quick or win cash prize on the internet, often lure the users to payout huge sums of money to such frauds and not gettomg anything in return. It has given rise to a lot of scams and fraudulent

activities detrimental to the users. c.Security issues: Consumers maybe hesitant to disclose their personal information on the internet as they may feel the invasion of their privacy.

What are the different forms of social network advertising?

Social network advertising takes place through different social network sites like Facebook, Twitter etc. The different forms of social network advertising are: a.Advertising to ones group of friends within his network itself: sending advertising messages directly to his inbox about any product. b.Display of attractive banners or boxes directly on the webpage of the social networking sites. c.Creating a fanpage or group asking users to join such groups to create and spread the brand awareness about a particular product.

What are the different methods of direct marketing?

a.Direct mail:This is the most common means of direct marketing.Under this direct postal mails are sent to the consumers address eg. Credit card application forms sent by banks, free trial packs of products sent by companies, subscription offers for magazines etc. b.Telephone marketing: Via call centers products are also sold over telephone. It is also known as telemarketing. c.Catalogue marketing: Print,video or electronic catalogues maybe sent to customers. d.Online marketing: The organizations products are marketed on the virtual medium through company websites and emails.

Give some benefits of direct marketing.

a.Cost effectiveness: The costs of paying to the intermediaries is eliminated due to their absence. b.Alternative uses: apart from selling, direct marketing can be used to test new markets, offer rewards to customers, or even for market segmentation. c.The results of direct marketing are easier to measure as we know how many people have been directly contacted in the first place. d.Relationship building: it helps in building a rapport with the customers as a direct relationship is established with them and they can avail authentic information about a product or service without any manipulations.

What is kiosk marketing?

Kiosks are machines kept in shopping malls and other such places by organizations to spread the information and generate orders from customers who visit such malls.Eg. Ambi Pur , a perfume company dealing in room fresheners recently organized a marketing campaign in the Nirmal lifestyle, Mumbai. The company used inflatables to attract small boys. The kiosk attracted a lot of parents who came in with their children and stopped by the kiosk and got information about the company. The objective of the campaign was to create awareness about the product among the target consumers, mainly the households.

What are the challenges faced by direct marketing?

Sometimes poor quality leads or poorly communicated messages may pose problems for marketers as well as consumers as some of such consumers may not be actually interested in the product. So much time and money may be wasted on communicating with such consumers. Sending out direct mails to the addresses to the customers may also irritate some customers. The customers may also have a feeling that their privacy is being invaded and they may not want to disclose any personal information about themselves while being asked to answer questionnaires in direct marketing. Direct marketing has to be convincing enough to win over the trust and belief of the consumers in order to overcome such challenges.

How can an organisation achieve efficiency of its sales force?

In order to have an efficient sales force, an the sales managers should monitor the functioning of the the sales team particularly in the following areas: 1. The average number of calls salesman make during the day or number of prospects contacted directly by visits per day. 2. The average time taken per contact by each salesman for every sales visit made by him. 3. The average revenue generated by per sales finalised. 4.The average cost per sales call made. 5. Percentage of orders generated per 100 sales approach made. 6. The number of new customers created within a particular time period. 7. The number of lost customers per period. 8. The cost incurred on the sales force cost to the percentage of total sales made.

What is sales management?

For an organisation, at the end of the day, the product must be sold. No sales means no profits and no profits means no business! So this in turn depends upon the quality of the sales force. The sales force of an organisation needs to be properly selected, trained, developed and managed so as to be able to reach out to and gain a wider customer base and to retain the existing customers. This activity relating to the sales force is known as sales management. Sales management entails deciding upon the sales territory, determing the composition og the sales force and sales organisation.

What are the key aspects of sales management?

The key aspects of sales management are:

a.Deciding the sales territory: This allocates the sales quota for the individual sales executive and defines his boundary within which he is to work. Thus the conflict between two sales executive is also avoided. b.Determining the size of the sales force: This depends upon the size of the target market. Accordingly the activities that the sales executive has to perform is listed out and the time taken for such activities is also estimated. The number of calls that he may have to make at a certain point of time is also analysed. Finally the number of the sales force is decided upon.

For a new salesperson, what are his training needs?

New salespersons needs: a. He needs to know the information on company history, its policies, rules and regulations etc. b.Details about the product- its features, usage , demand. c.Systems and procedures as followed by the company. This may include the work timings, overimed, field work, work culture of that particular organisation etc. d.Training on the basic ethics that need to be followed while selling a product. e.He must know the basics of selling the different products of the company.

For a regular saleperson who is not new to the company, what are his training needs?

For regular salespersons, the need may arise on account of: a.Any changes arising on account of the changes in the policies or working methods of the organisation. b.Any important facts about the new and upcoming products of the company. c.The future prospects of the company- if it has any upcoming plans like expansion or diversification etc.

d.Extra knowledge which may be required in case of delegation of work or assigning responsibitlities to others. e.Supervision knowledge needed when there may be others working under the salesperson.

What is sales quota? Explain.

The sales executives are given certain targets to be fulfilled within a given period of time. This is called sales quota. The sales quota so fixed can vary according to the organisation objectives. They may be assigned a certain volume of goods say 6000 units in a year or Rs.40,000 worth of goods within the next 6 months. Sometimes the quotas maybe fixed on the basis of the profit margin rather than the volume, then it is known as profit quotas.Here, the company asks the sales executives to try to maximize the profit margin that they get out of every sale they make. How can the sales executives be compensated? The sales executives can be compensated via three methods: a.Direct Salary : where a fixed amount of salary is paid to the sales executives on a monthly basis. b.Direct commission: where the salesmen get only commission on every sale they make. Eg.life insurance agents of companies like L.I.C are paid on commission basis. c.Combined plans: in this method, there is a combination of straight salary and straight commission, so the salesperson gets to enjoy both. Eg. most retail stores companies employ salespeople on salary plus incentives basis. This system also acts as a motivating factor for the sales force.

What is lead generation?

In the process of selling, discovery of the business prospects is the first and foremost step.Lead generation involves indentifying who are the prospective customers for the

product or service that they are likely to buy or avail. The prospective sources from where leads can be generated include customer references, trade associations, yellow pages or even through cold calling. While generating leads, the marketer should focus on the fact that the lead so generated is backed by the willingness, purchasing power and authority to buy, otherwise such leads maybe of no avail.

What points are to be kept in mind by a salesperson while giving a sales presentation?

The sales presentation should start with the briefing of the product by the salesperson, understanding the needs and wants of the customer and adjusting the presentation style according to the requirement of the customer. He should be very clear about what he wants to convey, only then will he be able to solve the customer related queries if any.His presentation should be vibrant, simple to comprehend and attractive enough to grab the attention of the audience. After completing the presentation session he should invite questions from the audience which will help them clarify their doubts or problems . He must be a good listener as well in order to be able to correctly identify the problems of the customer.

What should be the contents of a good training programme for the sales force?

There are no such hard and fast rules as far as the contents of the training program are concerned. It is basically the subject matter of the training that matters. A training programme may differ according to different organisations depending upon the product, markets, company policies , ability of the trainees etc. A good training programme should cover the following aspects: a.job knowledge b.the product itself c.information about the organisation and the business that it is into. d.the markets and its target customers e.who are the competitors of the product f. what sales techniques are to be followed. What is the procedure for selecting the salespeople for an organisation?

The selection procedure may vary according to different firms. Generally it may include:

a.Filling of the application form. b.Screening of the applicants : picking out the suitable candidates and eliminating unsuitable ones. c.Conducting written test d.Group Discussion e.Personal inteview f.Reference checks :Asking for any references to be mentioned by the candidate to check his authenticity. g. Medical examination: to determine the physical fitness of the candidate.

Unit 4
What is strategic control?

Strategic control is a system by which the organisation can find out how effective organisational strategies have been- whether they have been implemented or not . This can be achieved by careful analysis, tracking and evaluating the strategies so formulated by the organisation. The workplace, employees-their activities, productivity etc are carefully observed and their progress is reviewed from time to time in order to detect the faulty areas and rectify them on time. Any corrective action should be taken immediately for the strategic control system to be effective. What role does strategic control play in marketing?

The various marketing efforts made by an organisation on advertising, sales promotion, distribution etc. must be evaluated to know whether such efforts have been effective at all or not. Strategic control is one such type of marketing control system which companies use to assess their marketing activities. It helps to match the organisations marketing strategies with that of the market needs and demands. On account of the rapidly changing market environment and the changing demands, preferences, habits and lifestyle of the consumers, the organisation needs to adapt itself to such changes if it is to survive and continue its business in such

environment. For this purpose, the marketing strategies and programs must be reviewed from time to time. This can be achieved via marketing audit system which is a part of marketing control.

Explain Service marketing. Also explain what is a service a. Service marketing can be defined as marketing of services. Its not same for tangible products. Services if compared with goods then neither all products are purely goods nor services. In more clear words service can be defined as b. use of the service is not separated from its purchase. c. A service can never be in material form and therefore it cannot be touched, seen, heard, tasted, or smelled. d. The use of a service is inherently subjective, i.e. if many people are experiencing services then each of them will experience it uniquely. What is difference between marketing of service and product? What is the important factor in service marketing? What are the charachterstics of service? How do you differentiate services? What are the different types of pricing under various situations? Is it easy to do marketing service? What is the demand of our product service and how will you manage that? Do you any idea about our company service? Why our company service varies from others? What is pricing strategies? Who is our compeititors? If the price of our service is high how will you get the customer? What are the softwares required for our service? How will you treat the customer? Do you have experience in service sector? What is the basic difference between your past company and our company? Will you keep in the contact with customer? How many contacts do you have in this service sector? Is there any government limitations for our service?

What appeals to you about international business? Tell me about your international experiences (looking for language, cultural diversity, work experiences, study abroad), and how do you feel they will benefit our firm? How would you build trust between yourself and a peer abroad given the possible language and cultural differences?

Tell me about a time when you had to adapt to a new environment. What happened and how did you make the transition? What is an International marketing plan? a. It involves the organization in making more then one marketing decisions across the nations. b. There are many reasons to enter an international market led by large market size and diversification. c. There are also several reasons to avoid entering international markets, including too much red tape, trade barriers, and transportation difficulties . d. The stages of going international are as follows: exporting, licensing, joint ventures, direct investment, U.s. commercial centers, trade intermediaries, and alliances . What is CRM? CRM stands for Customer relationship management. It is a process which companies use for client interaction. It involves business processes like sales, customer support and marketing. The main objective of CRM is not only to retain old clients but also to search and attract newer ones. Organizations also use software for the same but the major issue is that an interface used in CRM is not user friendly which leads them to choose some other options. The objective of CRM in marketing perspective is to keep track of emails and social media.

Unit 5
What are top 3 skills for B2b marketing manager? What are techniques/methods list that you used in your work as B2b marketing manager? Please explain how to you use them? You think you could handle traveling to different places for a price of a good deal? How could you market a hardware product with only $400 at hand? What are key tasks for B2b marketing manager? What have you learned from your past jobs that related to B2b marketing manager? In your life, what experiences have been most important to you that related to B2b marketing manager? Who is your target market for product X and where would you find them? What product benefits would you communicate to your target market and why? What made you choose to apply to B2b marketing manager? How do you apply ISO 9001 for your B2b marketing manager job? What are most common mistakes for B2b marketing manager job and how to solve them? What are top 3 skills for B2b marketing manager?

What is email marketing? What are the types of email marketing? Email marketing is directly marketing by using electronic mail as the communication medium for commercial marketing or advertising to a group of people at a time. This internet marketing strategy generally works by using emails to send ads, request business or solicit sales or donations and any form of email communication that is meant to built customer interest, loyalty and increasing the current customer base. It basically aims at encouraging repeat business. What aspects of the internet does internet marketing encompass? Internet marketing doesnt only mean marketing on the internet. It has a broad scope as it also includes marketing done via e-mail and wireless media. Digital customer data and electronic customer relationship management systems(ECRM) are often grouped together under internet marketing. It encompasses also the creative and technical aspects of the internet like design, development, advertising and sales. It also refers to the placement of media along the various different stages of the customer engagement cycle through search engine marketing(SEM), search engine optimization(SEO), banner ads, email marketing, mobile advertising and Web 2.0 strategies. What is SEO? SEO stands for search engine optimization and is a part of internet marketing. SEO is a method by which the visibility of a website or a web page is increased on search engine. It is done to increase the visits on the site as more frequently and high the website appears on a search engine, more will be the visitors visiting it. SEO is the study of how the search engines operate and how it can be used to increase visibility of a website or a web page. SEO involves the following practices

Editing the content and the associated HTML coding. Optimizing the keywords strength in the content. Assigning relevant and keyword specific title tags and other meta tags. Increasing the number of back links and inbound links.

List and briefly explain the types of email marketing strategies The following are the various types of email marketing techniques: Email newsletters: They are direct emails sent out to a list of subscribers or customers on a regular basis. They may be sent out daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or even annually. They primarily aim at building and strengthening the customer relationship with the company. Traditional emails: They are triggered transactional messages sent out based on a customers

action with a company. They include dropped basket messages, purchase or order confirmation emails and email receipts. They primarily aim at conveying and confirming the actions that triggered it. These days many email newsletter software vendors provide transactional email support which gives companies the ability to include promotional messages or advertisements within the body of the transactional emails. Some software vendors even offer specialized email marketing services such as providing targeted and personalized transactional email messages and running specific marketing campaigns such as customer referral programs which thereby enhances the vendors or website owners online marketing strategy. Direct mails: This email marketing strategy includes sending an email solely for the purpose of communicating a promotional message, such as announcement of a special offer or catalogs of products. Companies generally maintain a list of customers or potential customers or even hire a list of email addresses from service companies to send direct mails to. What are the advantages of internet marketing? The advantages of internet marketing are as follows: 1. Large audience. 2. Inexpensive. 3. Availability of various options making it convenient for the customer to research through products and services available and then make a purchase. 4. Statistics can be measured more easily due to availability of various tools. 5. Various advertising methods available such as: o Pay per click o Pay per impression o Pay per play o Pay per action 6. Trends of e marketing and their results can be studied easily.

What are the limitations of internet marketing? The limitations of internet marketing are as follows: 1. As the products and services offered are not tangible they can not be touched, tasted or smelled before purchasing. 2. The quality and authentication of the product and services offered online cannot be confirmed and thus uncertainty always persists. 3. Product seen online at times differs from what is finally delivered. 4. As the products are delivered by carriers there is a huge dependency on courier

companies which might delay the delivery or lead to product damage while transaction. 5. To purchase a product online personal details need to be entered such as card details and personal information which are vulnerable to leaks. What is pay per click? Which internet marketing model does it follow? Pay per click , also known as cost per click is a form of internet advertising which is used for directing traffic to websites. In this advertisers pay the site owners or publishers for the ads being viewed or click. Pay per click introduces a simple strategy of marketing in which an advertiser pays the website for publishing his advertisement and getting people to view it by clicking it, the more the views are for the advertisement, better is the revenue generated by the website from advertisement. Generally pay per click is used by advertisers on keyword phrases relevant to their target markets. Content sites generally charge a fixed amount per click rather than using a bidding system. Pay per click advertisements are commonly displayed on websites and search engine results.Pay per click is an approach that differs from the pay per impression methods used in television and newspaper advertising. What are the advantages and disadvantages of email marketing? Advantages of email marketing are: 1. Large audience. 2. Internet users check emails on regular basis. 3. Return of investment generated can be huge if email marketing is planned the right way. 4. Email is the most basic and popular service of internet and thus most people are familiar with it. Disadvantages of email marketing are: 1. Filtering causes large number of emails to be rendered undelivered. 2. Spamming in emails may lead to legal action against internet marketers. 3. Needs to be planned very carefully as very minute factors may lead to an email being rendered undelivered or filtered out. What is internet marketing? By what other names is it known ? Marketing of products and services over the internet is known as internet marketing. It is also known by the following names:

Web marketing Online marketing Webvertising E-marketing

List the various types of internet marketing. The various types of internet marketing include:

Display advertising Search engine marketing Search engine optimization Social media marketing Email marketing Referral marketing Affiliate marketing Inbound marketing

How can a product be sold more effectively online? Following are steps that can be taken to make sales more effective online : 1. Define the objective of creating the product. 2. Make clear what problem and needs does your product caters. 3. Explain the problem and the pain points faced by people. 4. Present the solution and how the product will fulfill it. 5. Layout features and benefits. 6. Provide guarantee wherever you can to make the customer feel secure. What should be kept in mind when drafting an email for marketing? Following things should be kept in mind when drafting an email for marketing purposes : 1. Use an effective subject. 2. Make sure the email does not go into spam. To ensure this make sure the email does not have too many links and restricted words which lead to mail ending up as spam. 3. Keep the email body crisp and up to the mark. 4. Make your point and do not drift away from it. 5. Avoid any form of grammatical mistakes. 6. Reiterate atleast once. How to prevent email getting into SPAM? Following steps should be taken to prevent mail from ending in SPAM :

Check if your domain name has been blacklisted. If you are using html, then html should be well coded. Avoid using spam filtering words, punctuation or capital letters message in your content/subject. Spam filters look to see how many messages you are sending at a time. Encourage your receiver to add you as friend or contact. Keep the length of your subject under 45 characters. Dont use lots of colored fonts. Only use one exclamation point at a time! Avoid using the phrases "to unsubscribe" and "to be removed" in your message body. If you want to deliver an important message to multiple groups better use

the BCC function. Most, if not all, email providers spam filters penalize your domain or IP with a higher spam score (meaning theres a higher possibility of your emails going to junk folder) if they see that you are sending emails to bad email accounts. A bad email account is an address that doesnt exist, has been disabled or has a full inbox

What are checklists before sending email? Before pressing SEND button ASK four questions and if u get all your answers then only press SEND button. 1. What is purpose of your email? 2. What action needs to result from your email? 3. What supporting documentation needs to be attached to your communication? 4. Have you successfully summarized your email message in the subject line? 5. Check SPAM score(Mailcheck) and modify your content as per score you received 6. Press send Following are steps to organize image optimization : 1. Use keywords in the image description : Using keywords in the image filename is important for helping search engines determine the image relevancy. 2. Create descriptive alt tag : An alt tags is a way that search engines help in determine that what your image is about. Search engines rely on captions around the image, alt tag and file names. 3. Make sure image matches the content for which it is uploaded : The content surrounding the image should be related to alt tags, image title and description. When these things align, it helps search engines confirm that youre not spamming and the image is relevant. 4. Dont use duplicate keywords : Dont repeat the keywords and write the r elevant content. Your alt text and file names should be short and descriptive. Make sure you do not use the words that would make it read like a sentence. 5. Save images in one folder : Store image files in a single folder instead of saving image files spread out in numerous directories and folders across your domain .This simplifies the path to your images. 6. Use an Image Sitemap An Image Sitemap file provides more information to search engines about the images found at your store.