ASSIGNMNET

MB0046 - MARKETING MANAGEMENT

NAME: JASRAJ SINGH GILL
ROLL NO: 1408008019

Ans.1
(a) Marketing mix can be referred to as a planned mix of the controllable
elements of a products marketing plan, commonly termed as 4Ps: product,

price, place and promotion. These four elements are adjusted until the right
combination that serves the needs of the customers, while generating
optimum income for the company is found.
(b)4ps of marketing mix are as follows:
1. Product: in marketing mix, the product or service is the most important
element. Customers acquire products for a singular reason that they are
perceived as the means to satisfy their needs and wants. Product
includes physical products, services, persons, places, organizations and
ideas. Products have various attributes such as quality, variety, design,
brand, packaging, services and warranties that can be manipulated
depending on what the target market wants.
2. Price: the second element is the price, which impacts the volume of
sales. It is a value that will purchase a specific quantity, weight, or other
measure of a product. Price is the only marketing mix variable that can
be altered quickly. Price directly influences the development of
marketing strategy as it is a major factor that influences the assessment
of value obtained by customers.
3. Place: place deals with the physical distribution of products at the right
time and right place. This is another key marketing mix tool, which
encompasses the various activities the company attempts to make the
product available to the target customers.
4. Promotion: Promotion is the key element of marketing programme that
is used to favorably influence target customers perceptions to facilitate
exchange between the marketer and the customer. Basically Promotion
includes the methods to communicate the features and benefits of the
products or services to its target customers. Some methods include
advertising, sales promotion, public relation and direct marketing.
(c) Additional 3Ps are as follows:
1. People: This is a very important element of the modern marketing mix
or the service mix. An essential ingredient to any service provision is
the use of appropriately to delivery their services are very essential if
the organization wants to obtain a competitive advantage. Consumers
make judgments and deliver perceptions of the service based on the
behavior and performance of employees they interact with.
2. Process: Process refers to the way in which a service is delivered to the
end customer. Placing an order of a product and at the end receiving
that product is the best example of the process because every task can
be fulfilled by the proper process.
3. Physical evidence: Physical evidence is a tangible part of a service.
Service customers experience a greater perceived risk as they cannot
rate a particular service until it is consumed. Therefore, service
providers should try to attach an element of tangibility to their service
offering.
Physical evidence can include web pages, paperwork, brand logos,
uniform of employees, business cards and building itself.
Ans.2
Brand stands as a name, word, mark, symbol, device, or a combination
thereof, used to identify some product or service of one seller and to differentiate
them from those of the competitors. A brand is a mental patent and set of
associations that delivers a set of functional and emotional value to the
consumer in a unique way as compared to others in the business.
Advantages of brand:

1. A brand promises and delivers a high level of assurance to consumers.

2. A brand serves as an assurance to the customer about the product
performance. A brand helps customers to identify the product on the shelf
and helps in making an informed choice.
3. A brand as a symbol of status and social significance gives you
psychological satisfaction.
4. The brand speaks about the products attributes and how they perform,
about the brand name and what it stands for and about the company
associated with a brand. Hence, for a consumer, the brand aids decision
making by building trust, familiarity, and assurance of a certain standard.
Different branding strategies used by the companies for their range of
products are as follows:
1. Individual branding: in this case the company adopts a separate brand
name for each product it offers. The major advantage of individual
branding is that if one brand loses its market, others may offset sales in
the particular product category. However, the company has to spend a lot
of money and pursue enormous promotional efforts to position each brand
in the consumers mind. Large MNCs follow individual branding strategy.
2. Family branding: Family branding strategy is followed by some
companies which have developed their family names. The major
advantage of using family name for products is that it minimizes
advertising and other promotional costs. But, if one product in the group is
perceived negatively in terms of quality, or in other aspects, by
consumers, it may pull down the entire range of products. Hence,
companies which use family names for branding must be cautious.
3. Corporate umbrella branding: It is the corporate logo, symbol or
trademark which provides protection to the individual brand. The idea is
that the corporate name symbolizes trust and confidence to the buyers.
Ans.3
Popular methods of entering international markets are as follows:
1. Joint ventures: A joint venture is a strategic alliance where two or more
parties, usually business, form a partnership to share markets, intellectual
property, assets, knowledge, and profits. A joint venture differs from a
merger, in the sense that there is no transfer of ownership in the deal.
Establishing a joint venture with a foreign firm is a popular mode for
entering new market. The most typical joint venture is a 50/50 venture, in
which there are two parties, who hold a 50% ownership stake and
contribute a team of managers to share operating control.
2. Strategic alliance: A strategic alliance is formed when two or more
businesses join together for a set period of time. The companies,
generally, are not in direct competition, but have similar products or
services that are directed towards the same target group. Choosing a
strategic alliance as the entry mode will overcome some of those
problems like established competition, hostile government regulations and
operating complexity. In the process, it will help reduce the entry cost.
3. Direct investment: in foreign direct investment a firm invests directly in
facilities to produce and sell that product in a foreign country.
4. Contract manufacturing: it is a process that establishes a working
agreement between two companies. As part of the agreement, one
company will custom produce parts or other materials on behalf of their

client. In most cases, the manufacturer will also handle the ordering and
shipment processes for the client. As a result, the client does not have to
do manufacturing facilities in order to produce the finished goods.
5. Franchising: it Is basically a specialized form of licensing in which the
franchiser not only sells intangible property to the franchisee, but also
insists the franchisee to abide by strict rules with respect to how business
is done. The franchiser will also often assist the franchisee to run the
business on an ongoing basis. Franchising is often suited to the global
expansion efforts of service and retailing.
Ans. 4 Personal selling is an activity which involves a face to face interaction
with the customers wherein there is a quick response and personal confrontation.
This allows for more specific adjustment of the message. Here, the
communication message can be adjusted as per the customers specific needs or
wants. It offers you the opportunity to develop long term familiarity and
relationship.
Steps in the personal selling process are as follows:
1. Prospecting: this is the beginning of sales process, which covers
searching for customers with potential demand.
2. Targeting: this is the process of deciding how to allocate sales time
among prospects and existing customers.
3. Pre-approach: in this step, the salesperson plans methods to approach
the customers and to collect company and customer information.
4. Communication and approach: this is the process of communicating
and contacting the customers. It involves developing a system to greet the
customers and meet them for the sale.
5. Presentation and demonstration: in this stage, the salesperson gives a
sales presentation and if required demonstrates features, advantages, and
benefits and value propositions of the product.
6. Customer objection handling: customer always pose objections during
presentation or when asked to order. Psychological resistance and logical
resistance are the two types of resistance seen at this stage. The
psychological resistance includes resistance to interference, preference for
established brands, and etc. the logical resistance includes objections to
price, delivery schedule, or certain companies.
7. Closing: some salespeople do not get to this stage or do not do it well.
The salespeople try to close sales after handling the customer objections.
8. Follow up and maintenance: the salesman does follow up and retains
the relationship with customers to obtain repeated orders and referrals
and ensures customers satisfaction and repeated business. In the case of
consumer durables, salespeople take care of maintenance.
Ans. 5
Stages in business buying process are as follows:
1. Recognizing an organizational need: organizational purchasing starts
with the identification of demand for products and services. While there
are different kinds of needs, most needs arise out of situations related to
the operation of the business. Need recognition is not always as
complicated as it is in new task and modified re-buy situation. Purchase
orders are automatically written and sent to the supplier when the
inventory reaches a pre-specified mark.
2. Determining products specifications: subsequent to identification of
the responsibility centre, the purchase manager also specifies exact
product and service descriptions for procurement. It is also necessary to

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estimate the exact quantity required and the period in which these
quantities need to be delivered. And estimate of other associate services
required for the purchase of specified goods and services required for the
purchase of specified goods and services is also necessary.
Identifying suppliers: if there are many suppliers on the list, a screening
procedure that bases its decisions on certain predefined criteria is needed.
The information gathered enables the organizational buyer to quickly look
for suppliers who can meet minimum requirements. These requirements
might be delivery time, capacity to meet the buyers quantity needs, and
breadth of the product line. Failure to meet a minimum requirement
usually means that a supplier will not be included in the list of acceptable
suppliers, no matter how well that supplier stacks up on other criteria.
Searching for information and evaluating suppliers: a buying centre
may have to evaluate several product types for a particular use before
suppliers can be selected. If products are complicated, technically trained
people sort through the alternatives to recommend those that meet
previously developed product specifications. For instance, many
companies deal with the rapidly changing technology of computer
products by creating task forces that keep themselves abreast of current
product developments. A task force recommends product types that are
suitable for particular applications.
Negotiating a purchase order: an organizational buyer may negotiate
a contractual agreement with a supplier. An agreement of this kind can
cover a single purchase of a product over a period of time. Contracts are
commonly used in straight re-buy situations. The buying centre negotiate
terms of payment, credit, and delivery during this stage to arrive at a
specified order routine, which the supplier is required to honour under the
negotiated agreement. Normally a term of contract is signed between both
the parties.
Evaluating of supplier performance: organizational buyers usually
want to know how well suppliers comply with the purchase agreement.
Thus, an important part of organizational purchasing is evaluation of
suppliers after purchase. This task is typically assigned to the purchasing
department. The criteria used or supplier selection become the
performance standards for this evaluation.

Ans.6
Rural areas are those areas where the market of the future lies. Basically
rural market offer growth opportunities for firms caught up in intensive battle in
urban and metro markets. Rural market is a market of the new millennium. The
size of the rural market is fast expanding.
Rural marketing should not be considered as an expense but as an investment.
Of course, the initial costs for distribution and communication are high and
returns come after a long period of gestation, yet it is an investment worth
making.
Strategies for effective marketing in rural market are as follows:
1. An efficient countrywide distribution network must be created so that
companys products are available to the farmers at their doorstep.
2. Advertising communication and servicing must be evolved in tune with
rural needs and in ways different from what is effective in larger towns and
cities.

3. There should be strong research and development team to produce

products specifically for rural areas.
4. Role of trade in distribution and communication must be strengthened.
5. Pricing of products should be in line with the economic competence of
villagers.
6. Packaging should be simpler and more functional than ornamental.
Innovative use of media in rural marketing:
Due to lack of penetration of television and other media, advertisers had very
limited alternatives form of advertising. But now days a team from particular
company go to different rural areas and advertise orally or with the help of
laptops and projectors to the crowd and also distribute the pamphlets and
printed advertisements. Companies also advertise through newspapers. The
advertising vans are also used by the companies to make people aware about
the product in the market. They also give the demonstration of the product to the
people or arrange for an exhibition. Advertising through radio is also done.