MODULE-I

Market : An actual or nominal place where forces of demand and supply operate, and where
buyers and sellers interact (directly or through intermediaries) to trade goods, services, or
contracts or instruments, for money or barter. The market for a particular item is made up of
existing and potential customers who need it and have the ability and willingness to pay forit.

MARKETING: Satisfying needs and wants through an exchange process- Phillip Kotler

NEEDS,WANTS & DEMAND:

Needs: Needs exist in the individual. They describe basic human requirements. They indicate a
state of felt deprivation. Marketing does not create needs. They exist in the individuals
automatically with the follow of time. Different people have different needs some of them are
as follows:
• Physical needs: This types of need is related to food, clothing and shelter.
• Safety needs: Under this need, people want protection from physical harm and economic
threat.
• Social needs: Under this need, they want love, friendship and belongingness.
• Ego needs: Under this need, they want status recognition and self-esteem.
• Self development needs: They want knowledge, achievement and creativity.

Wants: They are specific satisfiers of needs. Specific products satisfy wants. Marketing
influences wants by offering various products. Wants are unlimited. Resources are limited.
Customers want high value and satisfaction for money.

Demand: They are wants for specific products. They are backed by ability and willingness to
buy. Wants backed by money and willingness to spend the money become demand.

MARKET STRUCTURES:

The manner in which markets or industries are organized, based largely on the number of
participants in the market or industry and the extent of market control of each participant.
Perfect competition represents the benchmark market structure that contains a large number
of participants on both sides of the market, and no market control by any firm. Three market
structure models with varying degrees of market control on the supply side of the market are:
monopoly, monopolistic competition, and oligopoly. Three lesser known market structures with
varying degrees of market control on the demand side of the market are: monopsony,
oligopsony, and monopsonistic competition.
The structure of a market primarily depends on the number of firms operating in the market.
Perfect competition is the theoretical benchmark of efficiency achieved because the large
number of participants in the market give neither buyers nor sellers market control. Other
market structures have different amounts of market control due to different numbers of
competitors. In general, more competition means less market control.

Perfect Competition: The Benchmark

Perfect competition is an ideal market structure characterized by a large number of participants
on both sides of the market. The product sold by each firm in the market is identical to that sold
by every other firm. Buyers and sellers have complete freedom of entry into and exit out of the
industry, and perfect knowledge of prices and technology. Perfect competition is an idealized
market structure that is not observed in its purest form in the real world. While unrealistic, its
primary function is to provide a benchmark that can be used to analyze real world market
structures.

In particular, perfect competition efficiently allocates resources. It does this by exchanging the
quantity of goods that equate price and marginal cost. With a large number of participants,
both buyers and sellers are price takers. Individual participants must exchange goods at the
market price and none can influence the market in any way. For this reason, the demand price
buyers are willing to pay, based on the satisfaction received, is equal to the supply price that
sellers are willing to accept, based on the opportunity cost of production.

Selling-Side Market Structures Market Structure Continuum

Varying degrees of market control among
sellers generate three alternative market
structures. These three market structures,
along with perfect competition are
illustrated by the market structure
continuum presented in the exhibit to the
right. Moving from right to left, the
number of participants on the supply side
of the market increases resulting in less market control. Moving from left to right, the market
control possessed by each seller increases, due to fewer sellers.

At the far left is perfect competition. At the far right of the continuum is monopoly.
Monopolistic competition resides in the middle of the continuum close to perfect competition.
Oligopoly is also in the middle of the continuum close to monopoly.

 Monopoly: To the far right of the market structure continuum is monopoly,

characterized by a single competitor and complete control of the supply side of the
market. Monopoly contains a single seller of a unique product with no close substitutes.
 The demand for monopoly output is THE market demand. Monopoly is the worst case
scenario of inefficiency on the selling side of the market and thus is often subject to
government regulation.
 Monopolistic Competition: In the middle of the market structure continuum, residing
closer to perfect competition, is monopolistic competition, characterized by a large
number of relatively small competitors, each with a modest degree of market control on
the supply side. A key feature of monopolistic competition is product differentiation.
The output of each producer is a close but not identical substitute to that of every other
firm, which helps satisfy diverse consumer wants and needs. While market control
always means inefficiency, monopolistic competition is not a serious offender.
 Oligopoly: Also in the middle of the market structure continuum, but residing closer to
monopoly, is oligopoly, characterized by a small number of relatively large competitors,
each with substantial market control. Oligopoly sellers exhibit interdependent decision
making which can lead to intense competition and the motivation to cooperate through
mergers and collusion. Oligopoly tends to have serious inefficiency problems, but also
provides the benefits of innovation and large scale production.

Buying-Side Market Structures

Market Structure Continuum
While the focus of market structures
usually falls on the supply-side of markets,
varying degrees of market control on the
demand side generate three additional
market structures. These three market
structures, along with perfect competition
are illustrated by the market structure
continuum presented in the adjoining
exhibit. Moving from right to left, the number of participants on the demand side of the market
increases resulting in less market control. Moving from left to right, the market control
possessed by each buyer increases, due to fewer buyers.

At the far left is perfect competition. At the far right of the continuum is monopsony.
Monopsonistic competition resides in the middle of the continuum close to perfect
competition. Oligopsony is also in the middle of the continuum close to monopsony.

 Monopsony: To the far right of the market structure continuum is monopsony,

characterized by a single competitor and complete control of the demand side of the
market. Monopsony contains a single buyer in the market and represents the demand-
side counterpart to monopoly on the supply side. The supply facing a monopsony is THE
market supply. Monopsony is the worst case scenario of inefficiency on the buying side
of the market.
 Monopsonistic Competition: In the middle of the market structure continuum, residing
closer to perfect competition, is monopsonistic competition, characterized by a large
 number of relatively small competitors, each with a modest degree of market control on
the demand side. Monopsonistic competition represents the demand-side counterpart
to monopolistic competition on the supply side. A key feature of monopsonistic
competition is product differentiation as each buyer seeks to purchase a slightly
different product. While market control always means inefficiency, monopsonistic
competition is not a serious offender. Monopsonistically competitive buyers are often
on the other side of a market containing monopolistically competitive sellers.
 Oligopsony: Also in the middle of the market structure continuum, but residing closer to
monopsony, is oligopsony, characterized by a small number of relatively large
competitors, each with substantial market control. Oligopsony represents the demand-
side counterpart to Oligopoly on the supply side. Oligopsony buyers, like their oligopoly
counterparts, exhibit interdependent decision making which can lead to intense
competition and the motivation to cooperate. Oligopsony tends to have serious
inefficiency problems. Large firms that operate as oligopoly sellers of the output
produced often act as oligopsony buyers of the inputs used.

Two Other Market Structures

Two other market structures that tend to pop up in the analysis of product and factor markets
are duopoly and bilateral monopoly.

 Duopoly: This is a special type of oligopoly that contains two firms. While the duopoly
market structure can and does exist in the real world, it is perhaps most important as a
tool used to analyze oligopoly. In is easier to identify the key aspects of collusion, game
theory, or other oligopoly behavior using the two-firm duopoly market structure, than a
model with more than two firms.
 Bilateral Monopoly: This is a market containing one seller and one buyer. In effect, it is
the merger of monopoly from the selling side with monopsony from the buying side.
This market structure provides a great deal of insight into unionized labor markets,
where the employer is the single monopsony buyer and the labor union represents the
monopoly seller.

In principle, other related market structures can be specified, such as a triopoly, a market with
three sellers; duopsony, a market containing two buyers; bilateral duopoly, a market with two
buyers and two sellers; bilateral oligopoly, a market with oligopoly on the selling side and
oligopsony on the buying side, and perhaps even bilateral monopolistic competition, a market
with monopolistic competition on the selling side and monopsonistic competition on the buying
side.

Other combinations are also possible, such as a market with one seller and two buyers (bilateral
monopoly-duopsony?) or a market with a small number of sellers and one buyer (bilateral
oligopoly-monopsony?). Some of these alternatives undoubtedly exist in the real world, others
might not. However, each variation depends first on a understanding of the basic market
structures--perfect competition, monopoly, monopsony, oligopoly, bilateral monopoly, etc.
STRATEGIC PLANNING - THE LINK WITH MARKETING

Introduction

Businesses that succeed do so by creating and keeping customers. They do this by providing
better value for the customer than the competition.

Marketing management constantly have to assess which customers they are trying to reach and
how they can design products and services that provide better value (“competitive advantage”).

The main problem with this process is that the “environment” in which businesses operate is
constantly changing. So a business must adapt to reflect changes in the environment and make
decisions about how to change the marketing mix in order to succeed. This process of adapting
and decision-making is known as marketing planning.

Where does marketing planning fit in with the overall strategic planning of a business?

Strategic planning is concerned about the overall direction of the business. It is concerned with
marketing, of course. But it also involves decision-making about production and operations,
finance, human resource management and other business issues.

The objective of a strategic plan is to set the direction of a business and create its shape so that
the products and services it provides meet the overall business objectives.

Marketing has a key role to play in strategic planning, because it is the job of marketing
management to understand and manage the links between the business and the
“environment”.

Sometimes this is quite a straightforward task. For example, in many small businesses there is
only one geographical market and a limited number of products (perhaps only one product!).

However, consider the challenge faced by marketing management in a multinational business,

with hundreds of business units located around the globe, producing a wide range of products.
How can such management keep control of marketing decision-making in such a complex
situation? This calls for well-organised marketing planning.

What are the key issues that should be addressed in strategic and marketing planning?

The following questions lie at the heart of any marketing and strategic planning process:

• Where are we now?

• How did we get there?
• Where are we heading?
• Where would we like to be?
• How do we get there?
• Are we on course?

Why is marketing planning essential?

Businesses operate in hostile and increasingly complex environment. The ability of a business to
achieve profitable sales is impacted by dozens of environmental factors, many of which are
inter-connected. It makes sense to try to bring some order to this chaos by understanding the
commercial environment and bringing some strategic sense to the process of marketing
products and services.

A marketing plan is useful to many people in a business. It can help to:

• Identify sources of competitive advantage

• Gain commitment to a strategy
• Get resources needed to invest in and build the business
• Inform stakeholders in the business
• Set objectives and strategies
• Measure performance

SALES VS MARKETING

Sales and marketing are closely interlinked and are aimed at increasing revenue. As sales and
marketing are closely intertwined, it becomes hard to realise the difference between the two.
In small firms, one cannot come across much difference between sales and marketing. But
bigger firms have made clear distinction between marketing and sales and they have specialised
people handling them independently.

Well, how is that sales and marketing are different? In very simple words, sales can be termed
as a process which focuses or targets on individuals or small groups. Marketing on the other
hand targets a larger group or the general public.

Marketing includes research (identifying needs of the customer), development of products

(producing innovative products) and promoting the product (through advertisements) and
create awareness about the product among the consumers. As such marketing means
generating leads or prospects. Once the product is out in the market, it is the task of the sales
person to persuade the customer to buy the product. Well, sales means converting the leads or
prospects into purchases and orders.

While marketing is aimed at longer terms, sales pertain to shorter goals. Marketing involves a
longer process of building a name for a brand and pursuing the customer to buy it even if they
do not need it. Where as sales only involve a short term process of finding the target consumer.

WHAT IS AN INTENSIVE GROWTH STRATEGY?

It is a strategy of "aggregation" or expansion under which growth is achieved by expanding the
scale of operations.

This strategy involves expansion of firm's product range and market. Three alternative
strategies in this regard are as follows:

(a) Market Penetration: This strategy aims to seek increased sales of the present products in
the present markets through more aggressive promotion and distribution. The firms tries to
penetrate deeper into the market to increase its market share. More money is spent on
advertising and sale promotion to increase sale volume.

(b) Market Development: This strategy aims to increase sales volume by selling the present
products into new markets. For example, Pepsi Cola has achieved growth by capturing foreign
markets. The existing product is pushed into new markets by changing its packaging, or band
name, etc.

(c) Product Development: Under this strategy, a business seeks to grow by developing
improved products for the present markets. The current product may be replaced or the new
products may be introduced in addition to the existing products. The introduction of "Colgate-
gel" by Colgate-Palmolive (India) Ltd. is an example in this regard.

To sum up, the intensive growth strategy involves the internal growth of the concern within its
existing corporate structure. It is also known as growth through aggregation. The management
of a firm may decide to grow through expansion of scale of operations in order to attain
optimum size. The firm will achieve many economies in purchasing, production, financing,
marketing and management.

INTEGRATIVE GROWTH STRATEGY ( GROWTH BY COMBINATION )

It is strategy of growth by combination. Two or more firms may decide to combine or merge to
form a bigger enterprise.

When one firm takes over another firm, it is called merger or absorption. But if a new firm is
created by combining (or merging) two existing firms, it is called amalgamation.

The alternatives of integrative growth strategy are as discussed below:

(a) Backward Integration: A company engaged in production of a product may integrate,

backward upto the sources of raw materials. This would ensure continuous supply of raw
materials for the production processes of the company. The acquisition of a textile mill by a
ready-made garments manufacturer is a case of backward integration.
(b) Forward Integration: A company may decide to grow through forward integration with the
distribution channels of its products. It may acquire certain distribution channels to have a
greater control over the distribution of its products. The manufacturer of ready made garments
may take over certain retail shops to ensure ready market for his products.

(c) Horizontal Integration: It takes place by merging of units engaged in manufacturing similar
products or rendering similar services. That means competing firms are brought together under
single ownership and management. For instance, if two or more sugar mills are combined
under the same ownership, it will be a case of horizontal integration. The benefits of its type of
integration are economies of large scale operations and evasion of unnecessary competition.

(d) Conglomerative Growth: A company is said to follow the conglomerative growth strategy if
is acquires another firm which is engaged in altogether different line business and is using
different trade channels. In other words, it seeks its future growth through entering lines of
business unrelated to its present market channels or technology. For instance a textile company
may take over units engaged in chemicals, fertilizers, sugar, electrical equipments, etc.

DIVERSIFICATION is a corporate strategy to increase sales volume from new products and new
markets. Diversification can be expanding into a new segment of an industry that the business
is already in, or investing in a promising business outside of the scope of the existing business.

Diversification is part of the four main growth strategies defined by Igor Ansoff's
Product/Market matrix:[1]

Ansoff pointed out that a diversification strategy stands apart from the other three strategies.
The first three strategies are usually pursued with the same technical, financial, and
merchandising resources used for the original product line, whereas diversification usually
requires a company to acquire new skills, new techniques and new facilities.

Note: The notion of diversification depends on the subjective interpretation of “new” market
and “new” product, which should reflect the perceptions of customers rather than managers.
Indeed, products tend to create or stimulate new markets; new markets promote product
innovation.

Product diversification involves addition of new products to existing products to existing

products either being manufactured or being marketed. Expansion of the existing product line
with related products is one such method adopted by many businesses. Adding tooth brushes
to tooth paste or tooth powders or mouthwash under the same brand or under different
brands aimed at different segments is one way of diversification. These are either brand
extensions or product extensions to increase the volume of sales and the number of customers.

THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF DIVERSIFICATION STRATEGIES

The strategies of diversification can include internal development of new products or markets,
acquisition of a firm, alliance with a complementary company, licensing of new technologies,
and distributing or importing a products line manufactured by another firm. Generally, the final
strategy involves a combination of these options. This combination is determined in function of
available opportunities and consistency with the objectives and the resources of the company.

There are three types of diversification: concentric, horizontal, and conglomerate.

Concentric diversification

This means that there is a technological similarity between the industries, which means that the
firm is able to leverage its technical know-how to gain some advantage. For example, a
company that manufactures industrial adhesives might decide to diversify into adhesives to be
sold via retailers. The technology would be the same but the marketing effort would need to
change.

It also seems to increase its market share to launch a new product that helps the particular
company to earn profit. For instance, the addition of tomato ketchup and sauce to the existing
"Maggi" brand processed items of Food Specialities Ltd. is an example of technological-related
concentric diversification.

The company could seek new products that have technological or marketing synergies with 
existing product lines appealing to a new group of customers.This also helps the company to
tap that part of the market which remains untapped, and which presents an opportunity to
earn profits.

Horizontal diversification

The company adds new products or services that are often technologically or commercially
unrelated to current products but that may appeal to current customers. This strategy tends to
increase the firm's dependence on certain market segments. For example, a company that was
making notebooks earlier may also enter the pen market with its new product.

When is Horizontal diversification desirable?

Horizontal diversification is desirable if the present customers are loyal to the current products
and if the new products have a good quality and are well promoted and priced. Moreover, the
new products are marketed to the same economic environment as the existing products, which
may lead to rigidity and instability.

Another interpretation

Horizontal integration occurs when a firm enters a new business (either related or unrelated) at
the same stage of production as its current operations. For example, Avon's move to market
jewelry through its door-to-door sales force involved marketing new products through existing
channels of distribution. An alternative form of that Avon has also undertaken is selling its
products by mail order (e.g., clothing, plastic products) and through retail stores (e.g.,Tiffany's).
In both cases, Avon is still at the retail stage of the production process.

Conglomerate diversification (or lateral diversification)

The company markets new products or services that have no technological or commercial
synergies with current products but that may appeal to new groups of customers. The
conglomerate diversification has very little relationship with the firm's current business.
Therefore, the main reasons for adopting such a strategy are first to improve the profitability
and the flexibility of the company, and second to get a better reception in capital markets as
the company gets bigger. Though this strategy is very risky, it could also, if successful, provide
increased growth and profitability.

Goal of diversification

According to Calori and Harvatopoulos (1988), there are two dimensions of rationale for
diversification. The first one relates to the nature of the strategic objective: Diversification may
be defensive or offensive.

Defensive reasons may be spreading the risk of market contraction, or being forced to diversify
when current product or current market orientation seems to provide no further opportunities
for growth. Offensive reasons may be conquering new positions, taking opportunities that
promise greater profitability than expansion opportunities, or using retained cash that exceeds
total expansion needs.

The second dimension involves the expected outcomes of diversification: Management may
expect great economic value (growth, profitability) or first and foremost great coherence and
complementary to their current activities (exploitation of know-how, more efficient use of
available resources and capacities). In addition, companies may also explore diversification just
to get a valuable comparison between this strategy and expansion.

Risks

Of the four strategies presented in the Ansoff matrix, Diversification has the highest level of risk
and requires the most careful investigation. Going into an unknown market with an unfamiliar
product offering means a lack of experience in the new skills and techniques required.
Therefore, the company puts itself in a great uncertainty. Moreover, diversification might
necessitate significant expanding of human and financial resources, which may detract focus,
commitment, and sustained investments in the core industries. Therefore, a firm should choose
this option only when the current product or current market orientation does not offer further
opportunities for growth. In order to measure the chances of success, different tests can be
done:[2]

 The attractiveness test: the industry that has been chosen has to be either attractive or
capable of being made attractive.
 The cost-of-entry test: the cost of entry must not capitalize all future profits.
 The better-off test: the new unit must either gain competitive advantage from its link
with the corporation or vice versa.

Because of the high risks explained above, many companies attempting to diversify have led to
failure. However, there are a few good examples of successful diversification:

 Virgin Group moved from music production to travel and mobile phones
 Walt Disney moved from producing animated movies to theme parks and vacation
properties
 Canon diversified from a camera-making company into producing an entirely new range
of office equipment.

TOP INDIAN BRANDS THAT HAVE GONE TO FOREIGN HAND

Whenever we buy any consumer goods what do we look for? Brand name. Yes, we look for our
favorite brand. We have grown up in this brand culture that brand is everything to us. Trust,
quality, image, promises, and glamour – we see all of these things in our favorite brand and we
are deeply loyal to these brands. From the plethora of these brands some are our very own –
Indian and some are foreign and yet some are very much Indian but belongs to foreign
companies.

Brand has become an important intangible asset and it is one of the key drivers of the growth
of the business. Fortunes are spent in creating, establishing and nurturing a brand name. In the
past decade, we have seen many brands – both Indian
and foreign – rise and fall in the Indian market. Many have gained strong market share and yet
many have fizzled out after an initial bang.

There are many Indian brands which enjoys tremendous brand recognition, have huge brand
loyal customers and a lion’s share of market, yet they are owned by Multinationals. This is a
competitive world, survival of the fittest and toughest and never dies attitude is needed for
survival and for profitability too. In the past, Indian businesses enjoyed a monopolistic closed
economy. With opening of the Indian economy to the world, a door to the bigger market was
opened to the local products and also entry of the international products to Indian market.
Many Indian brands died, many more were bought out by MNCs and yet many survive to not
only maintain its market position in Indian soil but also venture into international arena.

Many strong Indian brands were acquired by MNCs. As buying an already established brand is
one of the methods of entering a new market. While the reasons for selling of Indian brands to
these foreign companies ranges from inability of the Indian company to compete against these
foreign giants, lack of will to fight, inability to match the resources with these MNCs,
profitability in joint venture and alliances to cashing in the brands when time is going good i.e.
‘making a fast buck’. Whatever, the reasons for selling their brands to MNCs, listed below are
few top Indian brands which eventually went to foreign hands.

Thumps Up

A cola drink introduced in 1977 to offset the expulsion of American

Coca Cola Company, an Indian brand by Parle Group gained a near monopoly in India with
government closing the door to foreign companies/brands. When Government of India again
opened its doors to multinationals, Thumps Up lost its will to fight with its resource packed
international brands vis Pepsi and Coca Cola. It sold out to Coca Cola Company in 1993 in order
to make quick money after enjoying a near monopoly for almost 15 years. As Thumps Up had a
huge market share, Coca Cola Company decided to keep the brand alive rather than kill it to
give competition to Pepsi.

Limca

Coca Cola Company bought Indian brand Limca along with Thumps Up when
the Indian government opened its door to foreign companies. It tried to kill this brand as well
but found out that lemonade is a favorite of Indians during hot sweltering summers; it was
revived as a tangy and refreshing drink. Limca is still one of the top brands in soft drink segment
in lemon flavor. With better marketing by Coca Cola Company, this brand is still going strong.

Lakme

Lakme started as a subsidiary of Tata Group in 1952.  This Indian cosmetic

brand was not making any profit. It had two options after perennially losses, one to close this
brand and second sell it to another company. Tata Group took the second option and Lakme
Limited formed a joint venture of 50-50 with Hindustan Unilever Limited in 1996 and later in
year 1998 sold this brand to Hindustan Unilever Limited, a conglomerate in consumer goods
sector. And today Lakme is a household name in cosmetics in India as well as abroad.

Kwality Ice Cream

This brand of ice cream found in every nooks and corner was a pioneer
in the field of ice cream manufacturing in India. Kwality later ventured out from ice cream
sector to restaurants. In 1995, Kwality tied up with Hindustan Unilever Limited, move that took
this Indian brand to international market. Hindustan Unilever Limited introduced Kwality Walls
ice cream to India and the world beyond, a very profitable venture indeed.
Viva and Maltova

This favorite Indian heath drink was brought by GlaxoSmithKline Beecham

Consumer Healthcare Linited  from Jagatjit Industries in the year 2000. Now with well known
brands GlaxoSmithKline – Horlicks, Boost, Viva and Maltova – it has become a market leader in
Indian health drink market. Viva has been repositioned as a traditional family health drink and
Maltova as a tasty chocolate based health drink for the kids.

Kissan

The preserved food division of United Breweries Group (UB Group)

was not doing well as compared to its liquor division. So, UB Group sold its food section along
with Kissan brand to Hindustan Unilever Limited. Now Kissan is another of HUL’s Indian brand.
HUL has revived and added more desi flavor to Kissan brand. Also, more items such as salt, rice,
spices, chilli powder, atta, etc were added to Kissan brand and hence taking this Indian brand to
another level.

Hamam

Hamam, one of the oldest Indian beauty soap brands, has created itself
as a trustworthy brand in the market. It is a natural soap category with low pricing. It was
owned by Tata Oil Mills Company (TOMCO). It was taken over by Hindustan Unilever Limited
when it acquired TOMCO in the year 1993.  Hindustan Unilever Limited continues to keep this
brand alive as it is one of the trusted brands with strong brand loyalty in soap segment in Indian
market. HUL did try to repackage and modify the brand but they found out that by changing the
composition of the soap they were loosing the loyal customers, so HUL have gone back to old
composition and is using ‘trust’ and ‘quality’ as this brand’s salient points in marketing it.

MARKETING PLANNING AND SETTING SMART OBJECTIVES

Marketing planning is vital to the success of any business today. If you don’t know where you
want to be or where you’re heading, how are you going to get there? You wouldn’t go trekking
in Peru without a guide, so why leave your business success to chance?

A lot of businesses don’t carry out marketing planning because the thought of where to start
and how to go about it terrifies them. But marketing planning doesn’t need to be scary. Smart
Monkey Marketing will help you through the whole process of planning and setting objectives
to help your business succeed.

So before you start marketing planning, set some objectives, SMART ones. What do I mean by
SMART objectives? Well, it's one of those business acronyms taught in all business and
marketing qualifications, but unlike many others, this one is actually worth bothering with.

S is for Specific

Your SMART objectives should be specific, detailed, well defined and results orientated. They
should include exactly what has to be achieved and by who.

M is for Measurable

Objectives are far more effective when they have a measure. For example 'to increase sales' has
little effect, but 'to increase sales by 25%' gives you a specific measure to work to. This measure
can then be evaluated and used to help form new SMART objectives in the future.

A is for Achievable

Your SMART objectives must stretch you, but at the same time be achievable. There is no point
in setting objectives that you won't be able to achieve for years, as you will soon lose
motivation.

R is for Realistic

Closely linked to achievable, realistic relates more to resources. Do you have the man-power,
money, time and opportunity to achieve the SMART objectives? Is there something else that
has to happen before you can make a start on that objective? The key here is to prioritise. Put
your objectives in a sensible order, after all achieving one objective may help you to achieve
three or four others.

T is for Timed

Perhaps most importantly set deadlines for achieving your SMART objectives - time frames are
great at prompting action. Going back to the earlier example 'increasing sales by 25% by
September 2007', leaves no dispute as to what you need to achieve.
Now obviously there is some cross over here. Your time frame must be achievable and realistic,
and the measure should be specific. Perhaps try applying the SMART objectives acronym in this
order. Choose your objective (to increase sales), add your measure (by 25%), add your time
frame (by September), check is it is achievable and realistic, then add any other relevant
specifics such as who and what product lines.

Some Ideas

Objectives differ depending on the size, nature, industry and personnel within a business.
However, below are some examples that you can take and apply to your business
circumstances.

Increase sales revenue by 5% by the end of this financial year.

 Increase market share within your industry to 30% by the end of December 2008.
 Increase profitability by reducing expenditure by £3,000 per month within the next 3
months.
 Converting 2 new customers per month to repeat customers from now onwards.
 Achieve 1 news story in the local press per quarter throughout 2007.
 Develop 1 new content page for the website each month throughout 2007.
 Generate 6 new referrals from existing customers this year.
 Attend 2 industry exhibitions this year and gain 150 new leads at each.
 Increase e-newsletter click throughs by 10% over the next 2 issues.
 Cross sell new lines to existing customers generating £10,000 of new revenue by end of
the financial year.

Summary

By writing clear and compelling SMART objectives you will never be confused about what to
write in the rest of your plan, which leaves more time to achieve them and less time spent
writing about them. Look back over your SMART objectives at regular intervals in the marketing
planning process, they are not set in stone, you can alter and add to them as you complete the
rest of the marketing planning process.

MARKETING GURUS AND THE BOOKS AND ARTICLES THEY HAVE WRITTEN.

These people are the most influential contributors to the field of marketing, sales and related
strategy. Reflecting marketing's importance in business strategy, the list includes many of the
greatest management thinkers of any type.

Philip Kotler

Philip Kotler is Professor of Marketing at J.L.Kellog Graduate School of Management,

Northwestern University, Illinois. Marketing thought leader for over three decades. Popularised
the "4 Ps of marketing". Author of Marketing Management, The New Competition, Marketing
Models,The Marketing of Nations ,

David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy is the man who virtually invented advertising as we know it today. His book Ogilvy
on Advertising is pretty much a "how to" book on print advertising copy writing and is an
absolute "must read" by anyone who wants to learn the art of advertising.

Michael Porter

A highly esteemed Professor at Harvard Business School, Michael Porter is a leading authority
on competitive strategy and the competitiveness and economic development of nations, states,
and regions. Author of Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and
Competitors, Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance, and The
Competitive Advantage of Nations (which developed a new theory of how nations, states, and
regions compete and their sources of economic prosperity).

James (Jim) Collins

If you believe a company's mission is intimately correlated with the company's marketing
strategy, then Jim Collins has had a huge impact on the way corporations approach the
marketing big picture. Author of Good to be Great, and of the earlier book Built to Last -
Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (with Jerry Porras). Built to Last, based on 6 years
research, argued that long lasting companies share a common trait: an almost cult-like devotion
to a "core ideology" or identity, and active indoctrination of employees into "ideological
commitment" to the company. The emergence of senior management roles with titles such as
"Director of People and Brand" and "Director of Organisational Renewal" has resulted from this
work. Good to Be Great continues this idea, and mixes it with insights about how existing and
aspiring executive managers sometimes evolve into becoming great leaders. Links to many
other publications and ideas on his website:

Theodore Levitt

Theodore Levitt was Professor of Business Administration Emeritus at the Harvard Business
School and former editor of the Harvard Business Review. Most recently an "ally" at consulting
firm Hamilton Co. Professor Levitt was at his most prolific 20 years ago, but is still vastly
influential.

Author of The Marketing Imagination, and numerous thought-leading Harvard Business School
articles including The Globalization of Markets (link to recent seminar), Marketing Myopia ,
Marketing Intangible Products and Product Intangibles ("Brand" starts here, if you think about
it), Marketing Success Through Differentiation - Of Anything , Exploit the Product Life Cycle.
Credited with coining the phrase "globalization", in his The Globalization of Markets article.

Al Ries

Al Ries is the author of Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind (with Jack Trout), Marketing
Warfare (with Jack Trout), Bottom Up Marketing (with Jack Trout), The 22 Immutable Laws of
Marketing (with Jack Trout), Focus, The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, and The Fall of
Advertising and the Rise of PR. With Jack Trout, Al Reis is commonly thought of as the father of
"Positioning". Both are thought leaders in marketing strategy.

Jack Trout

With Al Reis, Jack Trout is commonly thought of as the father of "positioning". Both are thought
leaders in marketing strategy. Came up with original concept of "positioning" in 1969. Books
includeThe New Positioning, Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind (with Al Ries), Differentiate or
Die – Survival in Our Era of Killer Competition, Marketing Warfare (with Al Ries), Bottom Up
Marketing (with Al Ries), The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing (with Al Ries), Big Brands Big
Trouble.

TOP CONSUMER NON-DURABLE(FMCG) COMPANIES IN INDIA

1. Hindustan Unilever Ltd.

2. ITC (Indian Tobacco Company)
3.Nestlé India
4 .GCMMF (AMUL)
5. Dabur India Ltd
6 .Asian Paints (India)
7. Cadbury India
8. Britannia Industries Ltd.
9. Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care
10. Marico Industries Ltd.
11. Colgate-Palmolive (India) Ltd.
12. Gillette India Ltd.
13. Godfrey Phillips
14. Henkel Spic
15. Johnson & Johnson
16. Modi Revlon
17. Nestle
18 .Nirma Ltd
19. Rasna International
20. Godrej Consumer Products Ltd
TOP CONSUMER DURABLE COMPANIES IN INDIA

 LG
 Nokia
 Philips
 Samsung
 Sony
 Whirlpool
 Blue Star
 Carrier
 Godrej India
 Hitachi India Limited
 Sharp India Limited
 Tata
 Toshiba India Private Limited
 Videocon
 Voltas

REPUTED ADVERTISING AGENCIES IN INDIA

With globalization penetrating every realm of our lives today, it is not surprising that advertising
in India too undergone tremendous growth over the past decade. The 30-second slot between
TV shows is a largely coveted space for most advertising companies today. Indian television
viewers are very much influenced by visual ads and print ads, thus expanding the product
consumer base. Mumbai continues to be the major advertising hub of this country.

Here is a quick sneak peek at the top ten advertising firms of India as of today.

1. Ogilvy & Mather is an international advertising, public relations and marketing agency
established in 1948. This New-York based firm operates in 125 countries across the
world, with its Indian operation centre—Ogilvy Advertising—in Mumbai. Ogilvy &
Mather is the creative team behind India’s most successful and renowned brands such
as Hutch (Vodafone), Cadbury, Asian Paints and Fevicol. The O&M network offers
services to countless Fortune Global 500 companies across the world. Ogilvy Advertising
continues to remain India’s number one advertising agency.

2. Popularly known as JWT, J Walter Thompson is headquartered in New York having

offices in over 90 countries. It was set up in 1864 and even today, continues to create,
innovate and define the world of communication in India. JWT has many feathers in its
cap including Nestle, Cadbury, Bayer, Ford, Nokia and Unilever. Among its several
accolades, JWT was recently proffered with the “Grand Prix” award at the 2008 Cannes
Lions International Advertising Festival for the “Lead India” campaign.
3. Mumbai-based Mudra Communication was set up in 1980 with the aim of using the art
of communication to express ideas that shape its brands. The Mudra team focuses on its
consumers and their needs and experiences. Its four agency networks ensure a
customized and collaborative approach to create a brand experience for its clients.
Mudra Communication has promoted famous brands like Neutrogena, HBO, Philips,
Reliance NetConnect, Big Bazaar and Mary Kay in such a way that it creates a lasting
impression in the hearts of the its consumers.

4. FCB Ulka Advertising Ltd., since its inception in 1961, has continued to be among the
top 5 advertising agencies in India. This company’s aim has always been to create
advertising that is noticeable and that is most relevant to the buyer, not the seller. Some
of FCB Ulka’s successful ads include Tata Indicom, Whirlpool, Zee Cinema, Santoor,
Sunfeast and Amul, among others. FCB Ulka is considered as a turnaround specialist that
indulges in more than just brand building.

5. Rediffusion DY & R is a Mumbai-based advertising agency that was set up in 1973. It

focuses primarily on integrated PR services and media relations. This firm stands proud
at number 5.

6. The tagline “Thanda Matlab Coca Cola” is the brainchild of one of India’s leading
advertising agencies—McCann Erickson India Ltd. McCann Erickson was born out of a
successful and profitable merger in 1930, and its offices in Australia, Southeast Asia,
Latin America, Europe and India speak volumes about its advertising success till date.
One of the many feathers in its cap is the famous brand line “For everything else, there’s
MasterCard.”

7. RK Swamy BBDO Advertising Ltd. is one of India’s leading integrated communication

services providers, which is committed to developing marketing solutions for its clients.
Its focus—to offer intelligent, cost -effective and creative solutions—has led it to achieve
a remarkable double-digit growth in the past recession-hit period. R K Swamy BBDO is a
subsidiary of the R K Swamy Hansa Group, which boasts of over 1000 employees and
operations across India and the USA.

8. Grey Worldwide (I) Pvt. Ltd. is a Mumbai-based advertising agency specializing is

providing effective advertising and marketing solutions. With offices in Delhi, Kolkata,
Bangalore and Ahmedabad, Grey Worldwide India Pvt. Ltd. is part of the larger family
called the Grey Global Group. Following are some of the brands that feature on Grey
India’s noteworthy list of clients: Hero Honda, Maruti Suzuki, Nestle, Indian Oil, Ambuja
Cement, UTV, P&G and Godrej.

9. The creative team of Leo Burnett India Pvt. Ltd. has, over the years, successfully offered
consumers with powerful brand experiences using ads like McDonald’s, Heinz, Complan,
Bajaj and HDFC, to name a few. A regular award winner at the Cannes festival, India’s
Leo Burnett has been proclaimed as one of the most creative agencies of the country.
 10. Since its inception in 1986, Contract Advertising India Ltd. has skillfully delivered
successful results to its high-profile clientele including Tata Indicom, Religare, Asian
Paints, Domino’s Pizza, SpiceJet, Samonsite and American Tourister. Contract
Advertising India Ltd. is known for its one-of-a-kind specialty divisions that provide
complete advertising solutions. These divisions include DesignSutra, iContract and Core
Consulting. 

BRAND POSTIONING & PUNCHLINES...

Little did our Beloved "NETAJI" Subhash chandra Bose knew that when he requested his
followers 'Tum Mujhe Khoon Do, Main Tumhe Azaadi Doonga", he was actually marketing a
product that is'FREEDOM' with this Punchline. In the process an old women donated all the
jewellery she had for the cause of freedom even when she had lost her only child in the battle
of freedom, to 'Netaji' only due to the powerful oratory of the great leader. Such is the impact
of words.

Marketers also know the importance of powerful words and use them as 'Punchlines'for their
product/brand endorsements. Although the Punchline as a marketing tool comes under
Advertising which itself comes under the 'Promotion' of Marketing Mix. But there is a strong
need of paying special attention to these One-liners or Punchlines or Ad slogans.

POSITIONING

Subroto Sengupta in his book 'Brand Positioning' has defined the concept of positioning as:

The Position of a brand is the perception it brings about in the mind of a target customer.
This perception reflects the essence of brand in terms of its functional and non-functional
benefits in the judgment of that customer.
It is relative to the perception, held by that consumer, of competing brands, all of which can be
represented as points or positions in his or her perceptual space and together, make up a
product class.
In short 'position' represents the whole or overall perception of that brand in that consumer's
mind and it is always a relative concept.

Perhaps Charles Mittelstadt has defined 'Positioning' more accurately as "Positioning refers to
how you want your brand 'thought about' in connections with competitors in its product
category. It needs to be specific to your brand aimed at a specific target audience."

This definition clearly states the importance of 'Positioning' for the success of any brand. It is
like that indispensable vitamin to the body without whose the body will collapse. So
'Positioning' can make or break a brand. Therefore, a confused 'Positioning' can simply kill the
brand. A clear 'Positioning' will always be one of the success factor. This is the place where
Punchline comes into act. If you have to Position your brand perfectly in the mind space of the
customer, your Punchline must be so accurate and appealing that it neither erases from the
mind nor can be replaced by any other competing brands Punchline.

EXAMPLES SHOWING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POSITIONING AND PUNCHLINE

Let us have a look into some of the famous Punchlines both in International and Indian markets
and how does they respond to their 'Positioning'.

IBM ThinkPad----- " I think, therefore IBM"---- Here IBM tries to say that if you have the capacity
to think then you should go for IBM ThinkPad, the Punchline exactly conveys the message.

Nike ----- "Just do it" ---- There is no other better way to boost the self-confidence the way Nike
has put through their famous Punchline. Thus the ad line simply communicates that using Nike
can improve your performance by enhancing the self-confidence.

Adidas ------ " Forever Sport"----- They wanted to say that whenever you think of sports think
Adidas. The Punchline perfectly associates Adidas and Sports.

7-up ----- "The Uncola"---- Perhaps the most talked about Punchline, it gave the brand a
distinctive image in the mindspace of soft drink customers.

American Express ---- "Don't leave home without it" ------The Punchline has made the card an
essentiality of lifestyle. Thus the card directly made a safe place in the wallet of the customer
for always.

Heinz Baked beans ----- "Beanz Meanz Heinz"-------The catchy, peppy punchline is easy to settle
into the brain. People can easily relate beans to Heinz.

Philips ----- "Lets make things better" ----- Philips wanted its customer to appreciate the quality
of the product, which the Punchline defines accurately.

Polaroid ----- " We don't have negatives" ---- The Punchline itself was boasting about the
uniqueness of the product, which the company was trying to position.
Crest -------- " Look, Ma, no cavities" ----- The Punchline reflects the emotional relationship
between mother and children along with the basic benefit. That's what every mother wants to
hear from her child. Perfectly positioned and perfectly communicated.
10) Esso ----- " Put a tiger in your tank" ---- The tiger represents 'power' and 'strength'. Esso
wants to deliver these benefits to its consumer and accordingly positioned its products which
were evident from the Punchline.

Lets have a look at the national front

1) Pepsi--- "Yeh dil maange more"-----Such was the effect of this punchline that an Indian army
captain after winning a battle proudly yelled "Ye dil maange more".What drives us to buy pepsi
or Coke? these punchlines.

Raymond ---- "The Complete man"--- The Punchline gives the notion that man is not complete
unless he wears Raymond. The possession of Raymond is kind of status symbol, the status of
acquiring manhood.

Coca Cola ---- " Thanda Matlab Coca Cola" ----- People in India generally refers cold drinks as
'thanda'. So Coke wanted to give an impression that whenever a customer think of 'Thanda' he
should think of Coca Cola. So the Punchline makes 'Thanda' equal to Coca Cola.

Birla Mutual Fund ----- "The name inspires Trust" ----- Trust is the basic platform on which
mutual fund business works. An investor will invest only in that company in which he has
confidence and trust. So the Punchline was directed towards Trust building.

Last but not the least

Wills Navy Cut ----- " Made For Each Other" --- The Punchline brings about the brand loyalty by
making the customer and the brand too close to each other. It suggests that both the entities
complement one another.

Most of the above mentioned ad lines are award winners just for the simple fact that they
conveyed their brand's positioning dead accurately.

BRAND IMAGE AND PUNCHLINES

Brand image can be defined as the characteristics and attributes perceived of a brand by a
customer. Different consumers may have different brand images for a same brand. Brand image
includes all the properties of the brand. Brand personality and brand image are more or less
similar but the only difference is that brand personality is much more oriented towards the
emotional aspect of the brand. Brand image helps the customer to personify a brand.
Consumers always perceives brand as a human being, which has certain values, beliefs,
attitudes and characteristics apart from its functional and non-functional benefits.

Taking leverage of this point Marketers appoint Brand Ambassadors for their strategic or Mega
brand. For example Rajdoot Motorcycles tried to position itself as a macho man and accordingly
appointed film star Dharmendra to endorse the motorcycle. Again ICICI appointed Amitabh
bachchan as their Brand Ambassador for the credibility image. The Punchline must also support
the image of the Brand Ambassador; point is, the Punchline must synchronize with it. A famous
example is Sachin Tendulkar's association with Visa card. The Punchline was 'Go get it". As
Sachin is a 'go getter', never afraid of any circumstances and gives 100% performance, so the
Brand image of Visa card was totally in tandem with the image of Sachin and the Punchline
depicts the same thing. Thus we can safely conclude that Punchline is the Bridge between
Positioning and Brand image.

IMPORTANCE OF PUNCHLINES AND WHEN THEY ARE USED

It is very difficult to find out the right Punchline. Marketers have to select right words to form
that sentences which can correctly express the positioning strategy of the brand. A bad
Punchline can kill a good 'ad'. For example the recent global ad of McDonalds, the ad line is "
I'm lovin it" sung by N-sync guy Justin Timberlake. Critics are simply asking the relationship
between Positioning and Communication.

When a Marketer launches any new brand, the general idea is that initially he has to increase
the awareness among the consumers by differentiating it from the offerings of the existing
competitors or differentiating it from the same need fulfilling products. For that he has to
convey his USP in its Positioning. The most basic job of a Punchline is to carry this USP along
with it. Consumers must be able to figure out the USP from the Punchlines.

Also whenever Marketers reposition a brand, Punchlines play a major role in it. It acts through
the concept of Kurt Lewin's change model theory.

At first the customer possess certain beliefs about the values, attributes and benefits about the
brand, which may not be satisfactory. A perfect repositioning Punchline instigates the
consumer to 'unfreeze' that behavior and makes him ready to change. If the Punchline strikes
him as attractive due to repeated exposure it 'changes' the mindset of the customer creating
new set of beliefs. Then due to consistency or when the benefits of the product match with the
new expectations, which has been imbibed by the new Punchline, this new behavior 'freezes'.

It really needs lots of strategies to build up an accurate and catchy Punchline to set the
Positioning of the brand in the mind space of the customer. The Punchline represents the
values of the company, benefits, attributes, features, quality, cost, special technology and last
but not the least the ' USP'. If we really want to appreciate the value of Punchlines, then
imagine an advertisement without any Punchline. It looks like a dumb. So basically the
Punchline is the voice of the brand, which primarily gives out the minimum momentum, thrust
or impetus to push the brand in the mind of the customer. Is Punchline the 5th 'P' of the
Marketing mix?"

GENERIC PRODUCT/BRANDED PRODUCT

Generic : A type of consumer product that lacks a widely recognized name or logo because it
typically isn't advertised. Generic brands are usually less expensive than brand-name products
due to the lack of promotions, which can inflate the cost of a good or service. Generic
brands are designed to be substitutes for more expensive brand-name goods.

Generic brands are known for their trimmed-down packaging, and often plain labels. For
example, a supermarket may offer its own generic product next to a name-brand product in the
hope that a cost-conscious customer will select the cheaper substitute. Generic brands have
grown in popularity in recent years, and many retailers now offer in-house generic products to
customers.

Branded : A brand is a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one
seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.Branding began as a way to tell
one person's cattle from another by means of a hot iron stamp. A modern example of a brand is
Coca Cola which belongs to the Coca-Cola Company.

MARKET SHARE

The percentage of an industry or market's total sales that is earned by a particular company
over a specified time period. Market share is calculated by taking the company's sales over the
period and dividing it by the total sales of the industry over the same period. This metric is used
to give a general idea of the size of a company to its market and its competitors.

Investors look at market share increases and decreases carefully because they can be a sign of
the relative competitiveness of the company's products or services. As the total market for a
product or service grows, a company that is maintaining its market share is growing revenues at
the same rate as the total market. A company that is growing its market share will be growing
its revenues faster than its competitors.

Market share increases can allow a company to achieve greater scale in its operations and
improve profitability. Companies are always looking to expand their share of the market, in
addition to trying to grow the size of the total market by appealing to larger demographics,
lowering prices, or through advertising. This calculation is sometimes done over specific
countries such as Canada market share or USmarketshare.

Investors can obtain market share data from various independent sources (such as trade groups
and regulatory bodies), and often from the company itself, although some industries are harder
to measure with accuracy than others.  

MARKET PENETRATION

A measure of the amount of sales or adoption of a product or service compared to the total
theoretical market for that product or service. The amount of sales or adoption can be an
individual company's sale or industry while the theoretical market can be the total population
or an estimate of total potential consumers for the product.

For example, if there are 300 million people in a country and 65 million of those people have
cell phones then the market penetration of cell phones would be approximately 22%. This
would mean in theory there are still 235 million more potential customers for cell phones,
which may be a good sign of growth for cell phone makers. In general, the older the offering or
industry, the greater the market penetration.

SBU:

An autonomous division or organizational unit, small enough to be flexible and large enough to
exercise control over most of the factors affecting its long-term performance.

Because strategic business units are more agile (and usually have independent missions and
objectives), they allow the owning conglomerate to respond quickly to changing economic or
market situations.

In business, a strategic business unit (SBU) is a profit center which focuses on product offering
and market segment. SBUs typically have a discrete marketing plan, analysis of competition,
and marketing campaign, even though they may be part of a larger business entity.
An SBU may be a business unit within a larger corporation, or it may be a business unto itself.
Corporations may be composed of multiple SBUs, each of which is responsible for its own
profitability. General Electric is an example of a company with this sort of business organization.
SBUs are able to affect most factors which influence their performance. Managed as separate
businesses, they are responsible to a parent corporation.

Companies today often use the word segmentation or division when referring to SBUs or an
aggregation of SBUs that share such commonalities.

Tata Chemicals Limited (TATA CHEM) founded in 1939, is a part of TATA group of companies.
TATACHEM comprises four SBU - Chemical-SBU, Fertilizer- SBU, Phosphate-SBU and Food
Additive-SBU

BCG MATRIX

The BCG matrix (aka B.C.G. analysis, BCG-matrix, Boston Box, Boston Matrix, Boston Consulting
Group analysis, portfolio diagram) is a chart that had been created by Bruce Henderson for the
Boston Consulting Group in 1968 to help corporations with analyzing their business units or
product lines. This helps the company allocate resources and is used as an analytical tool in
brand marketing, product management, strategic management, and portfolio analysis.

When using the Boston Consulting Group Matrix, SBUs can be shown within any of the four
quadrants (Star, Question Mark, Cash Cow, Dog) as a circle whose area represents their size.
With different colors, competitors may also be shown. The precise location is determined by
the two axes, market Growth as the Y axis, Market Share as the X axis. Alternatively, changes
over or two years can be shown by shading or other differences in design.xx [1]. Thus,Star
products are currently have hight grouwth and hight market share however question mark is
product with low share but high growth. Cash Cow has high share but low growth.Finally,dog is
product that has low growth and share.

MARKETING MYOPIA:

It is a term used in marketing as well as the title of an important marketing paper written by
Theodore Levitt. This paper was first published in 1960 in the Harvard Business Review, a
journal of which he was an editor. Marketing Myopia refers to "focusing on products rather
than customers."

The Myopic culture, Levitt postulated, would pave the way for a business to fail, due to the
short-sighted mindset and illusion that a firm is in a so-called 'growth industry'. This belief leads
to complacency and a loss of sight of what customers want.

Theodore levitt asks a very interesting question as an example for marketing myopia. His
question is, if Hollywood were into television rather than movies, wouldnt it have profited
more? This is true because as we know the major crowd of hollywood is concentrating into
making movies and actually money is more into television.

Thus, if hollywood would have catered to the television market, they would have earned more.
And Theodore levitt’s marketing myopia theory has turned right as hollywood has entered
television with renowned movie maker twentieth century fox as well as sony televisions and
other channels.

Some commentators have suggested that its publication marked the beginning of the modern
marketing movement. Its theme is that the vision of most organizations is too constricted by a
narrow understanding of what business they are in. It exhorted CEOs to re-examine their
corporate vision; and redefine their markets in terms of wider perspectives. It was successful in
its impact because it was, as with all of Levitt's work, essentially practical and pragmatic.
Organizations found that they had been missing opportunities which were plain to see once
they adopted the wider view. The paper was influential. The oil companies (which represented
one of his main examples in the paper) redefined their business as energy rather than just
petroleum. By contrast, when the Royal Dutch Shell embarked upon an investment program in
nuclear power, it failed to demonstrate a more circumspect regard for their industry.

One reason that short sightedness is so common is that people feel that they cannot accurately
predict the future. While this is a legitimate concern, it is also possible to use a whole range of
business prediction techniques currently available to estimate future circumstances as best as
possible.

There is a greater scope of opportunities as the industry changes. It trains managers to look
beyond their current business activities and think "outside the box". George Steiner (1979) is
one of many in a long line of admirers who cite Levitt's famous example on transportation. If a
buggy whip manufacturer in 1910 defined its business as the "transportation starter business,"
they might have been able to make the creative leap necessary to move into the automobile
business when technological change demanded it.[3]

People who focus on marketing strategy, various predictive techniques, and the customer's
lifetime value can rise above myopia to a certain extent. This can entail the use of long-term
profit objectives (sometimes at the risk of sacrificing short term objectives.)