Marketing Environment

Internal & External Environments

The Environment
It consists of the factors outside marketing to build and maintain successful relationships. Marketers must remain glued to the trends in market and be able to read what consumers love to have. Market research and intelligence help in collecting information about the environment. A marketing environment is made up of microenvironment and macro-environment. Micro-environment consists of the company, suppliers, intermediaries, competitors and customers. Macro-environment consists of demographics, economy, nature, technology landscape, government, culture etc.

Micro-environment
The Company:
Marketing plans are rolled out taking the view of other functions of the company such as top management, R&D, finance etc. Top management sets the agenda through the corporate vision and mission statements. Marketing draws up plans and rolls out the strategy within the framework of these short and long term objectives. The centre of all these planning, coordination and strategy rollout should be the customers and the value offered to them. Various functions of the organisation should work together to offer a superior value to the customer every time.

Micro-environment
Suppliers:
Suppliers form the core of the eco-system for the value delivery, more so in a service regime like today. Supply shortages or delays, labor strikes and contingent events such as these may result in bad image for the product or service. Marketers have to closely work with the suppliers to shape the value of the product or service to be delivered. The Voice of the Supplier is equally important as the Voice of the Customer. The approach to manage suppliers have changed from one of dictation to that of collaboration

Micro-environment
Intermediaries:
They play the role to promote, sell and distribute the products and services to the end consumers. These can be the resellers, physical distribution firms, marketing services agencies or financially assisting companies. Physical distribution deals with the activity of infrastructure support from intermediaries. Marketing service deals with the activity of research agencies, ad agencies, media firms and marketing consultancies. These intermediaries have a definite and important role in helping the products and services reach the customers.

Micro-environment
Competitors:
Marketing encourages a relative positioning of the product or service in the market. Competitors are the best benchmarks for any company and inspiration to outdo them brings the best in any company. Thanks to the proliferation of knowledge and standard practices, even small competitors cannot be overlooked. This is the most visible of micro-environment attributes which the customer has an idea about.

Micro-environment
Public:
These may contain banks, investment houses and stockholders which help the financing of the companies. Media today has a big role to play when it comes to researching, conceptualizing, designing, launching and even to take feedback. Government also is a major part of public in a world where products are very much integral to economies. Similarly, citizen groups, local public and even the internal public of the organisation has a say in the environment.

Micro-environment
Customers:
They are the objective of doing the whole exercise of delivering a definitive value and focus of relationship. Consumer markets consists of individuals and households those buy various goods and services. Business markets buy goods and services to further convert them and sell the output to the end customers. Government markets are made up of government agencies for the targeted segment of the population. International markets consists of various markets in different geographies having segments of intermediaries.

Macro-environment
Demography:
Increasing population A growing middle class Growth in Rural Population A changing family system The changing role of women A better-educated, more white-collared and professional people Increasing diversity

Macro-environment
Economic Environment:
It consists of the factors which affect the purchasing power of the consumer and their spending patterns. In the aftermath of developed economies being in slowdown mode, developing economies are contributing to most growth. In the last decade, the world economy has slipped to slowdown mode at least twice. Inflation, lack of jobs, slow or no growth, dent on savings all lead to a vicious cycle of less spending and less supply. Changing income distribution is about consumers share of buying various things once their disposable income increases. Aspirations and disposable incomes of consumers are encouraging for marketers of luxury and lifestyle products.