A project report on Marketing.
1. Introduction to Marketing:
The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so
well that the product or service fits him and sells itself. Most precise
and befitting definition of marketing is, “Marketing is human
activity directed at satisfying needs and wants through
exchange processes.” To understand this definition clearly, we
must know the terms: needs, wants, demands, products, exchange,
transactions and markets.
2. Marketing Organisation:
Marketing has grown, over the years, from a simple sales
department into a complex group of marketing activities. Small
companies appoint a sales manager who manages a sales force and
also does some selling. For the purpose of marketing research or
advertising, the sales manager hires help from the outside. As the
company expands, it needs to add certain marketing functions.
3. Concept of Marketing:
In modern times the marketing concept gives emphasis on
consumer needs and the freedom of consumer to choose. It is
realized that production is no longer a problem due to technological
developments, but marketing the product is most important.
The basic features of the modern concept are:
(i) Customer orientation,
(ii) Integrated marketing, and
(iii) Profitable sales through customer’s satisfaction.
4. Marketing Environment:
Company’s marketing personnel are supposed to constantly
monitor the changing scene. They should observe the changing
environment first-hand and also rely on marketing intelligence and
marketing research system to track the changing environment more
closely.
A company’s marketing environment consists of the actors and
forces external to the marketing management functions of the firm
that impinge on the marketing management’s ability to develop and
maintain successful transactions with its target customers.
5. Marketing Concept versus Selling Concept:
Now-a-days more emphasis is given on the “Marketing Concept”.
The Marketing Concept states that a firm should have its basic
objective, as the satisfaction of consumer desires or needs.
To accomplish this objective, Marketing managers try to identify
what consumers want and then produce the goods that will identify
consumer desires. Marketing managers then evaluate how
successful the firm is in satisfying consumers while at the same time
earning a fair profit.
Selling concept states that since consumers will normally not buy
enough products of the company unless they are approached with a
substantially selling and promotion efforts.
Thus selling focuses on the needs of the seller whereas marketing
focuses on the needs of the buyer.
6. Duties of Marketing Managers:
They make management decisions about firm’s marketing
programme. Functions of the marketing managers are to plan the
marketing programmes, put them into action and evaluate how
successful they are in terms of satisfying customers and earning a
profit.
7. Process of Marketing:
Marketing management process consists of the activities
described hereunder:
1. Organising the Market Planning:
(a) Adopt Strategic Market Planning:
(i) By preparing one long term plan say for 5 years and another
short term plan say for 6 months or 1 year.
(ii) By considering threats and opportunities in respect of each of
the product, brand.
(iii) By making plans for marketing, finance, production and
personnel.
(iv) And integrate it with overall objectives and strategies of the
company.
(b) Prepare a Detailed Marketing Plans:
(i) By getting timely and accurate information’s through a reliable
system regarding past, present and future states of the
environment, target customers, competitors, suppliers, resellers
and public.
(ii) For getting above information’s utilise internal records, market
trends published in reliable journals or other publications, market
research and marketing intelligence.
(iii) Information’s regarding product review, competition, and
distribution system should also be collected.
(b) Know the Marketing Environment:
(i) By carrying out study for understanding suppliers, middlemen,
distribution firms, service agencies, customers i.e. consumer
market, industrial market, government market, reseller market or
international market, competitors.
(ii) Understand public: This means customers, media, general
public, consumer forums, governmental attitudes and rules etc.
(iii) Changing habits of the public and purchasing capacity.
(iv) To study economic environment which includes changes in real
income, changing consumer expenditure pattern.
(v) Latest innovations/research.
(vi) To know political environment.
Developing the Marketing Mix:
Marketing mix is the set of controllable marketing variables (i.e.
product, price, place and promotion) that the firm blends to
produce the response it wants in the target market.
(а) Decisions Regarding Products:
(i) Characteristics of a product arc quality level, features, styles,
brand name and packaging.
(ii) Augment the product with benefits to satisfy consumer’s desires
e.g. installation, delivery and credit, after sales service and
warranty.
(iii) Products can be classified as, either durable goods, non-durable
goods and services, or convenience goods, shopping goods, specialty
goods and unsought goods or materials, parts, capital items,
supplies and services.
(iv) To decide about brand name, brand mark, trade mark and copy-
right.
(v) Packaging decisions regarding attraction, describing product
benefit, make overall favourable impression, how much a consumer
can pay for appearance and prestige of better packaging.
(vi) To take decisions regarding customer services i.e. service-mix,
level of service, form of service, maintenance service, information
service and technical service.
(vii) To decide about product line, product safety, product additions
and deletions.
(viii) Product life cycle decisions.
(b) Decisions Regarding Pricing:
(i) Consider internal factors like marketing objectives, marketing
mix strategy, costs, organisational considerations.
(ii) Consider external factors like market and demand, competitors
prices and offers.
(iii) Pricing approaches: cost plus pricing, break even analysis and
target profit pricing, buyer based pricing or competition based
pricing.
(iv) Decide pricing strategies for new product: market skimming
pricing or initiative pricing.
(v) Decide pricing strategies for product-mix: product line pricing,
optional or accessory product pricing, by-product pricing.
(vi) Decide price-adjustment strategies: discount pricing,
discriminatory pricing on customer basis, product form basis, place
or time basis, psychological pricing, promotional pricing.
(vii) Study reaction of buyers on price changes.
(c) Decisions Regarding Place:
(i) Retailers can be classified according to amount of service,
product line sold, discount store, warehouse, show-room, nature of
business premises, self-service, limited service, full service.
(ii) Wholesalers can be classified as merchant whole-sellers, brokers
and agents, manufacturers branches.
(d) Decisions Regarding Promotion:
(i) Marketing promotion mix consists of 4 major tools i.e.
advertising, sales promotion, publicity, personal selling.
(ii) Target audience must be in any of the readiness states—
awareness, knowledge, liking, preference, conviction or purchase.
(iii) Choosing a promotion media and a system for collecting
feedback.
