Introduction to Marketing Planning

Hello there…! 

I have created a video lecture on ‘Introduction to Marketing Planning’. Please click below YouTube link to watch it.

Let me know your feedback on this video.  Also feel free to contact me for further discussion on it. 

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Define Key Concepts in Marketing

Needs, Wants and Demands

      Needs are basic requirements for everyone. Needs are basic things for survival. For example, food, clothing, shelter and air. Apart from above needs, people have strong needs for recreation, social interaction, and education.

      You need “food”, but you might want a Pizza Pizza’s Pizza. People want a specific item or branded item.   

     The ability and willingness to pay for a want makes it a demand. For example, many people want a BMW car, but few are able to pay for it.

Products and Brands

      All those goods, services, and offerings offered by a marketer to satisfy needs and wants of customers. For example, a computer, car repairing, and amusement park.

      A brand is simply a product or an offering from a well-known source. For example, Apple’s Iphone, Dell’s Laptop, and Kellog’s Cereal.

Value and Satisfaction

      A product’s success depends on how much satisfaction and value it can deliver. Always marketers’ goal is try to maximize value to the customers.

     The value is the ratio between perceived benefits (functional and emotional) and perceived cost (monetary and non-monetary).  For example, a customer might choose more expensive product if perceived benefits associated with product are greater.  

     Customer satisfaction is a measure of how products and services offered by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. Customer satisfaction is defined as "the number of customers, or percentage of total customers, whose reported experience with a firm, its products, or its services (ratings) exceeds specified satisfaction goals.

Marketing Environment

     The marketing environment is what surrounds and effects the organization’s marketing and business activities. The marketing environment can be dividing into 1) Macro-Environment and 2) Micro-Environment.

      The micro-environment involves factors that affect the company directly. These include target customers, suppliers, distributors and the company itself.

      
The macro-environment involves broader factors such as demographics, technology, politics and the state of the economy.

      Competition

     Competition is one of the key concepts in marketing. Competition includes any potential alternatives a buyer might consider while making a buying decision. It includes both similar products as well as substitutes. For example, as substitute for a cola drink, a consumer might consider buying a milk drink or a fruit juice.

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What is Marketing?

There are many different definitions of marketing. I have mentioned some of the definitions of marketing:

"Marketing is the action or business of promoting and selling products or services. It is all about the achievement of corporate goals through meeting and exceeding customer needs better than the competition."

“Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offer
ings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.” - American Marketing Association

“Marketing is the social process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others.” - Philip Kotler

“Marketing is “The management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.” - The Chartered Institute of Marketing

“Marketing is not only much broader than selling; it is not a specialized activity at all. It encompasses the entire business. It is the whole business seen from the point of view of the final result, that is, from the customer’s point of view. Concern and responsibility for marketing must therefore permeate all areas of the enterprise.” - Peter Drucker

To sum up, marketing is all about identifying customers’ needs, creating value for customers, and meeting needs profitably.

Dr. Kotler abbreviated definition of marketing as C C D V T P: C – Creating, C – Communicating, D – Delivering, V – Value, to a T – Target Audience, at a P – Profit

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Channel Conflict Management…

Hello students and fellow friends…! 

Greeting of the New Year form Dr. Dalwadi!

I have created a video lecture on ‘Channel Conflict Management’ which is addressing four learning objectives: a) what is channel conflict? b) what are the levels of conflicts? c) why channel conflict occurs? and d) how to manage channel conflict?

Click on the below video link to view the lecture. Wish you happy learning!

Let me know your feedback on this video.  Also feel free to contact me for further discussion on it. 

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7 Cs of Effective Vision Statements...

The well written vision statements include following seven characteristics.

1. Conciseness:  The effective vision statements are brief enough, making it easier for entrepreneurs and leaders to communicate to the stakeholders.  Vision statements become less effective when they are too short or too long.  Therefore, the natural questions pops up is: how long or how short a vision statement should be?  The effective vision statements generally include about 35 to 40 words or 3 to 4 sentences.  It should be long enough to visibly describe the vision. Make sure it is not too long to be remembered and understood by all stake holders.    

2. Clearness:  The well written vision statements are unambiguous.  The clarity aspect of vision statements provides a constant and superior goal. Remember to not use any jargons and buzz words and to use simple terminology.  Vision statements can be more clarified by keeping enough short. 
   
3. Challenging and Abstract:  The challenge and abstractness are inevitable parts of good vision statements.  The challenge part instill inspires and motivates employees. It also provides a kind of guideline to employees to their routine practices and decisions. The abstractness part offers flexibility.  The future goals should not be described too specific but instead at a greater level of abstractness.        

4. Cover the Drive: The drive means, what is the purpose of an organization? Why it exists? The sound vision statements should describe what an organization anticipates to accomplish. Effective vision statements answers: a) what difference it intends to create in the market? and b) How impacts it aims to have? 

5. Concentrate on Future:  The good vision statements focus on what you want your company to be for life-long.  They will also describe the on-going actions taken by organization to achieve its end state of existence.   

6. Create Desirable Goal:  The well-defined vision statements include mutually desired goals by followers.  The emphasis could be given on combination of: a) Core values, b) Collective identity, c) Distinctiveness, and d) Emphasis on human assets   

7. Comparable to the Success Measures:  The sense of accomplishment and association would also be the elements of excellently crafted vision statements.

Please, feel free to post your comments.

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