MARKETING

What is marketing?
Market is defined as any situation in which the buyer and seller
interact in order to exchange goods or services. Marketing may be
defined as all the business activity geared towards correctly identifying
and anticipating people’s wants and needs, including the identification
of the group of people associated with these needs. Marketing involves
getting the goods and services to the consumers. It consists of buyers,
sellers, goods or services, markets, price and the exchange process.
 The buyer is the person creating the demand and requiring the goods.
The seller is the person supplying the goods. The good or service is
the commodity to be exchanged. The price is the agreed money value
one is willing to accept or pay for the goods. The exchange process is
the passing over of the commodity or service from the seller to the
buyer. It is a situation in which a transaction occurs.
The business should then concentrate on satisfying them in the most
efficient and profitable manner possible. In other words, the correct
good or service must be anticipated, identified, produced, packaged,
promoted and distributed to the targeted customers in the shortest time
possible, at competitive prices and in a profitable manner as well.
Infact, marketing starts at the product idea stage and does not really
end at all, because after-sales service is an ongoing process.
Marketing is getting the right kind of goods and services to the correct consumer,
at the right time and price, in the most efficient and profitable manner possible.
Marketing can therefore be defined in the context of marketing activities.
Marketing activities involve:
1. Finding out what the consumer wants (market research)
2. Setting a price that will encourage the consumer to buy while allowing the firm to make a profit
(pricing)
3. Packaging the product so as keep it safe yet attractive enough to induce consumers to purchase
(packaging)
4. Attaching names, logos, trademarks or color schemes that consumers are aware of or have an
affinity to (branding)
5. Running campaigns with the aim of encouraging consumers to buy the products (sale promotion)
6. Using the media to inform and persuade customers to purchase the products (advertising)
7. Getting the goods as close as possible to the consumer (distribution)
Sales related-an approach to marketing in which the good or service is produced
first, then people are persuaded to buy it
Customer related-an approach to marketing in which research first reveals a
need or want to be satisfied and the firm proceeds to achieve this goal by
marketing them its product or service.
Features of marketing
Marketing is a management process. The process includes four elements of the
marketing mix, namely product, price, promotion and place. Marketing aims at
satisfying customers’ needs while making a profit. Marketing places emphasis on
the customers rather than on the products. It involves identifying the needs and
wants of the client.
Market segmentation
Identifying different groups in a market and sub diving the market into those
groups that can be targeted by specially designed marketing strategies explains the
concept of segmentation.
Forexample, in your country a paint company might identify the following target
groups: industrial users, domestic users; auto body repairs; lubricating; and
government (for road painting)
Each of these groups represents a market segment. The acute businessperson
would recognize these particular niche markets and target each specifically,
through advertising, promotions and special offers.
Market saturation
When all the consumers who wish to buy a product have bought it, or
many competing goods have flooded the market, the demand for a
product falls steeply. We call this situation market saturation.
The market for the product is said to be saturated, i.e. supply has
outstripped demand by a large margin. No amount of advertising o
promotion will then raise demand.
STAGES OF MARKETING
Stage 1- Identifying the product idea
Stage 2-designing the product based on market research
Stage 3-testing the product on the market
Stage4- if successful, the product is marketed (commercialized); if
unsuccessful, the product is redesigned and retested
Stage 5- Product performances are carefully tracked and evaluated
Stage 6-After-sales service is provided
The Marketing Mix
What Is a Target Market?

 A target market is a group of people with some shared characteristics that a company has
identified as potential customers for its products. Identifying the target market informs the
decision-making process as a company designs, packages, and markets its product.
 A target market may be broadly categorized by age range, location, income, and lifestyle.
Many other demographics may be considered. Their stage of life, their hobbies, interests,
and careers, all may be considered.
 As long as target market has been identified for a product, the marketing
department will formulate a marketing strategy to market the product
successfully
 This marketing strategy involves the use of a marketing mix, which in essence
is the blend of different marketing activities undertaken to market a good or
service successfully  

The marketing mix refers to the set of actions, or tactics, that a company uses to

promote its brand or product in the market.
The 4Ps make up a typical marketing mix - Price, Product, Promotion and Place.
 
A good way to understand the 4Ps is by the questions that you need to ask to define your
marketing mix. Here are some questions that will help you understand and define each of the four
elements:

Product

 What does the customer want from the product /service? What needs does it satisfy?
 What features does it have to meet these needs? Are there any features you've missed out? Are you including costly features that the customer
won't actually use?
 How and where will the customer use it?
 What does it look like? How will customers experience it?
 What size(s), color(s), and so on, should it be?
 What is it to be called?
 How is it branded?
 How is it different from products by your competitors?
 What is the most it can cost to provide and still be sold sufficiently profitably? (See also Price, below.)
Place

 Where do buyers look for your product or service?

 If they look in a store, what kind? A specialist boutique or in a supermarket, or
both? Online? Or direct, via a catalog?
 How can you access the right distribution channels?
 Do you need to use a sales force? Or attend trade fairs? Or make online
submissions? Or send samples to catalog companies?
 What do your competitors  do, and how can you learn from that and/or
differentiate?
Price

 What is the value of the product or service to the buyer?

 Are there established price points  for products or services in this area?
 Is the customer price sensitive? Will a small decrease in price gain you extra
market share? Or will a small increase be indiscernible, and so gain you extra profit
margin?
 What discounts should be offered to trade customers, or to other specific segments
  of your market?
 How will your price compare with your competitors?
Promotion

 Where and when can you get your marketing messages across to your target market?
 Will you reach your audience by advertising online, in the press, on TV, on radio, or on
billboards? By using direct marketing mailshots? Through PR? On the internet?
 When is the best time to promote? Is there seasonality in the market? Are there any
wider environmental issues that suggest or dictate the timing of your market launch or
subsequent promotions?
 How do your competitors do their promotions? And how does that influence your
choice of promotional activity?
The product

 The term ‘product’ refers to the good or service that is needed by the targeted group, or
the good, idea or service that the firm wishes the target group to buy, for example,
schoolbooks and students, toys and children
 A product may also be an idea, person, organization, or tourism destination
 One of the most important aspects of the product is the packaging, that is, the manner
in which the good is presented to the customer
PACKAGING

The role of packaging is:

 To attract the attention of the customer

 To protect the product
 To advertise or promote the product
 To provide information about the product
 To make the product ‘user friendly’ ad convenient to use
 LABELLING

 The use of labelling is an integral part of packaging, its primary function is to

describe the product and to provide details on its composition.
 Other important functions of the label are to indicate cautions about harmful
side effects (for medicines or other chemicals), expiry dates, directions for use
and storage, and the value of the production in the package or container
BRANDING

 A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or design or a combination of them,

which is intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of
sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors
 The brand name is that part of the brand that can be vocalized
 The brand mark is that part of a brand which can be recognized visually, such as
a symbol, design or distinctive coloring or lettering.