Marketing is offering significant benefits to organizations and to society, while the fact that marketing is a business function operating in close contact with the public where extensive criticism is subjected to this functional area, some of this criticism is justified: much is not. The function and practice of marketing has been criticized because it is claimed that it creates partial truths about products and services by emphasizing the gap between a person’s reality and their expectations in such a way that people feel lacking in either self esteem so that they feel compelled to close the gap by unnecessary spending. The philosophy of Milton Freidman and the belief that the “ends justifies the means” endorses the marketing way or its aim. In other words businesses are accountable to shareholders and shareholders alone where marketing is the tool. Social critics claim that certain marketing practice hurts individual consumers and society Continue reading
Marketing Management
Marketing management combines the fields of marketing and management. Marketing consists of discovering consumer needs and wants, creating the goods and services that meet those needs and wants; and pricing, promoting, and delivering those goods and services. Doing so requires attention to six major areas – markets, products, prices, places, promotion, and people. Management is getting things done through other people. Managers engage in five key activities – planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling. Marketing management implies the integration of these concepts.
Publicity – Meaning, Areas and Vehicles
Public relations are often confused with publicity, which in simple terms mean making things public or bringing things to the public notice. Many tools including word of mouth to the mass media to advertising to the Internet are used for publicizing information. However, publicity is only one part of public relations. Many marketing experts put public relations under publicity. Thus, publicity is an important part of public relation. Many tools are used for publicizing information and facts. The major and most effective ones are the mass media. Publicity coverage could be in the form of news stories, news analyses, interviews, features, articles, and editorials in printed media and in news bulletins, interviews, discussions or special programmes on radio and television. Another form of publicity is the paid variety. This basically involves advertising for which the organization has to pay to the media for the amount of space and time. Yet Continue reading
Improve, Adapt, Buy or Drop a Product – Strategic Marketing Decisions
If a product is not showing profitable performance, the company may consider one of the alternatives, viz., improve, adapt, buy or drop the product. Improve If the firm continues to make the product, it may be required to make improvement in its production or distribution so as to yield adequate return. Improvement may mean re-designing the product or producing it at a lower cost. Product improvement is particularly necessary when the existing product has become apparently obsolete or out of fashion. Indian companies need to continuously upgrade their products and technology to withstand the pace of change in their business environment and to meet the challenges thrown up by the emergence of a buyer’ market. Product improvement is very important in durable goods, for example, automobiles, refrigerators, etc. This explains the development of a camera with a built-in coupled exposure meter, which proved to be a Continue reading
Brand Building through Events Marketing
To truly build a brand that leaves an indelible imprint on the hearts and minds of audiences, event marketers must adopt a more strategic, holistic approach. When it comes to building brands, events and meetings have become powerful tools in the arsenals of marketers and event professionals. Event marketing can tie a brand to a valuable experience; and the event itself allows brands to engage in a high-touch environment where deeper connections between brands, customers, prospects, vendors, and partners can be forged. A well-executed event can build market share, grow profits, and increase brand equity by creating a stronger and more meaningful connection between a brand and its audience. A poorly executed event can cause brand damage. Events and meetings present a great opportunity for marketers and event professionals to build brand value together. Events marketing help in brand building by: Creating awareness about the launch of new products/brand: Creating Continue reading
Competitive Intelligent System in Marketing
Today, information has become an integral part of every organization. However, there is need to effectively manage this information and gain benefit from information systems. Businesses must leverage the vast quantities of collected information in order to make effective decisions, achieve a strategic competitive advantage and achieve increased employee productivity. Competitive intelligence embodies a systematic and ethical program for gathering, analyzing and managing external information that can affect an organization’s plan and decisions. Competitive intelligent system can be used to monitor competitor’s activities, national and internal market trends, customer needs, existing and emerging technologies and regulatory trends. Competitive intelligence is the ongoing process of monitoring environment in order to identify the opportunities to act on or threats to avoid. Many companies use readily available software tools to implement competitive intelligent system. There are four main steps involved in designing and implementing competitive intelligent system. Very first step is setting up Continue reading
Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) and the Code of the Advertising Standards
Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) The Role and Functioning of the ASCI & its Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) in dealing with Complaints received from Consumers and Industry, against Ads which are considered as False, Misleading, Indecent, Illegal, leading to Unsafe practices, or Unfair to competition, and consequently in contravention of the ASCI Code for Self-Regulation in Advertising. The ASCI is not a Government body,but it is a voluntary self-regulatory council, registered as a not-for-profit Company under section 25 of the Indian Companies Act. The sponsors of the ASCI, who are its principal members, are firms of considerable repute within Industry in India, and comprise Advertisers, Media, and Ad Agencies and other Professional /Ancillary services connected with advertising practice. The ASCI was set up; To ensure the truthfulness and honesty of representations and claims made by advertisements and to safeguard against misleading advertisements. To ensure that advertisements are not offensive Continue reading