Marketing

Introduction

Marketing nowadays is a managerial domain that has an increasing strategic importance to business results and ultimately to the shareholder value. The enormous changes in the global market environment explain today’s pressures for greater marketing effectiveness.

Businesses succeed when they meet the wants of customers more effectively than the competitors. Corporate profitability depends primarily on the company’s sustainable ability to offer products and services, which customers choose to pay for. Though this involves the efforts of virtually all departments in an oorganization, the marketing department, by virtue of its touch with the customers, typically has the largest role.

Marketing concept

Marketing is the creation of long-term demand. Products are made and servises are provided in responce tu consumer needs or wants. This means that marketing put the consumer first. The problem is to make the consumer aware of the product and it‘s advantages. The basic function of marketing is tu determine the needs of the customers, to satisfy them and ofcourse the mmost important thing is to bring a profit to the company.

A company that believes in marketing is forward – thonking company and does not rest on it;s past achievements: it must be aware of its strenghts and weaknesses as well aas the opportunities and threats it faces in the market (SWOT).

Marketers have to identify or anticipate a consumer want. Design a product or service which satisfy consumer need. Persuade target consumers try a product and in long term modify it to satisfy changes in market conditions. They must supply exactly what the customer wants. They can do this by offering the riht marketing mix: “The Four P‘s“:

• the right product;

• at the right price;

• available through the right channels of distribution: place;

• presentented in the right way: promotion.

Product

The product is the full bundle of goods and services offered to the customer. This includes the appearance, functionality, and support or non-tangibles the customer will receive. The physical product itself is part of “product” aas well as any packaging it arrives in. Products can range all of the way from goods people need every day to live, like milk, tuna or vegetables or they can be very high end dream products, like a private jet. Having the right product for your target market (that’s the people or businesses you want to sell to) requires knowing what they need and want.

Some manufacturers use their name (family name, e.g. Philips, Colgate) for all their products. Others mmarket various products under individual brand names, (Procter&Gamble). The Major producers are famous for their multi-brand strategy which allows them to compete in various market segments, and to fill shelf space in shops, thereby leaving less room for competitors.

Since differnt products are always at different stages of their life cycles. With growing, stable or declining sales and because markets, opportunities and resourcesare in constant evolution, companies are always looking to the future, and re0evaluating their product mix. Companies whose objectives include high market share and market growth generally have long product lines. Companies whose objectives is high profitability will have shorter lines, including only profitable items. Additions to product lines can be result of either lenght-streching or line-filling.

Line streching means lenghtening a product line by moving either uo-market or down market, for example making items of higher or lower quality. This can be carried out in order to reach new customers, to enter growing or more profitable market segments to react to competitor‘s initiatives. Line-filling means adding further items in that part of a product range which a line already covers might be done in order to compet in competitor‘s niches tu utilise excess production capacity. A total product iincludes the image of the product as well as its features and benefits.

Price

Price making it easy for the customers to buy. The marketing view of pricing takes account of the value of a product, its quality, the ability of the customer to pay, the volume of sales required, the level of market saturation and the prices charged by the competition.

„Price“ is pretty self-explanatory but it’s very important to your success. Price something too high and you may never sell a single item of it. Price it too low and you can lose money on every sale once all of your costs of doing business are considered. So you want to price it attractively so that you can sell it to your clients and they’ll feel good about the purchase.

Price is a factor in many people’s decisions. They can’t see your expertise. They can’t see your insight. They can’t see how your past experience will help you provide solutions for them. They can see price.

Sometimes if you are higher priced, people think that you must be better. But often, high fees will scare prospects away. When people are making a decision to buy a service, they will make it based on how much they like you or trust you in addition to price.

Place

Place. Getting the product to the customer. This is where and how your product is distributed and sold. Will you sell it yourself, through a broker, or a distributor? Will you run a retail store or sell only to retailers? If a service, do you deliver in person or through the internet or telephone? These questions all involve “place”.

Decisions have to be made about the channels of distribution and delivery arrangements. Retail products may go through various channels of distribution. Each stage adds value to the product to justify the costs: the middle-man is someone whose own sales force and delivery system can make the product more easily and cost-effectively available to the largest number of customers.

One principle behind this is breaking down the bulk; the producer may sell in minimum quantities of, say 10 000 lt to the wholeseler, who sells in minimum quantities of 100 lt to the retailer, who sells in minimum quantities of 1 lt to the end user. Thus, distribution is done ...