Important Marketing Questions and Answers for Exams

Important Questions Of Marketing
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Important Questions of Marketing
3 Marks Questions
1. What is marketing?
2. What is Market?
3. What is exchange?
4. Write any external environment variables.
5. What is external environment?
6. Define marketing segmentation.
7. Explain buying situation briefly.
8. Direct marketing
9. What is complex buying behavior
10. Marketing Mix. Give an example
11. Product Mix
12. Promotion Mix. Example
13. Difference between need, want & demand
14. Selling concept
15. Product Positioning
16. Channel conflict.
17. Demography
18. Mass marketing
19. Primary & secondary data
20. Levels of product
21 Difference between penetration pricing and skimming pricing
22. difference between product & service
23. Marketing environment.
24. Zero level Channel
25. Societal Marketing concept

26. Derived demand
27. Niche marketing
29. Marketing Myopia
28. Customer Equity
29. What is price?
30. Product line, Product depth, product width.
31. What is advertising?
32. Value Positioning
33. Customer Relationship Management
5 Marks
1. BCG Matrix/ Growth Share Matrix
2. Business Markets
3. Marketable entities
4. Evolution of marketing
5. Product attributes
6. Buyer Adoption process
7. Types of Markets
8. Types of consumer buying behavior
9. Steps in marketing research
10. Push & pull promotion strategy
11. Marketing segmentation
12. Positioning strategies
13. Targeting & positioning
14. Advantage & limitations of internet marketing
15. Write about the VMS
16. Difference between marketing and selling
17. New product pricing
18. Explain Product/ Market Expansion Grid

7 Marks
1. Explain scope, role and functions of marketing?
2. In what way is the knowledge of the Indian consumer environment a prerequisites for marketers in the design and
development of suitable marketing plan? Discuss.
3. How do the 4 P‘s vary across the product life cycle? Discuss with the help of a suitable example.
4. Explain the marketing process with neat diagram
5. Bring out the marketing strategies in all the stages of PLC.
6. Discuss the factor affecting consumer buying decision process.
7. Mention the marketing basis for segmenting consumer markets.
8. List and define the steps in the business buying decisions.
9. Elaborate the different techniques of forecasting future demand.
10. What products and brands do you feel successfully ―Speak to You‖ and effectively target your age group? Why?
Which one‘s does not? What could they do better? Explain with example.
11. Explain the various marketing management philosophies/ orientation/ concepts. Which orientation is most suitable
in the present environment? Give reason.
12. Discuss the different positioning strategies a marketer can use to position his brands.
13. Explain the steps involved in designing a distribution channel for a new brand of sports shoes.

14. What is micro environment? Describe various elements or factors of microenvironment.
15. Define the ‗Product‖ and explain the types of consumer products.
16. What is marketed? Give suitable example
17. Explain the evolution of the marketing with suitable example
18. If the product in the maturity stage, then which are the strategies you would like to implement?
19. What is buyer adoption? Explain the Buyer Adoption process.
20. Bring out the levels of consumer decision making. (Note: Write the levels as buyers decision process)
21. Elaborate the classification of Business Markets.
22. Explain PLC with neat diagram
23. What are the stages in new product development?
24. Explain the techniques for forecasting future demand
25. Bring out the requirements for effective segmentation
26. Define packaging and elaborate the types of packages.
27. Explain Consumer and Industrial goods. What are the differences in the marketing of both type of goods
28. Explain the Different types of pricing strategies?

29. Describe the various internal and external forces that influence the pricing strategy of a firm.
30. Describe in brief controllable and non-controllable factors influencing Marketing Decisions
31. "Promotional Programs are economic wastes and usually unethical"- Do you agree with this statement? Give
reasons
32. L. G. Electronics from South Korea wants to launch its digital CTV as a colour television in Indian market. As a
marketing consultant advise the company on segmentation and positioning strategy to be adopted for identifying the
right groups of customers in India.
33. Explain Marketing strategy and Marketing Mix in detail?
Small Case lets

As a marketing manager of a company, you are given the task of launching a new herbal tooth-paste in the Indian
market. Prepare a detailed plan of the activities that you will undertake to achieve your target successfully. Also
explain the various marketing functions involved in your marketing strategy for launching the herbal tooth-paste.
Some Extra Questions and Answers
1) What is the value proposition in marketing? The full positioning of brand, the full mix of benefits upon which it
is positioned.
2) A competitive advantage is a superior capability of a company in comparison to its direct competitors. When a
company tries to develop an edge over its competitors based on a superior product, better distribution, better
services, or lower selling price based on lower costs, it is trying to establish a(n):
3) Mission : The mission statement describes the overall purpose of the organization and what it intends to
achieve in terms of customers, products and resources.
4) What questions is the company likely to ask when writing a mission statement? Ans: What business are we in?
What customers should we serve? How should we develop the firm's capabilities and focus its efforts?
5)A code of ethics : is a set of guiding principles that all members of a profession accept. Basic principles:
responsibility, accountability, advocacy, and confidentiality
6) What is business to business marketing? B2B - The marketing of goods and services that business customers
need to produce other goods and services, for resale or to support their operations.
7) Focus group Informal interviews with 8 to 12 respondents who discuss a topic in an open-ended discussion under
the guidance of a moderator are known as a Focus group
8) What are the various forms of competition in the macroenvironment?
Monopoly (one company is only supplier)
Oligopoly (small number of sellers control market)
Monopolistic competition (many sellers, slight difference between products)
Perfect competition (many small firms selling same product)
9) Mail survey : Mil survey is type of research is frequently used as a relatively inexpensive means of collecting data
10 What is a feature? A feature is something about the product that is unusual or that you can describe It explains what
the product "has"
11) What is a benefit? A benefit is the advantage it has for the buyer
12) What is a distinctive competency : Properties of products that set them apart from competitor's products by
providing unique benefits.
13 )What is a product portfolio? : A company will balance its products so that some products are mature, some in
growth stage, while others are waiting to be introduced
14) What is ethnocentrism? The tendency to prefer products or people of one's own culture over those from other
countries

15) What are some advantages of telephone interviews? Fast, High flexibility in questioning, Fairly Low cost,
Limited interviewer bias
16) What are the pros/cons of mail questionnaires? Advantages : Respondents feel anonymous , Low cost, Good
for ongoing research. Disadvantages: Slow return speed, Low response rates typical, Inflexible questionnaire, Length
of survey is limited
17) Pros/Cons of face to face interviews? Advantages : Flexibility of questioning , Long questionnaires possible,
Can help explain questions, Can use visuals
Disadvantages: High cost, Interviewer bias possible, Time requirements are high
18) What is primary research? Research conducted for a specific purpose - to answer a particular question
19) What are the advantages of primary research? Advantages: Answers a specific research question, Data are
current, Source of data is known, Secrecy can be maintained
20) What are the disadvantages of primary research? Disadvantages: Expensive, Quality declines if interviews are
lengthy, Reluctance to participate in lengthy interviews
21) What is the BCG matrix? Boston Consulting Group Growth-Market Share Matrix
22) What are the three levels of business planning?
Strategic planning by top-level corporate management
Functional planning by top functional-level management such as the chief marketing officer
Operational planning by supervisory managers
23) What is a target market? A target market - an organization's chosen segment
24) What are some global strategies a company can adopt?
Exporting (shipping overseas)
Contractual agreements
Licensing (giving rights to produce/market in country for fee)
Franchising (adopt an entire system)
Strategic alliances (working together)
Joint venture (two or more companies create new company to sell in that country)
25) What is utility in marketing? Utility is the usefulness or benefit customers receive from the product
26) Goals/Objectives should have four attributes? Need to be specific, measurable, time based and attainable
27) Nature of Marketing:Nature of Marketing evolves from its multidisciplinary coverage of activities which is as
follow:
1. Dynamic Process: Marketing is an ongoing activity which does not stop at any step. After finding customer‘s
needs and wants it needs to develop such products or services which can satisfy these needs and after this there is need
to advertising, promotion, distribution, etc the process goes on.
2. Customer Oriented: Marketing is customer oriented. Marketing is the process of finding needs and wants of
customers and satisfying those needs profitably.
3. All Encompassing: Marketing is all encompassing, it is not a single process it includes production planning,
research, advertising, financial management, budgeting, selling, etc.
4. Integrating: It integrates all the departments of an enterprise be it production, finance, IT, HR, etc.
5. Creative: Marketing is creative in nature, it looks out for new ideas, views and activities and solves problems or
encash opportunities in a creative way.

28) Scope of Marketing:
Marketing has a very wide scope it covers all the activities from conception of ideas to realization of profits. Some of
them as discussed as below:
1. Product Planning: It includes the activities of product research, marketing research, market segmentation,
product development, determination of the attributes, quantity and quality of the products.
2. Branding: Branding of products is adopted by many reputed enterprises to make their products popular among
their customer and for many other benefits. Marketing manager has to take decision regarding the branding policy,
procedures and implementation programs.
3. Packaging: Packaging is to provide a container or wrapper to the product for safety, attraction and ease of use
and transportation of the product.
4. Channels of Distribution: Decision regarding selection of most appropriate channel of distribution like
wholesaling, distribution and retailing is taken by the marketing manager and sales manager.
5. Sales Management: Selling is a part of marketing. Marketing is concerned about all the selling activities like
customer identification, finding customer needs, persuading customer to buy products, customer service, etc.
6. Advertising: Advertisement decisions like scope and time of advertisement, advertisement message, selection of
media, etc comes into marketing.
7. Finance: Marketing is also concerned about the finance, as for every marketing activity be it packaging,
advertising, sales force budget is fixed and all the activities have to be completed with in the limit of that budget.
8. After Sales services: Marketing covers after sales services given to customers, maintaining good relationships
with customers, attending their queries and solving their problems.
29) Importance of Marketing to the Marketers, Consumers and Society
Marketing is the source of many important new ideas in management thought and practice — such as flexible
manufacturing systems, flat organizational structures, and an increased emphasis on service —all of which are
designed to make businesses more responsive to customer needs and preferences.
To the Marketers:
1. Financial Success: Nothing succeeds like success and financial success often depends on marketing ability.
Finance, operations, accounting, and other business functions will not really matter if there is not sufficient demand
for products and services. There must be a top line for there to be a bottom line. Marketing is a profit centre, other
functions are cost centres.
2. Marketing is often the Route to the Top: Most companies have now created a position of Chief Marketing
Officer, similar to Chief Finance Officer or Chief Strategy Officer. Most of the top positions in the company are being
fulfilled by people from marketing. There is no management discussion in the annual reports without describing their
latest marketing achievements, and the strategies and tactics adopted.
3. Helps Boost Product Sales: Marketing is a core business discipline. Apart from spreading awareness about the
products, marketing actually helps boost sales and the revenue growth. Marketing creates desire among the general
public to buy the product through effective strategic marketing plans including integrated marketing communication.
The more people hear and see the products, more they would be interested to buy.
4. Builds Company Reputation: Marketers aim at creating brand equity through brand 'name, images, logo, or
caption ('Iodex maliye kam par chaliye') that the customers listen and watch in the advertisements. McDonalds is
immediately recognized by its arch design. With an established name it is easier for marketers to expand and to grow.
Companies also create reputation through innovation of products, which is possible because of financial resources
generated from sales.
5. Marketing is the biggest component of a product offering: Normally 40-60% of the price charged from a
customer comprises of marketing-related costs, like advertising, market research, development, etc. The greatest
challenge before the marketer is how to bring it down without sacrificing marketing objectives.

6. To Cope up with the Changing Marketing Environment: Globalization, the internet, and information
transparency have led to an increasingly mobile workforce, ever more fussy customers, and rapidly changing
technologies and business models.
Thus, companies are less able to predict - let alone control - the short-term shape of their own markets. Consequently,
more and more organizations are choosing to adopt a marketing-led philosophy to enable them to win market share
and capture and retain the hearts and minds of current and prospective customers.
Marketing is becoming more important as organizations around the world strive to develop products and services that
appeal to their customers and aim to differentiate their offering in the increasingly-crowded global marketplace.
Marketing is no longer the sole prerogative of a single 'function'.
To the Consumers:
1. They can buy goods globally: Marketers through computer and information technology are able to satisfy more
customers across the globe than ever before. Marketers do recognize the role of websites and the blogs, online
communities, SMS, e-mail etc which facilitate marketing exchanges. Today if someone has to buy a fridge, he can
visit the sites for new and old fridges, compare them and can find the best value.
2. Promotes Product Awareness: Getting the product recognized by the market is the primary objective of
marketing, by which customers take advantage of them. Customers never thought of mobile phones, personal
computers or laptops. Awareness of them was spread by marketers only. Thus, marketing helps to improve the quality
of life.
3. Creating Utilities: Marketing creates form utility (from timber into desired furniture), place utility (moving
product closure to customer), time utility (product being made available when it is needed), information utility
(informing of availability of a particular product at a particular place and at a particular price), and possession utility
(through transfer of ownership).
To the Society:
1. Protection against Evil Effects of Depression: It is through marketing that the spending is continued and the
depression is kept at bay.
2. Employment: Marketing offers many exciting, interesting, and challenging careers, like personal selling,
advertising, transportation, packaging, marketing research, product development and design, cash and carry stores,
retailing, lobbying, event management, etc. Apart from such commercial activities, many non-governmental
organizations engaged in cause marketing, advocacy marketing, social marketing etc. also provide great opportunities.
3. Availability of Various Products: Society would have no choice in the absence of marketing. Today, there are
hundreds of new products and tens of variants of every product are available only because of marketing.
30) Evolution of Marketing s
Phillip Kotler categorized the five major marketing eras that have evolved throughout time.
The Production Era: One of the oldest concept eras, it holds that consumers will favor those products that are widely
available and low in cost. Managers of production-oriented organizations concentrate on achieving high production
efficiency and wide distribution.
The Product Era: This era brought about marketing beliefs that consumers will favor those products that offer the
most quality, performance or innovative features. Marketing managers focus on making superior products and
improving them over time.

Although both production and product are important in the overall mix of healthy marketing, there can be a problem
with the remnants of both the production and product era, as they can lead to a symptom called marketing myopia.
Production- or product-oriented companies tend to design their product with little or no customer input, as with some
car manufacturers and many insurance and financial products providers. No wonder they are such a hard sell. There is
a danger with developing a love affair with your production efficiency or product and not realizing that the
marketplace may be less turned on. Marketing managers become victims of the ―better mouse trap‖ fallacy, believing
that a better mouse trap will lead people to their door.
The Selling/Sales Era : During this era, the primary marketing concept belief held that consumers if left alone would
not buy enough of the organization‘s products; therefore, the organization must undertake an aggressive selling and
promotion effort. The selling concept assumes that the consumer must be coaxed into buying. It also assumes that the
organization has effective selling and promotional tools to stimulate more buying. Today, this concept is still practiced
most aggressively with unsought goods, such as insurance, funeral plots and even fundraising activity by non-profit
groups. These industries have perfected various sales techniques to locate prospects and hard sell them on their
product benefits. Most firms practice the selling concept when their aim (knowingly or unknowingly) is to sell what
they make rather than make what the market wants.
The Marketing Era : Evolving from and challenging the first three concept eras of marketing, this era holds that the
key to achieving organizational goals consists of being more effective than your competitors in integrating and
coordinating marketing activities toward determining and satisfying the needs and wants of your target markets.
Marketing guru and Professor Theodore Levitt states, ―Selling focuses on the needs of the seller, marketing on the
needs of the buyer. Selling is preoccupied with the seller‘s need to convert his product into cash; marketing with the
idea of satisfying the needs of the customer by means of the product and the whole cluster of things associated with
creating, delivering and finally consumering it.‖
The marketing concept is the foundation of healthy marketing and rests on four pillars: target market, customer needs,
integrated marketing and profitability. The selling era concept takes an inside-out perspective. It starts with the
factory, focuses on the company‘s existing products or services and calls for heavy hitting selling and promotion to
produce profitable sales. Unlike the selling concept, the healthier modern era marketing concept takes an outside-in
perspective. Starting with a well-defined market, it focuses on customer needs, integrates all the activities that will
affect customers and produces profits by satisfying customers
The Societal Marketing Era : The newest to evolve, it holds that the organization‘s task is to determine the needs,
wants and interests of target markets and to deliver the desired satisfaction more effectively and efficiently than
competitors in a way that preserves or enhances the consumers‘ and the society‘s well being.
Organizations run the societal marketing concept for several purposes: to enhance their corporate image, thwart
negative publicity, pacify consumer groups, launch a new product or brand, broaden their customer base and/or
generate incremental sales. This concept calls for marketers to really balance three considerations: company profits,
consumer want and satisfaction, and public interest.
31) What are the distinguishing features of an Indian consumer ? (Short Answer).
Ans.: India being very vast geographically, consumers here are naturally scattered over a vast territory, as the country
is marked by great diversity in climate, religion, language, literacy level, customs lifestyles & economic status. A
Broad sketch of Indian consumer can be drawn on the basis of :-
(a) Demographic which includes size of population literacy & education.
(b) Geographic spread – consist of northern, southern, western & eastern belts.
(c) Diversity based on religion, language diversity in dress & food habits etc.
Classification of Indian consumers based on economic status :-
(a) Affluent Group (b) Middle Class (c) Relatively Poorer Section (d) BPL Section

(a) Affluent Group : This group is small, but it has a good deal of marketing significance. This is because it is useful
segment for luxury products. The super premium brands also depend on it. Therefore, this group is sometimes referred
to as the ―Image segment‖ This segment is looking out for something new.
(b) Middle Class : It is the middle class that constitutes the largest segment of consumers for manufactured goods in
the industry. The middle class has emerged as a result of socio-economic developments that took place over the years
& is now emerging as the consumption community of the country as they are better educated & are better exposed to
global lifestyle. They often spend more than what they earn at any given pointin- time in order to cope up with their
new social image.
(c) Relatively Proper Section : They also account for a good sized demand base for certain products. Though their
purchasing power is very low, their size is very large. Over 75% of the purchase in categories like cooking oil, tea,
detergent cake, bath soap, tooth powder, come from people with income levels below Rs. 25000 per annum.
(d) BPL Section : This is also large is size , it does not form part of the demand base. This category is projected to
shrink substantially. In fact the middle classification can be defined :-
(i) Middle Class Male (ii) Middle Class Woman (iii) Middle Class Teenager
Middle Class Male : He is a blend of traditional & non traditional values, they prefer ready-mades today. They are
status conscious, they have strong family ties & above all he is the sole decision maker in purchase.
Middle Class Women : She is cautious, but not averse to change, quality conscious, as well cost conscious, seeking
leisure & is aware of new development, have good sense of grooming.
Middle Class Teenager : They are more than 150 million & more modern & adventurous than their elders. They care
less for religion & tradition. They value material comforts & physical well being more, they are quick in adopting
fashion.
32. How do the 4 Ps vary across the PLC? Discuss with the help of a suitable example
Product
The important thing to remember when offering menu items to customers is that they have a choice. They have a huge
number of ways of spending their money and places to spend it. Therefore, McDonald's places considerable emphasis
on developing a menu which customers want. Market research establishes exactly what this is. However, customers'
requirements change over time. What is fashionable and attractive today may be discarded tomorrow. Marketing
continuously monitors customers' preferences.
In order to meet these changes, McDonald's has introduced new products and phased out old ones, and will continue to
do so. Care is taken not to adversely affect the sales of one choice by introducing a new choice, which will cannibalise
sales from the existing one (trade off). McDonald's knows that items on its menu will vary in popularity. Their ability
to generate profits will vary at different points in their life cycle. Products go through a life cycle, which is illustrated
below:
The type of marketing undertaken and the amount invested will be
different, depending on the stage a product has reached. For example, the
launch of a new product will typically involve television and other
advertising support. At any time a company will have a portfolio of
products each in a different stage of its lifecycle. Some of McDonald's
options are growing in popularity while arguably the Big Mac is at the
'maturity' stage.
Price
The customer's perception of value is an important determinant of the
price charged. Customers draw their own mental picture of what a
product is worth. A product is more than a physical item, it also has psychological connotations for the customer. The
danger of using low price as a marketing tool is that the customer may feel that quality is being compromised. It is
important when deciding on price to be fully aware of the brand and its integrity. A further consequence of price
reduction is that competitors match prices resulting in no extra demand. This means the profit margin has been
reduced without increasing sales.
Promotions
The promotions aspect of the marketing mix covers all types of marketing communications. The methods include
advertising, sometimes known as 'above the line' activity. Advertising is conducted on TV, radio, cinema, online,

poster sites and in the press (newspapers, magazines). What distinguishes advertising from other marketing
communications is that media owners are paid before the advertiser can take space in the medium. Other promotional
methods include sales promotions, point of sale display, merchandising, direct mail, telemarketing, exhibitions,
seminars, loyalty schemes, door drops, demonstrations, etc.
The skill in marketing communications is to develop a campaign which uses several of these methods in a way that
provides the most effective results. For example, TV advertising makes people aware of a food item and press
advertising provides more detail. This may be supported by in store promotions to get people to try the product and a
collectable promotional device to encourage them to keep buying the item. It is
imperative that the messages communicated support each other and do not confuse
customers. A thorough understanding of what the brand represents is the key to a
consistent message.
The purpose of most marketing communications is to move the target audience to some
type of action. This may be to: buy the product, visit a restaurant, recommend the choice
to a friend or increase purchase of the menu item. Key objectives of advertising are to
make people aware of an item, feel positive about it and remember it. The more
McDonald's knows about the people it is serving the more it is able to communicate
messages which appeal to them. Messages should gain customers' attention and keep
their interest. The next stage is to get them to want what is offered. Showing the benefits
which they will obtain by taking action, is usually sufficient. The right messages must be targeted at the right
audience, using the right media. For example, to reach a single professional woman with income above a certain level,
it may be better to take an advertisement in Cosmopolitan than Woman's Own. To advertise to mothers with children,
it may be more effective to take advertising space in cinemas during Disney films. The right media depends on who
the viewers, readers or listeners are and how closely they resemble the target audience.
Place
Place in the marketing mix, is not just about the physical location or distribution points for products. It encompasses
the management of a range of processes involved in bringing products to the end consumer.
33. Internet Marketing: Advantages and Disadvantages
The term marketing generally refers to the attraction and promotion of products and services to potential customers.
Traditionally, marketing was all about physical and oral advertising of products and services. But modern day
marketing is more to do with electronic and online advertising. Internet marketing is considered to be broad in scope
because it not only refers to marketing on the Internet, but also includes marketing via e-mail and wireless media.
Internet marketing brings together the creative and technical aspects of the internet, including design, development,
advertising, and sales. Internet marketing also refers to the placement of advertising media along many different user
oriented approaches such as search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization (SEO), banner placement
and directory submissions.
Advantages of Internet marketing
• Extensive reach
Internet marketing is less expensive when examining the ratio of cost to the reach of the target audience. Businesses
can reach a wide audience for a small fraction of traditional advertising budgets. The nature of the medium allows
consumers to research and to purchase products and services conveniently.
• Higher customer appeal
The businesses have the advantage of appealing to consumers in a medium that can bring results quickly. Internet
marketing gives them a range of choices to market their business to the selected audience. Thus the strategy and
overall effectiveness of marketing campaigns depend on business goals and the amount the business wish to invest in
internet based marketing.
• Easy to measure the results
Internet marketing also has the added advantage of measuring statistics easily and inexpensively. There are tools and
techniques that can be used to test and trace almost all aspects of internet marketing. Apart from the basic pay per
click advertising, the monthly reports generated through the analytics technique will display the related web traffic
from a variety of angles.
Limitations of internet marketing

• Not having a physical presence
The main disadvantage in internet marketing is that buyers don‘t get a chance to physically feel the product as in a
store. This applies especially to businesses dealing with e commerce. For most products that physical sight and feel is
important. Some customers still prefer the old way of shopping.
• Concern on internet security
Internet security is important both to companies and consumers that participate in online business. Many consumers
are hesitant to purchase items over the internet because they do not believe that their personal information will remain
private. Some companies offer the option for individuals to have their information removed from the database, also
known as opting out. However, many customers are unaware of this as well as when and with whom their personal
information is shared.
• Mismatch in the products ordered and delievered
Another major concern that consumers have with e-commerce merchants is whether they will receive exactly what
they purchased. This can be heavily experienced in the fast moving goods that are being sold on e commerce stores.
34. Types of business markets
Business to Business
When you sell to other businesses, you are participating in the business-to-business market. The B2B marketplace
requires a greater emphasis on customer education and proof of benefit than on desirability, status or other emotional
sales pitches. Business-to-business selling often consists of garnering larger orders from fewer customers, with more
personal interaction, rather than advertising and promotions, necessary. Within the B2B market are subsets of the
marketplace focusing on the sale of industrial products, consulting services and financial services.
Industrial
The industrial market consists largely of companies transacting business in hard goods such as machinery, materials,
chemicals, vehicles and office furniture and supplies. The buyers are often manufacturers; the sellers are known as
suppliers. Suppliers must be experts in their product or service and the market overall. They often use a consultative
selling approach to partner with customers, helping them solve problems or meet specific business goals.
Professional Services
Another subset of B2B is professional services, which consists of providing consulting or delivery of business needs
such as marketing, information technology, human resources, benefits planning, management consulting and payroll.
Some commercial services, especially those involving information technology systems, include the sale of hard goods
such as computers and software. Many solo entrepreneurs offer professional services as consultants, while firms might
group a variety of services -- such as advertising, public relations, promotions and media buying -- under one roof.
Financial Services
One area of the commercial services market with its own moniker is the group of businesses selling financial services.
This can include banking, insurance, commercial credit and lending, tax planning, investments and asset management
and consulting publicly traded companies. Financial services professionals are often highly trained, certified, licensed
or bonded. Financial services providers often must follow specific government rules and regulations.
Government
Working with governments provides a variety of opportunities and challenges. A contract with a municipal, state or
federal agency means having a solid client that will honor its obligations and pay you on time. Getting these contracts
usually requires filling out lengthy bids, showing proof of your corporate status and agreeing to follow other business
practices government agencies require. In some locales, bidders for government contracts must meet requirements that
include at least partial ownership of the company by a minority. Even a landscaping or janitorial contract for a local
city hall or school can take months to secure.
35.Types of consumer products
1) Convenience product , 2) shopping products, 3) specialty product , 4) unsought product
36. Marketing triangle
There must be a market for your product or service that is targetted
and located in your consumer research.

There must be an understandable message to deliver to get your potential customers relating to the solutions
you offer. You have to tap into those emotions to influence a buying decision
There must be a proper advertising medium you will identify through multiple channel testing.
37. Use of Packaging & labeling
Packaging and package labeling have several objectives
1) Physical protection – The objects enclosed in the package may require protection from, among other things,
mechanical shock, vibration, electrostatic discharge, compression, temperature, etc.
2) Barrier protection – A barrier from oxygen, water vapor, dust, etc., is often required. Permeation is a critical
factor in design. Some packages contain desiccants or oxygen absorbers to help extend shelf life. Modified
atmospheres or controlled atmospheres are also maintained in some food packages. Keeping the contents clean,
fresh, sterile and safe for the intended shelf life is a primary function. A barrier is also implemented in cases where
segregation of two materials, prior to end use is required, as in case of special paints, glues, medical fluids etc. At
consumer end, the packaging barrier is broken or measured amounts of material removed for mixing and subsequent
end use.
3) Containment or agglomeration – Small objects are typically grouped together in one package for reasons of
efficiency. For example, a single box of 1000 pencils requires less physical handling than 1000 single pencils.
Liquids, powders, and granular materials need containment.
4) Information transmission – Packages and labels communicate how to use, transport, recycle, or dispose of the
package or product. With pharmaceuticals, food, medical, and chemical products, some types of information are
required by governments. Some packages and labels also are used for track and trace purposes. Most items include
their serial and lot numbers on the packaging, and in the case of food products, they often contain an expiry/best-
before date, often in a shorthand form.
5) Marketing – The packaging and labels can be used by marketers to encourage potential buyers to purchase the
product. Package graphic design and physical design have been important and constantly evolving phenomenon for
several decades. Marketing communications and graphic design are applied to the surface of the package and (in
many cases) the point of sale display.
A single-serving shampoo packet
6) Security – Packaging can play an important role in reducing the security risks of shipment. Packages can be made
with improved tamper resistance to deter tampering and also can have tamper-evident[24]
features to help indicate
tampering.
7) Anti-counterfeiting Packaging - Packages can be engineered to help reduce the risks of package pilferage or the
theft and resale of products: Some package constructions are more resistant to pilferage and some have pilfer
indicating seals. Counterfeit consumer goods, unauthorized sales (diversion), material substitution and tampering
can all be prevented with these anti-counterfeiting technologies. Packages may include authentication seals and use
security printing to help indicate that the package and contents are not counterfeit. Packages also can include anti-
theft devices, such as dye-packs, RFID tags, or electronic article surveillance tags that can be activated or detected
by devices at exit points and require specialized tools to deactivate. Using packaging in this way is a means of loss
prevention.
8) Convenience – Packages can have features that add convenience in distribution, handling, stacking, display, sale,
opening, reclosing, use, dispensing, reuse, recycling, and ease of disposal
9) Portion control – Single serving or single dosage packaging has a precise amount of contents to control usage.
Bulk commodities (such as salt) can be divided into packages that are a more suitable size for individual households.
It is also aids the control of inventory: selling sealed one-liter-bottles of milk, rather than having people bring their
own bottles to fill themselves.
38. Types of Packaging
As most businessmen would always say packaging can be the difference in successfully shipping a product to the
market in one piece or in pieces. Listed below are different types of packaging:
1. Plastic – one of the most common packaging materials used for food products. Resin is most common to plastic
packaging as it can be made flexible or rigid depending on the need of packaging. This is commonly used for sodas,

milk carton and egg trays. Rigid plastics are usually used for manufacturing food cartons (for to go) and other plastic
trays.
2. Metal or Aluminum – this type of packaging is normally used for canned goods, sodas and alcoholic drinks like
beer. Although aluminum is good for packaging, challenge is it is quite expensive to make one that is why you would
hear people trying to get all the used cans that they can find so that they can have it for recycling.
3. Cardboard – this is used when the product is already wrapped in something that is already well protected and
secured. This material is also highly recyclable. This material is also used in manufacturing corrugated boxes. Some
products use bubble wrap for protective purposes before putting it in a well-sealed box. Taping machines are
commonly used for sealing these corrugated boxes just to make sure that product is delivered in tact.
4. Glass – is frequently used for preserved foods such as jams and honey. This type of packaging is easy to use and
can be recycled over and over again. Glass is also used for consumable goods such as sodas, beer and wine. Although
this packaging is fragile, it is still widely used across almost all industries.
5. Foam – you would notice this type of packaging on gadgets, TVs, furniture, glass and anything with sharp
edges. Foams are custom made to make sure that it fits the product accurately.
Packaging is sometimes neglected by companies that are not aware of the benefits and importance of ensuring
that the product is received in one piece and not in pieces. But packaging is not just limited to the type
used. Having a high quality and dependable packaging system like a taping machine will ensure that product
will reach the end of the line in tact.
Marketing Research Steps
Stage 1: Formulating the Marketing Research Problem : Formulating a
problem is the first step in the research process. In many ways, research starts with a problem that
management is facing. This problem needs to be understood, the cause diagnosed, and solutions developed.
Stage 2: Method of Inquiry : The scientific method is the standard pattern for investigation.
It provides an opportunity for you to use existing knowledge as a starting point and proceed impartially.
The terminology is similar to the stages in the research process. However, there are subtle differences in the
way the steps are performed. For example, the scientific method is objective while the research process can
be subjective.
Stage 3: Research Method: There are two primary methodologies that can be used to answer
any research question: experimental research and non-experimental research. Experimental research gives
you the advantage of controlling extraneous variables and manipulating one or more variables that
influences the process being implemented. Non-experimental research allows observation but not
intervention.
Stage 4: Research Design: The research design is a plan or framework for conducting the
study and collecting data. It is defined as the specific methods and procedures you use to acquire the
information you need.
Stage 5: Data Collection Techniques : Your research design will develop as you select
techniques to use. There are many ways to collect data. Two important methods to consider are interviews
and observation. Interviews require you to ask questions and receive responses.

Another way to collect data is by observation. Observing a person‘s or company‘s past or present behavior
can predict future purchasing decisions. Data collection techniques for past behavior can include analyzing
company records and reviewing studies published by external sources.
In order to analyze information from interview or observation techniques, you must record your results.
Because the recorded results are vital, measurement and development are closely linked to which data
collection techniques you decide on.
Stage 6: Sample Design : Your marketing research project will rarely examine an entire
population. It‘s more practical to use a sample—a smaller but accurate representation of the greater
population. Once you‘ve established who the relevant population is (completed in the problem formulation
stage), you have a base for your sample. This will allow you to make inferences about a larger population.
There are two methods of selecting a sample from a population: probability or non-probability sampling.
The probability method relies on a random sampling of everyone within the larger population. Non-
probability is based in part on the judgment of the investigator, and often employs convenience samples, or
by other sampling methods that do not rely on probability.
The final stage of the sample design involves determining the appropriate sample size. This important step
involves cost and accuracy decisions. Larger samples generally reduce sampling error and increase accuracy,
but also increase costs.
Stage 7: Data Collection : Once you‘ve established the first six stages, you can move on to
data collection. Depending on the mode of data collection, this part of the process can require large amounts
of personnel and a significant portion of your budget. Personal (face-to-face) and telephone interviews may
require you to use a data collection agency (field service). Internet surveys require fewer personnel, are
lower cost, and can be completed in days rather than weeks or months. Regardless of the mode of data
collection, the data collection process introduces another essential element to your research project: the
importance of clear and constant communication.
Stage 8: Analysis and Interpretation : In order for data to be useful, you must analyze
it. Analysis techniques vary and their effectiveness depends on the types of information you are collecting,
and the type of measurements you are using. Because they are dependent on the data collection, analysis
techniques should be decided before this step.
Stage 9: The Marketing Research Report
The marketing research process culminates with the research report. This report will include all of your
information, including an accurate description of your research process, the results, conclusions, and
recommended courses of action. The report should provide all the information the decision maker needs to
understand the project.
It should also be written in language that is easy to understand. It‘s important to find a balance between
completeness and conciseness. You don‘t want to leave any information out; however, you can‘t let the
information get so technical that it overwhelms the reading audience. One approach to resolving this conflict
is to prepare two reports: the technical report and the summary report. The technical report discusses the
methods and the underlying assumptions. In this document, you discuss the detailed findings of the research

project. The summary report, as its name implies, summarizes the research process and presents the
findings and conclusions as simply as possible.
Another way to keep your findings clear is to prepare several different representations of your findings.
PowerPoint presentations, graphs, and face-to-face reports are all common methods for presenting your
information. Along with the written report for reference, these alternative presentations will allow the
decision maker to understand all aspects of the project.
* Types of Markets

1) Perfect Competition : Perfect competition is a market system characterized by many different buyers
and sellers. In the classic theoretical definition of perfect competition, there are an infinite number of buyers
and sellers. With so many market players, it is impossible for any one participant to alter the prevailing price
in the market. If they attempt to do so, buyers and sellers have infinite alternatives to pursue.
2) Monopoly :A monopoly is the exact opposite form of market system as perfect competition. In a pure
monopoly, there is only one producer of a particular good or service, and generally no reasonable substitute.
In such a market system, the monopolist is able to charge whatever price they wish due to the absence of
competition, but their overall revenue will be limited by the ability or willingness of customers to pay their
price.
3) Oligopoly : An oligopoly is similar in many ways to a monopoly. The primary difference is that rather
than having only one producer of a good or service, there are a handful of producers, or at least a handful of
producers that make up a dominant majority of the production in the market system. While oligopolists do
not have the same pricing power as monopolists, it is possible, without diligent government regulation, that
oligopolists will collude with one another to set prices in the same way a monopolist would.
4) Monopolistic Competition : Monopolistic competition is a type of market system combining elements
of a monopoly and perfect competition. Like a perfectly competitive market system, there are numerous
competitors in the market. The difference is that each competitor is sufficiently differentiated from the
others that some can charge greater prices than a perfectly competitive firm. An example of monopolistic
competition is the market for music. While there are many artists, each artist is different and is not perfectly
substitutible with another artist.
5) Monopsony : Market systems are not only differentiated according to the number of suppliers in the
market. They may also be differentiated according to the number of buyers. Whereas a perfectly competitive
market theoretically has an infinite number of buyers and sellers, a monopsony has only one buyer for a
particular good or service, giving that buyer significant power in determining the price of the products
produced.
 Promotion - Push & Pull Strategies
Push : A ―push‖ promotional strategy makes use of a company's sales force and trade promotion activities to create
consumer demand for a product. The producer promotes the product to wholesalers, the wholesalers promote it to
retailers, and the retailers promote it to consumers.
A good example of "push" selling is mobile phones, where the major handset manufacturers such as Nokia promote their
products via retailers such as Carphone Warehouse. Personal selling and trade promotions are often the most effective
promotional tools for companies such as Nokia - for example offering subsidies on the handsets to encourage retailers to sell
higher volumes.

A "push" strategy tries to sell directly to the consumer, bypassing other distribution channels (e.g. selling insurance or
holidays directly). With this type of strategy, consumer promotions and advertising are the most likely promotional tools.
Pull : A ―pull‖ selling strategy is one that requires high spending on advertising and consumer promotion to build up
consumer demand for a product.
If the strategy is successful, consumers will ask their retailers for the product, the retailers will ask the wholesalers, and the
wholesalers will ask the producers.
 Advantages and limitations of Internet Marketing or online marketing
Advantages:
1. One of the most important advantages is the fast availability of the information. The clients/users can
easily get information, by navigating the internet, about the products that they wish to purchase, and
besides that, they can check the information at anytime of the day.
2. It allows the companies to save money, an aspect that is really taken into account by the companies
since the online marketing campaigns don‘t require a large amount of investment.
3. The previous mentioned aspect, gives less importance to the differences between large and small
companies in some way, thus increasing the competition and giving that way advantages to the
customers.
4. Presence on the Internet can help the expansion of the company from a local market to national and
international markets at the same time, offering almost infinite expanding possibilities.
5. On the internet everything can be measured, thus it‘s easier for the companies to know almost
instantly if their campaign is working or not, what company or user is interested in their products,
from what cities or countries are they, etc.
Disadvantages:
1. Slow internet connections can cause difficulties. If the companies build too complex or too large
websites, it will take too long for users to check them or download them and they will get bored
eventually..
2. The e-commerce doesn‘t allow the user ―to touch‖ the merchandise before purchasing it. Because of
this, some salesmen are starting to guarantee the possibility of returning the product. In Germany,
where a law that regulates e-commerce and guarantees the customers the total refund of the money
exists since 2000, the electronic commerce is very popular.
3. Other factor is the payment: many users still don‘t trust in the electronic methods of paying and give
up buying online because of this.
4. One of the major disadvantages may be the lack of trust of the users because of the constant virtual
promotions that appear to be frauds. This is an aspect that deteriorates the image and reputation of
quality and honest companies.
5. Other disadvantage is the cash on delivery system, since it doesn‘t guarantee the 100% purchase of
the product. This is also the case of thousands of users that dedicate themselves to daily mock big
companies by ordering on the internet using false identities.
Marketing Entities

Marketing people are involved in marketing 10 types of entities : goods, services, experiences, events,
persons, places, properties, organizations, information, and ideas.
1. Goods, Physical goods constitute the bulk of most countries production and marketing effort. Each year,
U.S. companies alone market billions of fresh, canned, bagged, and frozen food products and millions of
cars, refrigerators, television sets, machine and various other mainstays of a modern economy. not only do
companies market their goods, but thanks in part to the internet, even individuals can effectively market
goods.
2. Services, As companies advance, a growing proportion of their activities is focused on the production of
services. The U.S. economy today consists of a 70-30 services-to-goods mix-services include the work of
airlines, hotels, car rental firms, barbers and beauticians, maintenance and repair people, as well as
professionals working within or for companies, such as accountants, bankers, lawyers, engineers, doctors,
software programmers, and management consultants. Many market offerings consist of a variable mix of
goods and services. At a fast food restaurant, for example, the customer consumes both a product and a
services.
3. Events, Marketers promote time-based events, such as major trade shows, artistic performance, and
company anniversaries. Global sporting events such as the Olympics or World Cup are promoted
aggresively to both companies and fans. There is a whole profession or meeting planners who work out the
details of an event and make sure it comes off perfectly.
4. Experiences, By orchestrting several services and goods, a firm can create, stage, and market
experiences. Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom represents experiential marketing: Customers visit a fairy
kingdom, a pirate ship, or a haunted house. So does the Hard Rock Cafe, where customers can enjoy a meal
or see a band in a live concert. There is also a market customized experiences, such as spending a week at a
baseball camp playing with some retired baseball greats, paying to conduct the chicago symphony Orchestra
for five minutes, or climbing Mount Everest.
5. Persons, Celebrity marketing is a major business. Today, every major film star has an agent, personal
manager, and tie to a public relation agency. Artists, misician, CEOs, physicians, high-profile lawyers, and
finaciers, and others professional are also getting help from celebrity marketers. Some people have done a
masterful job of marketing themselves -think of Madonna, Oprah Winfrey, the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith,
and Michael Jordan. Management consultant Tom Peters, himself a master at self-branding, has advised
each person to become a ―brand.‖
6. Places. Cities, stats, regions, and whole nations compete actively to attract tourist, factories, company
headquatters, and new residents. Place marketers include economic development specialists, real estate
agents, commercial banks, local business associations, and advertising and public relations agencies. To fuel
their high-tech industries and spawn entrepreneurship, cities such as Indianapolis, charlotte, and raleigh-
durham are wooing 20 to 29 year-old through ads, PR, and other communications. Louisvikke, Kentucky,

spends $ 1 million annually on e-mails, events, and networking appraches to convince 20-somethings of the
city‘s quality of life and other advantages.
7. Properties. Properties are intangible rights of ownership of either real property (real estate) or financial
property (stocks and bonds). Properties are bought and sold, and this requires marketing. real estate agents
work for property owners or sellers or buy residential or commercial real estate. Investment companies and
banks are involved in marketing security to both institutional and individual investors.
8. Organizations. Organizations actively work to build a strong, favorabke, and unique image in the minds
of their target publics. Companies spend money on corporate identity ads. Phillips, the Dutch electronics
company, puts out ads with the tag line ―Let‘s Make Things Better.‖ In the United Kingdom, Tesco‘s ―Every
Little Bit Helps‖ marketing program has vaulted it to the top of the supermarket chains in that country.
Universities, museums, performing arts organizations, and non-profits all use marketing to boost their public
images and compete for audiences and funds.
9. Information. Information can be produced and marketed as a product. This is essentially what schools
and universities produce and distribute at a price to parents, students, and communities. Encyclopedias and
most nonfiction books. market information. Magazines such as Road and Track and Byte supply information
about the car and computer worlds, respectively. The production, packaging, and distribution of information
is one of our society‘s major industries. Even companies thet sell physical product attempt to add value
through the use of information. For example, the CEO of Siemens Medical Systems, Tom McCausland,
says, ―[our product] is not necessarily an X-ray or an MRI, but information. Our business is really health-
care information technology, and our end product is relly an electronik patient record: information on lab
tests, pathology, and drugs as well as voice dictation.‖
10. Ideas. Every market offering includes a basic idea. Charles Revson of Revlon observed: ―In the factory,
we make cosmetic; in the store we sell hope.‖ Products and services are platforms for delivering some idea
or benefit. Social marketers are busy promoting such ideas as ―Friiends Don‘t Let Friends Drive Drunk‖ and
―A Mind Is a Terrible

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