"Analysis & impact assessment of the innovative marketing practices of consumer products (durables ) in rural areas."
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services
may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments. It is an integrated processthrough which companies build strongcustomer relationshipsand create valuefor their customers and for themselves.Marketing is used to identify thecustomer , satisfy the customer, and keep thecustomer. With the customer as the focus of its activities,marketing managementis one of the major components of business management.Marketing evolved to meet the stasis in developing new markets caused bymature marketsandovercapacitiesin the last 2-3 centuries. The adoption of marketing strategies requires businesses to shift their focus from productiontothe perceived needs and wants of their customers as the means of staying profitable.The term marketing concept holds that achieving organizational goals dependson knowing the needs and wants of target marketsand delivering the desiredsatisfactions. It proposes that in order to satisfy its organizational objectives, anorganization should anticipate the needs and wants of consumers and satisfythese more effectively than competitorsSeveral definitions have been proposed for the term marketing. Each tends toemphasize different issues. Memorizing a definition is unlikely to be useful;ultimately, it makes more sense to thinking of ways to benefit from creating customer value in the most effective way, subject to ethical and other constraints that one may have. The 2006 and 2007 definitions offered by theAmerican
Marketing Association are relatively similar, with the 2007 appearinga
bit more concise. Note that the definitions make several points: A main objective of marketing is to create customer value. Marketing usually involves an exchange between buyers and sellers or between other parties. Marketing has an impact on the firm, its suppliers, its customers, andothers affected by the firms choices. Marketing frequently involves enduring relationships between buyers,sellers, and other parties. Processes involved include creating, communicating, delivering, andexchanging offerings.Classical marketing is often described in terms of the four Ps, which are: Product what goods or services are offered to customers Promotion how the producer communicates the value of its products Price the value of the exchange between the customer and producer Placement how the product is delivered to the customer.A complete analysis of these categories is often called the Marketing Mix. Moredetail on these categories can be found in the later entry on the Marketing Plan.Marketing has both inbound and outbound activities. Inbound activities largelycentre on discovering the needs and wants of the potential customers. Thecollective group of all potential customers is called a market. Categorizing theseneeds into groups is called segmentation. Organizing markets into segmentsallows a producer to more logically decide how to best provide value to thatgroup of potential customers. The analysis of market segment needs; analysis of existing sales and profitability; the
descriptions, design and introduction of new products; and the
analysis of competitor offerings are also inbound activitiesthat are important but not often seen by the public.Outbound activities include all aspects of informing the market that a product isavailable, delivering that product, and encouraging the purchase decision. Theseactivities include advertising, promotion, supply chain, sales support, producttraining, and customer support.To the public, the most common interaction with marketing is where it touchesthe discipline of sales in the form of advertising. This interaction leads to acommon misconception that marketing is only this aspect of promotion. Instead,it is useful in understanding that:Marketing is a data driven science. The good marketer will develop the data necessary to define the customersneeds, develop a good product based on the available resources, deliver the product in an effective manner to the consumer at a price that reflects thecustomer value and the profit desired by the produce. Delivering customer value The central idea behind marketing is the idea that a firm or other entity willcreate something of value to one or more customers who, in turn, are willing to pay enough (or contribute other forms of value) to make the venture worthwhileconsidering opportunity costs. Value can be created in a number of differentways. Some firms manufacture basic products (e.g., bricks) but providerelatively little value above that. Other firms make products whose tangiblevalue is supplemented by services (e.g., a computer manufacturer provides acomputer loaded with software and provides a warranty, technical support, andsoftware updates). It is not necessary for a firm to physically handle a product toadd value e.g., online airline reservation systems add value by (1) compilinginformation about available flight connections and fares, (2) allowing the customer to buy a ticket, (3) forwarding billing information to the airline, and(4) forwarding reservation information to the customer.It should be noted that value must be examined from the point of view of thecustomer. Some customer segments value certain product attributes more thanothers. A very expensive product
relative to others in the category may, in fact,represent great value to a
particular customer segment because the benefitsreceived are seen as even greater than the sacrifice made (usually in terms of money). Some segments have very unique and specific desires, and may valuewhat to some individuals may seem a lower quality item very highly.Some forms of customer value. The marketing process involves waysthat value can be created for the customer. Form utility involves the idea thatthe product is made available to the consumer in some form that is more usefulthan any commodities that are used to create it. A customer buys a chair, for example, rather than the wood and other components used to reate the chair.Thus, the customer benefits from the specialization that allows the manufacturer to more efficiently create a chair than the customer could do himself or herself. Place utility refers to the idea that a product made available to thecustomer at a preferred location is worth more than one at the place of manufacture. It is much more convenient for the customer to be able to buyfood items in a supermarket in his or her neighbourhood than it is to pick upthese from the farmer. Time utility involves the idea of having the product madeavailable when needed by the customer. The customer may buy a turkey a fewdays before Thanks giving without having to plan to have it available.Intermediaries take care of the logistics to have the turkeys which are easily perishable and bulky to store in a freezer available when customers demandthem. Possession utility involves the idea that the consumer can go to one storeand obtain a large assortment of goods from different manufacturers during oneshopping occasion. Supermarkets combine food and other household items froma number of different suppliers in one place