Question no. 2 - MMPC-006 - Marketing Management - MBA and MBA (Banking & Finance)

Solutions to Assignments

                            MBA and MBA (Banking & Finance)

                            MMPC-006 - Marketing Management

Question No. 2 

(a) What is a Product? Discuss the various classifications of products with suitable examples. Elaborate the importance of Branding and Packaging decisions with respect to an FMCG product proposed to be launched in the Indian market. 

A brand mark is a symbol used for the purpose of identification. It can be a mark, a design; a distinctive logo type or a colouring scheme, a picture, etc. In other words, it is not a name but a means of identification, e.g., picture of an elephant in a distinct frame used by the Department of Tourism, Government of India or the famous starcircle of a Mercedes Benz car, or Tin circle which you must have seen on buses and trucks made by TELCO. A trade mark is the legalised version of a brand. Brand falls

under the category of industrial property rights and, therefore, subject to certain rules and regulations, it can be registered and protected from being used by others. `A brand or a part of a brand that is given legal protection because it is capable of exclusive appropriation' is defined as a trade mark. It is strictly speaking a legal concept, even though brand and trade mark are quite often used synonymously.

It’s an accepted fact that people judge by outward appearance, and nowhere is this more true that on the retail shelf. When it comes to buying behaviour in FMCG goods, consumers assess a product by its packaging.

After all, it’s the customer’s first interaction with the product. It is the first thing she sees and touches. Most of the time, for an undecided customer, it is this first impression that persuades or dissuades her from buying. No wonder, packaging is considered an important tool for marketing and brand building.

Purpose of Packaging

Marketing is much more than just your product’s face. Packaging serves many practical purposes:

Protection: This is the first and foremost purpose of packaging. It physically protects the goods from damage caused by exposure to sun, dust, temperature changes & contaminants; it protects against loss of nutritional value such as denaturing of proteins, oxidation of fats, etc. Packaging preserves the hygroscopic nature of the product.

Information: One of the important functions is to communicate product information, which can assist consumers in making their decisions effectively. An example of such significant information is food labeling. The trend towards healthier eating has highlighted the importance of labeling, which gives the consumers an opportunity to cautiously consider alternatives and make informed decisions. Moreover, evolving mandatory requirements demand certain information to be provided by the manufacturer. Information typically covers directions for use, storage instructions, ingredients, warnings, helpline information and any government required warnings.

Aesthetics: In the contemporary world of supermarkets and countless me-too products, packaging plays an integral role in helping it stand out and grab the buyer’s attention. Aesthetic value increases chances of it being accepted and tried by the consumer. Packaging is a platform to build brand, enhance aesthetics and protect the form and shape. We all know that a deformed or dented pack is unacceptable to consumers, and so many SKUs are sent back – causing losses to the manufacturer.

Transportation: Goods have to be transported, distributed, stored and warehoused during their journey from production to consumption. Packaging ensures durability and strength, so the goods can withstand transportation stress and make the process of handling goods more convenient for all parties involved.

Security: To ensure that there is no tampering with the goods packaging is crucial. The package of a product will secure the goods from any foreign elements or alterations. High-quality packages will reduce the risk of any pilferage.

Convenience: It’s the age of innovation in packaging – and breakthroughs that enhance convenience, usability and sustainability are always appreciated. Some examples are Kissan jam tubes that eliminate the need for spoons; Act-II popcorn microwave pack; Bru coffee containers with aroma lock.

However basic considerations still remain important – ease of opening, pouring and re-sealing, re-usability of containers, and easy disposability of discarded packs.

The challenge

FMCG, as the name spells out, are fast moving consumer goods and include non-durable household goods such as packaged foods, beverages, toiletries, over-the-counter drugs, and other consumables. In a world of over-crowded shelves, growing consumerism, increasing awareness of environmental concerns, rising need for convenience, deeper penetration into rural & remote markets, etc., FMCG manufacturers need to pay minute attention to their packaging. Weight, cost and availability of packaging material play a key role. Packaging needs to contain, preserve and transport the product with safety and durability. The challenge lies in providing packaging that fulfills all these considerations and impressing consumers while managing the cost so that it does not mark up the price for the end user – or neglect environmental concerns.

Conclusion

Nichrome, India’s leading provider of integrated packaging solutions offers a wide variety of automated packaging machines and end-to-end packaging systems for diverse FMCG products.

(b) Discuss the concept of Product Life Cycle (PLC). Explain the various stage of PLC with a consumer durable example of your choice. 

What Is the Product Life Cycle?

The product life cycle is the process a product goes through from when it is first introduced into the market until it declines or is removed from the market. The life cycle has four stages—introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. 

While some products may remain in a prolonged maturity state for some time, all products eventually phase out of the market due to several factors including saturation, increased competition, decreased demand, and dropping sales.

Companies use PLC analysis (the process of examining their product's life cycle) to create strategies to sustain their product's longevity or change it to meet market demand or adapt with/to developing technologies. 

The 4 Stages of the Product Life Cycle

Once a product is developed, it typically goes through the four stages of the product life cycle—from introduction through decline—before eventually being retired from the market. 

The four stages of the product life cycle are introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. 

1. Introduction

Once a product has been developed, it begins the introduction stage of the PLC. In this stage, the product is released into the market for the first time. The release of a product is often a high-stakes time in the product's life cycle, although it does not necessarily make or break the product's eventual success. 

During the introduction stage, marketing and promotion are at a high, and the company often invests quite a bit of effort and capital in promoting the product and getting it into the hands of consumers. This is perhaps best showcased in Apple's (AAPL) - Get Apple Inc. Report famous launch presentations, which highlight the new features of their newly (or soon-to-be) released products. 

It is in this stage that the company is first able to get a sense of how consumers respond to the product, whether they like it, and how successful it may be. However, it is also often a heavy-spending period for the company with no guarantee that the product will pay for itself through sales. 

Costs are generally very high during this stage, and there is typically little competition. The principal goals of the introduction stage are to build demand for the product and get it into the hands of consumers, hoping to later cash in on its growing popularity. 

2. Growth

During the growth stage, consumers start taking to the product and buying it. The product concept is proven as it becomes more popular, and sales increase. 

Other companies become aware of the product and its space in the market as it begins to draw more attention and pull in more revenue. If competition for the product is especially high, the company may still heavily invest in advertising and promotion of the product to beat out competitors. As a result of the product growing, the market itself tends to expand. Products are often tweaked during the growth stage to improve their functions and features.

As the market expands, more competition often drives prices down to make the specific products competitive. However, sales usually increase in volume and continue to generate revenue. Marketing in this stage is aimed at increasing the product's market share. 

3. Maturity

When a product reaches maturity, its sales tend to slow, signaling a largely saturated market. At this point, sales may start to drop. Pricing at this stage tends to get competitive, so profit margins shrink as prices begin to fall due to the weight of outside pressures like increased competition and lower demand. Marketing at this point is targeted at fending off competition, and companies often develop new or altered products to reach different market segments. Given the highly saturated market, less-successful competitors are often pushed out of competition during the maturity stage. This is known as the "shake-out point." 

In this stage, saturation is reached and sales volume is maxed out. Companies often begin innovating to maintain or increase their market share, changing or developing their product to satisfy new demographics or keep up with developing technologies. 

The maturity stage may last a long time or a short time depending on the product. For some brands and products—like Coca-Cola (KO) - Get Coca-Cola Company Report—the maturity stage lasts a long time and is very drawn out. 

4. Decline

Although companies generally attempt to keep their product alive in the maturity stage as long as possible, eventual decline is inevitable for virtually every product.

In the decline stage, product sales drop significantly, and consumer behavior changes, as there is less demand for the product. The company's product loses more and more market share, and competition tends to cause sales to deteriorate. 

Marketing in the decline stage is often minimal or targeted at already-loyal customers, and prices are reduced. 

Eventually, the product is retired out of the market altogether unless it is able to redesign itself to remain relevant or in-demand. For example, products like typewriters, telegrams, and muskets are deep in their decline stages (and in fact are almost or completely retired from the market). 

Examples of the Product Life Cycle

The life cycle of any product always carries it from its introduction to its inevitable decline, but what does this cycle look like in a practical, real-world sense? Here are four examples. 

Typewriter

A classic example of the scope of the product life cycle is the typewriter.

When first introduced in the late 19th century, typewriters grew in popularity as a technology that improved the ease and efficiency of writing. However, new electronic technologies like computers, laptops, and even smartphones replaced typewriters quickly once they were introduced, causing typewriter demand and revenues to drop off. 

Overtaken by the likes of companies like Microsoft (MSFT) - Get Microsoft Corporation Report, typewriters are at the very tail end of their decline phase, with minimal (if existent) sales and drastically decreased demand. Now, the modern world almost exclusively uses desktop computers, laptops, tablets, or smartphones to type. Consequently, these products are experiencing the growth and maturity phases of the product life cycle. 

VCR

Many of us grew up watching videotapes using VCRs (videocassette recorders for any Gen-Z readers), but you would likely be hard-pressed to find one in anyone's home these days. 

With the rise of streaming services like Netflix (NFLX) - Get Netflix, Inc. Report and Amazon (AMZN) - Get Amazon.com, Inc. Report (not to mention the interlude phase of DVDs), VCRs have been effectively phased out and are deep in their decline stage.

Once groundbreaking technology, VCRs are now in very low demand and are bringing in nearly no sales. 

Electric Vehicles

Electric vehicles are still in the growth stage of the product life cycle. Companies like Tesla (TSLA) - Get Tesla Inc Report have been capitalizing on growing demand for years, although recent challenges may signal changes for that particular company.

Still, while the electric car isn't necessarily new, the innovations that companies like Tesla have made in recent years to adapt to new changes in the electric car market signal that the product is still in its growth phase. 

Question No. 1 - MMPC-006 - Marketing Management - MBA and MBA (Banking & Finance)

Solutions to Assignments

                            MBA and MBA (Banking & Finance)

                            MMPC-006 - Marketing Management

Question No. 1 

(a) Discuss your understanding of the term marketing with a suitable example. What is the concept of holistic marketing? Explain each of the components and their importance in the exchange process. 

→ Meaning of Marketing Concept

Succeeding by meeting the needs of customers is one of the most commonly held ideas of the marketing concept. Organizations that embrace this certain principle eagerly recognize that consumers are the dynamic strength behind their organizations. The concept of marketing is a fundamental piece of the marketing arrangements. Achievement is straightforwardly related to what the client needs.

→ Marketing Concept is a Philosophy

The concept of marketing is the rationality that urges association to concentrate on their clients’ necessities. Breaking down their needs and settling on such choices that fulfill those needs in a superior manner than contenders. To have a superior understanding of the concept of marketing, it’s beneficial to appraise alternate rationalities that once dominated and are being practiced by a few organizations even at present.

→ Importance of Marketing Concept

To put it plainly, the concept of marketing is imperative on the grounds that it characterizes how an organization will conduct business and thrive. It expresses that an organization’s essential occupation is to fulfill the needs of the client. This is proficient by figuring out what the business sector needs and after that adjusting your best product or service to match. To attain this objective, everybody in the organization must be devoted to consumer loyalty. It is likewise imperative to note that the organization must also benefit while fulfilling client needs. A business must target purchasers who they can really serve adequately. This is a business after all and the interim profitability is generally as essential as continuing profitability.

Let us look at the example of 2 interminable opponents – Pepsi and Coke – Both of these organizations sell the same products. However, the value proposal displayed by both is diverse. These organizations flourish with the concept of marketing. Where Pepsi concentrates on youths, Coke conveys on a comprehensive methodology. Additionally, the quality suggestion by Coke has been exceptional over ages as contrasted with Pepsi, which demonstrates that coke particularly flourishes with the advertising idea, i.e. it conveys a better value recommendation as contrasted with its rival.

The concept of marketing additionally demands that the vital choices made by the organization are taken by having the customer in mind and in particular the demands and needs of the customers. An all encompassing methodology is brought to the entire association striving to greatly improve the situation. Applying the concept of marketing additionally means recognizing what the business sector needs and anticipates from the organization as a consequence of which organizations which applies the concept of marketing need to perform more market research.

As we are eventually fulfilling the consumer, the concept of marketing likewise stresses that the association coordinates all its distinctive departments to offer value to the consumer. This implies that all the departments including Operations, Finance, HR or Marketing ought to have an idea of the center aims of the organization and in addition the objective of the organization.

Holistic marketing is a business marketing philosophy which considers business and all its parts as one single entity and gives a shared purpose to every activity and person related to that business.

A business is just like a human body: it has different parts, but it’s only able to function properly when all those parts work together towards the same objective. Holistic marketing concept enforces this interrelatedness and believes that a broad and integrated perspective is essential to attain best results.

Components of Holistic Marketing

Holistic marketing focuses on marketing strategies designed to market the brand to every person related to it, be it employees, existing customers or potential customers, and communicating it in a unified manner while keeping in mind the societal responsibility of the business.

Relationship Marketing

The relationship marketing aspect of holistic marketing philosophy focuses on a long-term customer relationship and engagement rather than short-term goals like customer acquisition and individual sales. This strategy focuses on targeting marketing activities on existing customers to create a strong, emotional, and everlasting customer connections. These connections further help the business in getting repeated sales, free word of mouth marketing and more leads.

Integrated Marketing

Integrated marketing is an approach to create a unified and seamless experience for the consumer to interact with the brand by designing and directing all communication (advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing, public relations, and digital marketing) in such a way so that all work together as a unified force and centres around a strong and focused brand image.

INTEGRATED MARKETING HOLISTIC MARKETING

Internal Marketing

There are two types of customers to every business: internal and external. While focusing on external customers should be a top priority for every business, internal customers should not be left unnoticed as these internal customers (employees) play a vital role in marketing the brand and products to the external customers of the business.

Internal Marketing treats employees and staffs as internal customers who must be convinced of a company’s vision and worth just as aggressively as external customers. It also involves crafting processes which make them understand their role in the marketing process.

INTERNAL MARKETING HOLISTIC MARKETING-01

Socially responsible marketing

The socially responsible marketing aspect of the holistic marketing concept involves a broader concern of the society at large. It requires the business to follow certain business ethics and focuses on partnerships with philanthropic and community organisations. A business is considered as a part of the society and is required to repay the same.

Socially responsible marketing encourage a positive impact on company’s stakeholders.

Why is Holistic Marketing important?

Brand Building

According to a study, intangible assets made up 84% of the S&P 500 market value in 2015 as compared to 1975 where they made up only 17% of the S&P 500 market value.

The customers’ mindset is changing. They believe in buying a brand and not the product alone. Holistic marketing empowers the company to build a brand among all its stakeholders.

Consistency

Consistency is important to stay in the market for long. Since holistic marketing concept involves marketing the brand to all the stakeholders and through unified communication strategies, consistency is maintained.

Efficiency

When every aspect of the business is taken care of, it becomes easier to reduce (and even eliminate) repetition, become more efficient, and save company’s time and money. The efficiency can also be seen in tapping opportunities and spotting potential threats.

Effectiveness

Holistic marketing philosophy, by focusing on the big picture, creates a synergy that effectively reinforces the brand message, brand image, and positions the brand uniquely in the minds of the customers.

(b) Why and how Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP) concept is used in Marketing? Discuss with an illustration. 

STP marketing is an acronym for Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning – a three-step model that examines your products or services as well as the way you communicate their benefits to specific customer segments.

In a nutshell, the STP marketing model means you segment your market, target select customer segments with marketing campaigns tailored to their preferences, and adjust your positioning according to their desires and expectations.

STP marketing is effective because it focuses on breaking your customer base into smaller groups, allowing you to develop very specific marketing strategies to reach and engage each target audience. 

In fact, 59% of customers say that personalization influences their shopping decision and another 44% said that a personalized shopping experience would influence them to become repeat customers of a brand.

STP marketing represents a shift from product-focused marketing to customer-focused marketing. This shift gives businesses a chance to gain a better understanding of who their ideal customers are and how to reach them. In short, the more personalized and targeted your marketing efforts, the more successful you will be.

Segmentation

The first step of the STP marketing model is the segmentation stage. The main goal here is to create various customer segments based on specific criteria and traits that you choose. The four main types of audience segmentation include:

Geographic segmentation: Diving your audience based on country, region, state, province, etc.

Demographic segmentation: Dividing your audience based on age, gender, education level, occupation, gender, etc.

Behavioral segmentation: Dividing your audience based on how they interact with your business: What they buy, how often they buy, what they browse, etc.

Psychographic segmentation: Dividing your audience based on “who” your potential customer is: Lifestyle, hobbies, activities, opinions, etc.

Targeting

Step two of the STP marketing model is targeting. Your main goal here is to look at the segments you have created before and determine which of those segments are most likely to generate desired conversions (depending on your marketing campaign, those can range from product sales to micro conversions like email signups).

Your ideal segment is one that is actively growing, has high profitability, and has a low cost of acquisition:

Size: Consider how large your segment is as well as its future growth potential.

Profitability: Consider which of your segments are willing to spend the most money on your product or service. Determine the lifetime value of customers in each segment and compare.

Reachability: Consider how easy or difficult it will be for you to reach each segment with your marketing efforts. Consider customer acquisition costs (CACs) for each segment. Higher CAC means lower profitability. 

There are limitless factors to consider when selecting an audience to target – we’ll get into a few more later on – so be sure that everything you consider fits with your target customer and their needs.

Positioning

The final step in this framework is positioning, which allows you to set your product or services apart from the competition in the minds of your target audience. There are a lot of businesses that do something similar to you, so you need to find what it is that makes you stand out. 

All the different factors that you considered in the first two steps should have made it easy for you to identify your niche. There are three positioning factors that can help you gain a competitive edge:

Symbolic positioning: Enhance the self-image, belongingness, or even ego of your customers. The luxury car industry is a great example of this – they serve the same purpose as any other car but they also boost their customer’s self-esteem and image.

Functional positioning: Solve your customer’s problem and provide them with genuine benefits.

Experiential positioning: Focus on the emotional connection that your customers have with your product, service, or brand.  

The most successful product positioning is a combination of all three factors. One way to visualize this is by creating a perceptual map for your industry. Focus on what is important for your customers and see where you and your competitors land on the map.

MMPC-006 - Marketing Management - MBA and MBA (Banking & Finance)

Solutions to Assignments

                            MBA and MBA (Banking & Finance)

                            MMPC-006 - Marketing Management

Question No. 1 

(a) Discuss your understanding of the term marketing with a suitable example. What is the concept of holistic marketing? Explain each of the components and their importance in the exchange process. 

(b) Why and how Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP) concept is used in Marketing? Discuss will an illustration.                             CLICK HERE

Question No. 2 

(a) What is a Product? Discuss the various classifications of products with suitable examples. Elaborate the importance of Branding and Packaging decisions with respect to an FMCG product proposed to be launched in the Indian market. 

(b) Discuss the concept of Product Life Cycle (PLC). Explain the various stage of PLC with a consumer durable example of your choice.                        CLICK HERE

Question No. 3

(a) Distinguish Marketing Communication with Integrated Marketing Communication. How do they differ in terms of their approach in promotional decisions? Explain with an example of any service offering of your choice. What are the major objectives of Sales Promotion? Explain the Planning process involved in sales promotion programme. 

(b) Discuss the role of Distribution function. How does distribution add value to the marketing effort? Explain with an example.                        CLICK HERE

Question No. 4 

(a) What are the characteristics of services that make them unique from products? Explain each of these characteristic with an example. What constitute Digital marketing? Pickup any company of your choice and list down the digital marketing tools used by the firm. 

(b) Explain how Digital Marketing can be used in market penetration and in developing new markets. Discuss with a hypothetical example.                        CLICK HERE