PART– A

1. What are the classical four Ps of marketing?

Elements of the marketing mix are often referred to as the "Four P's":

• Product - It is a tangible object or an intangible service that is mass produced or

manufactured on a large scale with a specific volume of units. Intangible products are service
based like the tourism industry & the hotel industry or codes-based products like cellphone
load and credits. Typical examples of a mass produced tangible object are the motor car and
the disposable razor. A less obvious but ubiquitous mass produced service is a computer
operating system. Packaging also needs to be taken into consideration. Every product is
subject to a life-cycle including a growth phase followed by an eventual period of decline as
the product approaches market saturation. To retain its competitiveness in the market,
product differentiation is required and is one of the strategies to differentiate a product from
its competitors.

• Price – The price is the amount a customer pays for the product. The business may
increase or decrease the price of product if other stores have the same product.
• Place – Place represents the location where a product can be purchased. It is often
referred to as the distribution channel. It can include any physical store as well as virtual
stores on the Internet.
• Promotion - Promotion represents all of the communications that a marketer may use in
the marketplace. Promotion has four distinct elements: advertising, public relations, personal
selling and sales promotion. A certain amount of crossover occurs when promotion uses the
four principal elements together, which is common in film promotion. Advertising covers
any communication that is paid for, from cinema commercials, radio and Internet adverts
through print media and billboards. Public relations are where the communication is not
directly paid for and includes press releases, sponsorship deals, exhibitions, conferences,
seminars or trade fairs and events. Word of mouth is any apparently informal communication
about the product by ordinary individuals, satisfied customers or people specifically engaged
to create word of mouth momentum. Sales staff often plays an important role in word of
mouth and Public Relations (see Product above).

Any organization, before introducing its products or services into the market; conducts a market
survey. The sequence of all 'P's as above is very much important in every stage of product life
cycle Introduction, Growth, Maturity and Decline.
2. What are the relationships between marketing planning, market opportunity and
marketing control?

Marketing Plan - A marketing plan may be part of an overall business plan. Solid marketing
strategy is the foundation of a well-written marketing plan. While a marketing plan contains a list
of actions, a marketing plan without a sound strategic foundation is of little use. Marketing
process can be realized by the marketing mix in step 4. The last step in the process is the
marketing controlling. In most organizations, strategic planning is an annual process, typically
covering just the year ahead. Occasionally, a few organizations may look at a practical plan
which stretches three or more years ahead.

To be most effective, the plan has to be formalized, usually in written form, as a formal
marketing plan. The essence of the process is that it moves from the general to the specific, from
the vision to the mission to the goals to the corporate objectives of the organization, then down to
the individual action plans for each part of the marketing program. It is also an interactive
process, so that the draft output of each stage is checked to see what impact it has on the earlier
stages, and is amended.

Market Opportunity - A market opportunity emerges if a product or a service, based on either

one technology or several, fulfills the need(s) of a (preferably increasing) market better than the
competition and better than substitution-technologies within the given environmental frame (e.g.
society, politics, legislation, etc.). Examples for market opporunity are as follows: (a) A
profitable Big problem with a new or improved solution. As long as you are the first to have the
solution; (b) Newly identified need, want, or demand trend that a firm can exploit because it is
not being addressed by the competitors.

Market Control - The ability of buyers and sellers to exert influence over a market for goods or
services. A marketing control measure used to determine whether the amount spent on
advertising in a given period was excessive; total advertising expenditure is expressed as a
percentage ot total marketing expenditure. Marketing control process consists of establishing
performance standards, evaluating actual performance, and reducing the differences between
desired and actual performance.

3. Discuss the major limitations of grid analysis for use in deciding what future
strategies a firm should follow?

Grid analysis is a technique that can help you take your options into account, factor in the
details and come out with the right choice. Best of all, you will only need a pen and a piece of
paper. If you want to take a vacation but cannot decide where to go, using grid analysis can help
you look at your options and show you why you came to your decision. Use grid analysis by
making a table on a sheet of paper. Write your options as the labels on each row. If you are
deciding where to take your vacation, then you would write a possible destination next to each
row on the table. If you are deciding between Cancun, Orlando, San Francisco and New York
City, for example, then you would make four separate rows. Next, make each factor a label to
each column. For example, the factors in deciding where to go on vacation might be cost,
weather, restaurants and hotels. Now, move down each column and rank the factors from 0 to 5,
based on each option. If New York City has the best restaurants, then it gets a "5." If you dislike
the weather there, then that might get a "0" or a "1." When you are finished, add up each row and
find out which option had the highest score.

It is possible that certain factors are of more importance to you than others. If this is so,
you might have to weight the rankings differently. For example, cost might be twice as important
to you when taking a vacation than restaurants are. If this is so, multiply each ranking in the cost
column by "2." Go through the factors before you start ranking and decide the importance of
each. It will help make the outcome the right one for you. There are few decisions in this life
that you will make completely on your own. Returning to the vacation example, let us say you
have three other people traveling with you. To make sure everyone is happy, each should fill out
her own grid analysis table. Take the final score of each destination from all four people and add
those scores together. Divide that number by four. Do this for each destination and see where the
group as whole would most like to go.

PART– B

1. What are the different statistical techniques used in marketing research?

There is a wide breadth of statistical tools used in market research. Hypothesis testing is
frequently used to determine whether significant differences exist between groups, or between
expected responses and actual responses. Regression analysis is used to identify potential drivers
of customer behavior and satisfaction (cross-sectional analysis) or to forecast future sales (time-
series analysis). Discrete Choice Modeling and Conjoint Analysis are frequently used to
determine optimal pricing and product features. The list of statistical tools used in market
research is endless.

The extent to which a practitioner needs to understand the mathematics behind the tools depends
largely on the level to which he/she works with the data and draws conclusions from it. If the
practitioner is significantly involved with these tasks, then he/she should know how what the
business problem that must be solved; the data available to answer the problem, the nature of the
data, the appropriate statistical tool to use, how the tool works, the theory behind the tool, and
the meaning of the output the tool generates. If the practitioner is simply a decision-maker or
presenting the findings, he/she should at least understand the results of the tool, and why it was
the most appropriate tool to use.
There is a trend in favor of "black box" tools. Mathematical acumen is sorely lacking among
many professionals. And although black box tools can generate highly accurate and actionable
results, there is a great chance they can be greatly misused if the practitioner doesn't understand
the uses and limits of that tool.

2. If you were to design a TV targeted towards the rich in India what strategies would
you consider for developing and marketing it?

A well planned market strategy can be vital to the growth of your business. You make
business decisions every day, mostly relying on your intuition. While you must make decisions,
intuition alone may not provide you with the facts you need to achieve marketing results. A
marketing strategy can help you not only define our business goals, but help us to develop the
activities to achieve them. We can set up our own informal marketing strategy in just a few
simple steps. This strategic plan can help us in making decisions later down the road. Find some
quite time to sit down with a notebook and put our thoughts on paper. It could be helpful to make
a file that we will keep everything that deals with our marketing strategy.

The first step is to describe our company's unique selling proposition, also called our
USP. This is what sets us apart from the rest of the market. What service or product do we have
to offer that is unique? Why would a consumer choose our product or service over others? Why
are you in business? If necessary, look through your business plan. We can even include your
goals in this step.

Now define our target market. Who do we want as a customer? Who do we currently
have as customers? Do a little research into target markets -- are we on track with others in your
industry? Or are we bringing in a target market that isn't usually a customer of your industry? We
may find that you have different targets for different products -- and we may need a different
marketing strategy for each.

Now describe how we will position your products or services. This step may take a little
research. Start with how we are currently positioning your product, then move on to what you
would like to see in the future. Are we happy with your marketing position, or do we want to see
changes? Does the positioning reflect on our goals?

Finally, define our marketing methods. What are we currently using? Do these methods
match your target audiences? For example, the blog reader is not always the same target
audience as the public radio listener. Do we advertise, market via the Internet, use direct
marketing or public relations? It is important that we have a marketing budget in place.
Marketing is an investment that we hope will pay off. If we follow a well planned strategy, we
should see a return on our investment. We should revisit our marketing plan at least once every
quarter. I like to think of it much like a budget -- keep it in front of us and on our mind. We just
can't develop a plan and then file it away -- it won't do us any good. We have to take steps to
realize the goals in our plan. Check to see if we are on target or not. We may need to make
revisions as time passes and your business changes.

3. Why is it important to tie MIS into the marketing plan?

Marketing information system (MIS) is a set of procedures and methods for the regular, planned
collection, analysis and presentation of information for use in marketing decisions’ Consists of
people, equipment, and procedures to gather, sort, analyze, evaluate and distribute needed,
timely, and accurate information to marketing decision makers. Function: Assess, Develop and
Distribute Information.

Marketing Information System Developing Information Information Analysis Internal Data

Marketing Research Marketing Intelligence Distributing Information Assessing Information
Needs Marketing Managers Marketing Environment Marketing Decisions and Communications
Marketing Information System

Obtains Needed Information for Marketing Managers From the Following Sources Internal Data
Collection of Information from Data Sources Within the Company Marketing Intelligence
Collection and Analysis of Publicly Available Information about Competitors and the Marketing
Environment From: Accounting, Sales Force, Marketing, Manufacturing, Sales From:
Employees, Suppliers, Customers, Competitors, Marketing Research Companies Marketing
Research Design, Collection, Analysis, and Reporting of Data about a Situation Functions of a
MIS. MIS is needed in (i) Marketing Environment; (ii) Strategic Planning; (iii) Customer Needs;
(iv) Competition.

PART – C

1. Discuss product analysis pricing with reference to a product of your choice?

Product Analysis Pricing is a method for setting policies for the delegation of pricing
decisions and the control of expense and profitability. The most important element of an
effective market strategy is the ability to maximize and protect the price of the product. Price is
the final measure of customer value and competitive advantage. The firm's pricing objectives
must be identified in order to determine the optimal pricing. Common objectives include the
following:

• Current profit maximization - seeks to maximize current profit, taking into account
revenue and costs. Current profit maximization may not be the best objective if it results
in lower long-term profits.

• Current revenue maximization - seeks to maximize current revenue with no regard to

 profit margins. The underlying objective often is to maximize long-term profits by
increasing market share and lowering costs.

• Maximize quantity - seeks to maximize the number of units sold or the number of
customers served in order to decrease long-term costs as predicted by the experience
curve.

• Maximize profit margin - attempts to maximize the unit profit margin, recognizing that
quantities will be low.

• Quality leadership - use price to signal high quality in an attempt to position the product
as the quality leader.

• Partial cost recovery - an organization that has other revenue sources may seek only
partial cost recovery.

• Survival - in situations such as market decline and overcapacity, the goal may be to select
a price that will cover costs and permit the firm to remain in the market. In this case,
survival may take a priority over profits, so this objective is considered temporary.

• Status quo - the firm may seek price stabilization in order to avoid price wars and
maintain a moderate but stable level of profit.

For new products, the pricing objective often is either to maximize profit margin or to maximize
quantity (market share). To meet these objectives, skim pricing and penetration pricing strategies
often are employed.

To set the specific price level that achieves their pricing objectives, managers may make use of
several pricing methods. These methods include:

• Cost-plus pricing - set the price at the production cost plus a certain profit margin.

• Target return pricing - set the price to achieve a target return-on-investment.

• Value-based pricing - base the price on the effective value to the customer relative to
alternative products.

• Psychological pricing - base the price on factors such as signals of product quality,
popular price points, and what the consumer perceives to be fair.

In addition to setting the price level, managers have the opportunity to design innovative pricing
models that better meet the needs of both the firm and its customers. For example, software
traditionally was purchased as a product in which customers made a one-time payment and then
owned a perpetual license to the software. Many software suppliers have changed their pricing to
a subscription model in which the customer subscribes for a set period of time, such as one year.
Afterwards, the subscription must be renewed or the software no longer will function. This
model offers stability to both the supplier and the customer since it reduces the large swings in
software investment cycles.

2. Define Technological Forecasting. How is it useful to industrial marketers?

Technological Forecasting tools can be used to decide if the market is really ready for an
innovative new product (technology). The tools can be used to see how close an existing
technology may be to the end of its life, identify competing new technologies still in their
infancy, provide insights into possible adoption rates of the new technology (forecast sales), and
for many other purposes. This page identifies a few sources that can be used to learn more about
technology forecasting tools and processes.

Technology Forecasting is one of several ways of "customer validation"- determining if

customers will really buy an innovative new product or not. Prospective customer identification,
interviews, prototypes, field testing, focus groups, test marketing, internet polls and many other
tools can be used in conjunction with Technology Forecasting to gain confidence in the market.
Technology Forecasting should not be used alone to "prove the market", but when used in
conjunction with other tools, a greater understanding of the market can be realized.
Technological Forecasting is just another blade of the market research pocket knife. The more
blades you use, the higher your probability of reaching a correct decision.

Technological forecasting covers a wide swath of analytical activities. In addition to the effort by
businesses to map out commercially viable roadmaps for technological development, the field
includes more social and diffuse measurements as well. For example, governments use national
foresight studies to assess the course and impact of technological change for the purposes of
effecting public policy. This includes what is known as technology assessment (TA) or social
impact analysis, which examines the likely long-term effects of technological development as its
impact spreads throughout society. Meanwhile, the uses of technological forecasting are
influenced by the attitudes of companies, governments, and individuals about the nature and
course of economic competition, the involvement of government in technological development,
and so on.

3. What are the different types of marketing organizations?

The six types of marketing "organizations" (i.e. the marketing people, systems and processes
inside a business and the activities they perform) are as follows:

1. Growth Champion. Marketing drives strategy at the senior level and plays a major role in
generating revenue and leading new product and business development.

2. Senior Counselor. Although still functioning at the strategic level, marketing serves as more of
an advisor to the CEO than a formulator of company-wide strategy.

3. Brand Foreman. Functioning in a more of tactical role, marketing focuses on providing

various services to support the company's brands. This can include developing communications
strategies and creative initiatives, as well as campaign execution.

4. Growth Facilitator. Similar to the growth champion, except here marketing mainly supports
other major functions rather than initiating and leading strategy on its own.

5. Best Practices Advisor. Marketing serves as more of a tactical weapon whose primary purpose
is to help each business unit achieve maximum effectiveness in their marketing efforts.

6. Service Provider. Marketing acts much like an outside vendor, providing advertising,
promotions, public relations and other marketing services to the company's business units and
product teams as needed.

PART– D

1. Explain product hierarchy.

The product hierarchy stretches from basic needs to particular items that satisfy those needs. We
can identify six levels of the product hierarchy using life insurance as an example:

1. Need family – The core need that underlines the existence of a product family.
Example: security

2. Product family – All the product classes that can satisfy a core need with reasonable
effectiveness.
Example: savings and income

3. Product class – A group of products within the product family recognized as having a
certain functional coherence. Also known as product category.
Example: financial instruments.

4. Product line – A group of products within a product class that is closely related because they
perform a similar function, are sold to the same customer groups, are marketed through the same
outlets or channels, or fall within given prices ranges. A product line may be composed of
different brands or a single family brand or individual brand that has been line extended.
Example: life Insurance

5. Product type – A group of items within a product line that share one of several possible
forms of the product. Example: term life insurance

6. Item (also called stock-keeping unit or product variant) – a distinct unit within a brand or
product line distinguishable by size, price, appearance, or some other attribute. Example:
Prudential renewable term life insurance.

Company objectives influence product line length. One objective is to create a product line to
induce up-selling. Thus General Motors would like to move customers up from the Chevrolet to
the Buick to the Cadillac. A different objective is to create a product line that facilitates cross-
selling. Hewlett-Packard sells printers as well as computers. Still another objective is to create a
product that protects against economic ups and downs;

Electrolux offers white goods such as refrigerators, dishwashers, and vacuum cleaners under
different brand names in the discount, middle-market, and premium segments, in part in case the
economy moves up or down. Companies seeking high market share and market growth will
generally carry longer product lines. Companies that emphasize high profitability will carry
shorter lines consisting of carefully chosen items.

Product lines tend to lengthen over time. Excess manufacturing capacity puts pressure on the
product-line manager to develop new items. The sales force and distributors also pressure the
company for a more complete product line to satisfy customers. But as items are added, costs
rise: design and engineering costs, inventory-carrying costs, manufacturing-changeover costs,
order-processing costs, transportation costs, and new-item promotional costs. Eventually,
someone calls a halt.

Top management may stop development because of insufficient funds or manufacturing

capacity. The controller may call for a study of money-losing items. A pattern of product-line
growth followed by massive pruning may repeat itself many times.

2. List and give examples of the three major dimensions of a firms product mix?

The product mix of a company, which is generally defined as the total composite of products
offered by a particular organization, consists of both product lines and individual products. A
product line is a group of products within the product mix that are closely related, either because
they function in a similar manner, are sold to the same customer groups, are marketed through
the same types of outlets, or fall within given price ranges. A product is a distinct unit within the
product line that is distinguishable by size, price, appearance, or some other attribute. For
example, all the courses a university offers constitute its product mix; courses in the marketing
department constitute a product line; and the basic marketing course is a product item. Product
decisions at these three levels are generally of two types: those that involve width (variety) and
depth (assortment) of the product line and those that involve changes in the product mix occur
over time.

The depth (assortment) of the product mix refers to the number of product items offered within
each line; the width (variety) refers to the number of product lines a company carries. It is
extremely important for any organization to have a well-managed product mix. Most
organizations break down managing the product mix, product line, and actual product into three
different levels.

Product-mix decisions are concerned with the combination of product lines offered by the
company. Management of the companies' product mix is the responsibility of top management.
Some basic product-mix decisions include: (1) reviewing the mix of existing product lines; (2)
adding new lines to and deleting existing lines from the product mix; (3) determining the relative
emphasis on new versus existing product lines in the mix; (4) determining the appropriate
emphasis on internal development versus external acquisition in the product mix; (5) gauging the
effects of adding or deleting a product line in relationship to other lines in the product mix; and
(6) forecasting the effects of future external change on the company's product mix.

3. What are the different types of buying behaviors? Explain dissonance-reducing

behavior?

Its a process by which individuals search for, select, purchase, use, and dispose of goods
and services, in satisfaction of their needs and wants. See also consumer decision making.
Purchase decision making pattern that is a complex amalgam of needs and desires, and is
influenced by factors such as the consumer's (1) societal role (parent, spouse, worker, etc.), (2)
social and cultural environment and norms, and (3) aspirations and inhibitions. The four type of
consumer buying behavior are:

• Routine Response/Programmed Behavior--buying low involvement frequently

purchased low cost items; need very little search and decision effort; purchased almost
automatically. Examples include soft drinks, snack foods, milk etc.

• Limited Decision Making--buying product occasionally. When you need to obtain

information about unfamiliar brand in a familiar product category, perhaps. Requires a
moderate amount of time for information gathering. Examples include Clothes--know
product class but not the brand.

• Extensive Decision Making/Complex high involvement, unfamiliar, expensive and/or

infrequently bought products. High degree of economic/performance/psychological risk.
Examples include cars, homes, computers, education. Spend alot of time seeking
information and deciding information from the companies MM; friends and relatives,
store personnel etc. Go through all six stages of the buying process.
 • Impulse buying, no conscious planning.

Dissonance-reducing behavior - Dissonance reducing buying behaviour is when buyer are

highly involved with the purchase of the product, because the purchase is expensive or
infrequent. It involves high involvement of the buyer. It also means spending less money on
unuseful things.