Marketing Management Exam Notes 📝

Marketing is the art and science of winning and retaining customers through creating ,
1. What Marketing Is All About? 🎯 communicating and delivering superior customer values.

Marketing is the process by which companies create value for customers and build strong
customer relationships in order to capture value from customers in return. It's not just about
selling and advertising; it's a holistic approach to understanding and meeting customer needs
profitably.

• Key Idea: Creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for
customers, clients, partners, and society at large.
• Practical Example: Apple Inc. doesn't just sell iPhones; they market an ecosystem of intuitive
technology, design, and a certain lifestyle. Their ads focus on user experience and creativity,
not just specs.
• Advantages: Increased sales, brand loyalty, competitive advantage, market expansion.
• Disadvantages: High initial investment, requires constant adaptation, ethical considerations.

2. Nature of Market/s 🛒 A market is a place or a situation where the buyer and the seller meets to exchange goods and services

A market refers to all actual and potential buyers of a product or service. Markets can be
categorized in various ways:

• Consumer Markets: Individuals and households that buy goods and services for personal
consumption.
o Example: Someone buying groceries for their home.
• Business Markets: Organizations that buy goods and services for use in the production of
other products and services or for resale to others.
o Example: A restaurant buying bulk food supplies.
• Reseller Markets: Intermediaries (wholesalers, retailers) who buy goods and services to
resell them at a profit.
o Example: A supermarket buying products from manufacturers to sell to consumers.
• Government Markets: Government agencies that buy goods and services to produce public
services or transfer them to others who need them.
o Example: A city council buying office supplies.
• International Markets: Buyers in other countries, including consumers, producers, resellers,
and governments.
o Example: A Sri Lankan tea company exporting tea to Germany.

3. Why BBA? 🎓

While "Why BBA?" isn't directly a marketing concept, it relates to how a BBA degree equips
you for a career in marketing and business in general.

• A BBA (Bachelor of Business Administration) degree provides a foundational understanding

of various business functions, including marketing, finance, human resources, operations,
and management.
• Relevance to Marketing: It helps you understand how marketing integrates with other
business departments, leading to a more holistic business perspective. It also develops
analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills crucial for a successful marketing
career.
 • Advantages: Versatile career options, develops analytical and strategic thinking, prepares for
managerial roles.
• Disadvantages: May require further specialization (e.g., MBA or specific marketing
certifications) for advanced roles, generalist degree can sometimes be seen as less
specialized than a dedicated marketing degree.

4. The Role of Marketer (Marketing) 👩‍💼

The marketer's role has evolved from merely selling to understanding, creating,
communicating, and delivering value.

• Key Responsibilities:
o Understanding Customer Needs: Conducting market research.
o Developing Products/Services: Creating offerings that meet identified needs.
o Pricing: Setting appropriate prices.
o Promotion: Communicating value to target customers.
o Place (Distribution): Making products available to customers.
o Building Relationships: Fostering loyalty and satisfaction.
o Adapting to Change: Monitoring market trends and competition.
• Practical Example: A digital marketer for a fashion brand will research current trends,
identify target audiences, design online campaigns (social media, email), analyze campaign
performance, and adapt strategies based on data.
• Advantages: Directly impacts revenue and profitability, dynamic and creative field,
opportunity to shape brands.
• Disadvantages: High pressure to meet targets, requires constant learning and adaptation to
new technologies/trends, ethical dilemmas can arise.

5. Understand Reality 💡

"Understand Reality" in marketing refers to the importance of basing decisions on accurate

data, market insights, and a clear comprehension of the actual market environment, rather
than assumptions or wishful thinking.

• Key Aspects:
o Market Research: Gathering data on customers, competitors, and trends.
o Competitive Analysis: Knowing who your rivals are and what they offer.
o Environmental Scanning: Monitoring political, economic, social, technological,
environmental, and legal (PESTEL) factors.
o Customer Feedback: Actively listening to what customers say and feel.
• Practical Example: A restaurant owner who believes their food is the best but fails to attract
customers needs to "understand reality" by conducting surveys, analyzing competitor
menus, and getting honest feedback on their service and pricing.
• Advantages: Informed decision-making, reduced risk, identification of new opportunities.
• Disadvantages: Can be time-consuming and costly, requires skilled analysis, potential for
data overload.

6. The Customer/Consumer 👤

The customer (or consumer) is the central focus of modern marketing. They are the
individuals or organizations who purchase goods and services.
 • Customer: Generally refers to someone who buys a product or service. This can be an
individual consumer or a business customer.
• Consumer: Specifically refers to the end-user of a product or service, who consumes or uses
it. A customer can be a consumer, but a consumer isn't always the customer (e.g., a parent
buys toys for their child, the parent is the customer, the child is the consumer).
• Importance: Without customers, there is no business. Understanding their needs, behaviors,
and motivations is paramount.
• Practical Example: For a baby food company, the customer is the parent buying the food, but
the consumer is the baby eating it. Marketing messages might target both: convenience and
nutrition for the parent, and taste/texture for the baby (indirectly via appeals to parents).

7. Nature of Customers 🧐

Customers are diverse and their nature can be understood through various characteristics:

• Demographics: Age, gender, income, education, occupation, family size, etc.

• Psychographics: Lifestyle, personality, values, attitudes, interests.
• Geographics: Location, region, urban/rural.
• Behavioral: Usage rate, loyalty status, benefits sought, purchase occasion.
• Rational vs. Emotional: Some purchases are logical (e.g., insurance), while others are driven
by emotion (e.g., luxury goods).
• Informed vs. Uninformed: Customers vary in their knowledge about products and markets.
• Individual vs. Organizational: Different buying processes and motivations.
• Practical Example: A fitness brand might target young adults (demographics) who are health-
conscious and enjoy outdoor activities (psychographics), live in urban areas (geographics),
and regularly use fitness apps (behavioral).

8. Customer's Need 💖

A need is a state of felt deprivation. Needs are fundamental and not created by marketers.
They are basic human requirements.

• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs often applied in marketing:

o Physiological Needs: Food, water, shelter. (e.g., a hunger for a meal)
o Safety Needs: Security, protection. (e.g., a need for home security systems)
o Social Needs: Belonging, love. (e.g., a need for social media connection)
o Esteem Needs: Self-respect, recognition. (e.g., a need for luxury goods)
o Self-Actualization Needs: Self-fulfillment. (e.g., a need for personal development
courses)
• Practical Example: A person needs transportation. This is a fundamental need. A car, bicycle,
or bus all address this need.

9. Customer's Wants 🙏

Wants are needs shaped by culture, individual personality, and marketing efforts. They are
specific manifestations of needs.

• Key Idea: While a person needs food, they want a pizza from a specific restaurant.
• Marketer's Role: Marketers try to align their offerings with specific wants. They identify
needs and then show how their product/service can satisfy those needs in a desirable way.
 • Practical Example: The need for transportation (from above) can manifest as a want for a
Tesla Model 3 (due to environmental consciousness, status, or technological features).
• Advantages: Marketers can differentiate their offerings by appealing to specific wants.
• Disadvantages: Wants can be fickle and change rapidly, requiring constant adaptation.

10. What customer buy? 🛍️

Customers buy products, services, experiences, information, and ideas to satisfy their needs
and wants.

• Products: Tangible goods (e.g., a smartphone, a shirt).

• Services: Intangible activities or benefits (e.g., a haircut, a doctor's consultation).
• Experiences: Beyond products/services, it's about the entire consumption journey (e.g., a
vacation package, a theme park visit).
• Information: Data, knowledge, or insights (e.g., a market research report, a subscription to a
news outlet).
• Ideas: Concepts, causes, or philosophies (e.g., donating to a charity, adopting a healthy
lifestyle).
• Value: Ultimately, customers buy solutions that deliver value to them.
• Practical Example: When you buy a concert ticket, you're not just buying a piece of paper;
you're buying the experience of live music, atmosphere, and connection.

11. Why customer buy? 🤔

Customers buy for a variety of reasons, often a combination of rational and emotional factors.

• To satisfy a Need: Basic human requirements.

• To fulfill a Want: Specific desires shaped by culture and personality.
• Problem-solving: The product offers a solution to a problem (e.g., buying medicine for a
headache).
• Convenience: Makes life easier (e.g., ready-to-eat meals).
• Status/Image: To project a certain image or gain social acceptance (e.g., luxury brands).
• Emotion/Pleasure: For enjoyment or satisfaction (e.g., entertainment, desserts).
• Value for Money: Perceived benefit outweighs the cost.
• Trust/Brand Loyalty: Belief in a brand's quality and reliability.
• Influence: Recommendations from friends, family, or influencers.
• Practical Example: Someone might buy an electric car not just for transportation (need) but
also because they want to be environmentally conscious (value), save on fuel (problem-
solving), and perhaps gain social status (image).

12. Why customers do not buy? ⛔

Understanding why customers don't buy is as crucial as understanding why they do.

• Lack of Need/Want: The product doesn't address a perceived need or want.

• Price: Too expensive, or not perceived as offering good value for money.
• Lack of Awareness: Don't know the product exists.
• Lack of Understanding: Don't understand the benefits or how it works.
• Trust Issues: Don't trust the brand or the salesperson.
• Negative Perceptions: Bad reviews, poor reputation.
 • Better Alternatives: Competitors offer superior products or value.
• Accessibility: Product isn't available where the customer shops.
• Poor Customer Experience: Bad interactions with staff, difficult website.
• Timing: Not the right time for the purchase.
• Practical Example: A potential customer might not buy a new high-tech gadget because they
don't see a clear benefit over their current device (lack of need), it's beyond their budget
(price), or they heard negative reviews about its reliability (negative perceptions).

13. To appraise the importance of information ℹ️

Information is the lifeblood of effective marketing. It allows marketers to make informed

decisions, understand their market, and reduce risk.

• Key Areas:
o Market Research: Understanding customer needs, preferences, and behaviors.
o Competitive Intelligence: Knowing what competitors are doing.
o Market Trends: Identifying emerging opportunities and threats.
o Performance Tracking: Measuring the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.
o Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Personalizing interactions and building
loyalty.
• Practical Example: A clothing retailer uses sales data (information) to identify which styles
are selling best, customer demographics who buy those styles, and then uses this
information to optimize inventory, future designs, and marketing campaigns.
• Advantages: Better decision-making, reduced risk, identification of new opportunities,
enhanced customer satisfaction, competitive advantage.
• Disadvantages: Cost of gathering information, information overload, ensuring data accuracy,
ethical concerns regarding data privacy.

14. To understand real meaning of getting and keeping customer 🤝

"Getting and keeping customers" is the essence of sustainable business success. It moves
beyond transactional selling to relationship building.

• Getting Customers (Acquisition):

o Attracting new leads.
o Converting leads into buyers.
o Requires effective marketing and sales efforts (awareness, interest, desire, action).
• Keeping Customers (Retention):
o Ensuring customer satisfaction.
o Building loyalty through excellent service and value.
o Encouraging repeat purchases and referrals.
o Cost-effective: Keeping an existing customer is generally cheaper than acquiring a
new one.
• Practical Example: A telecommunications company spends money on advertising to "get"
new subscribers (e.g., offering discounts). To "keep" them, they offer good customer service,
loyalty programs, and upgrade options, reducing churn.
• Advantages: Long-term profitability, strong brand reputation, reduced marketing costs,
word-of-mouth referrals.
• Disadvantages: Requires ongoing effort and investment, customer expectations can be high,
difficult to recover from poor service.
15. To review critical issues with information 🚨

While information is vital, there are several critical issues marketers must address:

• Information Overload: Too much data can be overwhelming and make it difficult to extract
actionable insights.
• Data Accuracy and Reliability: Information can be outdated, biased, or simply wrong.
• Cost of Information: Gathering high-quality data can be expensive.
• Timeliness: Information needs to be current to be relevant.
• Accessibility: Is the information readily available and in a usable format?
• Privacy and Ethics: Concerns over collecting and using customer data (e.g., GDPR, data
breaches).
• Interpretation and Bias: Marketers can misinterpret data or allow their own biases to
influence analysis.
• Security: Protecting sensitive customer and company data.
• Practical Example: A company relying on outdated market research data might launch a
product that no longer aligns with current consumer preferences. Or, a data breach could
severely damage customer trust and brand reputation.

16. Products 🎁

A product is anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use, or
consumption that might satisfy a want or need. It includes tangible goods, services,
experiences, persons, places, organizations, ideas, and information.

• Levels of Product (Kotler's Model):

o Core Benefit: The fundamental need or want that consumers are satisfying. (e.g., for
a phone, it's communication).
o Actual Product: The physical characteristics, brand name, features, design, quality
level, packaging. (e.g., the iPhone with its specific design, iOS, camera).
o Augmented Product: Additional services and benefits built around the core and
actual product (e.g., warranty, installation, customer service, delivery).
• Product Classifications:
o Consumer Products: Convenience, shopping, specialty, unsought.
o Industrial Products: Materials and parts, capital items, supplies and services.
• Practical Example: For a car, the core benefit is transportation. The actual product is the car's
model, color, engine size, and brand. The augmented product includes the warranty,
roadside assistance, and financing options.

17. Match products with customer wants ✅

This is a core principle of marketing: creating products that genuinely resonate with what
customers desire.

• Process:
1. Identify Customer Wants: Through market research, feedback, trend analysis.
2. Develop Product Features: Design product features, benefits, and attributes that
directly address those wants.
3. Communicate Value: Clearly articulate how the product satisfies the customer's
specific wants in marketing messages.
 4. Test and Refine: Get feedback and iterate.
• Practical Example: If market research reveals that young urban professionals want
convenient, healthy, and customizable meal options, a food delivery service might develop a
line of "build-your-own" salad bowls with quick delivery times.
• Advantages: Higher customer satisfaction, increased sales, stronger brand loyalty, reduced
returns/complaints.
• Disadvantages: Requires continuous market research, product development can be costly,
risks of misinterpreting wants.

18. Segmenting Market/s 🧩

Market segmentation is the process of dividing a large, heterogeneous market into smaller,
more homogeneous segments that have similar needs, characteristics, or behaviors.

• Bases for Segmentation:

o Geographic: Region, city size, climate.
o Demographic: Age, gender, income, education, family life cycle, occupation.
o Psychographic: Lifestyle, personality, values, social class.
o Behavioral: Occasions, benefits sought, user status, usage rate, loyalty status.
• Why Segment? To focus marketing efforts more effectively, achieve higher customer
satisfaction, and gain a competitive advantage.
• Practical Example: A shoe company might segment its market by:
o Demographic: Age (children, adults, seniors).
o Psychographic: Lifestyle (athletes, fashion-conscious, comfort-seekers).
o Behavioral: Usage (running shoes, casual shoes, formal shoes).
• Advantages: More effective resource allocation, better understanding of customer needs,
stronger marketing messages, improved product development.
• Disadvantages: Can be costly and time-consuming, requires extensive data, over-
segmentation can lead to fragmentation, ethical concerns if segments are too narrow.

19. Targeting Market/s 🎯

Market targeting is the process of evaluating each market segment's attractiveness and
selecting one or more segments to enter.

• Strategies:
o Undifferentiated (Mass) Marketing: Ignoring market segment differences and
targeting the whole market with one offer. (Rare today, e.g., Coca-Cola traditionally).
o Differentiated (Segmented) Marketing: Targeting several market segments and
designing separate offers for each. (e.g., Marriott International with various hotel
brands like Courtyard, Ritz-Carlton).
o Concentrated (Niche) Marketing: Targeting a large share of one or a few segments
or niches. (e.g., a company specializing in luxury electric vehicles).
o Micromarketing (Local or Individual Marketing): Tailoring products and marketing
programs to the needs and wants of specific individuals and local customer
segments. (e.g., local dry cleaner, personalized ads online).
• Practical Example: After segmenting, the shoe company decides to target the "athletes"
segment with its performance-oriented running shoes and the "fashion-conscious" segment
with its trendy sneakers.
• Advantages: Focused efforts, increased efficiency, higher ROI, deeper customer
understanding.
 • Disadvantages: Risk of alienating other segments, can be costly for differentiated strategies,
niche markets can be small.

20. Positioning product/s ✨

Product positioning is the act of designing the company's offering and image to occupy a
distinct and valued place in the target customers' minds relative to competing products.

• Key Idea: It's about how you want customers to perceive your product.
• Positioning Statement: A statement that summarizes the target market, the product's
unique value proposition, and its key differentiators.
o Format: "To (target segment and need) our (brand) is (concept) that (point of
difference)."
• Differentiation Strategies:
o Product Differentiation: Features, performance, style, design, durability.
o Service Differentiation: Speed, convenience, delivery, installation, repair.
o Channel Differentiation: Design of distribution coverage, expertise, performance.
o People Differentiation: Hiring and training better people.
o Image Differentiation: Distinctive brand image, symbols, atmosphere.
• Practical Example: Volvo positions itself as the safest car brand. Their marketing emphasizes
safety features and crash test ratings. Tesla positions itself as innovative, high-tech, and
environmentally friendly.
• Advantages: Creates a clear brand identity, justifies pricing, helps focus marketing messages,
builds competitive advantage.
• Disadvantages: Can be difficult to change established positions, requires consistency,
competitive clutter can make it hard to stand out.

21. Customer Wining and Retention Strategies 🏆

These strategies focus on acquiring new customers and, crucially, keeping existing ones
satisfied and loyal.

• Winning Strategies (Acquisition):

o Strong Value Proposition: Clearly communicate unique benefits.
o Effective Marketing Campaigns: Advertising, digital marketing, PR.
o Referral Programs: Incentivize existing customers to bring in new ones.
o Competitive Pricing/Promotions: Attractive initial offers.
o Excellent Sales Process: Trained salespeople, smooth onboarding.
• Retention Strategies:
o Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Personalize interactions, track
preferences.
o Loyalty Programs: Rewards for repeat purchases (points, discounts, exclusive
access).
o Exceptional Customer Service: Prompt, helpful, empathetic support.
o Personalization: Tailoring offers and communications.
o Gathering Feedback: Actively soliciting and acting on customer feedback.
o Post-Purchase Communication: Follow-ups, tips, value-added content.
o Community Building: Creating a sense of belonging among customers.
• Practical Example: A coffee shop might "win" new customers with a "buy one get one free"
offer. To "retain" them, they introduce a loyalty card for a free coffee after X purchases,
remember their regular order, and offer special promotions via their app.
 • Advantages: Long-term profitability, lower acquisition costs, increased customer lifetime
value, positive word-of-mouth.
• Disadvantages: Requires consistent effort, investment in technology/staff, can be challenging
to differentiate, managing customer complaints.

22. Describe Products/Services/Value 🏷️

This topic reiterates the core offerings and the ultimate benefit they provide to the customer.

• Products: Tangible goods (e.g., a laptop, a bicycle). Possess physical attributes.

• Services: Intangible activities or performances (e.g., a haircut, legal advice, banking).
Characterized by:
o Intangibility: Cannot be seen, tasted, felt, heard, or smelled before purchase.
o Inseparability: Produced and consumed simultaneously.
o Variability: Quality depends on who provides them, when, where, and how.
o Perishability: Cannot be stored for later sale or use.
• Value: The customer's perception of the benefits received compared to the costs incurred.
It's the ultimate goal.
o Customer Perceived Value: Benefits - Costs (monetary, time, effort, psychological).
o Value Proposition: The full positioning of a brand – the full mix of benefits on which
it is positioned.
• Practical Example: A premium airline offers a "service" of air travel. Its "value" proposition
might include comfort, punctuality, excellent in-flight service, and a seamless booking
experience, justifying a higher price compared to a budget airline.

23. Review New Product Development process 🚀

The New Product Development (NPD) process is a systematic approach to creating and
bringing new products to market.

• Steps (typically 8):

1. Idea Generation: Systematic search for new product ideas (internal, external,
crowdsourcing).
2. Idea Screening: Filtering ideas to spot good ones and drop poor ones as early as
possible.
3. Concept Development and Testing: Developing a detailed version of the new
product idea (concept) and testing it with target consumers.
4. Marketing Strategy Development: Designing an initial marketing strategy for the
new product.
5. Business Analysis: A review of the sales, costs, and profit projections for a new
product to find out whether they satisfy the company’s objectives.
6. Product Development: Developing the product concept into a physical product.
7. Test Marketing: The product and its proposed marketing program are tested in
realistic market settings.
8. Commercialization: Introducing the new product into the market.
• Practical Example: A food company wanting to launch a new line of healthy snacks would
first brainstorm ideas, then screen them for feasibility, develop a concept (e.g., "protein-
packed granola bars"), test the concept with consumers, analyze potential profits, create
prototypes, test them in a few cities, and finally launch nationwide.
• Advantages: Increased chances of success, reduced risk of failure, structured approach,
faster time to market.
 • Disadvantages: Can be very time-consuming and expensive, high failure rate even with a
process, requires cross-functional collaboration.

24. Develop New product ideas and strategies 💡

This involves the creative and strategic thinking needed in the early stages of NPD.

• Idea Generation Techniques:

o Internal: Employee suggestions, R&D, sales force.
o External: Customers (surveys, feedback), competitors, distributors, suppliers,
consultants, crowdsourcing.
o Brainstorming: Free-flowing idea sessions.
o Synectics: Using analogies and metaphors.
• New Product Strategies:
o Market Penetration: Existing product, existing market (e.g., promoting current
products more aggressively).
o Market Development: Existing product, new market (e.g., selling existing products to
new geographic segments).
o Product Development: New product, existing market (e.g., introducing a new flavor
of an existing drink).
o Diversification: New product, new market (e.g., a car company launching a line of
electric bicycles).
• Practical Example: A sports apparel company might generate new product ideas by
observing athletes' training needs (e.g., better sweat-wicking fabric for runners) and then
develop a "product development" strategy to introduce a new line of advanced running gear
for their existing customer base.
• Advantages: Drives innovation, creates competitive advantage, fosters growth.
• Disadvantages: High risk, high failure rate, requires significant investment in R&D.

25. Appraise buyer's level of involvement 🧐

Buyer involvement refers to the degree of importance and perceived risk a consumer attaches
to a purchase. It influences how much effort a consumer puts into the buying process.

• High Involvement:
o Characteristics: Significant financial risk, social risk, psychological risk; complex
decision-making; extensive information search; often expensive, infrequent
purchases.
o Examples: Buying a house, a car, higher education, expensive jewelry.
• Low Involvement:
o Characteristics: Little perceived risk; simple decision-making; minimal information
search; often inexpensive, frequently purchased items.
o Examples: Buying groceries, a pen, a bottle of water.
• Marketer's Implication:
o High Involvement: Provide detailed information, build trust, use persuasive
communication, educate consumers, focus on features and benefits.
o Low Involvement: Focus on brand awareness, convenient distribution, attractive
packaging, promotions, simple messaging.
• Practical Example: Marketing a luxury watch (high involvement) would involve showcasing
craftsmanship, heritage, and exclusivity, often through high-end magazines and personalized
 sales. Marketing a packet of chewing gum (low involvement) would focus on eye-level
placement in stores, bright packaging, and perhaps celebrity endorsements.

26. Describe consumer problem-solving processes 🧠

Consumers engage in problem-solving when making purchase decisions, varying in

complexity based on involvement.

• Extended Problem Solving (High Involvement):

1. Need Recognition: Realizing a significant problem or need.
2. Information Search: Extensive internal (memory) and external (friends, reviews,
internet) search.
3. Evaluation of Alternatives: Comparing brands based on various attributes.
4. Purchase Decision: Choosing the best alternative.
5. Post-Purchase Behavior: Satisfaction/dissatisfaction, cognitive dissonance.
• Limited Problem Solving (Moderate Involvement):
1. Some information search and evaluation, but not as extensive. Often for products
bought occasionally or with some prior experience.
• Routine Response Behavior (Low Involvement):
1. Little to no conscious effort; automatic purchase based on habit or brand loyalty.
• Practical Example:
1. Extended: Buying a new laptop. You research specs, read reviews, compare brands,
visit stores.
2. Limited: Buying a new brand of cereal. You might quickly compare a few options on
the shelf.
3. Routine: Buying your usual brand of toothpaste. You pick it up without thinking.

27. Examine consumer's buying decision process 📊

This is a detailed look at the stages a consumer goes through when making a purchase. It
largely mirrors the extended problem-solving process.

1. Need Recognition: The buyer recognizes a problem or need. (Internal stimuli: hunger;
External stimuli: advertisement).
2. Information Search: The buyer searches for information. (Sources: Personal (family, friends),
Commercial (ads, websites), Public (mass media, consumer rating orgs), Experiential
(handling, using the product)).
3. Evaluation of Alternatives: The consumer uses information to evaluate alternative brands in
the choice set. (Based on attributes, benefits sought, attitudes).
4. Purchase Decision: The buyer's decision about which brand to purchase. (Influenced by
attitudes of others and unexpected situational factors).
5. Post-Purchase Behavior: Consumers take further action after purchase, based on their
satisfaction or dissatisfaction. (Cognitive dissonance can occur).

• Practical Example: Buying a new smartphone:

1. Need: Current phone is slow, battery life is poor.
2. Information Search: Read tech reviews, ask friends, visit phone stores, compare
plans online.
3. Evaluation: Compare iPhone vs. Android, camera quality, battery life, price,
ecosystem.
 4. Purchase: Decide on a specific model and buy it from a store.
5. Post-Purchase: Enjoy the new phone, tell friends how great it is (satisfaction), or
regret the purchase if it doesn't meet expectations (dissonance).

28. Realize influences of consumer buying process 🌐

Various factors can influence a consumer's buying decisions.

• Cultural Factors:
o Culture: Basic values, perceptions, wants, and behaviors learned from family and
society. (e.g., preference for traditional attire).
o Subculture: Groups with shared value systems based on common life experiences
and situations (e.g., religious groups, ethnic groups).
o Social Class: Relatively permanent and ordered divisions whose members share
similar values, interests, and behaviors.
• Social Factors:
o Reference Groups: Groups that form a comparison or reference in forming attitudes
or behavior (membership, aspirational, disassociative).
o Family: The most important consumer buying organization in society.
o Roles and Status: A person's position in each group.
• Personal Factors:
o Age and Life-Cycle Stage: Changes in buying patterns over a lifetime.
o Occupation: Affects goods and services bought.
o Economic Situation: Income, savings, interest rates.
o Lifestyle: A person's pattern of living as expressed in his or her psychographics.
o Personality and Self-Concept: Unique psychological characteristics.
• Psychological Factors:
o Motivation: A need that is sufficiently pressing to direct a person to seek
satisfaction.
o Perception: Process by which people select, organize, and interpret information to
form a meaningful picture of the world.
o Learning: Changes in an individual's behavior arising from experience.
o Beliefs and Attitudes: A descriptive thought and a person's consistently favorable or
unfavorable evaluations, feelings, and tendencies toward an object or idea.
• Practical Example: A young professional (age, occupation) from a collectivist culture (culture)
whose friends (reference group) highly value sustainable products (lifestyle) will likely be
more inclined to buy ethically sourced, environmentally friendly goods.

29. Review Value Chain and the Delivery Network 🔗

These concepts describe how a company creates value for customers and how that value is
delivered.

• Value Chain (Porter's Model): A set of activities that a firm operating in a specific industry
performs in order to deliver a valuable product or service to the market.
o Primary Activities: Inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and
sales, service.
o Support Activities: Firm infrastructure, human resource management, technology
development, procurement.
o Goal: To analyze internal activities to identify where value is added and how cost
efficiencies can be achieved.
 • Delivery Network (or Value Delivery Network/Supply Chain): The network made up of the
company, its suppliers, its distributors, and ultimately its customers who partner with each
other to improve the performance of the entire system.
o Focus: External relationships and collaboration to deliver superior customer value. It
goes beyond the individual firm's value chain.
• Practical Example:
o Value Chain (Internal): A clothing manufacturer's value chain includes designing
clothes, sourcing raw materials, manufacturing garments, marketing them, and
providing after-sales service.
o Delivery Network (External): This manufacturer's delivery network includes the
fabric suppliers, the shipping companies that bring fabrics to the factory, the
warehouses that store finished goods, the logistics firms that transport clothes to
retailers, and the retailers themselves who sell to the end customer. All collaborate
to deliver value.

30. Appraise the Importance of Marketing Channels 🛣️

Marketing channels (or distribution channels) are crucial because they ensure products and
services reach the target customers effectively and efficiently.

• Definition: A set of interdependent organizations that help make a product or service

available for use or consumption by the consumer or business user.
• Functions of Channels:
o Information: Gathering and distributing marketing research and intelligence.
o Promotion: Developing and spreading persuasive communications about an offer.
o Contact: Finding and communicating with prospective buyers.
o Matching: Shaping and fitting the offer to the buyer’s needs.
o Negotiation: Reaching an agreement on price and other terms.
o Physical Distribution: Transporting and storing goods.
o Financing: Acquiring and using funds to cover the costs of the channel work.
o Risk Taking: Assuming the risks of carrying out the channel work.
• Importance:
o Customer Access: Making products available where and when customers want them.
o Efficiency: Reducing the number of transactions needed to reach the market.
o Cost Savings: Optimizing logistics and inventory.
o Value Creation: Adding value through specialized services (e.g., installation, credit).
o Competitive Advantage: A well-managed channel can be a strong differentiator.
• Practical Example: A software company could sell directly online (short channel) or use a
network of resellers, IT consultants, and system integrators (longer channel) to reach
different business customers. The choice depends on customer needs, product complexity,
and market reach goals.
• Advantages: Increased market reach, specialized expertise, cost savings, improved customer
service.
• Disadvantages: Loss of control, potential for channel conflict, reliance on partners,
complexity of management.

31. Analyze Channel Behavior and Organization 🔄

Understanding how channels operate and are structured is vital for effective channel
management.
 • Channel Behavior:
o Each channel member is dependent on others.
o Channel Conflict: Disagreements among channel members on goals, roles, and
rewards.
▪ Horizontal Conflict: Among firms at the same level (e.g., two retailers selling
the same brand).
▪ Vertical Conflict: Between different levels of the same channel (e.g.,
manufacturer vs. retailer).
o Healthy conflict can lead to innovation, but too much is detrimental.
• Channel Organization:
o Conventional Distribution Channel: One or more independent producers,
wholesalers, and retailers. Each is a separate business seeking to maximize its own
profits.
o Vertical Marketing System (VMS): A channel structure in which producers,
wholesalers, and retailers act as a unified system. One channel member owns the
others, has contracts with them, or has so much power that they all cooperate.
▪ Corporate VMS: Combines successive stages of production and distribution
under single ownership. (e.g., Zara owning its manufacturing and retail
stores).
▪ Contractual VMS: Independent firms at different levels join together through
contracts. (e.g., Franchise organizations like McDonald's).
▪ Administered VMS: Coordinates successive stages of production and
distribution through the size and power of one of the parties. (e.g.,
Walmart's influence over suppliers).
o Horizontal Marketing System: Two or more companies at one level join together to
follow a new marketing opportunity. (e.g., airline code-sharing agreements).
o Multichannel Distribution System (Hybrid): A single firm sets up two or more
marketing channels to reach one or more customer segments. (e.g., selling online,
through retailers, and via direct sales force).
• Practical Example: A shoe brand might experience horizontal conflict if two of its authorized
retailers in the same city start a price war. To manage this, the brand might implement a
Vertical Marketing System (e.g., administer prices or open its own stores) to gain more
control.

32. Evaluate Channel Management Decisions 🔍

Effective management of marketing channels involves strategic decisions at various stages.

• Designing Marketing Channels:

o Analyzing Customer Needs: What kind of service output do customers desire?
o Setting Channel Objectives: What market segments to serve, level of customer
service desired?
o Identifying Major Alternatives: Types of intermediaries, number of intermediaries
(intensive, selective, exclusive), responsibilities of each channel member.
o Evaluating Major Alternatives: Economic criteria, control issues, adaptability.
• Managing Marketing Channels:
o Selecting Channel Members: Criteria for choosing partners.
o Motivating Channel Members: Training, support, incentives.
o Evaluating Channel Members: Performance metrics.
o Managing Channel Conflict: Developing conflict resolution mechanisms.
 • Practical Example: A luxury watch brand would likely choose an exclusive distribution
strategy, selling only through a few high-end authorized dealers to maintain brand image and
control pricing. This is a channel design decision. To manage these channels, they would
provide extensive sales training and marketing support to their dealers.
• Advantages: Optimized channel structure, improved channel performance, reduced conflict,
stronger partner relationships.
• Disadvantages: Complex and time-consuming, requires ongoing monitoring, managing
diverse channel members can be challenging.

33. Design Marketing Logistics and Value Chain for 3-Winning 🏆🏆🏆

This combines the internal value creation with the external network, aiming for a "triple win"
scenario (often interpreted as win for customer, company, and channel partners, or customer,
company, and society).

• Marketing Logistics (Physical Distribution): Planning, implementing, and controlling the

physical flow of materials, final goods, and related information from points of origin to points
of consumption to meet customer requirements at a profit.
o Key Functions: Warehousing, inventory management, transportation, logistics
information management.
• Value Chain: As discussed, internal activities creating value.
• Designing for 3-Winning (Customer, Company, Channel Partners/Society):
o Customer Win: Efficient logistics lead to faster delivery, lower costs, and better
product availability, increasing customer satisfaction.
o Company Win: Optimized logistics reduce operational costs, improve efficiency, and
enhance profitability. Effective value chain management leads to better resource
utilization and competitive advantage.
o Channel Partner Win: Smooth logistics and clear channel agreements reduce friction
for partners, ensure timely stock, and allow them to serve customers better, leading
to stronger relationships and mutual profitability.
o Society Win (if 3rd W is Society): Sustainable logistics (e.g., optimized routes, green
warehousing) and ethical value chain practices contribute to social responsibility.
• Practical Example: An e-commerce giant designs its logistics network (warehouses, delivery
fleet, inventory systems) to ensure fast, reliable delivery (Customer Win). This efficient
system also reduces their operational costs (Company Win). They might also partner with
local delivery services, providing them with business and efficient processes (Channel
Partner Win).
• Advantages: Holistic approach to value creation, competitive advantage, improved efficiency,
stronger relationships, potential for sustainability benefits.
• Disadvantages: Highly complex to integrate, requires significant investment in technology
and infrastructure, coordinating multiple entities.

34. To appraise customer satisfaction and org. success 👍

Customer satisfaction is a cornerstone of organizational success.

• Customer Satisfaction: The extent to which a product's perceived performance matches a

buyer's expectations.
o If performance < expectations = dissatisfaction.
o If performance = expectations = satisfaction.
o If performance > expectations = delight.
 • Link to Organizational Success:
o Increased Loyalty and Retention: Satisfied customers are more likely to return.
o Positive Word-of-Mouth: Delighted customers become brand advocates.
o Reduced Marketing Costs: Less need to constantly acquire new customers.
o Higher Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Satisfied customers spend more over time.
o Competitive Advantage: Differentiates the company.
o Improved Brand Reputation: Builds trust and credibility.
o Employee Morale: Happy customers often mean happier employees.
• Practical Example: Southwest Airlines consistently ranks high in customer satisfaction due to
its friendly staff, flexible policies, and on-time performance. This leads to high customer
loyalty, repeat business, and strong financial results, demonstrating organizational success.
• Advantages: Sustainable growth, strong brand equity, resilient customer base.
• Disadvantages: Measuring satisfaction can be challenging, high customer expectations can
be difficult to consistently meet, requires continuous effort.

35. To find out the ways to make customers more satisfied 😊

Strategies focus on consistently meeting and exceeding customer expectations.

• Understanding Expectations: Conduct surveys, listen to feedback, analyze reviews.

• Delivering Quality: Ensure products/services are high quality and consistent.
• Excellent Customer Service: Provide prompt, helpful, and empathetic support.
• Personalization: Tailor experiences and offers.
• Proactive Problem Solving: Anticipate and address issues before they escalate.
• Effective Communication: Keep customers informed.
• Asking for and Acting on Feedback: Show customers their opinions matter.
• Rewards and Recognition: Loyalty programs, exclusive offers.
• Employee Training: Empower staff to resolve issues and deliver great service.
• Surprise and Delight: Exceed expectations unexpectedly (e.g., a handwritten thank you
note).
• Practical Example: A hotel chain makes customers more satisfied by offering personalized
check-ins, remembering guest preferences (e.g., favorite pillow type), and quickly resolving
any issues, often going above and beyond (e.g., a complimentary upgrade for a minor
inconvenience).

36. To examine the bottle-necks 🚧

Bottlenecks are points in a process that limit its overall throughput or efficiency. In marketing
and business, they can hinder customer satisfaction and organizational success.

• Common Bottlenecks:
o Production/Supply Chain: Slow manufacturing, inadequate inventory, inefficient
logistics.
o Customer Service: Long wait times, untrained staff, complex complaint resolution.
o Sales Process: Slow lead qualification, cumbersome sales pitches, difficult checkout.
o Information Flow: Siloed data, lack of access to customer insights.
o Decision-Making: Bureaucracy, lack of clear authority.
o Technology: Outdated systems, poor integration.
o Human Resources: Lack of skilled staff, high employee turnover.
• Impact: Reduced efficiency, increased costs, customer dissatisfaction, missed opportunities,
slower innovation.
 • Identification: Process mapping, data analysis, customer journey mapping, employee
feedback.
• Practical Example: An online retailer might identify a bottleneck in their shipping process if
too many orders are delayed due to a lack of staff in the packing department. Or, a complex
return policy could be a bottleneck in post-purchase customer satisfaction.
• Advantages (of examining them): Improved efficiency, cost reduction, enhanced customer
experience, faster time to market.
• Disadvantages (of having them): Limits growth, frustrates customers and employees,
reduces profitability.

37. To appraise CI (Competitive Intelligence) 🕵️‍♀️

Competitive Intelligence (CI) is the systematic collection and analysis of publicly available
information about competitors and the market environment to inform business decision-
making.

• Purpose: To understand competitors' strategies, strengths, and weaknesses, anticipate their

moves, identify market opportunities and threats, and gain a competitive advantage.
• Sources of CI:
o Public Information: Company annual reports, press releases, news articles, financial
statements, job postings.
o Online Sources: Competitor websites, social media, industry forums, online reviews.
o Trade Shows and Conferences: Observing competitor booths, presentations.
o Customer Feedback: What customers say about competitors.
o Employees: Information from former employees (ethically).
• Ethical Considerations: CI must be conducted ethically and legally. Espionage and illegal
information gathering are strictly prohibited.
• Practical Example: A new software startup would conduct CI by analyzing competitor
websites, reading reviews of their products, examining their pricing models, and monitoring
their social media activity to understand their market positioning and identify potential gaps
for their own product.
• Advantages: Informed strategic planning, proactive decision-making, identification of new
opportunities, reduced risk, stronger competitive positioning.
• Disadvantages: Can be time-consuming and resource-intensive, risk of information overload,
ensuring data accuracy, ethical boundary issues, competitive landscape constantly changes.

38. To examine and achieve Operational Excellence 🚀

Operational excellence refers to achieving superior performance in business processes and

operations to consistently deliver value to customers and gain a competitive edge.

• Key Principles:
o Efficiency: Doing things right, minimizing waste (time, resources, effort).
o Effectiveness: Doing the right things, achieving desired outcomes.
o Continuous Improvement: Ongoing efforts to improve products, services, or
processes. (e.g., Lean, Six Sigma methodologies).
o Customer Focus: All operations geared towards delivering customer value.
o Standardization: Consistent processes to ensure quality and predictability.
o Technology Adoption: Leveraging automation and data analytics.
• How it Contributes to Marketing:
 o Faster time to market for new products.
o Consistent product quality.
o Reliable delivery and customer service.
o Lower costs, allowing for competitive pricing or higher margins.
o Enhanced customer satisfaction and brand reputation.
• Practical Example: Amazon's operational excellence is evident in its highly efficient
warehousing, fulfillment centers, and sophisticated logistics network, which enable rapid
delivery and a seamless customer experience, directly supporting its marketing promise of
convenience.
• Advantages: Reduced costs, improved quality, higher customer satisfaction, competitive
advantage, increased profitability.
• Disadvantages: Requires significant investment, cultural change within the organization, can
be complex to implement and maintain, potential for rigidity if processes become too
entrenched.

39. To Apply CI (Continuous Improvement) 📈

This refers to the ongoing effort to improve products, services, or processes. It's a
fundamental aspect of operational excellence and a customer-centric approach.

• Methodologies:
o Kaizen: A Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement involving all employees.
o Lean: Focuses on eliminating waste in all forms.
o Six Sigma: A data-driven methodology for eliminating defects and improving quality.
o PDCA Cycle (Plan-Do-Check-Act): A cyclical process for continuous improvement.
• Relevance to Marketing:
o Product Improvement: Constantly refining products based on customer feedback
and market trends.
o Marketing Campaign Optimization: A/B testing, analyzing campaign performance,
and refining strategies.
o Customer Service Enhancement: Continuously improving service delivery.
o Process Efficiency: Streamlining marketing workflows.
• Practical Example: A software company regularly releases updates to its product, adding new
features and fixing bugs based on user feedback and changing technological landscapes. This
is applying continuous improvement to its product offering. Similarly, an email marketer
analyzes open rates and click-through rates, and then "continuously improves" their email
content and subject lines.
• Advantages: Enhanced product/service quality, increased efficiency, higher customer
satisfaction, fosters innovation, better adaptation to market changes.
• Disadvantages: Requires commitment and resources, can be a slow process, resistance to
change from employees, need for accurate data collection and analysis.

40. To appraise companywide strategic planning and its steps. 🗺️

Strategic planning is the process of developing and maintaining a strategic fit between the
organization's goals and capabilities and its changing marketing opportunities. It sets the
stage for the rest of the planning in the firm.

• Steps in Strategic Planning (at corporate level):

 1. Defining the Company Mission: A statement of the organization's purpose—what it
wants to accomplish in the larger environment.
2. Setting Company Objectives and Goals: Translating the mission into detailed
supporting objectives for each level of management.
3. Designing the Business Portfolio: Analyzing the current business portfolio and
shaping the future portfolio (e.g., using BCG Matrix).
4. Planning Marketing and Other Functional Strategies: Partnering with other
departments and developing specific marketing strategies for individual business
units.
• Importance: Provides direction, aligns resources, adapts to the environment, fosters long-
term growth.
• Practical Example: Google's mission "to organize the world's information and make it
universally accessible and useful" guides its diverse portfolio of products (Search, Android,
YouTube) and its strategic decisions regarding data management and AI.

41. To learn how to design business portfolios and develop strategies: growth/downsizing. 💼

The business portfolio is the collection of businesses and products that make up the company.
Designing it involves analyzing current assets and shaping the future.

• Portfolio Analysis: Evaluating the products and businesses that make up the company.
o BCG Matrix (Growth-Share Matrix): A common tool classifying SBUs (Strategic
Business Units) based on market growth rate and relative market share.
▪ Stars: High-growth, high-share (need heavy investment, will grow into Cash
Cows).
▪ Cash Cows: Low-growth, high-share (established, successful, generate cash).
▪ Question Marks (Problem Children): High-growth, low-share (require much
cash to hold share, decision to build into Stars or phase out).
▪ Dogs: Low-growth, low-share (generate enough cash to maintain
themselves, but not large source of cash).
• Growth Strategies (Ansoff Matrix):
o Market Penetration: Increase sales of existing products to existing market segments.
o Market Development: Identify and develop new market segments for existing
company products.
o Product Development: Offer modified or new products to existing market segments.
o Diversification: Start or buy businesses outside its current products and markets.
• Downsizing Strategy: Reducing the business portfolio by eliminating products or business
units that are not profitable or no longer fit the company’s overall strategy.
• Practical Example: A diversified conglomerate might use the BCG matrix to see that its textile
division is a "Dog" (low growth, low share) and its software division is a "Star." It might then
decide to downsize the textile division and invest more in the software division for growth.
• Advantages: Clear allocation of resources, identifies growth opportunities, helps divest
unprofitable ventures, provides a framework for strategic decisions.
• Disadvantages: Simplifies complex realities, can be difficult to measure market share/growth
accurately, can lead to short-term focus, difficult to implement downsizing without negative
impact.
42. To realize marketing's role in strategic planning and how to partner for triple wining (3Ws)
🤝🤝🤝

Marketing plays a crucial, integrative role in strategic planning.

• Marketing's Role:
o Provides Customer Insights: Informs the mission and objectives by understanding
market needs.
o Identifies Opportunities: Through market research and environmental scanning.
o Develops Growth Strategies: Shapes the specific strategies for market penetration,
development, product development, and diversification.
o Executes Strategy: Develops detailed marketing plans for each SBU.
o Drives Customer Value: Ensures all strategic decisions are customer-centric.
• Partnering for Triple Winning (3Ws): This reinforces the idea of creating value for all
stakeholders.
o Customer Win: Delivering superior value and satisfaction.
o Company Win: Achieving profitability, growth, and sustainable competitive
advantage.
o Partners/Society Win: Collaborating effectively with channel partners for mutual
benefit, and considering ethical and social responsibility aspects (e.g., sustainable
sourcing, fair labor practices).
• Practical Example: A pharmaceutical company's strategic plan to enter a new market for a
specific drug relies heavily on marketing research to identify the target patient population
(customer win), determine the most effective distribution channels (partner win), and ensure
the pricing strategy aligns with market dynamics and company profitability (company win).
The marketing department drives this research and develops the execution plan.

43. To describe the marketing process and the forces that influence it. ⚙️

The marketing process is the sequence of steps a company takes to engage customers, build
strong customer relationships, and create customer value in order to capture value from
customers in return.

• Marketing Process Steps:

1. Understand the Marketplace and Customer Needs and Wants: Conduct market
research, analyze customer data.
2. Design a Customer-Driven Marketing Strategy: Segment, target, differentiate, and
position.
3. Construct an Integrated Marketing Program that Delivers Superior Value: Develop
the marketing mix (4Ps: Product, Price, Place, Promotion).
4. Build Profitable Relationships and Create Customer Delight: CRM, customer
satisfaction, loyalty.
5. Capture Value from Customers to Create Profits and Customer Equity: Sales, market
share, customer lifetime value.
• Forces that Influence it (Marketing Environment):
1. Microenvironment (Internal & Close External):
▪ The Company: Other departments (finance, R&D, operations, HR).
▪ Suppliers: Provide resources.
▪ Marketing Intermediaries: Resellers, physical distribution firms, marketing
service agencies, financial intermediaries.
 ▪ Competitors: Rivals in the marketplace.
▪ Publics: Any group that has an actual or potential interest in or impact on an
organization’s ability to achieve its objectives (e.g., financial, media,
government, local, general, internal).
▪ Customers: Consumer markets, business markets, reseller markets,
government markets, international markets.
2. Macroenvironment (Broader Societal Forces - PESTEL):
▪ Demographic: Population size, density, age, gender, race, occupation.
▪ Economic: Factors affecting consumer purchasing power and spending
patterns.
▪ Natural: Physical environment and natural resources.
▪ Technological: New technologies, new products, and market opportunities.
▪ Political: Laws, government agencies, pressure groups.
▪ Cultural: Institutions and other forces that affect society's basic values,
perceptions, preferences, and behaviors.
• Practical Example: A new beverage company follows this process: they identify a consumer
need for healthier drinks (understand marketplace), target health-conscious millennials
(strategy), create a new organic juice (product), price it competitively (price), distribute it via
supermarkets and online (place), and promote it through social media (promotion). All this is
influenced by factors like health trends (cultural), economic conditions (economic), and
competition from other beverage brands.

44. To develop skills: designing effective marketing plan. ✍️

A marketing plan is a comprehensive document outlining a company's marketing efforts for a

specified period, typically a year.

• Key Components of a Marketing Plan:

1. Executive Summary: Brief overview of the plan.
2. Current Marketing Situation: Market description, product review, competitive
review, distribution review.
3. SWOT Analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.
4. Objectives and Issues: Specific marketing objectives (e.g., increase market share by
X%).
5. Marketing Strategy: Target market, positioning, marketing mix (4Ps).
6. Action Programs: Specific activities, timelines, responsibilities.
7. Budgets: Financial projections, costs.
8. Controls: How to monitor and evaluate progress.
• Skills Required:
1. Analytical Skills: SWOT, market analysis.
2. Strategic Thinking: Developing positioning, setting objectives.
3. Creativity: Designing marketing programs.
4. Communication Skills: Writing clearly and persuasively.
5. Financial Literacy: Budgeting, ROI.
6. Project Management: Implementing action programs.
• Practical Example: A small bakery developing a marketing plan for the upcoming holiday
season would include an executive summary, describe their current customer base and local
competitors, identify strengths (unique recipes) and weaknesses (limited delivery), set an
objective (increase holiday sales by 20%), outline a strategy (promote special holiday cakes
through local ads and social media), detail action programs (create ads, launch social media
contest), budget for ingredients and advertising, and set controls (track sales daily).
45. Review service economy 🌐

A service economy is one where the dominant proportion of GDP comes from the service
sector, rather than manufacturing or agriculture. Most developed economies are now service
economies.

• Characteristics of Services (4 Is / IHIP):

o Intangibility: Services cannot be seen, tasted, felt, heard, or smelled before
purchase.
o Inseparability: Services are produced and consumed at the same time and cannot be
separated from their providers.
o Variability: The quality of services may vary greatly depending on who provides
them and when, where, and how.
o Perishability: Services cannot be stored for later sale or use.
• Implications for Marketing: Services require a different approach to marketing than tangible
products.
• Practical Example: Healthcare, education, tourism, finance, and telecommunications are all
major components of a service economy. When you go to a restaurant, you're not just
buying food (product); you're buying the "service" of cooking, serving, and the dining
experience.

46. Classify Broad Categories of Services 분류

Services can be broadly categorized in several ways.

• Based on Tangibility (though all are intangible to some degree):

o People-based Services: Require direct interaction with a person (e.g., haircut,
massage, consulting).
o Equipment-based Services: Rely heavily on equipment (e.g., ATM, vending machine,
car wash).
• Based on Customer Presence:
o Require Customer Presence: Hairdresser, doctor's visit.
o Do Not Require Customer Presence: Car repair, house cleaning.
• Based on Skills of Provider:
o Unskilled Services: Basic labor.
o Skilled Services: Expertise required (e.g., lawyer, surgeon).
o Professional Services: Highly specialized knowledge (e.g., management consultant).
• Based on Core Purpose:
o Business Services: B2B (e.g., IT consulting, logistics).
o Consumer Services: B2C (e.g., banking, entertainment).
o Government Services: Public services (e.g., police, public transport).
• Practical Example: A law firm provides a professional, people-based service that often
requires customer presence (for consultations). A streaming music service provides an
equipment-based service that does not require customer presence.

47. Examine Services Marketing Challenges 🚧

The unique characteristics of services present distinct marketing challenges.

• Intangibility Challenge:
 o Problem: Services cannot be seen, touched, or held before purchase. Hard to
evaluate quality.
o Marketing Response: Make the intangible tangible (e.g., use physical evidence like
nice waiting rooms, professional brochures); focus on benefits and testimonials;
create strong brand image.
• Inseparability Challenge:
o Problem: Service production and consumption occur simultaneously. Customer is
part of the service delivery.
o Marketing Response: Manage customer interaction; train and empower service
providers; involve the customer in the process.
• Variability Challenge:
o Problem: Quality depends on who provides it, when, where, and how. Inconsistency
is a risk.
o Marketing Response: Standardize processes; invest in good hiring and training;
monitor customer satisfaction; offer guarantees.
• Perishability Challenge:
o Problem: Services cannot be stored; unused capacity is lost revenue.
o Marketing Response: Manage demand and supply (e.g., dynamic pricing,
appointments, off-peak promotions); build flexible capacity.
• Other Challenges:
o Difficulty in Pricing: Hard to cost intangible components.
o Customer Participation: Customer's role impacts service quality.
o Building Trust: Especially for expert services.
• Practical Example: A restaurant faces the variability challenge. The quality of food and
service can differ based on the chef, the waiter, and even the time of day. They address this
by standardizing recipes, training staff, and collecting customer feedback.

48. Design Extended Marketing Mix 7Ps 🎯

For services, the traditional 4 Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) are extended to the 7 Ps
to account for the unique characteristics of services.

• Product: The core service offering and its supporting features.

• Price: How the service is priced, including fees, discounts, and payment terms.
• Place (Distribution): Where and how the service is delivered (e.g., online, physical location,
mobile).
• Promotion: Communicating the value and benefits of the service.
• People: The individuals who deliver the service (employees, management, other customers).
Their attitudes, skills, and behavior are crucial.
o Importance: Direct impact on service quality and customer experience.
• Process: The procedures, mechanisms, and flow of activities by which the service is
delivered.
o Importance: Ensures consistency, efficiency, and customer satisfaction.
• Physical Evidence: The environment in which the service is delivered, and any tangible cues
that communicate the service's quality.
o Importance: Helps make the intangible tangible (e.g., clean waiting room,
professional uniforms, polished website).
• Practical Example: For a university (a service):
o Product: Degree programs, courses, research opportunities.
o Price: Tuition fees, scholarships.
o Place: Campus buildings, online learning platforms.
 o Promotion: Prospectuses, open days, online ads.
o People: Lecturers, administrative staff, support personnel, fellow students.
o Process: Application procedures, registration, course delivery methods, examination
system.
o Physical Evidence: Campus grounds, lecture halls, library, prospectus, website
design, university crest.

49. Apply Customer Centricity ❤️

Customer centricity is a business strategy that puts the customer at the center of all business
decisions, processes, and operations.

• Key Principles:
o Deep Customer Understanding: Knowing customers' needs, preferences, behaviors,
and pain points.
o Customer Value Focus: Creating and delivering superior value.
o Long-Term Relationships: Prioritizing customer lifetime value over single
transactions.
o Customer Feedback Integration: Continuously listening and acting on feedback.
o Cross-Functional Collaboration: All departments working together to serve the
customer.
o Empowered Employees: Enabling front-line staff to resolve customer issues.
• Benefits: Increased customer loyalty, higher customer satisfaction, positive word-of-mouth,
competitive advantage, increased profitability.
• How to Apply:
o Develop a customer-centric culture.
o Implement CRM systems.
o Map customer journeys to identify pain points.
o Personalize communications and offers.
o Invest in customer service training.
• Practical Example: Amazon is a prime example of customer centricity. Their entire operation,
from personalized recommendations to one-click ordering, fast shipping, and easy returns, is
designed around the customer's convenience and satisfaction. Their "customer obsession" is
a core value.
• Advantages: Stronger customer relationships, higher customer lifetime value, improved
brand image, more effective marketing.
• Disadvantages: Requires significant cultural shift, initial investment in systems and training,
can be challenging to measure ROI directly.

50. Knowledge vs. Practice 🧠➡️🛠️

This topic highlights the gap that often exists between theoretical knowledge and its practical
application in the real world.

• Knowledge: Understanding theories, concepts, models, and best practices in marketing.

(e.g., knowing the 4 Ps, understanding consumer behavior models).
• Practice: The ability to apply that knowledge effectively in real-world business situations,
solve problems, make decisions, and execute strategies. (e.g., actually designing and
launching a successful marketing campaign, managing a team, handling a crisis).
• Bridging the Gap:
o Experiential Learning: Internships, case studies, simulations, hands-on projects.
 o Critical Thinking: Analyzing situations, identifying relevant knowledge, adapting it.
o Problem-Solving Skills: Applying frameworks to real business challenges.
o Continuous Learning: Staying updated with industry trends and new technologies.
o Mentorship: Learning from experienced professionals.
• Practical Example: A marketing student might know all about SWOT analysis (knowledge),
but "practice" involves actually conducting a robust SWOT for a real company, identifying
actionable insights from the analysis, and integrating them into a strategic plan, which
requires critical thinking and problem-solving beyond just recalling definitions.
• Advantages (of bridging the gap): Increased effectiveness, better decision-making,
innovation, career success, adaptability.
• Disadvantages (of a gap): Ineffective strategies, missed opportunities, poor execution, lack
of competitive advantage, theoretical solutions that fail in practice.

51. Org. Performance 📊

Organizational performance refers to how well an organization achieves its objectives. In

marketing, it's about the outcomes of marketing efforts in contributing to overall business
success.

• Key Metrics:
o Financial Performance: Sales revenue, profitability, market share, ROI (Return on
Investment), customer lifetime value (CLV).
o Customer-Related Performance: Customer satisfaction scores, customer retention
rates, brand loyalty, customer acquisition cost (CAC).
o Operational Performance: Efficiency of marketing processes, time to market, quality
of marketing outputs.
o Brand Performance: Brand awareness, brand equity, brand perception.
o Employee Performance: Employee satisfaction within marketing teams, productivity.
• Importance: Measures effectiveness, identifies areas for improvement, justifies marketing
investments, guides strategic decisions.
• Practical Example: A company might measure its organizational performance in marketing by
tracking its increase in market share, the number of new customers acquired, the average
customer satisfaction score, and the return on investment from its latest digital advertising
campaign.
• Advantages: Provides clear indicators of success, enables data-driven decision-making,
identifies strengths and weaknesses, fosters accountability.
• Disadvantages: Can be challenging to attribute specific marketing efforts to overall financial
outcomes, risk of focusing on vanity metrics, requires robust data collection and analysis.

52. What satisfaction is all about? 😊

Satisfaction, particularly customer satisfaction, is the feeling of pleasure or disappointment

resulting from comparing a product's perceived performance (or outcome) to expectations.

• Core Elements:
o Expectations: What the customer believes they will get (formed by past experience,
word-of-mouth, marketing communications).
o Perceived Performance: What the customer actually experiences.
o Comparison: The gap between performance and expectations.
• Levels of Satisfaction:
 o Dissatisfaction: Performance < Expectations
o Satisfaction: Performance = Expectations
o Delight: Performance > Expectations (often leads to strong loyalty and advocacy)
• Beyond the Product: Satisfaction extends beyond the product itself to the entire customer
journey, including service, purchasing process, and after-sales support.
• Importance: A key driver of customer loyalty, repeat business, positive word-of-mouth, and
ultimately, organizational success.
• Practical Example: A customer buying a new smartphone is satisfied if the phone performs
as they expected in terms of speed, camera quality, and battery life. They would be delighted
if it consistently exceeded their expectations, perhaps with surprisingly innovative features
or exceptional customer support.

53. Worried customer 😟

A worried customer is someone experiencing anxiety or apprehension about a purchase, a

product, or a service. This worry can stem from various sources.

• Reasons for Worry:

o High Involvement/Risk: Buying expensive items (house, car) where financial, social,
or psychological risks are high.
o Uncertainty/Lack of Information: Not knowing if the product will meet their needs,
lack of clear information.
o Post-Purchase Dissonance: Doubts or regrets after a purchase ("Did I make the right
decision?").
o Bad Past Experiences: Previous negative interactions with the brand or similar
products.
o Negative Reviews/Word-of-Mouth: Hearing negative feedback from others.
o Poor Customer Service: Unresponsive or unhelpful support.
o Perceived Complexity: Product is too complicated to use or understand.
• Marketer's Role: Address concerns, provide reassurance, offer clear information, excellent
customer service, and guarantees.
• Practical Example: A customer worried about buying an expensive new washing machine
might be concerned about its energy efficiency, durability, and how noisy it will be. A good
marketer would provide detailed energy ratings, extended warranties, and customer
testimonials about quiet operation to alleviate these worries.

54. Truth and Myth 🎭

This topic implies the need to distinguish between what is genuinely true and what are
common misconceptions or folklore in marketing.

• Examples of Marketing Myths (and their truths):

o Myth: "Marketing is just advertising and selling."
▪ Truth: Marketing is a much broader process of understanding customer
needs, creating value, building relationships, and managing the entire
exchange.
o Myth: "Customers always buy the cheapest product."
▪ Truth: Customers buy based on perceived value, which includes quality,
brand reputation, service, convenience, and emotional benefits, not just
price.
o Myth: "The customer is always right."
 ▪ Truth: While customer satisfaction is paramount, blindly following every
customer demand can be detrimental to the business. The truth is "The
customer is always the most important asset," and their feedback is
invaluable, but not every request is feasible or strategic.
o Myth: "If you build it, they will come." (Field of Dreams marketing)
▪ Truth: Great products still need effective marketing, distribution, and
positioning to reach and resonate with target audiences.
o Myth: "Social media marketing is free."
▪ Truth: While organic reach is possible, effective social media marketing
requires significant time, effort, content creation, and often paid promotion
to achieve meaningful results.
• Importance: Debunking myths allows marketers to focus on effective, evidence-based
strategies, allocate resources wisely, and avoid costly mistakes.
• Practical Example: A company believing the myth that "social media marketing is free" might
simply post sporadically without a strategy, leading to poor engagement and no ROI.
Understanding the truth allows them to invest in content creators, paid ads, and community
management, leading to actual results.

This comprehensive note should provide a solid foundation for your exam. Remember to
illustrate your answers with practical examples where possible, as requested! Good luck!

Sources

I refer this and some english part hard to understand can you give this as a easy english way

That's a great request! I'll make sure to simplify the language and explain these marketing
concepts in an easy-to-understand way. I'll still keep the practical examples, advantages,
disadvantages, and emojis, and keep the numbering as you provided.

Let's dive in!

Marketing Management Exam Notes 📝 (Easy English)

1. What Marketing Is All About? 🎯

Marketing is basically how companies create value for customers and build good
relationships with them. The goal is to get value back from customers (like money!). It's not
just about selling or ads; it's about truly understanding what customers need and giving it to
them in a way that helps the company.

• Main Idea: Making, sharing, delivering, and swapping things that are valuable to customers,
partners, and even society.
• Simple Example: Apple doesn't just sell iPhones; they sell a whole experience of cool design
and easy-to-use tech. Their ads show how you can be creative with their products, not just
technical details.
• Good Points: More sales, customers stick with you, you stand out from others, you can sell in
new places.
 • Bad Points: Costs a lot to start, you always have to change, sometimes tricky ethical choices.

2. Nature of Market/s 🛒

A market is simply all the people or businesses who might buy a product or service.
Markets can be different types:

• Consumer Markets: Everyday people and families buying things for themselves.
o Example: Someone buying food for their home.
• Business Markets: Companies buying things to make other products or to sell to others.
o Example: A restaurant buying food supplies in bulk.
• Reseller Markets: Shops or wholesalers who buy goods to sell them again for a profit.
o Example: A supermarket buying products from factories to sell to you.
• Government Markets: Government offices buying things to provide public services.
o Example: A city council buying office supplies.
• International Markets: Buyers in other countries (could be people, businesses, shops, or
governments).
o Example: A local tea company selling tea to Germany.

3. Why BBA? 🎓

While "Why BBA?" isn't a direct marketing topic, it helps explain why a BBA degree is
useful for a marketing job.

• A BBA (Bachelor of Business Administration) degree gives you a basic understanding of

different business areas, like marketing, money, hiring, and how things are made.
• How it Helps Marketing: It shows you how marketing fits in with other parts of a business.
This helps you see the bigger picture and develop skills like thinking clearly, solving problems,
and talking to people, which are all key for marketing.
• Good Points: Many job choices, helps you think strategically, prepares you for management.
• Bad Points: You might need more specific marketing courses later for top jobs, sometimes
seen as less specialized than a pure marketing degree.

4. The Role of Marketer (Marketing) 👩‍💼

A marketer's job has changed a lot. It's no longer just about selling; it's about understanding,
creating, sharing, and delivering value to customers.

• Main Tasks:
o Understanding Customers: Finding out what people need through research.
o Creating Products: Making things that meet those needs.
o Pricing: Deciding the right price.
o Promoting: Telling customers about the product.
o Place (Distribution): Making sure products are available where customers can find
them.
o Building Relationships: Keeping customers happy and loyal.
o Adapting: Watching market trends and what rivals are doing.
• Simple Example: A marketer for a clothing brand will check fashion trends, find out who
wants to buy, plan online ads (social media, email), see how well they work, and change
plans based on what the data shows.
 • Good Points: Directly affects sales and profit, exciting and creative work, you can shape
brands.
• Bad Points: A lot of pressure to meet sales goals, always have to learn new things,
sometimes ethical issues come up.

5. Understand Reality 💡

"Understand Reality" in marketing means that you must base your decisions on true
information, market insights, and a clear idea of what's actually happening in the market.
Don't just guess or hope for the best.

• Key Steps:
o Market Research: Collecting facts about customers, competitors, and trends.
o Competitor Check: Knowing who your rivals are and what they offer.
o Environment Scan: Looking at bigger trends (like politics, economy, tech, etc.).
o Customer Feedback: Really listening to what customers say and feel.
• Simple Example: A restaurant owner thinks their food is amazing but has no customers. They
need to "understand reality" by doing surveys, checking competitor menus, and getting
honest feedback on their service and prices.
• Good Points: Make smarter choices, less risk, find new chances.
• Bad Points: Can take time and money, needs good analysis, too much data can be confusing.

6. The Customer/Consumer 👤

The customer (or consumer) is the most important part of modern marketing. They are the
people or groups who buy products and services.

• Customer: Someone who buys a product or service. This can be an individual or a business.
• Consumer: The person who actually uses or consumes the product. A customer can be a
consumer, but a consumer isn't always the customer (e.g., parents buy toys for their child;
parents are customers, child is consumer).
• Why Important: No customers, no business. It's super important to know their needs, how
they act, and why they buy.
• Simple Example: For a baby food company, the customer is the parent buying the food, but
the consumer is the baby eating it. Ads might talk to parents about nutrition and
convenience, and indirectly to babies about taste.

7. Nature of Customers 🧐

Customers are all different! We can understand them by looking at different things:

• Demographics: Their age, gender, income, education, job, family size, etc.
• Psychographics: Their lifestyle, personality, values, what they're interested in.
• Geographics: Where they live (city, country, region).
• Behavioral: How often they buy, if they're loyal, what benefits they're looking for, when they
buy.
• Logical vs. Emotional: Some buys are logical (like insurance), while others are driven by
feelings (like fancy clothes).
• Informed vs. Uninformed: How much they know about products.
• Individual vs. Company: Different ways people and companies buy.
 • Simple Example: A gym brand might target young adults (demographics) who care about
health and like outdoor activities (psychographics), live in cities (geographics), and use fitness
apps a lot (behavioral).

8. Customer's Need 💖

A need is something a person feels they are missing. Needs are basic and marketers don't
create them. They are essential human requirements.

• Think of Maslow's Needs (often used in marketing):

o Basic Needs: Food, water, a place to live. (e.g., feeling hungry)
o Safety Needs: Feeling safe and protected. (e.g., needing home security)
o Social Needs: Belonging, love, friends. (e.g., wanting to connect on social media)
o Esteem Needs: Respect, feeling good about yourself. (e.g., wanting fancy things)
o Self-Growth Needs: Becoming the best you can be. (e.g., wanting to take personal
development courses)
• Simple Example: A person needs to travel. This is a basic need. A car, bike, or bus can all
meet this need.

9. Customer's Wants 🙏

Wants are specific ways that needs are shaped by culture, what a person likes, and what
marketers show them.

• Main Idea: Someone needs food, but they want a pizza from a specific restaurant.
• Marketer's Job: Marketers try to make their products fit what customers want. They find a
need and then show how their product can meet that need in a desirable way.
• Simple Example: The need for travel (from above) can become a want for a specific car like a
Tesla Model 3 (because it's good for the environment, looks cool, or has new tech).
• Good Points: Marketers can make their products special by appealing to specific wants.
• Bad Points: Wants can change quickly, so companies always have to adapt.

10. What customer buy? 🛍️

Customers buy products, services, experiences, information, and ideas to get what they
need and want.

• Products: Things you can touch (e.g., a phone, a shirt).

• Services: Things people do for you that you can't touch (e.g., a haircut, a doctor's visit).
• Experiences: More than just products/services, it's the whole journey (e.g., a holiday, a trip
to a theme park).
• Information: Facts, knowledge, or insights (e.g., a report, a news subscription).
• Ideas: Concepts or causes (e.g., giving money to charity, deciding to live healthier).
• Value: In the end, customers buy solutions that give them value.
• Simple Example: When you buy a concert ticket, you're not just buying a piece of paper;
you're buying the experience of live music, the atmosphere, and connecting with others.

11. Why customer buy? 🤔

Customers buy for many reasons, often a mix of logical and emotional ones.
 • To Meet a Need: For basic requirements.
• To Fulfill a Want: For specific desires based on culture and personality.
• To Solve a Problem: The product fixes something (e.g., buying medicine for a headache).
• For Convenience: Makes life easier (e.g., ready-to-eat meals).
• For Status/Image: To look a certain way or fit in (e.g., luxury brands).
• For Feelings/Fun: For enjoyment or happiness (e.g., entertainment, desserts).
• For Good Value: The benefits seem worth the cost.
• For Trust/Loyalty: Believing in a brand's quality.
• Because of Others: Friends, family, or influencers suggest it.
• Simple Example: Someone might buy an electric car not just to travel (need) but also
because they want to help the environment (value), save money on fuel (problem-solving),
and maybe look cool (image).

12. Why customers do not buy? ⛔

It's just as important to know why customers don't buy as why they do.

• No Need/Want: The product doesn't solve a problem for them.

• Price: Too expensive, or they don't think it's worth the money.
• Don't Know About It: They haven't heard of the product.
• Don't Understand It: They don't get the benefits or how it works.
• No Trust: They don't trust the brand or the seller.
• Bad Opinions: Bad reviews, poor reputation.
• Better Options: Other companies offer better products or deals.
• Not Available: Can't find it where they shop.
• Bad Experience: Poor service, difficult website.
• Bad Timing: It's not the right time to buy.
• Simple Example: Someone might not buy a new high-tech gadget because they don't see
how it's better than what they have (no need), it costs too much (price), or they heard bad
things about its reliability (bad opinions).

13. To appraise the importance of information ℹ️

Information is like the blood of good marketing. It helps marketers make smart choices,
understand their market, and lower risks.

• Key Areas:
o Market Research: Learning about customer needs and what they like.
o Competitor Info: Knowing what rivals are doing.
o Market Trends: Seeing new chances and dangers.
o Tracking Performance: Checking if marketing campaigns are working.
o Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Making interactions personal and
building loyalty.
• Simple Example: A clothes shop uses sales info (information) to see which styles are selling
best, who buys them, and then uses this to buy the right stock, plan new designs, and create
ads.
• Good Points: Better decisions, less risk, finding new opportunities, happier customers,
advantage over rivals.
• Bad Points: Can cost money to get info, too much info can be confusing, need to make sure
data is correct, privacy worries.
14. To understand real meaning of getting and keeping customer 🤝

"Getting and keeping customers" is what makes a business successful for a long time. It's
more than just one-time sales; it's about building relationships.

• Getting Customers (Bringing Them In):

o Attracting new potential buyers.
o Turning potential buyers into actual buyers.
o Needs good marketing and sales (making people aware, interested, wanting, and
acting).
• Keeping Customers (Making Them Stay):
o Making sure customers are happy.
o Building loyalty with great service and value.
o Encouraging them to buy again and tell others.
o Saves money: It's usually cheaper to keep an old customer than find a new one.
• Simple Example: A phone company spends money on ads to "get" new subscribers (e.g.,
offering discounts). To "keep" them, they offer good customer service, loyalty programs, and
upgrade options so people don't leave.
• Good Points: Long-term profit, good reputation, lower marketing costs, customers tell
others.
• Bad Points: Needs constant effort and money, customers expect a lot, hard to fix things after
bad service.

15. To review critical issues with information 🚨

Even though information is vital, marketers face some big problems with it.

• Too Much Information: Can be overwhelming, making it hard to find useful insights.
• Correctness and Reliability: Info can be old, biased, or just plain wrong.
• Cost: Getting good information can be expensive.
• Timeliness: Information needs to be fresh to be useful.
• Access: Is the info easy to get and use?
• Privacy and Ethics: Worries about collecting and using customer data (e.g., data breaches,
privacy laws).
• Interpretation and Bias: Marketers can misunderstand data or let their own opinions cloud
their judgment.
• Security: Keeping sensitive customer and company data safe.
• Simple Example: A company using old market research might launch a product that no one
wants anymore. Or, if customer data is stolen, it can really hurt trust and the company's
image.

16. Products 🎁

A product is anything that can be offered to a market to get attention, be bought, used, or
eaten, and that might satisfy a want or need. This includes physical items, services,
experiences, people, places, groups, ideas, and facts.

• Levels of a Product (Kotler's Idea):

o Core Benefit: The basic need or want the customer is trying to satisfy. (e.g., for a
phone, it's communication).
 o Actual Product: The physical features, brand name, design, quality, packaging. (e.g.,
the iPhone with its specific look, operating system, camera).
o Augmented Product: Extra services and benefits added around the product (e.g.,
warranty, setup help, customer support, delivery).
• Product Types:
o Consumer Products: Things everyday people buy (like groceries, clothes, cars).
o Industrial Products: Things businesses buy to make other products or run their
operations.
• Simple Example: For a car, the basic need is transportation. The actual product is the car's
model, color, engine size, and brand. The augmented product includes the warranty,
roadside help, and financing options.

17. Match products with customer wants ✅

This is a key marketing rule: making products that customers truly desire.

• How it Works:
1. Find Out Wants: Use research, feedback, and trend analysis.
2. Add Features: Design product features that directly meet those wants.
3. Explain Value: Clearly tell customers how the product meets their specific wants in
ads.
4. Test and Improve: Get feedback and make changes.
• Simple Example: If research shows young city workers want easy, healthy, and customizable
meals, a food delivery service might create a "build-your-own" salad bowl menu with fast
delivery.
• Good Points: Happier customers, more sales, stronger loyalty, fewer returns.
• Bad Points: Needs constant market research, developing products can be costly, risk of
misunderstanding wants.

18. Segmenting Market/s 🧩

Market segmentation is like cutting a big cake into smaller, similar slices. You divide a
large, mixed market into smaller groups that have similar needs, traits, or behaviors.

• Ways to Segment:
o Geographic: By area, city size, weather.
o Demographic: By age, gender, income, education, family stage.
o Psychographic: By lifestyle, personality, values.
o Behavioral: By when they buy, what benefits they seek, how often they use it, how
loyal they are.
• Why Segment? To focus marketing efforts better, make customers happier, and gain an edge
over rivals.
• Simple Example: A shoe company might divide its market by:
o Age: Kids, adults, seniors.
o Lifestyle: Athletes, fashion lovers, comfort seekers.
o Use: Running shoes, casual shoes, dress shoes.
• Good Points: Use resources better, understand customer needs more deeply, clearer ads,
better products.
• Bad Points: Can be costly and take time, needs a lot of data, cutting too many slices can be
messy, ethical worries if segments are too narrow.
19. Targeting Market/s 🎯

Market targeting is about choosing which of those market slices you want to focus on. You
look at how appealing each group is and pick one or more to sell to.

• Strategies (Ways to Target):

o Mass Marketing: Selling to everyone with one offer (rare now, like old Coca-Cola
ads).
o Segmented Marketing: Selling to several groups and making different offers for each
(e.g., a hotel chain with different brands like budget, mid-range, luxury).
o Niche Marketing: Focusing on a big part of just one or a few small groups (e.g., a
company selling only luxury electric vehicles).
o Micro-marketing (Local or Individual): Making products and ads just for specific
people or very small local groups (e.g., a local dry cleaner, personalized online ads).
• Simple Example: After dividing its market, the shoe company decides to target the "athletes"
group with its high-performance running shoes and the "fashion lovers" group with its
trendy sneakers.
• Good Points: Focused efforts, more efficient, better return on money spent, deeper
customer understanding.
• Bad Points: Might miss out on other groups, can be expensive for different offers, niche
markets can be small.

20. Positioning product/s ✨

Product positioning is about creating a clear and valuable place for your product in the
customer's mind, especially compared to rival products.

• Main Idea: It's how you want customers to think about your product.
• Positioning Statement: A short sentence that sums up your target customer, what makes
your product special, and how it's different.
o Example: "For (target customer and need), our (brand) is (type of product) that
(main difference)."
• Ways to Be Different:
o Product: Features, quality, design.
o Service: Speed, convenience, delivery.
o Channels: How you sell and distribute.
o People: How good your staff are.
o Image: Your brand's reputation and look.
• Simple Example: Volvo wants you to think "safest car brand." Their ads talk about safety
features and crash tests. Tesla wants you to think "innovative, high-tech, eco-friendly."
• Good Points: Clear brand identity, justifies price, helps focus ads, gives you an edge.
• Bad Points: Hard to change what people already think, needs to be consistent, hard to stand
out if many others are doing the same.

21. Customer Wining and Retention Strategies 🏆

These strategies are about getting new customers and, very importantly, keeping the ones
you already have happy and loyal.

• Winning Strategies (Getting New Ones):

 o Strong Offer: Clearly show what makes you special.
o Good Ads: Advertising, online marketing, public relations.
o Referral Programs: Give rewards to current customers for bringing in new ones.
o Good Prices/Deals: Attractive offers to start.
o Excellent Sales Process: Trained salespeople, easy buying.
• Retention Strategies (Keeping Them):
o Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Personalize interactions, track what
customers like.
o Loyalty Programs: Give rewards for buying again (points, discounts).
o Amazing Customer Service: Fast, helpful, understanding support.
o Personalization: Tailor offers and messages to each customer.
o Ask for Feedback: Really listen and act on what customers say.
o After-Sale Communication: Follow-ups, tips, useful content.
o Community: Make customers feel like they belong.
• Simple Example: A coffee shop might "win" new customers with a "buy one get one free"
deal. To "keep" them, they offer a loyalty card for a free coffee after X purchases, remember
their usual order, and send special deals through their app.
• Good Points: Long-term profit, good reputation, lower costs to get new customers,
customers talk positively about you.
• Bad Points: Needs ongoing effort and money, customers can expect a lot, hard to recover
from bad service.

22. Describe Products/Services/Value 🏷️

This part goes back to what you offer and what it ultimately gives to the customer.

• Products: Things you can touch (e.g., a laptop, a bike). They have physical parts.
• Services: Things people do for you that you can't touch (e.g., a haircut, legal advice,
banking). They are special because:
o Intangible: You can't see, taste, feel, hear, or smell them before you buy.
o Inseparable: They are made and used at the same time.
o Variable: The quality can change depending on who provides them, when, and how.
o Perishable: You can't save them for later (e.g., an empty airplane seat can't be sold
later).
• Value: What the customer thinks they get from the product/service compared to what they
pay (money, time, effort, stress). It's the most important thing.
o Customer's Value: Benefits minus Costs.
o Value Proposition: The full set of benefits a brand offers.
• Simple Example: A fancy airline offers an "air travel service." Its "value" might be comfort,
being on time, great service during the flight, and easy booking. This explains why it costs
more than a cheap airline.

23. Review New Product Development process 🚀

The New Product Development (NPD) process is a step-by-step way to create and launch
new products.

• Steps (usually 8):

1. Idea Generation: Brainstorming new product ideas (from inside the company or
outside).
2. Idea Screening: Picking the good ideas and getting rid of the bad ones early.
 3. Concept Development and Testing: Making a detailed idea of the new product and
testing it with potential customers.
4. Marketing Strategy Development: Planning how to market the new product.
5. Business Analysis: Checking if the new product will make enough sales, cover costs,
and make a profit.
6. Product Development: Building the actual product.
7. Test Marketing: Trying out the product and its marketing plan in a small, real market.
8. Commercialization: Launching the new product to the whole market.
• Simple Example: A food company wanting to launch new healthy snacks would first
brainstorm ideas, then pick the best ones, create a concept (like "protein bars"), test the idea
with people, check profits, make samples, test them in a few cities, and then launch them
everywhere.
• Good Points: Higher chance of success, less risk of failure, organized way of working, faster
to get products to market.
• Bad Points: Can take a lot of time and money, many new products still fail, needs different
teams to work together.

24. Develop New product ideas and strategies 💡

This is about the creative and smart thinking needed at the start of making new products.

• Ways to Get Ideas:

o Inside: Staff suggestions, research and development team, sales team.
o Outside: Customers (surveys), rivals, distributors, suppliers, consultants, asking a
crowd online.
o Brainstorming: Free-flowing idea sessions.
• New Product Strategies:
o Market Penetration: Sell more of what you already have to your current customers.
o Market Development: Sell what you already have to new types of customers or in
new places.
o Product Development: Create new products for your current customers.
o Diversification: Start completely new businesses or products in new markets.
• Simple Example: A sports clothing company might get new ideas by watching what athletes
need (e.g., better sweat-wicking fabric). Then, they might use a "product development"
strategy to launch a new line of advanced running gear for their current customers.
• Good Points: Leads to new things, gives you a competitive edge, helps you grow.
• Bad Points: High risk, many failures, needs a lot of money for research.

25. Appraise buyer's level of involvement 🧐

Buyer involvement means how important and risky a purchase feels to a customer. It
changes how much effort they put into buying.

• High Involvement:
o Features: Big financial risk, social risk, personal risk; complex decision; a lot of
research; often expensive, rare buys.
o Examples: Buying a house, a car, going to university, expensive jewelry.
• Low Involvement:
o Features: Little risk; simple decision; not much research; often cheap, frequent buys.
o Examples: Buying groceries, a pen, a bottle of water.
• What Marketers Do:
 o High Involvement: Give detailed info, build trust, use strong messages, educate
customers, focus on features and benefits.
o Low Involvement: Focus on brand recognition, easy to find, attractive packaging,
promotions, simple messages.
• Simple Example: Marketing a fancy watch (high involvement) would show off its
craftsmanship and exclusivity, often in high-end magazines. Marketing chewing gum (low
involvement) would focus on putting it near the cash register, colorful packaging, and maybe
a celebrity in the ad.

26. Describe consumer problem-solving processes 🧠

Customers go through a "problem-solving" process when they buy things. How complex it is
depends on how involved they are.

• Extended Problem Solving (High Involvement):

1. Recognize Need: Realize a big problem or need.
2. Search Info: Look everywhere for information (friends, reviews, internet).
3. Compare Choices: Look at different brands based on what's important to them.
4. Buy: Pick the best choice.
5. After-Buy: Feel happy or unhappy, sometimes wonder if they made the right choice.
• Limited Problem Solving (Medium Involvement):
1. Some info search and comparing, but not too much. For things bought sometimes or
when they have some experience.
• Routine Response Behavior (Low Involvement):
1. Almost no thinking; automatic buy based on habit or loyal to a brand.
• Simple Example:
1. Extended: Buying a new laptop. You research specs, read reviews, compare brands,
visit shops.
2. Limited: Buying a new cereal brand. You might quickly compare a few on the shelf.
3. Routine: Buying your usual toothpaste. You just pick it up without thinking.

27. Examine consumer's buying decision process 📊

This is a detailed look at the steps a customer takes when buying something. It's similar to
the extended problem-solving process.

1. Need Recognition: The buyer realizes they have a problem or need. (Something inside them
like hunger, or an ad they saw).
2. Information Search: The buyer looks for info. (From friends/family, ads/websites, public
sources like news, or trying the product).
3. Evaluation of Alternatives: The customer uses the info to compare different brands they
might choose from. (Based on features, what benefits they want, their feelings).
4. Purchase Decision: The buyer decides which brand to buy. (Affected by what others think
and unexpected situations).
5. Post-Purchase Behavior: What customers do after buying, based on if they're happy or
unhappy. (They might have second thoughts if they're unhappy).

• Simple Example: Buying a new smartphone:

1. Need: My old phone is slow, battery dies fast.
2. Info Search: Read tech reviews, ask friends, visit phone shops, compare plans online.
 3. Evaluation: Compare iPhone vs. Android, camera, battery, price, how they work
together.
4. Purchase: Choose a specific model and buy it from a shop.
5. After-Purchase: Enjoy the new phone, tell friends how good it is (happy), or regret it
if it doesn't work well (unhappy).

28. Realize influences of consumer buying process 🌐

Many things can affect a customer's buying decisions.

• Cultural Factors:
o Culture: Basic values, ideas, wants, and behaviors learned from family and society.
(e.g., liking traditional clothes).
o Subculture: Smaller groups with shared values based on life experiences (e.g.,
religious groups, ethnic groups).
o Social Class: Groups of people with similar values, interests, and behaviors (e.g.,
middle class).
• Social Factors:
o Reference Groups: Groups that people look up to or compare themselves to (friends,
family, celebrities).
o Family: The most important buying group in society.
o Roles and Status: A person's position in different groups.
• Personal Factors:
o Age and Life Stage: How buying changes as you get older.
o Job: Affects what you buy.
o Money Situation: Income, savings.
o Lifestyle: How a person lives (e.g., active, quiet).
o Personality: Their unique traits.
• Psychological Factors:
o Motivation: A strong need that makes someone want to find satisfaction.
o Perception: How people select and understand information.
o Learning: Changes in behavior from experience.
o Beliefs and Attitudes: Thoughts and feelings towards things.
• Simple Example: A young professional (age, job) from a culture where family opinions matter
(culture) and whose friends (reference group) really like eco-friendly products (lifestyle) will
likely buy things that are ethically made and good for the environment.

29. Review Value Chain and the Delivery Network 🔗

These ideas describe how a company creates value for customers and how that value
reaches them.

• Value Chain (Porter's Idea): All the steps a company takes inside its business to make a
product or service valuable to the market.
o Main Steps: Getting materials, making things, sending out products, marketing and
selling, providing service.
o Support Steps: Company setup, HR, tech development, buying supplies.
o Goal: To see where value is added and where costs can be cut inside the company.
• Delivery Network (or Supply Chain): The whole group of the company, its suppliers, its
distributors, and customers who work together to make the whole system better at
delivering value.
 o Focus: Outside relationships and working together to give customers great value. It
goes beyond just one company's internal steps.
• Simple Example:
o Value Chain (Inside): A clothing company's steps include designing clothes, buying
fabric, making garments, selling them, and offering after-sales service.
o Delivery Network (Outside): This company's network includes fabric suppliers,
shipping companies, warehouses, transport firms to take clothes to shops, and the
shops themselves. They all work together to give you the clothes.

30. Appraise the Importance of Marketing Channels 🛣️

Marketing channels (or distribution channels) are super important because they make sure
products and services reach the right customers effectively and efficiently.

• Definition: A group of connected organizations that help make a product or service available
for use or purchase.
• What Channels Do:
o Info: Gather and share market research.
o Promote: Spread messages about offers.
o Connect: Find and talk to potential buyers.
o Match: Make offers fit buyer needs.
o Negotiate: Agree on prices and terms.
o Deliver: Transport and store goods.
o Finance: Help cover costs.
o Take Risk: Take on risks of getting products to market.
• Why Important:
o Reach Customers: Products are where and when customers want them.
o Efficient: Fewer steps to get to the market.
o Save Money: Smarter transport and storage.
o Create Value: Add value with services (like setup, credit).
o Competitive Edge: A good channel can make you stand out.
• Simple Example: A software company could sell directly online (short channel) or use many
sellers, IT experts, and system integrators (longer channel) to reach different business
customers. The choice depends on customer needs and product complexity.
• Good Points: Reach more customers, expert help, save costs, better customer service.
• Bad Points: Less control, possible conflicts between channel members, relying on partners,
hard to manage.

31. Analyze Channel Behavior and Organization 🔄

Understanding how channels work and are set up is key to managing them well.

• Channel Behavior:
o Each channel member relies on others.
o Channel Conflict: Disagreements between channel members about goals or rewards.
▪ Horizontal Conflict: Between firms at the same level (e.g., two shops selling
the same brand).
▪ Vertical Conflict: Between different levels (e.g., factory vs. shop).
o Some conflict can be good for new ideas, but too much is bad.
• Channel Organization:
 o Traditional Channel: Separate factories, wholesalers, and shops. Each tries to make
the most profit for themselves.
o Vertical Marketing System (VMS): Factory, wholesalers, and shops work as one
system. One member owns the others, has contracts with them, or is so powerful
that everyone cooperates.
▪ Company VMS: One company owns all steps (e.g., Zara owns its factories
and shops).
▪ Contract VMS: Independent companies work together through contracts
(e.g., McDonald's franchises).
▪ Administered VMS: One powerful company influences others (e.g.,
Walmart's power over its suppliers).
o Horizontal Marketing System: Two or more companies at the same level work
together for a new chance (e.g., airlines sharing flights).
o Multichannel (Hybrid): One company uses two or more ways to reach customers
(e.g., selling online, in stores, and through a direct sales team).
• Simple Example: A shoe brand might have trouble if two of its official shops in the same city
start a price war (horizontal conflict). To fix this, the brand might use a VMS (like setting
prices or opening its own stores) to get more control.

32. Evaluate Channel Management Decisions 🔍

Managing marketing channels well involves smart choices at different stages.

• Designing Channels (Setting Them Up):

o Customer Needs: What kind of service do customers want?
o Channel Goals: Which customer groups to serve, what service level?
o Alternatives: Types of partners, how many partners (many, few, exclusive), what
each partner does.
o Evaluate: Check costs, control, and how easily they can adapt.
• Managing Channels (Running Them):
o Picking Partners: How to choose good partners.
o Motivating Partners: Training, support, rewards.
o Evaluating Partners: How to check their performance.
o Managing Conflict: How to solve disagreements.
• Simple Example: A luxury watch brand would likely choose to sell through only a few fancy
authorized shops to keep its image and control prices (a channel design decision). To manage
these, they'd offer a lot of sales training and marketing help to those shops.
• Good Points: Better channel setup, improved performance, fewer conflicts, stronger partner
relationships.
• Bad Points: Complex and takes time, needs constant checking, managing different partners
can be hard.

33. Design Marketing Logistics and Value Chain for 3-Winning 🏆🏆🏆

This combines how a company creates value (internal) with how it delivers it (external
network), aiming for a "triple win" (often: customer, company, and channel
partners/society).

• Marketing Logistics (Physical Delivery): Planning and managing the movement of materials,
finished goods, and info from where they start to where customers buy them, to meet
customer needs profitably.
 o Main Jobs: Storing, managing stock, transport, info management.
• Value Chain: As discussed, the internal steps that create value.
• Designing for 3-Winning (Customer, Company, Partners/Society):
o Customer Wins: Efficient logistics means faster delivery, lower costs, and products
always available, making customers happier.
o Company Wins: Smart logistics lowers running costs, makes things more efficient,
and increases profit. Good value chain management means using resources better
and having a competitive edge.
o Partner Wins: Smooth logistics and clear channel agreements make things easier for
partners, ensure they have stock, and help them serve customers better. This leads
to stronger relationships and mutual profit.
o Society Wins (if the 3rd W is Society): Eco-friendly logistics (e.g., smart routes, green
warehouses) and ethical practices help society.
• Simple Example: A huge online shop designs its delivery system (warehouses, delivery
trucks, stock systems) for fast, reliable delivery (Customer Win). This efficient system also
cuts their own costs (Company Win). They might also work with local delivery services, giving
them business and smooth processes (Channel Partner Win).
• Good Points: Complete approach to creating value, competitive advantage, better efficiency,
stronger relationships, can be good for the environment.
• Bad Points: Very complex to put together, needs a lot of money for tech and setup,
coordinating many different groups.

34. To appraise customer satisfaction and org. success 👍

Customer satisfaction is a fundamental part of how successful a company is.

• Customer Satisfaction: How much a product's actual performance matches what a buyer
expected.
o If performance < expectations = unhappy.
o If performance = expectations = happy.
o If performance > expectations = delighted.
• How it Leads to Company Success:
o More Loyalty: Happy customers are more likely to come back.
o Positive Word-of-Mouth: Delighted customers tell others.
o Lower Marketing Costs: Less need to constantly find new customers.
o Higher Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Happy customers spend more over time.
o Competitive Edge: Makes you stand out.
o Better Reputation: Builds trust.
o Happier Employees: Happy customers often mean happier staff.
• Simple Example: Southwest Airlines always gets high marks for happy customers because of
its friendly staff, flexible rules, and being on time. This leads to loyal customers, repeat
business, and good financial results, showing company success.
• Good Points: Long-term growth, strong brand, loyal customers.
• Bad Points: Hard to measure satisfaction sometimes, customers expect a lot, needs constant
effort.

35. To find out the ways to make customers more satisfied 😊

The goal here is to consistently meet and go beyond what customers expect.

• How to Do It:
 o Understand Expectations: Do surveys, listen to feedback, check reviews.
o Deliver Quality: Make sure products/services are good and consistent.
o Great Customer Service: Provide fast, helpful, and caring support.
o Personalize: Tailor experiences and offers.
o Solve Problems Early: Fix issues before they get big.
o Good Communication: Keep customers informed.
o Ask for and Use Feedback: Show customers their opinions matter.
o Rewards: Loyalty programs, special offers.
o Train Staff: Empower employees to solve problems and give great service.
o Surprise and Delight: Do something unexpected that makes them extra happy (e.g.,
a handwritten thank you note).
• Simple Example: A hotel makes guests happier by offering personalized check-ins,
remembering what guests like (e.g., their favorite pillow), and quickly solving any problems,
often going extra mile (e.g., a free room upgrade for a small inconvenience).

36. To examine the bottle-necks 🚧

Bottlenecks are points in a process that slow everything down or limit how much can be
done. In business, they can hurt customer happiness and company success.

• Common Bottlenecks:
o Production/Supply: Slow making things, not enough stock, bad delivery system.
o Customer Service: Long waiting times, untrained staff, hard to complain.
o Sales: Slow to find good leads, difficult sales process, hard to pay.
o Information: Data stuck in different places, hard to get customer insights.
o Decision-Making: Too much red tape, unclear who decides.
o Technology: Old systems, systems don't talk to each other.
o Staff: Not enough skilled workers, people leaving jobs often.
• Impact: Slower work, higher costs, unhappy customers, missed chances, slower new ideas.
• How to Find Them: Map out processes, look at data, map customer journey, ask staff for
ideas.
• Simple Example: An online shop might find a bottleneck in shipping if too many orders are
late because there aren't enough people packing. Or, a complicated return policy could be a
bottleneck that makes customers unhappy after they buy.
• Good Points (of finding them): Better efficiency, cut costs, happier customers, faster new
products.
• Bad Points (of having them): Limits growth, frustrates customers and staff, lowers profit.

37. To appraise CI (Competitive Intelligence) 🕵️‍♀️

Competitive Intelligence (CI) is about collecting and analyzing public information about
your rivals and the market to help you make smart business decisions.

• Purpose: To understand what your rivals are doing, their strengths and weaknesses, see new
opportunities and threats, and get an advantage.
• Where to Get CI:
o Public Info: Company reports, press releases, news, financial statements, job ads.
o Online: Rival websites, social media, online reviews, industry forums.
o Events: Watching rivals at trade shows.
o Customer Feedback: What customers say about rivals.
o Employees: Info from former employees (ethically!).
 • Ethics: CI must be done in a fair and legal way. Spying or illegal info gathering is wrong.
• Simple Example: A new software company would do CI by checking rival websites, reading
reviews of their products, looking at their prices, and watching their social media to
understand where they fit in the market and find gaps they can fill.
• Good Points: Smarter planning, proactive decisions, finding new opportunities, less risk,
stronger market position.
• Bad Points: Can take time and money, too much info can be confusing, need to check if data
is correct, ethical issues, rivals are always changing.

38. To examine and achieve Operational Excellence 🚀

Operational excellence means doing your business processes and operations in the best way
possible to consistently give customers value and beat rivals.

• Main Ideas:
o Efficiency: Doing things right, wasting less (time, resources).
o Effectiveness: Doing the right things, getting the desired results.
o Continuous Improvement: Always trying to make products, services, or processes
better (e.g., Lean, Six Sigma methods).
o Customer Focus: All operations aim to give customers value.
o Standardization: Consistent processes for quality.
o Using Tech: Using automation and data.
• How it Helps Marketing:
o Faster new products.
o Consistent product quality.
o Reliable delivery and customer service.
o Lower costs, allowing for better prices or more profit.
o Happier customers and better brand image.
• Simple Example: Amazon's operational excellence is clear in its very efficient warehouses
and delivery system. This allows fast shipping and a smooth customer experience, directly
helping its marketing promise of convenience.
• Good Points: Lower costs, better quality, happier customers, competitive advantage, more
profit.
• Bad Points: Needs big money to start, company culture might need to change, can be
complex to run, might become too rigid.

39. To Apply CI (Continuous Improvement) 📈

This is about always trying to make products, services, or processes better. It's a key part
of operational excellence and focusing on the customer.

• Methods:
o Kaizen: A Japanese idea of constant improvement involving all staff.
o Lean: Focuses on getting rid of waste.
o Six Sigma: Uses data to remove mistakes and improve quality.
o PDCA Cycle (Plan-Do-Check-Act): A repeating cycle for constant improvement.
• How it Relates to Marketing:
o Product Improvement: Always making products better based on customer feedback
and trends.
o Ad Campaign Improvement: Testing different ads, checking how they perform, and
making them better.
 o Customer Service Improvement: Constantly improving how service is delivered.
o Process Efficiency: Making marketing tasks smoother.
• Simple Example: A software company regularly updates its product, adding new features and
fixing issues based on what users say. This is applying continuous improvement to its
product. Similarly, an email marketer checks how many people open emails and click links,
then "continuously improves" their email content and titles.
• Good Points: Better product/service quality, more efficient, happier customers, new ideas,
adapts better to market changes.
• Bad Points: Needs commitment and resources, can be slow, staff might resist changes, needs
good data analysis.

40. To appraise companywide strategic planning and its steps. 🗺️

Strategic planning is the process of making sure a company's goals and what it can do fit
with the changing market opportunities. It sets the direction for all other planning in the
company.

• Steps in Strategic Planning (for the whole company):

1. Define Company Mission: A statement of what the company exists to do.
2. Set Company Goals: Turning the mission into specific, measurable goals for each
part of the company.
3. Design Business Portfolio: Looking at the current products and businesses, and
deciding what the future mix should be (e.g., using a tool like the BCG Matrix).
4. Plan Marketing and Other Strategies: Working with other departments and creating
specific marketing plans for each business unit.
• Importance: Gives direction, helps use resources wisely, adapts to changes, supports long-
term growth.
• Simple Example: Google's mission "to organize the world's information and make it
universally accessible and useful" guides all its different products (Search, Android, YouTube)
and its decisions about data and AI.

41. To learn how to design business portfolios and develop strategies: growth/downsizing. 💼

The business portfolio is all the businesses and products a company owns. Designing it
means looking at what you have now and planning for the future.

• Portfolio Analysis: Checking the products and businesses a company has.

o BCG Matrix (Growth-Share Matrix): A common tool to categorize businesses based
on how fast their market is growing and how big their share of that market is.
▪ Stars: Fast-growing market, big share (need lots of money, will become Cash
Cows).
▪ Cash Cows: Slow-growing market, big share (established, make a lot of
money).
▪ Question Marks (Problem Children): Fast-growing market, small share (need
a lot of money to grow share, decide whether to invest or pull back).
▪ Dogs: Slow-growing market, small share (just cover their costs, not a big
source of money).
• Growth Strategies (Ansoff Matrix):
o Market Penetration: Sell more of existing products to existing customers.
 o Market Development: Sell existing products to new customer groups or in new
areas.
o Product Development: Create new or improved products for existing customers.
o Diversification: Start completely new businesses or products in new markets.
• Downsizing Strategy: Making the company smaller by getting rid of products or business
units that aren't making money or don't fit the company's plan anymore.
• Simple Example: A big company might use the BCG matrix to see its old textile division is a
"Dog" (slow growth, small share) and its new software division is a "Star." It might then
decide to sell off the textile division and put more money into the software for growth.
• Good Points: Clear way to use money, finds growth opportunities, helps sell off unprofitable
parts, helps with smart decisions.
• Bad Points: Simplifies complex things, hard to measure market share correctly, can make
companies focus only on short-term results, hard to downsize without problems.

42. To realize marketing's role in strategic planning and how to partner for triple wining (3Ws)
🤝🤝🤝

Marketing plays a very important and connected role in strategic planning.

• Marketing's Role:
o Customer Insights: Helps define the company's purpose by understanding market
needs.
o Finds Opportunities: Through market research.
o Develops Growth: Shapes how the company will grow (penetration, development,
etc.).
o Executes Plan: Creates detailed marketing plans for each business part.
o Drives Customer Value: Makes sure all big decisions focus on the customer.
• Partnering for Triple Winning (3Ws): This means creating value for everyone involved:
o Customer Wins: Gets great value and is happy.
o Company Wins: Makes profit, grows, and has a lasting advantage.
o Partners/Society Wins: Works well with partners for mutual benefit, and acts
ethically and responsibly (e.g., using fair suppliers).
• Simple Example: A drug company's plan to enter a new market for a medicine heavily relies
on marketing research to find the right patients (customer win), figure out the best way to
distribute the drug (partner win), and ensure the price works for both the market and the
company's profit (company win). The marketing team does this research and plans how to do
it.

43. To describe the marketing process and the forces that influence it. ⚙️

The marketing process is the series of steps a company takes to connect with customers,
build strong relationships, and create value for them, so they can get value back from
customers.

• Marketing Process Steps:

1. Understand Market & Customer Needs/Wants: Do research, look at customer data.
2. Design Customer-Driven Strategy: Segment, target, differentiate, and position.
3. Build Marketing Program to Deliver Value: Create the marketing mix (4Ps: Product,
Price, Place, Promotion).
4. Build Profitable Relationships & Delight Customers: Customer service, loyalty.
 5. Capture Value from Customers (Profit): Sales, market share, customer lifetime value.
• Forces that Influence It (Marketing Environment):
1. Microenvironment (Close Things):
▪ The Company: Other departments (finance, R&D).
▪ Suppliers: Who provide materials.
▪ Marketing Helpers: Shops, distributors, ad agencies, banks.
▪ Competitors: Other companies in the market.
▪ Publics: Any group that has an interest in or impact on the company (e.g.,
media, government, local community).
▪ Customers: Different types of markets (consumers, businesses, etc.).
2. Macroenvironment (Bigger Picture - PESTEL):
▪ Demographic: Population size, age, gender.
▪ Economic: Things affecting buying power.
▪ Natural: Environment and resources.
▪ Technological: New tech, new products.
▪ Political: Laws, government rules.
▪ Cultural: Society's values, ideas, and behaviors.
• Simple Example: A new drink company follows these steps: they find a need for healthier
drinks (understand market), target health-conscious young adults (strategy), create a new
organic juice (product), price it well (price), sell it in supermarkets and online (place), and
promote it on social media (promotion). All this is affected by things like health trends
(cultural), the economy (economic), and other drink companies.

44. To develop skills: designing effective marketing plan. ✍️

A marketing plan is a detailed document that outlines a company's marketing efforts for a
certain time, usually a year.

• Main Parts of a Marketing Plan:

1. Summary: Short overview of the whole plan.
2. Current Situation: Describe the market, products, rivals, and how things are sold.
3. SWOT Analysis: Look at Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.
4. Goals and Issues: Specific marketing goals (e.g., increase market share by 5%).
5. Marketing Strategy: Who you're targeting, how you're positioning, and your 4Ps.
6. Action Programs: Specific tasks, timelines, who is responsible.
7. Budgets: Money needed, costs.
8. Controls: How to check progress and evaluate results.
• Skills Needed:
1. Analytical: For SWOT, market analysis.
2. Strategic Thinking: For positioning, setting goals.
3. Creativity: For designing ads.
4. Communication: Writing clearly.
5. Financial: Budgeting, understanding return on investment.
6. Project Management: Running the plan.
• Simple Example: A small bakery making a marketing plan for the holiday season would
include a summary, describe their current customers and local rivals, point out strengths
(unique recipes) and weaknesses (limited delivery), set a goal (increase holiday sales by
20%), explain their strategy (promote special holiday cakes with local ads and social media),
list tasks (create ads, social media contest), budget for ingredients and ads, and plan how to
check daily sales.
45. Review service economy 🌐

A service economy is when most of a country's money comes from services, not from
making goods or farming. Most rich countries are now service economies.

• What Makes Services Special (4 Is):

o Intangible: You can't see, touch, or smell them before buying.
o Inseparable: They are made and used at the same time.
o Variable: The quality can be different depending on who provides them, when, and
how.
o Perishable: You can't store them for later use (e.g., an empty hotel room cannot be
sold the next day).
• What This Means for Marketing: Services need a different way of marketing compared to
physical products.
• Simple Example: Healthcare, education, tourism, banking, and phone services are all big
parts of a service economy. When you go to a restaurant, you're not just buying food; you're
buying the "service" of cooking, serving, and the whole dining experience.

46. Classify Broad Categories of Services 분류

Services can be grouped in a few main ways.

• Based on Touch (even though all are intangible):

o People-based: Needs direct contact with a person (e.g., haircut, massage,
consultant).
o Equipment-based: Mostly relies on machines (e.g., ATM, vending machine, car
wash).
• Based on Customer Being There:
o Needs Customer Present: Hairdresser, doctor's visit.
o Doesn't Need Customer Present: Car repair, house cleaning.
• Based on Provider Skills:
o Unskilled: Basic labor.
o Skilled: Needs special abilities (e.g., lawyer, surgeon).
o Professional: Needs very specific knowledge (e.g., business consultant).
• Based on Main Purpose:
o Business Services: For other businesses (e.g., IT consulting, logistics).
o Consumer Services: For everyday people (e.g., banking, entertainment).
o Government Services: Public services (e.g., police, public transport).
• Simple Example: A law firm offers a professional, people-based service that usually needs
the client to be there for meetings. A music streaming service is an equipment-based service
that doesn't need you to be present.

47. Examine Services Marketing Challenges 🚧

The special features of services create specific marketing difficulties.

• Intangibility Problem:
o Issue: You can't see, touch, or hold services before you buy. Hard to know the
quality.
 o Marketing Fix: Make the unseen seem real (e.g., nice waiting rooms, professional
brochures); focus on benefits and happy customer stories; build a strong brand
image.
• Inseparability Problem:
o Issue: Service is made and used at the same time. Customer is part of the delivery.
o Marketing Fix: Manage customer interactions; train and empower service staff; get
the customer involved.
• Variability Problem:
o Issue: Quality can change a lot depending on who gives it, when, and how. Risk of
inconsistency.
o Marketing Fix: Make processes standard; hire and train good staff; check customer
happiness; offer guarantees.
• Perishability Problem:
o Issue: Services can't be stored; empty spots mean lost money.
o Marketing Fix: Manage how many people want the service and how much you can
provide (e.g., change prices based on demand, appointments, off-peak deals); be
flexible with capacity.
• Other Problems:
o Hard to Price: Difficult to cost intangible parts.
o Customer Participation: Customer's role affects service quality.
o Building Trust: Especially for expert services.
• Simple Example: A restaurant faces the variability problem. The quality of food and service
can be different depending on the chef, waiter, or even time of day. They try to fix this by
having standard recipes, training staff, and asking for customer feedback.

48. Design Extended Marketing Mix 7Ps 🎯

For services, the usual 4 Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) are expanded to 7 Ps to cover
what's special about services.

• Product: The main service you offer and its extra features.
• Price: How much the service costs, including fees, discounts, and payment options.
• Place (Distribution): Where and how the service is given (e.g., online, a physical shop,
mobile).
• Promotion: Telling people about the service's value and benefits.
• People: The individuals who deliver the service (staff, managers, other customers). Their
attitudes, skills, and behavior are very important.
o Why Important: Directly affects service quality and customer experience.
• Process: The steps, systems, and flow of activities for delivering the service.
o Why Important: Makes sure service is consistent, efficient, and customers are happy.
• Physical Evidence: The environment where the service is delivered, and any physical clues
that show its quality.
o Why Important: Helps make the unseen service feel real (e.g., a clean waiting room,
smart uniforms, professional website).
• Simple Example: For a university (a service):
o Product: Degree courses, research chances.
o Price: Tuition fees, scholarships.
o Place: Campus buildings, online learning.
o Promotion: Brochures, open days, online ads.
o People: Lecturers, admin staff, support staff, other students.
o Process: Application steps, registration, how courses are taught, exams.
 o Physical Evidence: Campus look, lecture halls, library, brochure, website design,
university logo.

49. Apply Customer Centricity ❤️

Customer centricity is a business approach where the customer is the focus of everything
– all decisions, processes, and operations.

• Main Ideas:
o Deep Customer Understanding: Truly knowing what customers need, like, and
struggle with.
o Value Focus: Creating and delivering great value for customers.
o Long-Term Relationships: Thinking about how much a customer is worth over their
lifetime, not just one sale.
o Use Feedback: Always listening and acting on customer comments.
o Teamwork: All departments working together for the customer.
o Empowered Staff: Giving front-line staff the power to solve customer problems.
• Benefits: More loyal customers, happier customers, positive word-of-mouth, competitive
edge, more profit.
• How to Apply:
o Build a customer-focused culture.
o Use customer relationship management (CRM) systems.
o Map customer journeys to find pain points.
o Personalize messages and offers.
o Train customer service staff well.
• Simple Example: Amazon is a great example. Everything they do, from suggesting products
to easy ordering, fast shipping, and easy returns, is designed around what's easy and good
for the customer. Their "customer obsession" is a core value.
• Good Points: Stronger customer bonds, higher customer lifetime value, better brand image,
more effective marketing.
• Bad Points: Needs a big change in company culture, money needed for systems and training,
hard to measure profit directly from it.

50. Knowledge vs. Practice 🧠➡️🛠️

This topic talks about the difference between knowing things (theory) and actually doing
them (applying) in the real world.

• Knowledge: Understanding ideas, theories, and best ways of doing things in marketing. (e.g.,
knowing the 4 Ps, understanding how customers behave).
• Practice: Being able to use that knowledge effectively in real business situations, solve
problems, make decisions, and make plans happen. (e.g., actually planning and launching a
successful ad campaign, managing a team, dealing with a crisis).
• Closing the Gap:
o Learning by Doing: Internships, case studies, role-playing, hands-on projects.
o Critical Thinking: Analyzing situations, picking the right knowledge, adapting it.
o Problem-Solving: Using frameworks to fix real business issues. Keep Learning:
Staying updated with new trends and tech.
o Mentors: Learning from experienced people.
• Simple Example: A marketing student might know all about SWOT analysis (knowledge), but
"practice" means actually doing a detailed SWOT for a real company, finding useful insights
 from it, and putting those into a strategic plan. This takes real thinking and problem-solving
beyond just remembering definitions.
• Good Points (of closing the gap): More effective, better decisions, new ideas, career success,
ability to adapt.
• Bad Points (of having a gap): Bad plans, missed opportunities, poor execution, no
competitive edge, theoretical solutions that don't work in reality.

51. Org. Performance 📊

Organizational performance means how well a company is doing at reaching its goals. In
marketing, it's about how well marketing efforts help the business succeed overall.

• Key Measures:
o Money Performance: Sales, profit, market share, return on investment (money
earned vs. money spent), customer lifetime value.
o Customer Performance: Customer satisfaction scores, how many customers stay,
brand loyalty, cost to get a new customer.
o Operational Performance: How efficient marketing processes are, how fast products
reach market, quality of marketing output.
o Brand Performance: How well-known the brand is, brand value, how people see the
brand.
o Employee Performance: How happy marketing staff are, their productivity.
• Importance: Shows what's working, finds areas to improve, justifies money spent on
marketing, guides big decisions.
• Simple Example: A company might check its marketing performance by looking at how much
its market share grew, how many new customers it got, its average customer satisfaction
score, and how much profit its latest online ad campaign brought in.
• Good Points: Clear signs of success, data-driven decisions, finds strengths and weaknesses,
encourages responsibility.
• Bad Points: Can be hard to directly link marketing efforts to overall financial results, risk of
focusing on less important numbers, needs good data collection.

52. What satisfaction is all about? 😊

Satisfaction, especially customer satisfaction, is the feeling of happiness or disappointment

you get when you compare how a product or service actually performed to what you
expected.

• Main Parts:
o Expectations: What the customer thinks they will get (from past experience, what
friends say, ads).
o Actual Performance: What the customer really experiences.
o Comparison: The difference between what happened and what was expected.
• Levels of Satisfaction:
o Unhappy: Performance is worse than expectations.
o Happy: Performance matches expectations.
o Delighted: Performance is better than expectations (often makes customers very
loyal and tell others).
• More Than Just the Product: Satisfaction also includes the whole customer journey, like
service, buying process, and after-sale support.
 • Importance: A big reason why customers stay loyal, buy again, spread good word-of-mouth,
and ultimately, why a company succeeds.
• Simple Example: A customer buying a new smartphone is happy if it works as fast as they
expected, the camera is good, and the battery lasts. They would be delighted if it was
surprisingly innovative or if the customer support was amazing.

53. Worried customer 😟

A worried customer is someone feeling nervous or unsure about a purchase, product, or

service. This worry can come from many places.

• Reasons for Worry:

o High Risk: Buying expensive things (house, car) where there's a lot of financial,
social, or personal risk.
o Uncertainty/No Info: Not knowing if the product will work, not enough clear
information.
o After-Buy Doubts: Second thoughts or regrets after buying ("Did I make the right
choice?").
o Bad Past Experiences: Negative interactions with the brand before.
o Bad Reviews/Word-of-Mouth: Hearing negative things from others.
o Bad Customer Service: Unhelpful support.
o Too Complex: Product is too hard to use or understand.
• Marketer's Role: Address concerns, reassure them, give clear info, offer great customer
service, and guarantees.
• Simple Example: A customer worried about buying an expensive new washing machine
might be concerned about its energy use, how long it will last, and if it will be noisy. A good
marketer would provide detailed energy ratings, long warranties, and customer reviews
about quiet operation to ease these worries.

54. Truth and Myth 🎭

This topic means we need to tell the difference between what's really true and what are
common wrong ideas in marketing.

• Examples of Marketing Myths (and the Truths):

o Myth: "Marketing is just ads and selling."
▪ Truth: Marketing is much bigger; it's about understanding customers,
creating value, building relationships, and managing the whole buying and
selling process.
o Myth: "Customers always buy the cheapest thing."
▪ Truth: Customers buy based on perceived value, which includes quality,
brand name, service, convenience, and how it makes them feel, not just the
price.
o Myth: "The customer is always right."
▪ Truth: While keeping customers happy is key, always doing exactly what
every customer says can hurt the business. The truth is "The customer is
always the most important asset," and their feedback is very useful, but not
every request is possible or smart for the business.
o Myth: "If you build it, they will come." (Just making a product means people will buy
it.)
 ▪ Truth: Even great products need good marketing, ways to sell them, and
positioning to reach customers and make them want to buy.
o Myth: "Social media marketing is free."
▪ Truth: While you can post for free, truly effective social media marketing
needs a lot of time, effort, good content, and often paid ads to get good
results.
• Importance: Knowing the truth helps marketers focus on smart, proven strategies, use
money wisely, and avoid expensive mistakes.
• Simple Example: A company that believes "social media marketing is free" might just post
now and then without a plan, leading to no engagement and no return. Understanding the
truth helps them invest in people who create content, paid ads, and community
management, which actually gets results.