Marketing in modern businesses is not only a branch of knowledge but its purview has extended as a way of life for the young professionals so as to create a niche in traditional and modern business sectors. Some of the best MBA colleges in Nashik are offering marketing as a specialisation to train students in different kinds of marketing strategies and platforms. Let us take a closer look at the different kinds of marketing tactics, what factors influence consumer behaviour, and the life cycle of a product:
Top Marketing Practices
Some of the modern marketing practices extend to:
- AI integration
- Market Research
- Pricing Dynamics
- Product Development
- Rural Marketing
- Global Marketing
- Brand Activation
- Integrated marketing communication
- Rural Marketing
- Ambience Marketing
- Influencer Marketing
- Green Marketing
Relationship Between Marketing and Sales
- Marketing management leads to consumer satisfaction, sales management leads to profit maximisation
- Marketing and sales are complementary to each other
- Marketing and sales both involve communication
- Marketing creates brand equity; sales create financial equity
- Marketing involves strategy decisions and sales management involves team decisions
Understanding Consumer Behaviour and Factors Influencing Consumer Buying Behaviour
The understanding of consumer behaviour could start before designing the product and services; this means that market research is necessary to judge the consumer expectations and early experience. The market research is therefore instrumental in understanding consumer behaviour and helps the marketing manager to frame advertising Strategy, Market segmentation, Positioning of the brand as well as deciding on the sales territory where the target consumer exists.
Factors Influencing Consumer Buying Behaviour
- Brand steam
- Price
- Proximity
- Offers
- Competition
- Hygiene
- Brand identity
- Brand equity
Buying Habits, Buying Motives (Shopping)
Buying motives- The shopping of a consumer develops when the brand owner understands the consumer behaviour nicely and the consumer gets to have repetitive shopping of that merchandise, shopping habits are developed due to certain motives which the brand owner develops in the consumer which means the consumers use the particular brand.
Consumer Buying Decision Process (Consumer Decision Making Model)
The consumer buying decision process tells us how consumers react to the necessities which come across their shopping habits. These shopping habits can be driven due to impulse buying decisions or any other shopping decision which takes longer to come into the final decision for shopping therefore we can say that the consumer buying decision is a process of their shopping decision journey.
Consumer decision-making model has following steps:
- Need Recognition
- Information research
- Evaluation of Alternatives
- Purchase decision
- Post purchase behaviour
The P’s of Marketing
- Product
- Price
- Place:
- Promotion:
- Packaging:
- People
- Process
- Productivity and Quality
- Physical evidence
Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning
STP is a process which aims to divide the market in various parts depending upon attributes of the product or service. The marketing strategy process of STP is designed in such a manner that the marketing manager is ready with what should be the action to implement 9 P’s of marketing.
Segmentation targeting and positioning means that the market or the set of consumers is divided into various sections based on taste, colours, features, usability, durability etc. of the product or service. The segmenting targeting and positioning is as follows:
Segmentation: Means locating a set of consumers in the speculative marketplace.
Targeting: Is locating a right segment of consumers (both B2B B2C) who can ensure to be targeted to make sales.
Positioning: Is done not only to make sales but to leverage upon the brand equity. IMC is incorporated to do positioning.
What is a Product Life Cycle?
A product life cycle contains of these stages:
Introduction Stage
It includes launching a brand in the market phase. This includes a proactive marketing strategy by a brand in which the marketing manager has to come up with novelties which the target market was missing hitherto.
Growth Stage
Includes multiplication of business in which there is a growth of the number of consumers at the same time the challenges increase.
Ex: Hyundai Motor India Limited which introduced various variants/ models of car in their growth stage.
Maturity Stage
Consists of brand equity at volume of business for the brand. In this stage business, consumer, goodwill, market share everything is included. Therefore, brand managers have to be innovative enough to remain in the maturity stage.
Ex: Amul, made a very good brand equity from the best of their products, successfully they have an advertising company which was initiated by communication.
This is very tough to maintain. The marketing manager needs to venture into various other segments.
Decline Stage
In this stage introduction of new ideas through which the brand can take update of sales leverage upon its brand equity and market shares. It demands innovative ideas but also working on all cost control.
Reincarnation
In this stage demand for innovation at another level. It demands working on the shortcomings of the brand so it has to create a niche in the market place. In this stage demands for venturing into a new market of the sales territory.
New Product Development
It is the process by which a brand may move from one stage of product life cycle to another stage. It consists of innovation, venturing into new market segments, understanding consumer behaviour, changing product design. The case study for NPD is Tata Indigo CS. Some decades ago, Tata Motors launched Tata Indigo Car, which was above the expectation about the target. Hence, Tata Motors launched Indigo CS, Tata Motors brand able as a low-cost car which could fit profit or targets of consumers. It could also be done during the phase from growth to maturity from decline to Reincarnation. It should be done concisely in the Maturity stage.
Ex: MDH Masala
After the demise of the Chairman of the company the rebranding was done. This re-branding and unnecessary advertising lead to a fall in sales figures. However, its earlier branding was restored and this could save the brand from moving towards a decline stage.
Diffusion of Innovation
Innovation is an idea which is incorporated into the product or the service, which creates a difference in the brand so as to positively affect consumer decision making. Innovation remains the path of the new product development process, thereby creating a difference in the existing product, or idea generation for a new product, or innovative marketing strategy for existing product, or launching altogether a new brand. Propagating this innovation is the diffusion of innovation process. In this process, the brand unfreezes the existing idea, integrates the new idea of innovation, and then freezes the marketplace with the new idea.
Product Portfolio
It is the full range of offering Within a retail space, product mix is the range of various offerings by various brands. This may include any particular range of products which is MBO multi brand outlet Like Tata Croma is merchandising, these product mix consist of another product line of various variants. Product length, width is decided by various merchandise which are being showcased within that retail space.
Ex: Reliance Fresh
Conclusion
These are some of the key features of marketing that students need to understand for a career in this field. Professionals holding an MBA in Marketing have the necessary skills and knowledge to build a global career in marketing. With the right training, you can lead marketing teams at top MNCs across the globe.