Sales Force Automation-The new interface of the Sales Management

The unique revenue model required by any commercial organisation existing in this world to sustain is Sales.Sale is the exchange of products or services required by the customer to fulfill his needs in lieu of the amount he pays.Earlier the core function of Sales was to sell only but as business environment has undergone tremendous changes from the traditional methods of Selling to the new concepts of Sales management,the role of sales team has drastically changed.

                           Sales Professionals have understood that only making the customer to buy a product is  not the key to long term sustainability and profitability but to retain him and generate loyalty out of them is the need of the hour.Today sales is not a limited function as it used to be in the earlier times.Today's Sales function involves setting up competitive product prices,Fix Margins,Carve out sales strategies

Packaging-The purpose of Product Packaging!

Packaging 

Some body has perfectly said ,"A picture is worth  a thousand words."
Packaging plays an important role in a product's life cycle.Packaging is just like a solution to the problem of the customer beautifully dressed in an attractive dressing.It plays a vital role in branding process of a product.

Customers don't buy products,they buy solutions to their problems and hence it becomes the utmost responsibility of the marketer to present its product in the most attractive way to help perceive his customers that there is no product available with the competitors and hence only he has a product as a solution to his problems  which will solve his purpose. 

As Branding helps to differentiate brand among the brands,the packaging helps a product to differentiate itself from the rest of the competitors available in the market.

A customer when enters a supermarket or a big retail chain,he passes more than 300 products per minute yet he reaches his product placed in the last.It is because of the reason that he has become loyal customer of that product.

Thus companies often use catchy tag lines.shiny colors and logos so that they can be catched by the eyes of the customer easily.
It is the collaborative effort of all like colors,font used,design of the packaging,shape,size,creativity of the designer that outlines itself from the rest of the products.

In most of the brands that are unknown to the  customers,packaging itself has persuaded the customer to give it a try.Hence to look trendy  and cool every time the most of the corporates stress on packaging and change it continuously to stop packaging ware out.

Packaging has got some basic functions:

1. Protects the Contents: The basic function of the packaging is to ensure that the contents inside it are protected from any sort of Damage or physical wear and tear and hence packaging plays a vital role in the safety of the product.
2. Branding: The packaging helps in product differentiation.It helps people identify their choicest brand among different brands available with the help of Logos,designs and colors used.
3. Source of Information to the customers: As we already know that the role of the marketer is not only limited to sell its products by driving the demand for it but he also act as a teacher.He is also responsible to educate customers regarding the Product Quantity,Price,Quality,Weight,Nutritional Value (Where ever applicable),Hazards and product disposal techniques to follow.
4. Barriers:Packaging  also saves the contents from moisture,direct exposure to sunlight, bacteria's etc.To enhance shelf life special desiccants are used in the product packaging.
5. Security:Packaging helps tempering of the product by any non authorized persons to maintain the integrity,dignity and the genuineness of the product.Specially designed product features help in temper proofing of the products and helps in detecting if any tempering has been made.

3D Sticker




Thus corporates are ensuring every possiblity to deliver their products to the end customers in the best value in the best possible way at the best price in the presentable and in an affordable way.

Purchase behaviour of customers and the role of Reference groups in influencing the purchasing behavior of customers.

We live in a world where everything whatever happens around us causes impact on us physiologically and emotionally which in turns forms,shapes and drives our attitudes,liking for or disliking against certain things.

Actually the motive for every action is the intent or the desire to get something of a positive nature.

When ever we perform a certain action it can have two outcomes i.e Positive Reinforcement and negative reinforcement and on the outcome of the reward whether positive or negative decides whether we are going to perform the same action again or not.

On the basis of the reward outcomes one time purchases,repeat purchases and customer loyalty depends.

In simple terms we can understand it that in case of Positive reinforcement the reward is of the positive nature while negative reinforcement can be taken as a punishment.

The experience we gets stored in our memory for a long time and whenever we see or performs a certain similar type of action,the learned predisposition tells us that whether it will be beneficial or not.

Example:

Suppose Ashish in his early childhood days used to get a chocolate as a reward for performing top in the class and for his poor performance sometimes teacher used to punish him.

This "chocolate " as  a reward will create a positive impact on Ashish and it will frame his attitude that by Performing outstanding in the class he shall get a chocolate. (Positive reinforcement) while if poorly performed he will get punishment from the teacher (undesired outcome) which will lead to negative reinforcement.

Hence this reward outcome desired or undesired will form his future behavior as he will like to have a good reward rather than that of bad one.

We all are consumers and we purchase different items based on our requirement from time to time.

From the low involvement products that is a Washing machine,a television or water purifier
to High Involvement products like Latops,Cars etc.we take huge precautions.

We purchase products to satisfy our needs.Basically the purchase decision is not an independent one but it is interdependent on many more factors.
It takes several things in account prior to trigger the purchase decision.

Marketer plays a vital role here also." A Marketer acts like a teacher.Marketeers are in the business of making consumers to meet  their unrecognised needs,teaches them about the products that will satisfy those needs and also helps them to learn the usage of the products and also teaches them how to dispose them off."

Hence First,Marketer send its target market  a communication without letting him know that he is being targetted .Let us take the example of Television Advertisements.

Example;
Let us take the example of Fair and lovely Cream.Its Target markets were the women with low self esteem.
We know that in most of the places let it be Corporates,Jobs at airlines the women with black completion are turned down irrespective of the reason that how much talented they are.
Not only to this in certain places,a women with dark complexion worries her parents because it means that they have to pay high dowry to get her married (punishment) while as the fair complexion girls are considered gift as they find jobs easily let it be at big corporate houses and even in aviation sector.

As i already told you in my earlier posts,"Jo dikhta hai woh bikta hai...."





Girl with dark complexion...Nandita Das










Girl with fair complexion...Nandita Das






It is a bias in our society that fair people gets most of the preferences and opportunities where as the industry wants the talented one irrespective of the colour of the skin what a person has got...

Hence the Fair and lovely took the initiative by targeting the self esteem of the girls with dark complexion by telling that could achieve heights.The marketers without letting the target audiences know that their self esteem is being lowered and they are being targeted as this will turn off the customers and they will simply associate black word with fair and lovely as a product.The people will tend to think that the cream is for blacks.No one wants to admit he is of dark complexion even if he knows she is not farer.No one wants to look or hear that she is ugly.

So it can be a blunder and a total failure on the product positioning.
Hence a marketer targets and lowers down the self esteem of his target consumers and then suggest measures to hike it.
Such a beautiful art is this marketing!!



See in the above given add,the marketer is indirectly telling them in a praising and in a motivating manner that no doubt they are dark buy yet they are beautiful in their own way....

Hence a marketer is making its target consumers learn.
Reference group can be of two types:
1) Primary reference group.
2) Secondary reference group.

Primary Reference group: A primary reference group includes immediate family members,friends i.e it is a group with whom an individual communicates regularly.

Secondary Reference groups: It may include or other persons with whom the interactions are very limited or less we can say.

Hence when a potential customer thinks to buy a product from the market,the biggest challenge which he faces is to buy from which company when all the competitors are on the same line,
So what a consumer does,he approaches the expert persons or opinion leaders to seek information regarding the product he wishes to buy.

Suppose i want to buy a Ferrari.I will just find someone in my immediate reference groups or someone whom we think as an opinion leader or an expert possibility who has got the good information about the cars or who has got one,will obviously not inquire about the mileage because it wont matter to a Ferrari owner but the maintenance,Post delivery service procedures,Emi's etc. and whether it will be a good decision to buy it or not.
Reference groups with whom we are associated helps framing our attitude towards a product because we often keep associated with our social groups.

We can assume it with a an another situation:
If there are families living in 10 different flats in an apartment and 8  families are using a specific car then the 9th and the 10th family are most probably going to buy the same car.Hence social groups causes great impact on the consumers mind .Moreover to protect themselves with the product dissonance they mostly take the opinion of the reference groups.

Marketers face a challenging situation when directing a certain information of the product to the reference groups.It is not necessary that the reference group may understand or perceive the message of the marketer in the same sense as it has been transmitted and transmit the same to the target persons in a positive manner.Different people have different thinking ability which depends on their ability to think,understand which is based on their perceptions,valuation,beliefs,understanding,learning about a brand or a product.
Hence challenge lies with forwarding the same intent of the marketer to the reference groups and target groups in which it is transmitted and to ensure that the audiences perceive the same picture as marketer wants them to see it.

The lengthy advertisements you must have seen on the Television that lasts for 30 min showing every detail of the product ,its specifications,pricing,warranty,purchase information,warranty information,delivery information,Payment terms are not for normal consumers.

Those advertisements are called "Infomercials".
They are shown to develop and change the attitude, Perception of the reference groups and opinion leaders positively about the product and the brand itself.

As it is said that,A negative word of mouth travels 10X faster than a positive word of mouth.

Supply Chain Management

Role of Supply Chain Management 

in Marketing...

Disclaimer !  The content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site.This blog contains the personal viewpoints of the the owner regarding the different strategies followed by the marketers and have not been copied from any source and he will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information.The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.

Supply Chain Management plays a dynamic role in the overall marketing process of a product.Supply chain is the backbone of the modern industrial world.Managing a supply chain in an effective and in an efficient way is a very tough job. Supply chain involves from the starting of the procurement of raw materials required for the manufacturing of a product till its final consumption.
SCM involves all the processes like choosing of the best suppliers via e-sourcing, e-tendering for the procurement of the raw materials,the processes involved in the production of goods termed as work in progress till the final product is made.
It's not only limited to this only,from the factories the movement of the product through various distribution channels like distributors-wholesalers-retailers-in a very cost effective way so that the product gets delivered to the end customer in an efficient and in a cost effective way constitutes our supply chain.
The more efficient and an effective supply chain an organisation is having,the more profitable it will be getting in future.

Have you ever wondered that how coca cola is able to sell its ₹ 10 INR bottle of coke at the same price across pan India when there are so many costs associated like transportation cost,distribution costs,govt.taxes.
How it is able to maintain its unique price when distribution channel partners have also a certain share in it.
From this example we all could have understood that how efficient and cost effective the coca cola must have its supply chain.
Managers of these companies often do a strong brain storming,many times they do fail but failure always leads to learning. It teaches in a more better way.As of till date there is no programmed book for managing a supply chain which will ensure you that your supply chain will get fully optimised but it is with the continuous,integrated and with the mutual  help of suppliers and the company.
So for this reason the Supply chain acts like the beads of the chain.if even one bead of a chain is broken,it will make the whole chain weak and  vulnerable to the external competitors. It.It can create a threat and no doubt your product will come in a huge crisis.

Let me try to give you some insight about this:-
I am going to take an example of a simple packaged mineral water."Aquafina".

You know that this bottle is being sold in indian markets at ₹ 20.
This is the final product price and it is entirely different from the actual costs that are involved in the manufacturing of a bottle.
I won't say that you will earn ₹ 15 INR per bottle,if i say this then next morning most of my viewers would start selling the same:-).
But the actual cost of the mineral water is very low and it would not more than ₹1.50 INR .But the manufacturing costs associated and  involved are more, as visible to the naked eyes of the consumers but we should know that there is a blueprint of processes that need to be followed step by step.

See what things we must need to manufacture a bottle.

You need a plastic bottle.You get this plastics from the suppliers of the plastic material.


Then you definately need a cap as a lid on the bottle.You get these from its own suppliers.

After it you would also need to label it and hence you need a labelling sticker like this:-



We also need our core product that is water to be filled in these bottles.So we need pure water that can be obtained by the water filtration plant.Hence cost of the machinery of the filteration plant is also involved.

                                                                            Not limited to only this,you need to put these bottles into big boxes so that they can be protected from breakage.

To do all things,we need employees,staff workers to do these jobs.
We also need workers for cleaning jobs to clean the untidy places so costs get involved over there also.
Cost of energy is also involved because machines require electricity to operate,even cost of the building where inventories are being stored add up to costs.

After all these things they need to be carried from the factory chambers to the trucks to be transported and hence we need fort lifts.



To operate these we need fuel and an operator too.



Even after that after the trucks are fully loaded,the bottles are transported and are handled to distributors-retailers and they have their own profits set in addition to the costs.

The costs associated with loading,unloading of materials,govt.taxes,cost of fuel,salary of employees,materials needed at the workplace,energy costs and other variable costs are involved in the supply chain.



You will also need a dedicated customer care number to answer the queries of the customers and as well as listen to their complaints as well.

Hence to optimise all these costs associated and to make the best use of the scare resources available with the organisation, companies do hard efforts to make their product survive in such a cut throat competitive world...

Green Marketing-The Changing Face of Marketing – The Societal Path

Disclaimer !  The content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site.This blog contains the personal viewpoints of the the owner regarding the different strategies followed by the marketers and have not been copied from any source and he will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information.The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.

 

The Changing Face of Marketing – The Societal Path

The concept of marketing has been discovered thousands of year’s ago. One can argue on the usage of this word" Discovered" ,here, it is because of the reason that the concept of marketing is as older as the existence of mankind.

Let’s go few thousand years back to have its brief look. Its the story of the ancient times when evolution of human life took place i.e. when God sent first humans to earth as stated by the Christian Mythology.

After creating the world, God made a beautiful garden, called “Garden of Eden”. It was a paradise full of animals, fruits and trees. At the centre of the garden, there was a tree with a special power to give the knowledge of good and evil to the person who ate its fruit. Adam was the first man created by God. God told ADAM to look after the trees in the garden and warned him, “You may eat fruits from any tree you like, but not from the Tree of Knowledge. If you do not obey, you shall die:”

To give company to ADAM, God created a female from his ribs, and named her EVE. Both ADAM and EVE lived naked in the Garden of Eden, as they had no sense.

In the same garden, there lived a snake. It persuaded EVE to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, and told her that if she ate the fruit, she would become wise like God. Tempted by this, EVE ate the fruit and made ADAM also eat it.

Next day, when God came to the Garden, ADAM and EVE hid themselves from Him, as now they had gained knowledge.

God asked them, “Did you eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge?” The two admitted. God became angry and punished them, saying, “You did not obey me. So now, you will have to leave this Garden. You will have to live on Earth. ADAM will have to work hard to grow crops and create food and EVE will have to suffer the pain of giving birth.”

Let’s have a look at the picture.

The story can be looked as a classic analogy of today’s marketing. Taking the marketing route, let’s understand - Who persuaded EVE to eat that apple!!!

Who you think that who is the marketer in this picture.....Can you guess it!!!

Think!

Neither it’sADAM and nor its EVE.

It’s Snake! Snake persuaded EVE to eat the Apple.Snake lured her to eat it.

Gone are those days when people used to believe only on three Needs of life"Roti","kapda"aur"Makaan"(Bread, Cloth& a Shelter to live in!!)

Marketer has changed this thinking of people....They communicated and taught people to switch from needs to wants and from wants to demands.

“Marketers arose thrustin people regarding products. Marketers have the power and ability to empower people’s mind. They trigger their purchasing action.”

The one of the important aspect in marketing is" Communication."

If you don't communicate and educate people about your product you have made for them they are never ever going to know about it and if they will never know about it, your product is never going to sell and the consequences will be very worse like Unnecessary blockage of money, over head costs, financial burdens and huge loses.

That's the purpose of a marketer and marketing as a strategy which he uses. He educates the consumer about the benefits of the product he is providing and persuades them to give the product a try!!!Marketers say that we (they) have got the solution to your problems.

Actually it is the marketer who pushes a product into the market.

But have you ever thought that how these things have settled in your mind.
Who are the people who are behind this!
Yes!!!There are people behind the scene with a proper strategy and those are Marketers.
Marketers are those people who are behind the scenes and who drive the customers crazy about a product.
"Marketers are in the business of making consumers to spend money which they

Donot have,on the products they donot need,to create impressions that donot last long,that too on the people that they really donot care about."!!!

Role of Marketer in Society:

A marketers role is not limited to just identification and creation of demand in the markets but most of the marketers are taking initiatives for the betterment of the society as a whole,they contribute to the environment also apart from their CSR initiatives.

It was the marketer who introduced the concept of green marketing i.e using the green products. Green products are those products which are friendly to the nature and the environment and are not hazardous at all.They are also called Eco-friendly products.

They donot degrade the environment and are also not lethal for the human race thus ensuring safety of the entire mankind and help in saving a lot of resources from being exploited.

Marketer has played a remarkable role in teaching the consumers the advantages of following green marketing practices.

Marketer acts as a teacher and as a communicator for the society.

It was the marketer who taught consumers that there is an energy saving AC with a 5 star rating which if you use will reduce 90% of your monthly bill as well as it is an environment friendly product,saves energy and can be identified by 
star ratings.

It was the marketer behind the scene who persuaded the people to use CFL bulbs to minimize their bills instead of using normal bulbs.

CFL Bulb that minimises bill and saves energy.

But still most of the people are not using Green products may be due to their negative perception regarding the green products or ,distrust regarding the green products or they think that green products are not efficient and are of low quality or we can say sub standardized or because of the reason that they are over priced.

Marketers have to persuade people to use greener products by communicating the benefits of using them and no doubt one time try can never do it but the “Power of repetition ‘is something which is eventually going to work here. No doubt, the people have started caring more about the environment now but when it comes to affordability if these items are priced higher then they may not buy it.

So marketers should not be so myopic regarding making a product greener and greener i.e so greener that it becomes so costly that a normal customer can’t afford it.

People want the best value for the money they actually paid for!

If a marketer offers them a green product then it should be able to meet customer’s expectations. Generally a consumer looks for Product Performance, Reliability, DurablityAvailablity, Serviceability, Affordability and Quality in a product. If the perceived quality of a customer is higher than the expectations he is having from a normal product he will feel delighted and would like to buy an another green product for his next use. Adhering to specified specifications and commitment will not only increase the customer base of an organization but also will promote the positive image of the company thru the effective promotion techniques like words of mouth and other promotional mediums.

Customers are even willing to pay extra in case of Quality products but to add value and to add an another feather to his cap the marketer should have to add value to his core productby practicing and endorsing Green marketing.

It is the marketer who can build trust among the masses towards the usage of the green products i.e. environment friendly products. If a genuine and a good product is delivered to the customer, his satisfaction level will be high.

No doubt that business is not for charity. If an organization is pumping in their billions of rupees, they also want a better return from it often termed as ‘Return on Investment’ and they expect it to be higher.

But being myopic to profit earning, it will be the greatest blunder from the marketer’s side if he overlooks the expectations of the end customers and also remain care free regarding the environment.

The biggest thing in today’s world of dynamic environment is sustainability as sustainability will eventually lead to the more and more customer association and loyalty.’Loyality is something which can’t be purchased or bought, it has to be earned.’

As the firms who produce or manufacture a certain product over utilize the scare natural resources and degrade the environment.

It is the marketer who himself planted the seed of ‘conspicuous consumption ‘ in the mindset of a consumer and by keeping on practicing it he has unknowingly or knowingly exploited and contaminated the environment.

Like he gave people a Refrigerator, though it served the purpose of quenching their thirst with cold water but the harmful Chlorofluorocarbons ( CFC’s)  that were emitted by it are so harmful that depletes the ozone layer in our atmosphere as these CFC’s when emitted react with the ozone in the atmosphere and deplete it and depletion of Ozone layer is so lethal that if completely depleted ,it will create an ozone hole and all the cosmic rays which are harmful for the entire life will penetrate the earth’s atmosphere and will wipe up the entire life from the earth.(as happened in Antarctica around 80’s.
Due to the same reason the glaciers have started melting away and floods arise due to the rise in water level.

So the damage that a marketer has caused to this nature, he is the one who is liable to get it rectified but its not only him alone who can do it but it is possible with the mutual efforts of the marketers and the consumers. The more the Marketer Educate the people, the more awareness will spread regarding the cause.

So it becomes the utmost duty of these organizations to show their indebtedness to the earth as a planet to save it from getting contaminated.
No doubt today’s marketer is smart and sooner he has realized his mistake and is trying to rectify it with green marketing concepts. By understanding the seriousness of this crisis, he has adopted green practices like he came out with technology which replaces CFC’s with Hydro fluoro carbons (HFC’s) which are less toxic and environment friendly.

But we should always keep in mind that nature remains in balance and when there is an unwanted change in the natural composition of anything, strange and dreadful things occur. So marketer can make use of his tactic to persuade people to follow green practices so as to ensure that their loved ones get a happier, safer and a healthier life to live…

“Let’s together make the world-a beautiful place to live in….”

---

Product continued....
So product is a tangible thing that a customer can see,feel and touch....But further when we will talk about service marketing we will find that in service sector there are products also....like Insurance is a product for an insurance company....but its nature being intangible in that case,a customer can only feel it.....so product mix extends here to 8 P's of Marketing....

Coming back,to the physical product....
Today all companies are trying hard to reach their target customers in one way or in an another way...
Corporates are trying new and innovative ideas to catch the sight of the customer...

Lets try to understand this via an example:-

You see these are all "Head and Shoulders "shampoo bottles from P&G....
Have you ever wondered that when the content is almost same in them,then why there is variations in their bottling design.....
This is a little aspect of the much bigger strategy what a marketer uses....
The marketers try to differentiate their products from the rest of the products to seek customers attention...It has been seen that even packaging can drive a customers perception regarding a product and persuade him or not to buy a product.....
Head and shoulders continuously keep changing the packaging or we can say design of their products to a greater extent so that customers can always find something new about it.....

This is an example of Wall Mart...One of he biggest retail chains with its presence in most of the countries.....
Have you ever felt when you have entered a big retail store with more than 15,00,000 products across the hall and you still reaching for your desired product find the space where its located in a little corner....
You would not even have realised this that you have come across and left almost 14,99,999 products to get that desired one...
This is called "Product Positioning",this gives your product an competitive edge or we can say an competitive strategic advantage....over the others...
So companies overall want to gain this particular image in the mindset of the customer so that's the reason they keep on changing their packaging from time to time so that on the shelf space there product would look different from the other competitors offering same type of the products...
In order to achieve this product image the biggest factor in my opinion is ...    "A V R E".

A-Stands for  Availability.

V-Stands for Visibility

R-Stands for Reliability &

E-Stands for Education.

Availability:- It is a one of the biggest factor that can bring you customer loyalty in a long business run.Suppose a company who spends a lot of money in promotion activities is unable to meet the demand of its customers due to the scarcity of its supply,then it simply means that you are burning your money unnecessarily.
If via promotions you are creating a demand in the market and customers have started opting or buying your product,this is obviously a positive sign but  the another time when the same customer wants to buy your same product again and your product is not available due to the shortage of supply then this will turn him off and donot think that he is gonna wait for your product to reach in the markets but he will switch over to the competitors and you will definitely lose your market share and moreover it will create a negative impact of your product in his mindset and this approach will surely tarnish your company image also.
So if as a marketer you want your product to survive,then "Product Availability" is the key factor to gain the customer's long term association...

Visibility:- It is amongst the one of the main components on which the buying decision of a customer depends and is amongst one of the crucial factors which could eventually decide the fate of your product in terms of success or a failure!!!

Let us take the help of an example to understand this:



Every person including you,me and a Marketer are the customers and we all buy products that we are in need of!!!


As usual,while having breakfast in the morning,you read a newspaper and while going through the frontpage we see an add of AIRTEL...  

Then after leaving for office from home we see ads of Airtel on the billboards on the the roadside while driving.

                                            






When we stop our car at a red light we see a big fiex board of Airtel















After reaching office,just near the parking lot,we see an another advertisement of this type.







After we have reached the office and we open our web browser to see the mail inbox.We see an add of Airtel again.....

The reason i gave so many examples was only to make my dear readers aware that a marketer has a proper strategy for doing these things...He is trying to drive your decision regarding a purchase and is trying to influence your thoughts as well...

The marketer is really trying to enter in your evoke set so that u consider buying his product when ever your need arises....

It is to be mentioned here that a marketer continuously passes messages to the customer again and again,whether consciously or subconsciously but most of the time a marketer passes on a message to the customer so that subliminally he accepts it without his knowledge...
So passing on a specific  message to the customer again and again persuades him to give a product a try and this power is called,"The Power Of Repetition and prolonged repetition leads to learning."

Will you believe that Shelf space is even rented....Shelf space is that space in a Shopping Mall or a big retail chain store where products are displayed.It has been seen that the products who have a greater visiblity are often choosen by the end customer to give it a try...
Shelf space helps in gaining a positive market share....Even in my further posts i will tell you that how arrangement of products in a shelf place will affect the purchase decision of a consumer.

So in order to boost sales,the marketers or sales promoters often choose a shelf space where there would be a good visibility for their products....

Example...

A baby Diaper manufacturer in order to boost sales will place his product with the Brand like Johnson's and johnson's Baby Powder..because he knows that the caring mother who needs a Powder for her baby would need a diaper too...Thats called planning.....
So how as a marketer or a sales promoter how you make your products visible t your target customers plays a vital role in the promotion and sales boosting of any product and speaks a lot about the approach you have used....!!!




Reliability: Product reliability is yet an another most important critical factor that ensures smooth sales and which ensures customer loyalty.
Making a customer to buy a product for the first time is a bit difficult task but the biggest challenge lies in making him re-purchase your product again.
It is no fun that you spend a lot of money in Advertisements or visibility factors but fail to ensure that your product works accordingly as per the specifications and customers expectations...
The product should be able to

Let me explain it with a given example:-
If we talk about 'Pacemaker' ,a crucial artificial medical equipment that is used by heart patients is expected to work for a longer duration of time without any faults.This expectation from the customer end comes when he chooses to have such a product on which he can trust upon as because of the reason that Pacemaker is a critical life saving device.
Thus reliability is one of the most important factor for the survival of the product as it designates the reputation of your brand categories or the brand as a whole.
Only manufacturing of a product doesnot ensure its reliablity.There are various factors on which the reliability of a product depends upon.
Like, '' The way the product was handled;The space or place where it was stored,Product installation and much more.
Ignoring the above factors can make a product completely unreliable,so organisations should ensure that the safe practices are being followed in the entire Value chain to attain customer satisfaction and customer appreciation.

Education:- The Marketer acts as a teacher.He also acts as a communicator.He is responsible to educate the prospective customers about his product,the product varieties it offers,the right way of using the products and the benefits of using them.
The more and more we educate our prospectus customers,the more likely the target customers are going to show their interest in our products and will be ready to give that product a try.
Hence educating the target customers,a marketer is able to create a demand for his product in the market.

Marketing Mix-The Importance of 4 P's.

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Marketing Mix-The Importance of 4 P's 

The term Marketing Mix was first coined by professor" NEIL.H.Borden."

The marketing mix refers to the set of actions or business decisions that a company takes on the recommendation of the marketer to launch its products.
The success or failure of a product depends on these 4 P's and these P's help a marketer to make strategic decisions for the products to help them survive in the long run.


4 Ps of marketing?

If as an Entrepreneur if i am about to start a manufacturing company,i should know that which item i am going to manufacture,that item which i am going to manufacture is my "Product" and my product should be in accordance with the needs and demands of my end customers.

Then i have to fix its selling cost that must include all my expenses like overhead costs,transportation costs,warehousing costs,labour costs and all other costs involved in the production costs,then calculating the amount we set up its final cost that is paid by the end user and that's called "Price".

There after when the price has been setup,it is to be decided that where the product is going to be sold,in which area,region or a country...where i have to make my product available to my target customers.That area is our "Place."

There after comes Promotion....

Then i as an entrepreneur have to make my target customers know about my product....If i make a product and keep it in shelves without telling the customers its benefits and communicating the products usefulness to them,then my product is never gonna sell.

So i have to ensure that customers do know about my product,my products usefulness and the advantages of using it.

so to ensure that i have to advertise my product via different modes of advertisements and those advertisements are called " Promotions..."

See a better understanding and working of the 4 P's of marketing mix minimises the chances of failure of a company and improves the chances of its product's success in the ,market.,

Marketing Mix involves many crucial areas and ignoring them will surely prove fatal for a company.Hence it is said that  "No company plans to fail , but failure comes when they fail to plan...".

The 4 P's of Marketing are as follows:-

• Product:Product can be defined as a physical and a tangible item whom a customer can touch and see.A product must deliver performance as per its specifications.When we go to market we see a lot of items that are from different companies...

we see Sunfeast biscuits,A comb,A chocolate,An iron,A trimmer,A torch.....from a car to an iron nail...all are respective products of their respective companies like we see Sunfeast biscuits,A comb,A chocolate,An iron,A trimmer,A torch.....from a car to an iron nail...all are respective products of their respective companies.

These all are products......

• Place: It denotes the point of sale i.e the point where the product is supposed to be sold.

• Price: The market value of the product. It is the final amount that is to be paid by the customer to get the desired product....

• Promotion:Making people aware about  the product through various advertisements.../activities...

Hence,4P's work closely and are completely interdependent on each other.If your product is not good or expected one then even any of these 4 P's won't be able to make your product sell...!!!

Segmentation Continued....

So in my last post we discussed about segmentation by giving examples from the Corporate world like "Fair and lovely" cream for 'Men' and 'Women' and by also giving examples like "Hero Pleasure" that was entirely meant for females...
Actually segmentation is a vast topic....So lets move further to get its more insight...
Companies do segmentation in the following manner:-

1. Geographic segmentation: In this type of segmentation a marketer separates a market into different geographical boundaries such as a City,a Region or a Country which can impact the marketing mix of product, price, promotion and Place.

Example: A woolen cardigan manufacture based in Rajasthan in India won't be able to sell his cardigans that are meant to be worn in chilled areas as the climate is very humid there, may choose his target market for selling the cardigans in Ladakh district of Jammu and Kashmir because the area is very cold.The decision for choosing that specific area for selling his cardigans is based on geographical segmentation.

2. Demographic segmentation:It separates a market by demographics which include gender, age,  education level and income. A marketer is able to find the type of products we buy, our spending habits that affect our buying behavior.

Example: A BMW manufacture will segment its market via Demographic segmentation by targeting the H I J (High Income Group Customers.); while as the Swift be targeted to the M I J  (Medium Income Group Customers.while  TATA NANO will be targeted to the L I G (Low Income Group Customers.)

Targeted to Elite customers with high purchasing power capacity....

BMW denotes status symbol.....viewed as Luxurious and shows Aristocratic lifestyle....

  

Maruti swift: Target Group:- Medium income group customers....






TATA NANO : Target Group:- Low Income group customers....

3. Psychographic segmentation:T separates a market by lifestyle as well as values and beliefs. There are large target markets which fit psychographic segmentation.Example: As per psycology of people,the BMW car is seen as a symbol of status and lifestyle and is seen as a symbol of success and keeping this in mind,the marketer target his target audience i.e the people with High Income group.
he marketer


4. Behavioral segmentation:The marketer separates a market by the behaviour of the target customers.

Example:Type of shopping and buying behaviors of customers.Do they online shop or do they prefer to go to the store? How often do they shop?? The type of research a consumer does before making a decision to buy a product.....

Example:-Like as per Indian culture the marketer knows that people tend to view for various offers and freebies for various products and hence customers are offered discount coupons or free gifts....