Marketing Management - … mix refers to the ingredients or tools or the variables which the...

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Business Studies (VKS) XII Commerce (Orange) 1 Marketing Management Defination-Marketing Marketing is a social process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating, offering and freely exchanging products and services of value with others. Defination-Marketing Management Marketing management means management of all the activities related to marketing. Or Marketing Management refers to planning, organising, directing and controlling the activities which result in exchange of goods and services. What can be Marketed? Anything that is of value to other can be marketed. It can be a product or a service of a person or a place or an idea or an event or an organisation or experience . A product can be: a) Physical Product- DVD Player, Television, Cell Phone, Refrigerator, Soap, etc. b) Services- Banking, Insurance, Transport, Health care, etc. c) Ideas- Donation of Blood (Red Cross), 'no smoking', 'Say no to drugs, etc. d) Persons- For election of candidates of certain posts.

Transcript of Marketing Management - … mix refers to the ingredients or tools or the variables which the...

Business Studies (VKS) XII Commerce (Orange)

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Marketing Management

Defination-Marketing

Marketing is a social process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and

want through creating, offering and freely exchanging products and services of value

with others.

Defination-Marketing Management

Marketing management means management of all the activities related to marketing.

Or

Marketing Management refers to planning, organising, directing and controlling the

activities which result in exchange of goods and services.

What can be Marketed?

Anything that is of value to other can be marketed.

It can be a product or a service of a person or a place or an idea or an event or an

organisation or experience.

A product can be:

a) Physical Product- DVD Player, Television, Cell Phone, Refrigerator, Soap, etc.

b) Services- Banking, Insurance, Transport, Health care, etc.

c) Ideas- Donation of Blood (Red Cross), 'no smoking', 'Say no to drugs, etc.

d) Persons- For election of candidates of certain posts.

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e) Place- Visit 'Agra—City of Love', 'Mysore—City of Gardens', Kerala, etc.

f) Events- Fashion show, Film festival, Sports events (World Cup), etc.

g) Experience- Shows, theatres, movies, etc.

Features of Marketing

1. Need and want

2. Creating a market offering.

3. Customer value.

4. Exchange mechanism.

Objectives of Marketing

1. Creation of Demand.

Marketing tries to create demand through various means, such as, advertising, personal

selling, sales promotion, etc.

The enterprise first finds out what the customers want and then produces and distributes

acceptable products at a reasonable price.

These efforts help in creating demand for the products in the market.

2. Market Share.

To survive in a competitive world, every business concern tries to capture a reasonable

share in the market.

For this purpose, various promotional methods are used to make the goods popular.

Also, reasonable price, quality is kept in mind and aggressive selling efforts are made.

These activities enable a firm to capture a reasonable share in the market.

3. Goodwill.

Marketing basically aims at building the reputation of the firm through various image

building activities i.e., popularising products by advertising, reasonable price,

high quality etc.

4. Profitable Sales Volume through Customer Satisfaction.

Marketing tries to realise long term goals of profitability, growth and stability by

satisfying customer's want.

Modern marketing begins and ends with customers.

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In order to satisfy the wants of consumers, marketing management coordinates all the

activities (such as production, finance, personnel etc.) of the enterprise

5. Planning and Controlling Marketing Activities.

Marketing Management involves analysing marketing activities, implementing marketing

plans and setting control mechanism.

Functions of Marketing

1. Gathering and analysing market

information (market research).

2. Market planning.

3. Product Designing and Development.

4. Standardisation and Grading.

5. Packaging and Labelling.

6. Branding.

7. Pricing of Products.

8. Promotion and Physical Distribution.

9. Consumer Support Services.

10. Storage and warehousing.

11. Transportation.

Marketing Management Philosophies

1. Production Concept

During the earlier days of industrial revolution, It was believed that profits could be

maximised by producing products at a large scale, thereby reducing the average cost of

production.

The important drawback of this concept is that customers do not always buy products

which are inexpensive.

2. Product Concept

When the supply of product increases, customers begin to prefer products of superior

quality and features.

Therefore, the focus shifted from quantity of production to quality of products.

Under product concept, product improvement is considered the key to profit

maximisation.

3. Sales Concept

With the passage of time, the marketing environment underwent further change.

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The product quality and availability did not ensure the survival and growth of firms

because the large number of sellers competing to sell quality products.

Therefore, firms must undertake aggressive selling and promotion efforts to make

customers buy their products.

Selling concept rely upon the powers of advertising and different sales promotion

techniques-e.g., rebate, discount, price-off offers etc.

4. Marketing concept

The marketing concept implies that a firm can achieve its goals by identifying needs of

the customers and satisfying them better than competitors.

This concept says that product should be designed and produced keeping in mind the

needs of the customers.

5. Societal Marketing concept

The societal marketing concept is the extension of the marketing concept.

Under this concept, customer satisfaction is supplemented by social welfare.

This concept pays attention to social, ecological and ethical aspects of marketing such as

pollution, deforestation, etc.

Marketing Mix

Marketing mix refers to the ingredients or tools or the variables which the marketer

mixes in order to interact with a particular market.

It refers to the combination of marketing decision aimed to stimulate sales.

The variables or elements of marketing mix have been classified into four categories,

popularly called the 'four P's of marketing mix,

viz, product, price, place and promotion.

These elements are combined to create an offer.

1. Product

Product element of marketing mix represents the tangible and intangible elements offered

to the customer in order to satisfy his need.

Product means what a seller sells and what a buyer buys.

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There are three layers of benefits in a product:

(i) Core-benefit.

It is the basis or fundamental benefit that the customer seeks in the product or service

which' he buys.

For example, the core benefit of purchasing a car is the transportation facility it offers.

(ii) Expected benefit.

lt is the benefit which a customer expects in the product or service which he is buying.

For example, a customer expects the car to be comfortable, better average, good shape,

etc.

(iii) Augmented benefit.

It means the additional features that a marketer adds to the product or service which is

more than the basic expectation of the customer.

It is offered to win the customers in a highly competitive market.

For example, a car seller can offer free insurance, free seat covers, etc.

Product-Mix

The total number of products and items that a particular marketer offers to the market is

called Product Mix.

Main Components of Product Mix

1) Branding 2) Packaging 3) Labelling

Various terms related to Brand

I. Branding

A brand is the identification of a product.

It can be in the form of a name, symbol, or design etc.

The branding is not only done to identify the seller or producer but also to make your

product superior than competitor's product.

1. Brand.

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A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, design or some combination of them, used to

identify the products of one firm and to differentiate them, from those of the

competitors

Brand is a comprehensive term, which has two components brand name and brand

mark.

For example, Asian Paints has the symbol of Gattu on its pack, which is its brand mark.

2. Brand Name

A brand name consists of words, numbers or letters which can be spoken or pronounced.

For example- Asian Paints, Saffola, Uncle chips etc.

3. Brand Mark.

The part of brand which cannot be spoken but can be recognized is known as brand

mark.

For example - Maharaja sign of Air India, Pepsi sign of Red and Blue Ball, Nike sign of

arrow, Mercedez sign of Star, etc.

4. Trade Mark.

It means a brand or part of brand that is given legal protection against its use by other

firms.

The firm which gets its brand registered gets the exclusive right for its use.

No other firm can use such name or mark in country.

For example-Trademarks of Pepsi and Nike.

Characterstics or features of a good brand name

While selecting a brand name attention must be paid to the following:

(i) Brand name should be short and simple.

For example -Lux, Dettol, Surf, etc.

(ii) Brand names should be easy to pronounce as if it is difficult to pronounce the customer will

hesitate to demand for it

For example - product names like Heinz etc. are difficult to pronounce.

(iii) Brand name should be suggestive i.e., it must suggest the utility of the product.

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For example - Hajmola suggests digestive property, Ujala suggests brightness, Hair and

Care suggests care of hair, etc.

(iv) The brand name should be unique and distinctive.

For example - Ariel, Tide, etc.

(v) Brand name should be selected after considering its meaning in other languages and

cultures.

For example- the brand name Nova (given to Ambassador car) means 'does not go’ in

Spanish. Such types of names should be avoided.

Advantages of Branding

(I) To the Marketers

1. Product Differentiation

2. Facilitates Advertising

3. Differential Pricing

4. Ease In Introducing New Product

5. Lower Selling Costs

(II) To the customers

1. Product Identification

2. Ensures Quality

3. Status Symbol

4.Protection

(II) Packaging

Packaging refers to the act of designing and producing the container or wrapper of a

product.

Levels of Packaging

There are three levels of packaging:

1. Primary package.

It refers the immediate packing of product. It remains with product till it is used

For example - tube of paste, match box, etc.

2. Secondary package.

These are additional packings which give more protection.

Generally consumers throw that when they start using the product

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For example- card board box used to keep tooth paste. People throw box when they start

using paste.

3. Transportation packaging.

These are packaging’s used for storing or transporting the goods.

This packing gives protection to goods,

For example - corrugated boxes used to shift Ruffle Lays, Kurkure, etc.

Importance of Packaging

1. Product Differentiation.

2. Rising Standards of Health and

Sanitation.

3. Innovational Opportunity

4. Self-Service Outlets

Functions of Packaging

1. Product Protection.

2. Product Identification.

3. Convenience.

4. Product Promotion.

5.Innovation.

(III) Labelling

Labelling means putting identification marks on the package.

Label is the carrier of information. It provides information like—name of the product,

name of manufacturer, contents of products, expiry and manufacturing date, general

instruction for use, weight, price, etc.

Product labels can be:

a) In simple tag form as in case of local products like rice,

pulses, etc.

b) Elaborate labels: as used by reputed companies. These

are very attractive and give complete information about product to customer

Functions of Labelling

1. Helps in Identifying the Product or Brand.

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2. Helps in Grading the Products into

Different Categories.

3. Carrier of Information.

4. Legal Requirement.

5. Helps in Promotion of Products

(B) Price

Price is the value which a buyer passes on to the seller in lieu of the product or service

provided.

Little variation in the price may shift your customer to competitor's product.

Price may be called by different names for example, price for education is tuition fees,

price for using road etc. is toll, price for job is salary, price for apartment is rent etc.

Price mix refers to important decisions related to fixing of price of a commodity.

These decisions can be related to price of competitors, decisions related to demand,

decisions related to fixing cost, etc.

The marketers have to take number of decisions such as

(i) Setting the pricing strategies,

(ii) Determining the pricing strategies, such as market penetration pricing strategy, and

market skimming pricing strategy,

(iii) Analysing the factors determining the price,

(iv) fixing a price for the firms products, etc.

Factors affecting pricing decisions

1. Pricing Objectives

Pricing objectives of a firm may include :

(i) Pricing Objective

If the firm decides to maximise profits in the short run, it would tend to charge maximum

price for its products.

(ii) Obtaining Market Share Leadership.

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If a firm's objective is to obtain larger share of the market i.e. maximising sales it will

charge lower price so that greater number of people are attracted to purchase the

products.

(iii) Surviving in Competitive Market.

If a firm is operating in the competitive market and wants to introduce a more efficient

substitute by a competitor, it may charge lower price for it.

(iv) Attaining Product Quality Leadership

To attain product quality leadership, a firm normally charges higher prices to cover high

quality and high cost of Research and Development (R& D).

Thus, the price of a firm's products and services is affected by the pricing objective of

the firm.

2. Product Cost.

The price must be able to recover the total cost in the long run.

But sometimes in the short run, a product may be priced below the cost level in order to

meet competitive challenges like making the entry of the rival difficult or out cutting the

competitor.

3. Extent of Competition in the Market

When there are competitors selling the same or Similar products, the pricing freedom of

the firm is considerably reduced.

Its price must fall in line with the competitors.

For example- Coca-Cola company cannot fix the price of its drinks without considering

the price of Pepsi and other cold drinks available in the market.

4. The Utility and Demand.

The price of a product is effected by price elasticity of demand.

It refers to the degree of responsiveness of demand to changes in prices of the product.

(i) When the demand of the product is inelastic, the firm can charge higher price without much

loss of the market or demand.

(ii) However, when the demand is elastic, a slight change in price affects the demand by a big

magnitude. In the elastic demand situation, seller can win larger revenue by lowering price.

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5. Government and Legal Regulation.

The government has all the right to control the prices of various products and services by

including the products in the category of essential commodities.

The common commodities in essential commodities are drugs, some food items, LPG.etc.

With government intervention there can be a check on monopolist trade activities as they

cannot charge unfairly high price for essential commodities.

6. Marketing Methods Used.

If company is using intensive advertising to promote the sale of product then it will

charge high price.

Other marketing methods which affect price of a product are, type of packing,

distribution system, salesmen employed, customer support services, etc.

(C ) Place/Physical Distribution

Place element is a process by which the goods are transferred from the place of

production to the place of consumption.

Place mix refers to important decisions related to physical distribution of goods and

services.

Place mix include:

I. Channels of distribution II. Physical movement of goods.

Channel of Distribution or trade channel

It is the route or path along which products flow from the point of production to the point

of ultimate consumption or use.

It starts with the producer and ends with the consumer.

Types of Channel of Distribution

Types of distribution Levels:

1. Direct Channel (Zero level)

It is a case when firms sell their products directly to customers without adopting any

intermediary.

This is the shortest and simplest channel.

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For example- Eureka Forbes, McDonald, Bata, etc.

2. Indirect Channels

When a manufacturer employs one or more intermediaries to move goods from the point

of production to the point of consumption, the distribution channel is called indirect.

(i) One Level Channel

In this, only intermediary adopted is the retailer.

Firms directly supply the product to retailer who sells the product direct to customers.

This channel is often used for the distribution of consumer durables and products of high

value.

For example - Maruti-Udyog sells its cars and vans through company approved

retailers.

(ii) Two Level Channels

This is most commonly used distribution path where two intermediaries are adopted by

firms to sell the products, i.e., the wholesaler and retailer.

This is the most commonly adopted distribution network for most consumer goods like

soaps, oils, clothes, rice, sugar and pulses.

(iii) Three Level Channels.

In this path, three intermediaries are involved—agents, wholesalers and retailers.

The producer hands over his entire output to the selling agent who distributes it among a

few wholesalers.

Each wholesaler sells to number of retailers who in turn sell to ultimate consumers.

In case of cloth, this channel is widely used.

Functions of Distribution Channels

1. Sorting/grading.

2. Accumulation

3. Variety/assortment

4. Packing.

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5. Promotion.

6. Negotiation.

7. Risk taking.

Factors Determining Choice of a Channel/Physical Distribution of Commodity.

(i) Product Related Factor-

a) Value of product line

Unit value of product is high or for expensive.

b) Product complexity.

Technically complex product.

c) Nature of product.

The customised product or product produced according to instruction of customers.

d) Perishable or non-perishable product

Perishable

(ii) Company Related Factor

a) Finance

A company which has deep pocket or no financial problem

b) Degree of control

The firms wanting tight control over the distribution

(iii) Competitive Factors

The type of channel selected by competitor also affects the selection of channel. As a

company may select the same channel as selected by the competitor or sometimes the

businessman prefers not to select the channel selected by competitor.

For example, if competitor has chosen to sell the detergent powder through big retail

house, the businessman may select the sale by appointing salesmen for door to door.

(iv) Market Related Factors

a. Nature of market

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Industrial market Vs. consumer market

b. Size of the market

number of customers are large

c. Geographical concentration

When buyers are concentrated in a limited area

d. Quantity purchased

Big order s Vs. small orders

(v) Environmental Factors

Other important factors which affect the choice of channels of distribution include

environmental factors such as trade policy, economic policy etc.

For example, in a depressed economy shorter channels are preferred to distribute goods

in economical way.

(D) Promotion

The promotion element of marketing mix is concerned with activities that are undertaken

to communicate, persuading the customer to buy the product and informing him about the

merits of the products.

Promotion mix

It refers to all the decisions related to promotion of sales of products and services.

Following are the tools or elements of promotion.

They are also called elements of promotion mix:

(i) Advertising

(ii) Sales promotion

(iii) Personal selling

(iv) Public relations

The marketer generally chooses a combination of these promotional tools.

(i) Advertising:

Advertising is an impersonal form of communication which is paid by the marketers

(sponsors) to promote some goods or service.

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In Advertising, a common message regarding the merits, price and availability of

product or service is given by the producer or marketer.

The most common modes of advertising are newspapers, magazines, television ,

radio(FM), etc.

Distinct/Important features of Advertising

1. Paid Form

2. Impersonal Method of Promotion.

3. Identified Sponsor.

Role/features of Advertising

1. Mass Reach.

2. Choice.

3. Enhancing Customer Satisfaction and Confidence.

4. Expressiveness.

5. Economy

Limitations/Demerits of Advertising

1. Less Forceful.

2. Lack of Feedback.

3. Inflexibility.

4. Low Effectiveness.

5. Difficulty in Media Choice.

Benefits of Advertising

From the Point of View of Manufacturers or Producers

a) Creates Demand

b) Increasing Sales

c) Creates Good Image

d) Helps Introducing New Products

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e) Large Scale Production

f) Reduction In Cost of Production

From the Point of View of Consumers:

a) Educates Consumers

b) Makes Shopping Easier

c) Fair Prices

Objections or Criticisms of Advertising

Along with objections the answers to these objections are also mentioned below:

(i) Effect of advertising on values, materialism and life styles.

The major objection on advertisement is that it promotes materialism.

The advertisements inform people about more and more products, the use of existing

products and the new products are shown dramatically to attract the customers.

This knowledge about more and more products induces the customers to buy more and

more products.

They start demanding the products which they don't even require.

If there was no advertising we would be less aware of material things and we can be more

contented.

Answer to the objections-

We do not agree with this objection as it is wrong to say that a person who is least

informed is most contented or satisfied.

The advertisement increases the knowledge of customers by informing them about

various products along with their utilities.

The advertisements only inform the customers, the final choice of buying or not, lie with

the customers only.

(ii) Advertising encourages sale of inferior and dubious products.

The advertisements show all types of products irrespective of their quality.

With the help of advertising anything can be sold in the market.

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Answer to the objections-

The objection to sale of inferior goods is not correct because what is inferior and what is

superior depends upon the economic status and preference.

Every one cannot afford to buy superior quality expensive products but it does not mean

they should not use the product.

For example, those who cannot afford to buy shoes of Nike or Reebok have to satisfy

with local brand only.

So it is not advertisements which encourage sale of inferior goods. it is one's pocket or

financial capacity which decides this.

The real criticism of advertisement is that it encourages sale of duplicate products.

Some producers exaggerate the use of products and innocent consumers get trapped in

and buy duplicate products.

(iii) Advertising confuses rather than helps.

The number of advertisements shown in TV and Radio are increasing day by day .

For example, if we take TV, there are so many advertisements of different companies

shown such as LG, Onida, Sony, BPL, Samsung, Videocon etc. each brand claiming they

are the best.

These claims by different companies confuse the customer and it becomes very difficult

for him to make choice.

Answer to the objections-

We do not agree with this objection because advertisements give wide choice to

customers and today's customer is smart enough to know and select the most suitable

brand for him.

(iv) Some advertisements are in bad taste.

Another objection to advertisements is that advertisements use bad language, the way

they are speaking may not appeal everyone, sometimes women are shown in the

advertisements where they are not required.

For example, a woman in after shave lotion and in advertisements of suiting etc.

Some advertisements distort relationship between employer-employee, mother-in-law

and daughter-in-law etc.

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For example, in advertisement of Band Aid, Detergent Bar, Fevistick, etc.

Answer to the objections-

Although those types of advertisements should be avoided but it can't be an objection

because good or bad taste differs from person to person.

It is a matter of personal opinion as to what was not accepted by yesterday's generation is

accepted by today's generation and they may not find it of bad taste.

(v) Advertisement costs are passed on to the customers in the form of higher price.

The most serious objection to advertisement is that it increases the price of product

because the firms spend a huge amount on advertisement and these expenses are added to

cost and consumer has to pay a higher price for the product or service.

Answer to the objections-

This objection is also not correct because with advertisements the demand for product

increases which brings increase in sale and this leads to increase in production.

With increase in production the companies can get the economies of scale which reduces

the cost of production and thus the increase in cost due to expenses on advertisements

gets compensated.

So if advertisement is used properly it brings reduction in cost the in long run.

(ii) Sales Promotion

Sales promotion refers to short-term incentives, which are designed to encourage the

buyers to make immediate purchase of a product or service.

For example, when surf launched promotion on its large 2 kg pack offering 33% extra

free, the buyers felt the need to respond quickly to take advantage of the special offer.

Techniques and Tools of Sales Promotion

1. Rebate.

It refers to selling product at a special price which is less than the original price for a

limited period of time.

This offer is given to clear the stock or excessive inventory.

Example- Pepsi announced 2 litre bottle at Rs. 35 only.

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2. Discounts.

This refers to reduction of certain percentage of price from list price for a limited period

of time.

The discounts induce the customers to buy more.

Example- Liberty shoes offer discount upto 10%.

3. Refunds.

This refers to refund of a part of price paid by customer on presenting the proof of

purchase

Example- Rs.2 off on presentation of empty pack of uncle chips.

4. Product Combinations.

Offering another product as gift along with the purchase of a product

Examples:

a) Rajdhani Atta's offer of a pack of rice with a bag of atta.

b) Get 64 MB memory card free with a Nokia cell phoned

c) 100 gm bottle of sauce free with 1 kg detergent.

5. Quantity Gift

It refers to offer of extra quantity in a special package at less price or on extra purchase

some quantity free

Examples

(i) 'Buy three get one free' offer currently available for soaps like Nirma and Lux No. 1.

(ii) '50 grams extra’free offer of Fena or 555 detergent bar.

(iii) Dettol shaving cream's offer of '40% extra'.

(iv) 'Buy 2 get 1 free' offer of Peter England on shirts.

6. Sampling.

It means giving free sample of product to the customer.

These are done to make customers try the product and learn about it.

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This is done when a new product is launched. .

Example:

HUL did extensive sampling of their Surf Excel when the brand was initially launched.

7. Contests

It refers to participation of consumers in competitive events organised by the firm and

winners are given some reward.

Examples-

a) Painting competition by Camlin company.

b) Bournvita quiz contest.

c) Contest of writing slogan and giving prize to best slogan.

8. Instant draws and assigned gifts.

It includes the offers like 'scrach a card' and win instantly a refrigerator, car, t-shirt,

computer etc.

9. Lucky draw

In this draws are taken out by including the bill number or names of customers who have

purchased the goods and lucky winner gets free car, computer, A.C., T.V., etc. Draw can

be taken out daily, weekly, monthly, etc.

10. Usable benefits.

This includes offers like 'Purchase goods worth Rs. 5,000 and get a holiday package’ or

get a discount voucher, etc.

11. Full finance @ 0 %.

Many marketers offer 0% interest on financing of consumer durable goods like washing

machine, T.V. etc.

Examples- 24 easy instalments 6 paid as front payment and remaining 18 with post-

dated cheques. In these types of scheme customers should be careful about the file

charges etc.

12. Packaged premium

In this type of sales promotion the free gift is kept inside the pack.

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The gift is kept in limited products but the excitement of getting the gift induces the

customer to buy the product for

Example- gold pendant in soap, gold coin in Tata tea etc.

13. Container premium.

This refers to use of special container or boxes to pack the products which could be

reused by the customer.

For example, Pet Bottles for Cold Drinks. This bottles can be used for Steering water,

Plastic jars for Bournvita, Maltova, etc. which can be reused by the housewives in

kitchen.

Merits of sales promotion

1. Attention value.

2. Useful in new product launch.

3. Synergy in total promotion efforts.

4. Aid to other promotion tools.

Demerits of Sales Promotion

1. Reflect crisis.

2. Spoil product image.

(iii )Personal selling –

Personal Selling means selling personally.

This involves face-to-face interaction between seller and buyer for the purpose of sale.

The concept of personal selling is also based on customer satisfaction.

Features of Personal Selling

(i) Personal interaction.

(ii) Two way communication.

(iii) Better response.

(iv) Relationship.

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(v) Better convincing.

Qualities of a Good Salesman

1. Physical qualities.

2. Social qualities.

3. Mental qualities.

4. Technical quality.

5. Other qualities –

(i) Good power of memory and observation.

(ii) Must be honest

(iii) Sound character, loyal and dependable.

(iv) Capacity to inspire trust.

Role of personal selling

Importance to

Businessmen:

(i) Effective promotion

tool.

(ii) Flexible tool.

(iii) Minimum wastage of

efforts.

(iv) Consumer attention.

(v) Relationship.

(vi) Personal support.

(vii) Very effective to

introduce new product.

Importance to

Customers:

1. Helps in identifying

needs.

2. Latest market

information.

3. Expert advice.

4. Induces customers.

Importance to

Society.

1. Converts latest

demand into

effective demand.

2. Employment

opportunities.

3. Career opportunities.

4. Mobility of sales

persons.

5. Product

standardisation.

(DPublic Relations

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Public relations is the relatively new concept given the task of promoting and protecting

the image of a company and its products by creating and managing successful relations

with public, including customers, suppliers, shareholders, wholesalers, retailers etc.

Role, significance, advantages of public relations

Public relations are significant in the following ways:

Help to convey the policies and programmes of the organisation.

Help to collect information about public opinion about the organisation,

management activities etc.

To overcome the complaints and dislikes of public.

To mould people's attitude in favour of organisation.

To maintain goodwill and understanding between organisation and public.

To build an image of the organisation.

Ways/methods and tools of public relations

The companies can use the following tools to improve their relations with public:

1. News.

Sometimes companies get involved in such kind of activities or make such policies so

that they get some positive coverage in news. For example, a company‘s name may be

covered in news for reservation of jobs for women or for introducing new technology etc.

2. Speeches.

The speeches given by the leaders of corporate sectors influence various members of

public specially banks, shareholders etc. Public relations department creates occasion

when the speeches are delivered by the leader of company.

3. Events.

Events refer to organising press conferences, multimedia presentation, matches, stage

shows etc.

4. Written materials.

Sometimes written materials such as Balance Sheet, Annual Reports, Special documents,

Brochures etc. are circulated to various parties to improve and maintain public image of

the company.

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5. Public service activities.

Big business houses often associate themselves with various social service projects such

as women welfare programmes, charity shows, up-keeping of parks, planting trees on

road side, training schools, running schools, colleges, hospitals etc.