AISHWARYA COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

PROJECT REPORT

IMPORTANCE OF MARKETING IN
TODAY’S ECONOMY

PREPARED BY:-
SAURAV KUMAR
GAJENDRA SINGH SOLANKI
SARABH SINGH RAJPUROIT
AMAN ALI
DAN SINGH RATHORE
 PREFACE
India is a developing country. One of the leading forces behind these outcomes
is the swift growth of the industries and service sector. Practical studies are the
part of BBA is a special professional course regarding business. Practical study
implied Aishwarya college of education in BBA under this subject, the students
requires to visit one service sector to know the world economy growth.

The visit is very helpful to the students because students get the practical
knowledge about the working of service sector and seeing the atmosphere of the
world wide market with the help of this project.
As a BBA students we got an opportunity to make the project on the topic
“importance of marketing in today’s economy”. It was a great experience for us.
We had tried our best to get as possible as information about the given topic. I
thanked to all the group members and faculty of aishwarya college who helped
me to get information.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We are the student of BBA studying in aishwarya college. It is great
experience for us to prepare a project report. We feel happy for my group
members who involve and helped me in making the project.

Firstly we would like to thank to my college - Mr. Parvesh Bhandari college

and our guide & professor - Mr. Liberanian give us complete information
regarding the project report under their guidance.

We are very happy that we choose BBA course because, by choosing

this course one become aware of practicle studies. For the learn management
BBA is very useful course.

Signature
 DECLARATION
The undersigned The group members GAJENDRA SINGH SOLANKI,
SAURABH SINGH RAJPUROIT, AMAN ALI, SAURAV KUMAR, DAN
SINGH RATHORE students of Aishwrya college, here by declare that the project
work which is presented in this report is our own work. We have prepare this
project report under the supervision and guidance of MR. PAVESH BHANDARI
SIR of Aishwariya college.

We feel very great to prepare this project report. This project report is to be
submitted to __________________________.

Place:-
Date:-

Signature
 INDEX
Sr.No Particulars Page
No.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5
 INTRODUCTION
Marketing in today’s economy means finding ways to break out of commodity
status to meet customers’ needs better than competing firms. All organizations—
both for-profit and nonprofit— require effective planning and a sound marketing
strategy to do this effectively. Without these efforts, organizations could not
satisfy customers or meet the needs of other stakeholders. For example, having an
effective marketing strategy allows Toyota to develop popular products, such as
its line of hybrid vehicles and its new low-cost Scion line. Further, effective
planning and strategy allows Procter & Gamble to continually improve the
performance of Tide and to make a key acquisition in its purchase of the Gillette
Company, all the while continuing its expansion into the lucrative
pharmaceuticals market. These and other organizations use sound
marketing strategy to leverage their strengths and capitalize on opportunities that
exist in the market. Every organization—from your favorite local restaurant to
giant multinational corporations; from city, state, and federal governments to
charities such as Habitat for Humanity and the American Red Cross—develops
and implements marketing strategies.

How organizations plan, develop, and implement marketing

strategies is the focus of this book. To achieve this focus, we provide a systematic
process for developing customer-oriented marketing strategies and marketing
plans that match an organization to its internal and external environments. Our
approach focuses on real-world applications and practical methods of marketing
planning, including the process of developing a marketing plan. The chapters of
this book focus on the steps of this process. Our goal is to give the reader a
deeper understanding of
marketing planning, the ability to organize the vast amount of information needed
to complete the planning process, and an actual ‘‘feel’’ for the development of
marketing plans.

In this topic, we review some of the major challenges and opportunities that exist
in planning marketing strategy in today’s economy. We also review the nature and
scope of major marketing activities and decisions that occur throughout the
planning process. Finally, we look at some of the major challenges involved in
developing marketing strategy.

A Marketing Strategy for Today’s Economy

When business is booming, rarely do companies stop to think about where every
dollar is being spent. Times are good, customers are plentiful and sales are on
target, so why take the time to what's not broken, right? Weathering and thriving
through economic recession requires a more tactful approach, as companies have
learned over the last few years. Throwing money down the drain is no longer an
option, particular when it comes to nebulous expenses like If there's one thing
that was proven throughout the downturn and well into the recovery period, it's
that direct response—in particular, direct response television (DRTV)—continues
to be a viable addition to any marketer's advertising strategy. Whether it's an
entrepreneur hawking a new invention, a small company building market share, a
brand advertiser seeking a more accountable marketing approach on generating
leads, direct response fits the bill.

Here are seven reasons ways:

1. It's Accountable: Until the advent of the long-awaited, mythical “buy button”
on your remote control, no other television advertising medium allows a marketer
to track the sales process from the initial point of contact right on through to the
actual sale, to the up sell, to the continuity program. Using this valuable
information, companies can quickly tweak their campaigns (by redistributing
media dollars among networks, for example) and maximize their success.
2. It Makes Consumers Take Action: Whether they pick up the phone, head to a
retail store for a closer look, or pull up a website for more information,
consumers are driven to action by DRTV.
3. It Sells While You Sleep: You might be asleep at 10:00 p.m. every night, but
while you're snoozing, millions of households are up watching television into the
wee hours of the morning. So while prime time commercial avails hit the masses,
it's the niche late-night and weekend watchers who are faithful DRTV viewers—
and patrons.
4. It Plays Well With Others: DRTV is by no means an island. It effectively
supplements your existing brand advertising media mix without cannibalizing the
investment or undermining brand equity. Whether you want to drive retail sales,
direct consumers to the web, or take your brand to a new level, DRTV helps
achieve those goals by operating as a viable component within your overall
campaign.
5. It Educates Consumers: It's impossible to tell a viewer everything he or she
needs to know about your product in 15 seconds, but expand that time frame to
one or two minutes and you wind up with a lot of time to Step into the 28.5-
minute infomercial arena and your educational opportunities become
virtually limitless.
6. iIt Comes in D ierent Shapes and Sizes: Short-form spots, infomercials, and
home shopping are the three main categories of DRTV, but there are many other
subcategories that fall under those umbrellas. Lead generation and continuity
commercials, for example, accomplish a different task than the infomercial that's
designed to sell direct. Pick the format that's and then tweak your strategy
accordingly.
7. It Costs Less Than Brand Spot Advertising: Sure direct response media rates
creep up every year, but they never reach brand-awareness spot-advertising
levels. The upfront cost of a DRTV campaign is considerably less than what
would pay for a 30-second image spot, and it provides advantages that the latter
can't touch, including the ability to test new campaigns and adjust them quickly,
as needed. The list goes on, and serves as proof of DRTV's viability in today's
changing market conditions. With so many positive attributes lined up in its
corner, DRTV will become even more of a mainstay for successful companies in
2011, and beyond. It just works.

Tim Hawthorne is founder, chairman, and CEO of Hawthorne Direct, a full-

service DRTV and new media ad agency founded in 1986. Hawthorne has
produced or managed more than 800 Direct Response TV campaigns for clients
such as 3M, Black & Decker, Braun, Discover Card, Time-Life, Nissan, Lawn
Boy, Nikon, Oreck, Bose, and Feed the Children. Hawthorne is a co-founder of
the Electronic Retailing Association (ERA) and is the author of the de8nitive
DRTV book The Complete Guide to Infomercial Marketing. A cum laude
graduate of Harvard, Hawthorne was honored with the ERA's prestigious
Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.
The Challenges and Opportunities of Marketing
in Today’s Economy
Although the euphoria over the dot-com bubble and its subsequent demise is long
over, the fact remains that advances in computer, communication, and
information technology have forever changed the world and the world of
marketing. It wasn’t that long ago when few people knew the difference between
a .com and a .org, much less the names of today’s powerhouse companies such as
Amazon, Google, Yahoo!, and eBay. Consider these fundamental changes to
marketing and business practice, as well as our own personal buying behavior:

 Power Shift to Customers The astounding growth of the Internet has

shifted power to customers, not marketers. Rather than businesses having the
ability to manipulate customers via technology, customers often manipulate
businesses because of their access to information and ability to comparison shop.
Individual consumers and business customers can compare prices and product
specifications in a matter of minutes. In many cases, customers are able to set
their own prices, such as purchasing airline tickets at Priceline.com. In addition,
customers can now interact with one another because merchants such as Amazon
and eBay allow customers to share opinions on product quality and supplier
reliability. As power continues to shift to customers, marketers have little choice
but to ensure that their products are unique and of high quality, thereby giving
customers a reason to purchase their products and remain loyal to them.
 Massive Increase in Product Selection The variety and assortment of
goods and services offered for sale on the Internet and in traditional stores is
staggering. In grocery stores
alone, customers are faced with
countless options in the cereal and
soft-drink aisles. The growth in
online retailing now allows
customers to purchase a car from
CarsDirect.com, handmade,
exotic gifts from Mojo Tree or a
case of their favorite wine from
Wine.com. Increased
transaction efficiency (for
example, 24/7 access, delivery to
home or office) allows customers to fulfill their needs more easily and
conveniently than ever before. Furthermore, the vast amounts of information
available online has changed the way we communicate, read the news, and
entertain ourselves. Customers can now have the news delivered to them via RSS
feeds (really simple syndication) from hundreds of sources. This radical increase
in product selection and availability has exposed marketers to inroads by
competitors from every corner of the globe.

 Audience and Media Fragmentation Since the advent of cable television in

the 1970s, mass-media audiences have become increasingly fragmented.
Television audiences, for example, shifted from the big three networks (ABC,
CBS, NBC) and began watching programming on ESPN, HGTV,
Nickelodeon, and the Discovery Channel.When the growth of the Internet,
satellite radio, and mobile communication is added to this mix, it becomes
increasingly difficult for marketers to reach a true mass audience. Media
audiences have become fragmented due to (1) the sheer number of media
choices that we have available today and (2) the limited time that we have to
devote to any one medium. As shown in Exibit 1.1, a full 42 percent of U.S.
households now have broadband Internet access. Across the board, the time
that we devote to traditional television, radio, and print media is declining,
while the time that we spend with interactive media (online, wireless, gaming)
is on the rise. Despite the challenge of reaching mass audiences today, media
fragmentation does have a big advantage: It is easier to reach small, highly
targeted audiences.

 Changing Value Propositions The speed and efficiency of commerce today

has changed the way that customers view value. For example, fewer
customers automatically turn to travel agents for assistance in booking airline
tickets, cruises, or hotel stays. Now, customers turn to travel sites like
Expedia.com or book directly at websites operated by travel and lodging
providers. A similar change has taken place in the real estate industry as
buyers are moving their house hunting online, while sellers are increasingly
taking the ‘‘for sale by owner’’ route.2 Similar changes have occurred in
banking, mortgage lending, and car buying. The lesson for marketers is clear:
In situations where customers see goods and services as commodities,
customers will turn to the most convenient, least-expensive alternative. This
fact makes it increasingly difficult for marketers to differentiate their product
offering in today’s economy.

 Shifting Demand Patterns In some cases, changes in technology have

shifted customer demand for certain product categories. The explosive growth
in the digital distribution of music and video bears this out. The success of
Apple’s iPod and iTunes, as well as the ongoing issues associated with
copyright protection and digital piracy, proves that customers absolutely
prefer to get their music and video from the Internet. The repercussions of this
demand shift for the recording and movie industries are enormous. For
example, in the traditional movie theater business, ticket sales have declined 7
 percent in recent years due to the growing popularity of DVD distribution by
mail (for example, Netflix) and increasing sales of home theater equipment.3
Now, an emerging sector devoted to online movie distribution has appeared,
with CinemaNow being one of the early pioneers.

 New Sources of Competitive Advantage Businesses that link their internal

computer networks with the networks of customers, suppliers, and other
partners can leverage the advantages of e-commerce. Dell Computer, for
example, has seamlessly integrated its supply chain—from suppliers
(manufacturers of chips, drives, displays, and so on), to assembly, to product
delivery (United Parcel Service). As a result, Dell enjoys reduced costs,
operational efficiency, economies of scale, and broad customer reach, which
are all key aspects of its leadership in the personal computer industry.4 Dell’s
example illustrates that to be successful marketers must be able and willing to
network with other firms to create new efficiencies and competitive
advantages. In today’s economy, some of the best competitive advantages
stem from partnerships and alliances with other firms.

 Privacy, Security, and Ethical Concerns Changes in technology have made

our society much more open than in the past. As a result, these changes have
forced marketers to address real concerns about security and privacy, both
online and offline. Businesses have always collected routine information
about their customers. Now, customers are much more attuned to these efforts
and the purposes for which the information will be used. Though customers
appreciate the convenience of e-commerce, they want assurances that their
information is safe and confidential. Concerns over online privacy and
security are especially acute with respect to controversial businesses—such as
casinos or pornography—and with respect to children.
 Basic Marketing Concepts
Marketing is many different things. Many people, especially those not employed
in marketing, see marketing as a function of business. From this perspective,
marketing parallels other business functions such as production, research,
management, human resources, and accounting. As a business function, the goal
of marketing is to connect the organization to its customers. Other individuals,
particularly those working in marketing jobs, tend to see marketing as a process
of managing the flow of products from the point of conception to the point of
consumption. The field’s major trade organization, the American Marketing
Association (AMA), recently changed the definition of marketing after 20 years.
From 1985 until 2005, the AMA defined marketing this way:-

“Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing,

promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create
exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives.”

In 2005 the AMA changed the definition of marketing to better reflect the realities
of competing in today’s marketplace:

“ Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating,

communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing
customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its
stakeholders.”

Notice that the changes in the definition are not merely cosmetic in nature. The
new definition stresses two critical success factors in marketing today: value and
customer relationships. The notion of value recognizes that customer satisfaction
can be derived from many different aspects of the total product offering, not just
from having access to high-quality products at a low price. Customer
relationships—which grow and thrive on exceptional value—are an absolute
necessity in the commodity-driven status of many product markets. Whereas the
former definition of marketing had a decidedly transactional focus, the new
definition emphasizes long-term relationships that provide value for both
customers and the firm.
A final way to think about marketing relates to meeting human and social needs.
This broad view links marketing with our standard of living, not only in terms of
enhanced consumption and prosperity but also in terms of society’s wellbeing.
Through marketing activities, consumers can buy cars from South Korea and
wines from South Africa; and organizations can earn a viable profit, making both
employees and stockholders happy. However, marketing must also bear
responsibility for any negative effects that it may generate. This view demands
that marketers consider the social and ethical implications of their actions and
whether they practice good citizenship by giving back to their communities. As
exemplified in the New Belgium Brewery case at the end of the text, firms can
successfully meet human and social needs through socially responsible marketing
and business practices.
Let’s take a closer look at several basic marketing concepts. As we will see,
ongoing changes in today’s economy have forever altered our way of thinking
about these foundational aspects of marketing.

What Is a Market?
At its most basic level, a market is a collection of buyers and sellers. We
tend to think of a market as a group of individuals or institutions that have similar
needs that can be met by a particular product. For example, the housing market is
a collection of buyers and sellers of residential real estate, and the automobile
market includes buyers and sellers of automotive transportation. Marketers or
sellers tend to use the word market to describe only the buyers.

This basic understanding of a market has not changed in a very long

time.marketers have considered a market to be a physical location where buyers
and sellers meet to conduct transactions. Although those venues (for example,
grocery stores, malls, and flea markets) still thrive, technology mediates some of
the fastest-growing markets. The term marketspace has been coined to describe
these electronic marketplaces unbound by time or space.11 Some of the largest
marketspaces, such as Amazon.com, eBay, and Monster.com, are now household
names. In fact, Amazon.com has become the marketspace equivalent of a
shopping mall as the company now sells shoes, apparel, jewelry, beauty aids, and
sporting goods in addition to its traditional offerings of books and electronics.
Marketspaces also exist in the business-to-business realm.
What Is Exchange?
Closely related to the concept of a market, our ideas about exchange have
changed in recent years. Exchange is traditionally defined as the process of
obtaining something of value from someone by offering something in return; this
usually entails obtaining products for money. For exchange to occur, five
conditions must be met:

1. There must be at least two parties to the exchange:- Although this has always
been the case, the exchange process today can potentially include an unlimited
number of participants. Online auctions provide a good example. Customers who
bid on an item at eBay may be one of many participants to the exchange process.
Each participant changes the process for the others, as well as the ultimate
outcome for the winning bidder. Some auctions include multiple quantities of an
item, so the potential exists for multiple transactions within a single auction
process.
2. Each party has something of value to the other party:- Exchange would be
possible but not very likely without this basic requirement. The Internet has
exposed us to a vast array of goods and services that we did not know existed
previously. Today, we buy a television or stereo receiver from not only a local
merchant but also have access to hundreds of online merchants. Furthermore, the
ability to comparison shop products and their prices allows customers to seek out
the best value.
3. Each party must be capable of communication and delivery:- The advantages
of today’s communication and distribution infrastructure are amazing. We can
seek out and communicate with potential exchange partners anywhere and
anytime via telephone, personal computers, handheld devices, and wireless
telephones. We can also conduct arm’s-length transactions in real time, with
delivery of exchanged items occurring in a matter of hours if necessary.

4. Each party must be free to accept or reject the exchange:- In the online world,
this condition of exchange becomes a bit more complicated. Customers have
grown accustomed to the ease with which they can return items to local
merchants. Easy return policies are among the major strengths of traditional
offline merchants. Returning items is more difficult with online transactions. In
some cases, the ability to reject an exchange is not allowed in online transactions.
Ordering airline tickets on Priceline.com and winning a bid on an item at eBay
are contractually binding acts for the customer. In other words, once the actual
purchasing process has started, the customer is not free to reject the exchange.
5. Each party believes that it is desirable to exchange with the other party:-
Customers typically have a great deal of information about or even a history with
offline merchants. In online exchange, customers often know nothing about the
other party. To help resolve this issue, a collection of third-party firms has
stepped in to provide ratings and opinions about online merchants. Sites like
BizRate.com and Epinions.com not only provide these ratings but also provide
product ratings and serve as shopping portals. eBay goes one step further by
allowing its users to rate both buyers and sellers. This gives both parties to the
exchange process some assurance that reputable individuals or organizations exist
on the other side of the transaction.

The bottom line is that exchange has become all too easy in today’s economy.
Opportunities for exchange bombard us virtually everywhere we go—even in our
own homes. Customers don’t even have to trouble themselves with giving credit
cards or completing forms for shipping information. Most online merchants will
remember this information for us if we let them. For example, Amazon’s 1-
Click1 ordering feature allows customers to purchase products with a single
mouse click. The ease with which exchange can occur today presents a problem
in that individuals who do not have the authority to exchange can still complete
transactions. This is especially true for underage customers.

What Is a Product?
It should come as no surprise that the primary focus of marketing is the customer
and how the organization can design and deliver products that meet customers’
needs. Organizations create essentially all marketing activities as a means toward
this end; this includes product design, pricing, promotion, and distribution. In
short, an organization would have no reason to exist without customers and a
product to offer them.

 Goods Goods are tangible items ranging from canned food to fighter jets,
from sports memorabilia to used clothing. The marketing of tangible goods is
arguably one of the most widely recognizable business activities in the world.

 Services Services are intangible products consisting of acts or deeds directed

toward people or their possessions. Banks, hospitals, lawyers, package-
delivery companies, airlines, hotels, repair technicians, nannies,
housekeepers, consultants, and taxi drivers all offer services. Services, rather
than tangible goods, dominate modern economies like the U.S. economy.

 Ideas Ideas include platforms or issues aimed at promoting a benefit for the
customer. Examples include cause-related or charitable organizations such as
 the Red Cross, the American Cancer Society, Mothers Against Drunk Drivers,
or the American Legacy Foundation’s campaign against smoking.

 Information Marketers of information include websites, magazine and book

publishers, schools and universities, research firms, churches, and charitable
organizations. In the digital age, the production and distribution of
information has become a vital part of our economy.

 Digital Products Digital products, such as software, music, and movies, are
among the most profitable in our economy. Advancements in technology have
also wreaked havoc in these industries because pirates can easily copy and
redistribute digital products in violation of copyright law. Digital products are
interesting because content producers grant customers a license to use them,
rather than outright ownership.

 People The individual promotion of people, such as athletes or celebrities, is

a huge business around the world. The exchange and trading of professional
athletes takes place in a complex system of drafts, contracts, and free agency.
Other professions, such as politicians, actors, professional speakers, and news
reporters, also engage in people marketing.

Importance of Indian Marketing Economy

India’s economic success in recent years has helped to ensure that South Asia is
the fastest-growing region in the world – but it faces significant challenges
alongside its opportunities for further growth.

Ahead of the India Economic Summit 2017, taking place in New Delhi from 4-6
October, here are eight things you need to know to understand the current state of
India’s economy.
Economic and population growth
India is the world’s seventh-largest economy, sitting between France and Italy. Its
GDP growth recently dipped to 5.7%; still, India is growing faster than any other
large economy except for China. By 2050, India’s economy is projected to be the
world’s second-largest, behind only China.

India is home to 1.34 billion people – 18% of the world’s population. It will have
overtaken China as the world’s most populous country by 2024. It has the world’s
largest youth population, but isn’t yet fully capturing this potential demographic
dividend – over 30% of India's youth are NEETs (not in employment, education
or training), according to the OECD.

India is the world’s fastest-growing large economy, having outpaced China over
the past year. Yet though economic growth has improved living standards, India,
which has the largest number of poor in the world, is still struggling to lift its 1.2
billion population out of poverty. Here are some facts and figures about India’s
economic rise, and the challenges ahead. 7.6% The IMF predicts a robust growth
rate of 7.6% for India’s economy in 2016 and 2017.

India has benefited from lower oil prices and remains the fastest-growing large
economy in the world," the IMF said. However, the reliability of India’s GDP
numbers has been questioned, and concerns remain about jobs, which have not
kept pace with economic growth.

Turbulent times for tech

Several leading companies in India’s IT sector are reportedly planning significant
layoffs, in part due to concern that the Trump administration’s clampdown on H-
1B visas will make it harder to do business in the US.

The growing ability of machine learning to replace human workers is also a

challenge. A recent McKinsey report reckons that within a few years, up to half
of the 3.9 million Indians currently working in the IT sector will become
irrelevant.

But other tech trends are more promising. India has again moved up the Global
Competitiveness Report’s rankings on technological readiness – albeit from a low
base, still only 108th in the world – on the back of improvements in indicators
such as internet bandwidth per user, mobile phone and broadband subscriptions
and internet access in schools.

India also has scope to build on its tech start-up scene, which already boasts more
companies than anywhere other than the US and UK. The country scored well in
the Inclusive Development Index on access to finance for business development.

Doing business in India:- Cultural Prospects

Indians view time differently from the Americans in any business deal they prefer
relaxed interactions. The culture is a major factor in shaping business deal. A
proper cultur understanding leads to a senseof trust between the parties and
business proceeds. Our cultures define our fundamental beliefs about how the
world works and form ways in which where interact and communicate with
others and develop and maintain relationships. Doing business practices nation
require a focus on a multi - dimensional understanding of its culture and business
practices understanding these differences and adopting to them is the key.

India is a complex country, and those arriving here to do business will discover
that the path to success is often, not very smooth. The following posits elaborate
the difference in our culture from that of west. It also gives an idea about the
workings and business norms in practice here.

In the united states of America, efficiency, adhering to dead line and host of other
similar matters are considered normal and to be expected. But, one needs to
understand that one is dealing with people from different cultural background that
think an interact differently. As a result, what is considered to be reasonable and
feasible in the U.S.A. may not work here.

In India aggressiveness can be interpreted as a sign of disrespect. This may lead

to a complete lack of communication and motivation on the part of Indians. One
needs to take the time to get to know them as individuals in order to develop
professional trust. Indians are very good hosts and will therefore, invite you to
their homes and indulge in personal talk often. All this is very much a part of
business.

Criticism about an individuals ideas of work needs to be done

constructively,without damaging that person’s self-esteems. As Indian are used to
a system of hierarchy in the work-place senior collageous are obeyed and
respected. Supervisors are expected to monitors and an individual works and
shoulders the responsibility of meeting deadlines. Therefore, it is important to
double-check and keep track of time. Educated Indians have learn to adopt to
western methods of monitoring one’s own work and completing it on its
schedule.

For any expatriate the pace, pressure and protocol of living and working in a new
country can be overwhelming, but their are many positive aspects to living in
India- the valued friendships that one makes with the Indians, the beautiful and
exotic places to visit, the multi-word cuisine to experiment with, and the many,
many interesting things to buy. An expatriate who Is prepared to accept the
differences and make the necessary adaptation will difficultly be greeted with the
sweet taste of success in all the business endeavor.

Major Marketing Activities and Decisions

Organizations must deal with a number of activities and decisions in marketing
their products to customers. These activities vary in both complexity and scope.
Whether the issue is a local restaurant’s change in copy for a newspaper ad or a
large multinational firm launching a new product in a foreign market, all
marketing activities have one thing in common: They aim to give customers a
reason to buy the organization’s product.

Strategic Planning
If an organization is to have any chance of reaching its goals and objectives, it
must have a game plan or road map for getting there. A strategy, in effect,
outlines the organization’s game plan for success. Effective marketing requires
sound strategic planning at a number of levels in an organization. At the top
levels of the organization, planners concern themselves with macro issues such as
the corporate mission, management of the mix of strategic business units,
resource acquisition and assignments, and corporate policy decisions. Planners at
the middle levels, typically a division or strategic business unit, concern
themselves with similar issues but focus on those that pertain to their particular
product/market. Strategic planning at the lower levels of an
organization is much more tactical in nature. Here, planners concern themselves
with the development of marketing plans—more specific game plans for
connecting products and markets in ways that satisfy both organizational and
customer objectives.

Social Responsibility and Ethics

The role of social responsibility and ethics in marketing strategy has come to the
forefront of important business issues in today’s economy. Our society still
reverberates from the effects of corporate scandals at Enron, WorldCom, and
ImClone, among others. Although these scandals make for interesting reading,
many innocent individuals have suffered the consequences from these companies’
unethical behavior. Social responsibility refers to an organization’s obligation to
maximize its positive impact on society while minimizing its negative impact. In
terms of marketing strategy, social responsibility addresses the total effect of an
organization’s marketing activities on society.

A major part of this responsibility is marketing ethics, or the

principles and standards that define acceptable conduct in marketing activities.
Ethical marketing can build trust and commitment and is a crucial ingredient in
building long-term relationships with all stakeholders. Another major component
of any firm’s impact on society is the degree to which it engages in philanthropic
activities. Many firms now make philanthropy a key strategic activity.
Research and Analysis
Strategic planning depends heavily on the availability and interpretation of
information. Without this lifeblood, strategic planning would be a mindless
exercise and a waste of time. Thankfully, today’s planners are blessed with an
abundance of information due to improving technology and the Internet.
However, the challenge of finding and analyzing the right information remains.
As many marketing planners have found, having the right information is just as
important as having the right product. Marketers are accustomed to conducting
and analyzing research, particularly with respect to the needs, opinions, and
attitudes of their customers.
Although customer analysis is vital to the success of the marketing plan, the
organization must also have access to three other types of information and
analysis: internal analysis, competitive analysis, and environmental analysis.
Internal analysis involves the objective review of internal information pertaining
to the firm’s current strategy and performance, as well as the current and future
availability of resources. Analysis of the competitive environment, increasingly
known as competitive intelligence, involves analyzing the capabilities,
vulnerabilities, and intentions of competing businesses.Analysis of the external
environment, also known as environmental scanning, involves the analysis of
economic, political, legal, technological, and cultural events and trends that may
affect the future of the organization and its marketing efforts. Some marketing
planners use the term situation analysis to refer to the overall process of
collecting and interpreting internal, competitive, and environmental information.
Developing Competitive Advantage
To be successful, a firm must possess one or more competitive advantages that it
can leverage in the market in order to meet its objectives. A competitive
advantage is something that the firm does better than its competitors and gives it
an edge in serving customers’ needs and/or maintaining mutually satisfying
relationships with important stakeholders. Competitive advantages are critical
because they set the tone, or strategic focus, of the entire marketing program.
When these advantages are tied to market opportunities, the firm can offer
customers a compelling reason to buy their products. Without a competitive
advantage, the firm and its products are likely to be just one more offering among
a sea of commoditized products. Southwest Airlines, for example,
maintains a cost-based competitive advantage over its rivals due to its no-frills
strategy of high efficiency, limited routes, a uniform fleet of airplanes, online
reservation system, low pricing, and dedicated people. Southwest’s marketing
strategy has allowed the company to remain profitable for over 32 years.
Southwest is also the only air carrier to remain consistently profitable since the
September 11, 2001 terrorist Attacks
.
Marketing Strategy Decisions
An organization’s marketing strategy describes how the firm will fulfill the needs
and wants of its customers. It can also include activities associated with
maintaining relationships with other stakeholders such as employees or supply
chain partners. Stated another way, marketing strategy is a plan for how the
organization will use its strengths and capabilities to match the needs and
requirements of the market. A marketing strategy can be composed of one or
more marketing programs; each program consists of two elements—a target
market or markets and a marketing mix (sometimes known as the four Ps of
product, price, place, and promotion). To develop a marketing strategy, an
organization must select the right combination of target market(s) and marketing
mix(es) in order to create distinct competitive advantages over its rivals.

TARGETING YOUNG CONSUMERS VIA ONLINE SOCIAL

NETWORKINGTING YOUNG CONSUMERS VIA ONLINE SOCIAL
NETWORKIN

Social networking sites on the Internet have proved to be very popular with both
users and advertisers. Sites like MySpace.com and Facebook.com allow users to
‘‘hang out’’ in an online equivalent of shopping malls, parking lots, and bars.
Most users are teens and young adults who use the sites to trade messages,
photos, music, and blogs. The largest and most profitable of these sites currently
is MySpace, which was acquired by News Corp. In 2005 for $580 million. Other
sites like Facebook and LinkedIn are also busy and profitable.

Although social networks are very popular, they have attracted a fair amount of
criticism. Many argue that these sites make it easier for predators to reach teens
and children through the use of their online profiles. Business experts have been
skeptical of the long-term success of social networking as a business model. They
argue that younger audiences are fickle and will leave these sites for the next hot
thing on the Internet. Others argue that the questionable nature of the content on
these sites is a risky proposition when tied to advertising strategies.

Despite these criticisms, online social networking appears to have legs for the
long term---forcing media companies and advertisers to take notice. The reason is
simple: the demographic profile of the social networking audience is extremely
lucrative. MySpace alone reaches over 70 million registered users, mostly in the
12- to 17-year-old age range. Power like that has forced an increasing number of
advertisers to consider social networking as a viable media strategy. Target, NBC,
Procter & Gamble, Viacom, and Geffen A&M Records are only some of the firms
that have run ad campaigns on MySpace. In addition to the demographic
bonanza, social networking also allows firms to carefully target promotions to the
right audience and collect a striking amount of information about users. For
example, Procter & Gamble launched Secret Sparkle to 16- to 24-year-old girls
and women using MySpace.

These users were not only exposed to ads for the product but also allowed to
participate in a Secret Sparkle sweepstakes. Volkswagen also used MySpace as a
part of its ‘‘Unpimp Your Auto’’ campaign for the GTI. The campaign featured
Helga, a blond bombshell, and Wolfgang, a German engineer, who both
maintained profiles on MySpace. More than 7500 fans signed up as Helga’s
friends. Though the future of social networking sites looks promising, the
protection of minor children remains a nagging issue. In early 2006, MySpace
began taking aggressive steps to ensure the safety of children, including hiring a
former federal prosecutor as its first chief security officer. MySpace and other
social networking sites must find a balance between security and free expression.
If these firms tighten up too much, users will leave and so will advertisers.

Implementation and Control

Once a marketing strategy has been selected and the elements of the marketing
mix are in place, the marketer must put the plan into action. Marketing
implementation, the process of executing the marketing strategy, is the ‘‘how’’ of
marketing planning. Rather than being an add-on at the end of the marketing
strategy and marketing plan, implementation is actually a part of planning itself.
That is, when planning a marketing strategy, the organization must always
consider how the strategy will be executed. Sometimes, the organization must
revisit the strategy or plan to make revisions during the strategy’s execution. This
is where marketing control comes into play. Adequate control of marketing
activities is essential to ensure that the strategy stays on course and focused on
achieving its goals and objectives.
The implementation phase of marketing strategy calls into play the fifth P of the
marketing program: people. As we will learn in Chapter 11, many of the problems
that occur in implementing marketing activities are ‘‘people problems’’ associated
with the managers and employees on the frontline of the organization who have
responsibility for executing the marketing strategy. Many organizations
understand the vital link between people and implementation by treating their
employees as indispensable assets. Aflac, for example, has been named eight
consecutive times by Fortune magazine to its list of the ‘‘100 Best Companies to
Work for in America.’’ The Georgia-based company has developed a corporate
culture that focuses on caring for employees and providing for their needs.25
Other companies cited as having good relationships with their employees include
The Container Store, J.M. Smucker, and S.C. Johnson & Son.

The dominance of the customer

It is nearly a truism that the needs and wants of the consumer are the critical issues
today in creating new products and services, and developing the accompanying
plans to merchandise them at a profit. But this trend—the first on my list—is still in
process of evolution. The need to understand and anticipate future customers is
bound to become even more essential than in the past, because the end users of
almost every company’s products are shifting in makeup, location, and number at an
ever-increasing rate.

The significance of this to senior marketing executives is twofold: First, they cannot
—indeed, they must not—assume that yesterday’s customers will be available
tomorrow. Second, they had better be certain that they have adequate sources of
market information. Unless they can keep up with what is happening to their
markets, the whole company’s selling effort may ultimately be directed at the wrong
people with the wrong products and at the wrong time. This is what a marketing vice
president I know meant when he said, “My company’s sales output can’t be any
better than my intelligence input.”

Consider a few of the changes in the nature of consumers and markets:

 Sociologists and marketers agree that people are becoming more interested in use
than in ownership. One can rent or lease everything from garden tools to machine
tools to cars. Annual rental income, not including car and truck rentals, is close to
the $750 million mark. The value of equipment being leased, currently about $1
billion, may well double in five years. This trend could affect the channels of
selling, pricing arrangements, sales appeals, or even the characteristics of the
product line (such as the increasing sale of disposable items).

 There has been disproportionate growth in the market for personal services,
including recreation, education, and travel. Depending on whose statistics you
choose to believe, consumer services now account for 40 percent to 50 percent of
all consumer purchases.
 A whole series of demographic changes hold significance for the producer of
consumer goods—in particular, the explosive growth of the teenage and young-
adult market, the migration of blue-collar workers to the suburbs, the increase in
per capita income, and the ever-growing mobility of our population. To the
consumer-goods manufacturer, the wholesaler, and the retailer, this means there is
no such thing as stability of customers.
 People’s tastes are becoming more varied, flexible, and demanding. As just one
example, consider the demand for wood products. The traditional lumber
manufacturer now produces and sells a multitude of products that were virtually
unknown 20 years ago—and all because product research teamed up with
marketing to develop products that people wanted and were willing to buy.

Another important result of this growing consumer dominance is that today nearly
all sales potentials are segmented. Typically, a total market now comprises a series
of submarkets, each with its own characteristics and each demanding a different
sales approach. For most companies, it is a gross error to develop a marketing
program aimed at the “average customer.” Today such a consumer, or such a
company, hardly exists. In short, the company that is not alert to the customers’
needs and the changing complexities of marketplaces is inviting disaster.
The spread of marketing research
The second trend is the increased use of marketing research—in terms of both
quantity and scope. To an important degree, of course, this trend is a response to the
first. If knowledge about future customers is essential, and if the quality of the
marketing output is materially affected by the caliber of the informational input, then
marketing research is bound to increase in use and contribution as the interest in
more scientific marketing grows.

The dimensions of this trend are suggested by the membership growth of the
American Marketing Association (AMA) from 2,800 in 1950 to an estimated 13,000
by mid-1966. Most of the increase represents marketing research, not individuals
from the academic fields. As long as seven years ago, according to a national study
by the AMA, nine out of ten companies with sales of $25 million or more had at
least one marketing researcher on their staffs.

Today, the bulk of company marketing research is devoted to such activities as

development of market potentials (for both existing and new products), analysis of
customer buying habits and requirements, measurement of advertising effectiveness,
share-of-market studies, determination of market characteristics, sales analysis,
establishment of sales quotas, and development of sales territories. Beyond this
value in reporting on historical and current conditions, however, I see a trend toward
increased use of marketing research as a creative tool to help solve future
management problems.

For example, it can be used to help management determine the most effective
channels of distribution for a particular product line. By coupling distribution-cost
analysis with accurate research on shifts in consumer attitudes, a marketer may
uncover the need for a major shift in distribution policy. Such a sophisticated
response to changed customer attitudes can be seen in the fact that Chanel No. 5,
fine oil paintings, and expensive mink coats now can be purchased at Sears
Roebuck, which also is the single largest retailer of diamonds in the United States.

Again, consider the function of marketing research in the evaluation of a major

acquisition. Recently, a maker of industrial-machinery components became
interested in acquiring a somewhat smaller company in a different but related
business. On paper, and particularly from a financial viewpoint, the proposed
acquisition looked desirable. But a careful research effort in the field revealed that
two competitors of the company under review had considerably better reputations
for customer service and, more important, much superior research-and-development
capabilities. Thus a potentially disastrous purchase was avoided.
 Salespeople’s compensation is another area where a creative marketing-research
group can make helpful contributions. Today, many companies are trying to orient
salespeople’s efforts toward profitable sales rather than volume alone. But before a
compensation plan can be geared to this objective, careful thought must be given to
identifying and measuring the profitability of customers, the profit relationships
among the various products, the costs of carrying out the various selling activities,
and the feasibility of any new sales-control system that may be required. Marketing
research can help to provide revealing analyses and reliable recommendations on
each of these factors. Other management problems calling for inputs from marketing
research include pricing decisions, test marketing of new and/or revised products,
and estimates of future personnel requirements.

Obviously, the broadening scope of marketing research should materially increase

the efficiency of the total marketing function. In some companies today, it is worth
noting, the head of marketing research is a member of a product-planning
committee, a marketing-strategy committee, or even a company-wide long-range
planning committee—clear evidence of top management’s growing realization that
marketing-research people can make a vital contribution to planning decisions and
marketing strategies.

The Rise of the computer

The third major trend marketing must consider is the emergence of electronic data-
processing equipment as a major tool of scientific marketing not only for reporting
data but also, more importantly, for planning and control by management.

Generally speaking, I think it must be conceded that companies have dragged their
feet in taking advantage of electronic data-processing analyses, online
communications, and information-retrieval systems as tools to help make marketing
more efficient. But the computerization of many areas of marketing is only a matter
of time. Consider a few current applications of these techniques:

 A major insurance company analyzes sales performance daily, weekly, monthly, and
yearly, comparing current figures with last year’s performance and this year’s
goals. The input information is fed into 15 satellite computers at 15 regional
headquarters. After processing the sales data (a complex task in the insurance
industry, since so many pertinent details are routinely involved for every policy
sold) these machines feed back the essential sales information to two master
computers at headquarters. There the data are summarized and printouts are made
on Friday night. By Monday morning, the reports are on the manager’s desk.
A West Coast apparel manufacturer now adjusts the initial merchandising forecasts
in light of salespeople’s bookings, then develops the cutting orders for three plants
day by day in relation to inventories on hand. Salespeople and management are
kept abreast of trends daily during the key selling periods and weekly thereafter.
Major merchandising decisions are made on the basis of current information that
was not available before the installation of electronic data processing.
 One of the largest industrial distributors in the West has set up an online electronic
data-processing system that enables its key customers to place purchase orders for
major products by using prepunched cards that bear the price and quantity
information. These purchase orders are automatically transmitted to the
distribution center for processing, billing, and shipping—freeing the salespeople
from much routine order taking and permitting them to spend more time on
individual customer problems.
 There are, of course, many other possible applications of electronic equipment as an
aid to the marketing function. And in the years to come, the use of electronic
equipment by marketing management will certainly increase.

Expanded use of test marketing

A fourth important trend, in my opinion, will be toward more controlled
experimentation to narrow the odds of an error in making marketing changes.

Two major influences emphasize the need for further expansion of test marketing.
The first is the rising cost of marketing changes: the costs, for example, of
introducing new products and packaging, of developing new advertising and
promotional programs, and of retraining salespeople.

The second influence is the mounting investment in product research and

development. About half of all corporate research-and-development activity in the
United States today is concerned with the creation of new commercial products. The
resulting outpouring of new products may measurably shorten the product life cycle
and reduce the payout time correspondingly. This is one reason so many innovations
in consumer goods are test-marketed before being placed in national distribution,
even though the product may have been checked out in the laboratory and its sales
potential assessed through marketing research.

What kind of projects should be considered for test marketing? Here are a few
examples:
 Evaluating new products and new product features or services in relation to
market potentials. This kind of application, accepted in the food industry for many
years, has only recently been used to determine whether customers would support
further processing and fabrication of sheet and plate products by industrial
distributors.

 Assessing the advantages and disadvantages of new packaging. New frozen-food

containers for berry products went through regional market tests on the West Coast
before national introduction.
 Evaluating the effects of a new sales-incentive plan. A shift from individual
incentives to a group plan was tested by a pharmaceutical manufacturer in San
Diego, St. Louis, and Atlanta before being installed nationwide.
 Determining the advantages, if any, of new delivery and service practices. A
machinery manufacturer used test marketing to determine whether to expand its
customer-service program. When the results indicated that customers would not
pay the added cost when faced with the reality of signing up for the added service,
the proposal was dropped.
 Evaluating the effectiveness of alternative advertising media and
approaches. Here again, an established technique in many consumer-goods
industries is being more widely applied in testing alternative media and
promotional approaches for the marketing of industrial products.

Some marketing projects can be tested quickly and relatively inexpensively through
computer simulation. For example, a leading US pharmaceutical company has used
simulation to determine the sales and profit impact of servicing small orders and/or
small customers by using jobbers and/or parcel post and/or not selling them at all—
and all this under a variety of assumed reactions by competitors.

With or without computers, however, I believe that increased use of test marketing
under controlled conditions will be an important future trend in marketing.

Metamorphosis of field selling

The fifth trend I foresee is a shift in the nature of the field-selling job toward a more
integrated, profit-oriented marketing effort.

A typical salesperson today represents a major investment of company funds. A

1964 survey by the Sales Executives Club of New York placed average training
costs at $8,731 per person, excluding pay. Keeping a typical salesperson on the road
may easily average $15,000 to $17,000 of direct costs per year, including
compensation. To achieve a satisfactory return on this investment, the salesperson
must sell profitably—not just bring in volume. The job is becoming less and less the
presentation of the company’s product line, more and more the marketing of
integrated systems.

Consider some of the ways an apparel salesperson now works with retailers:

 selecting the products for the coming selling season and establishing inventory
standards.

 maintaining stocks at proper levels and reordering as necessary (frequently

utilizing electronic data processing).
 helping to train retail clerks.
 establishing advertising schedules and assuring proper in-store tie-ins.
 executing in-store promotions.
 counseling on style trends and helping to move or shift slow-moving
merchandise.

In other words, such a salesperson is carrying out a field-marketing effort that

involves products, market analysis, advertising, promotion, and inventory control.

In another case, a sales representative for chemical fertilizers helps distributors sell
to their customers, the dealers, through financing services and marketing-research
assistance. The sales rep may even have to set up merchandising programs to help
select and train salespeople for the distributors. Thus, the emphasis is on
helping customers increase their profits so that the company, in turn, can prosper.

Another important continuing trend in the field-sales job is the ever-increasing

impact of key-account, or selective, selling. In most industries, a limited number of
customers have a growing profit importance. In grocery retailing, for example, there
are 20 percent fewer outlets today than in 1958. In industrial manufacturing, 10 to 20
percent of the customers may account for as much as 80 percent of sales, and an
even bigger share of profits.

In the net, there is little doubt that tomorrow’s salespeople will be different from
yesterday’s breed. They are going to be more highly trained and better paid; they are
going to be planning oriented, service oriented, and technically skilled—in short,
sophisticated marketers.

Global market planning

An ever-broadening application of the marketing concept to worldwide markets is
the last of the six broad trends that I believe will change the face of marketing in the
next few years. Over the past decade, the marketing concept has become widely
accepted in the United States—perhaps, in some situations, too enthusiastically
accepted and too indiscriminately applied. Nevertheless, I believe the concept of a
completely integrated marketing effort is valid and will be increasingly adopted. In
many companies operating worldwide, it will stimulate the development of global
market planning.

Expenditures by US companies on plant and equipment abroad, which were $5.1

billion in 1963, $6 billion in 1964, and $7.5 billion in 1965, may well exceed $9
billion in 1966. For manufacturing operations alone (excluding petroleum refining),
expenditures abroad rose by 30.5 percent last year, while domestic plant and
equipment expenditures advanced 15.7 percent. And mergers, licensing agreements,
joint ventures, and the establishment of wholly owned foreign subsidiaries by US
companies overseas are continually on the rise.

This means that top management must think through how best to coordinate a
multinational selling effort to assure adequate corporate control over a worldwide
marketing plan—yet without unduly restricting initiative and responsibility within
each national segment. An important part of this problem is determining how to
provide most efficiently the marketing services needed—services that in many
companies today are directed, if not executed outright, by a central corporate staff.

But this matter of becoming a worldwide company is only one of the major
pressures in the changing complexities of business today. To keep pace with these
changes, and to play the strong role in the future that I believe to be the key
challenge to marketing executives, the face of the marketing function will have to
change accordingly.
Developing and Maintaining Customer
Relationships

Over the last decade, marketers have come to the realization that they can learn
more about their customers and earn higher profits if they develop long-term
relationships with them. This requires that marketers shift away from
transactional marketing and embrace a relationship marketing approach. The goal
of transactional marketing is to complete a large number of discrete exchanges
with individual customers. The focus is on acquiring customers and making the
sale, not necessarily on attending to customers’ needs and wants. In relationship
marketing, the goal is to develop and maintain long-term, mutually satisfying
arrangements where both buyer and seller focus on the value obtained from the
relationship.

Taking on the Challenges of Marketing Strategy

One of the greatest frustrations and opportunities in marketing is change—
customers change, competitors change, and even the marketing organization
changes. Strategies that are highly successful today will not work tomorrow.
Customers will buy products today that they will have no interest in tomorrow.
These are truisms in marketing. Although frustrating, challenges like these also
make marketing extremely interesting and rewarding. Life as a marketer is never
dull.

Another fact about marketing strategy is that it is inherently people driven.

Marketing strategy is about people (inside an organization) trying to find ways to
deliver exceptional value by fulfilling the needs and wants of other
people(customers, shareholders, business partners, society at large), as well as the
needs of the organization itself. Marketing strategy draws from psychology,
sociology, and economics to better understand the basic needs and motivations of
these people— whether they are the organization’s customers (typically
considered the most critical), its employees, or its stakeholders. In short,
marketing strategy is about people serving people.

The combination of continual change and the people-driven nature of marketing

makes developing and implementing marketing strategy a challenging task. A
perfect strategy that is executed perfectly can still fail. This happens because
there are very few rules for how to do marketing in specific situations. In other
words, it is impossible to say that given ‘‘this customer need’’ and these
‘‘competitors’’ and this ‘‘level of government regulation’’ that Product A, Price B,
Promotion C, and Distribution D should be used. Marketing simply doesn’t work
that way. Sometimes, an organization can get lucky and be successful despite
having a terrible strategy and/or execution. The lack of rules and the ever-
changing economic, sociocultural, competitive, technological, and political/legal
landscapes make marketing strategy a terribly fascinating subject. Most of the
changes that marketers have faced over the past 20 years deal with the basic
evolution of marketing and business practice in our society. One of the most basic
shifts involves the increasing demands of customers. Today, customers have very
high expectations about basic issues such as quality, performance, price, and
availability. American customers in particular have a passion for instant
gratification that marketers struggle to fulfill. Some evidence suggests that
marketers have not met this challenge.

some industries such as newspapers and airlines have suffered large declines in
customer satisfaction. Satisfaction in other industries, such as the automotive
industry, has remained fairly high and stable. The decline in satisfaction can be
attributed to several reasons. For one, customers have become much less brand
loyal than in previous generations. Today’s customers are very price sensitive,
especially in commoditized markets where products lack any real means of
differentiation. Consequently, customers constantly seek the best value and thrive
on their ability to compare prices among competing alternatives. Customers are
also quite cynical about business in general and are not that trusting of marketers.
In short, today’s customers have not only more power but also more attitude. This
combination makes them a formidable force in the development of contemporary
marketing strategy. Marketers have also been forced to adapt to shifts in markets
and competition. In terms of their life cycles, most products compete today in
very mature markets. Many firms also compete in markets where product
offerings have become commoditized by a lack of differentiation (for example,
customers perceive competing offerings as essentially the same). Some examples
include airlines, wireless phone service, department stores, laundry supplies, and
household appliances. Product commoditization.

Developing a viable and effective marketing strategy has become extremely

challenging. Even the most admired marketers in the world like McDonald’s,
Procter & Gamble, Anheuser-Busch, and Toyota occasionally have problems
meeting the demands of the strategic planning process and developing the ‘‘right’’
marketing strategy. Our goal in this book is not to teach you to develop the
‘‘right’’ strategy. Rather, our approach will give you a framework for organizing
the planning process and the ability to see how all of the pieces fit together. Think
of it as a mind-set or way to think about marketing strategy. The remainder of this
text dedicates itself to these goals.
 Conclusion
Due to Economic downturn marketing has gained importance in past few years in
order to gain the attention of the consumers.In 21st century marketing has
become one of the key strategies used by organisations world wide. Companies
can not use one simple marketing strategy which meets the need of both markets’
and consumers’ because they are so versatile to be dealt collectively this is
because of continues change in modern society. Cultural changes and
advancements in technology divided a market into so many segments.In order for
M&S to capture large market share it has to set up successful market strategies
and make the most of technology.

Currently, the marketing has an important vital in:

 the economy of companies, organizations, and nations;

 improving the quality of life of individuals and
 generating more competitive and able to meet the needs and desires of
the enterprises.

Therefore, no nation, corporation, organization or individual can ignore

the importancethat has the marketing in the development of society or group of
people and the economy.