1. Define marketing and describe marketing process.

Answer,
Marketing is a series of steps that allow organizations to identify customer problems,
analyze market opportunities, and create marketing materials to reach the desired
audience. Marketing has four main components as defined by the American Marketing
Association:
 Creating: The process of collaborating with suppliers and customers to create
offerings that have value.
 Communicating: Broadly, describing those offerings, as well as learning from
customers.
 Delivering: Getting those offerings to the consumer in a way that optimizes
value.
 Exchanging: Trading value for those offerings.
This discipline centers on the study of market and consumer behaviors and it analyzes
the commercial management of companies in order to attract, acquire and retain
customers (hopefully instilling brand loyalty) by satisfying their wants and needs.
The tradition way of viewing the components of marketing is via the four Ps:

 Product: Having a product is key and is, consequently, the root of all things
marketing. In this sense, a product would be anything that a company could offer
consumers which might satisfy a need. The best thing to do is to decide on your
product or service based both on the needs and motivations of consumers and
how the product would benefit the consumer, not so much on the object’s
physical characteristics or attributes.
 Place: Strategic merchandising locations can be anything from an online store
(ecommerce) to a channel of physical stores across multiple towns and
countries. The goal of the distribution strategy is to enable potential clients to
have easy access to products/services, as well as offer a good company
experience throughout the purchasing process.
 Price: How we price our products and services is an extremely important
decision within the marketing strategy; this factor affects other factors such as:
Margin that we hope to obtain, company’s financial goals, trends and fads , price
competition, targeting customer with high purchasing power, etc.
 Promotion: This refers to all the marketing and communication actions we carry
out in order to diffuse the benefits and characteristics of our product or service
within the market. This is how we increase sales.
Marketing process involves ways that value can be created for the customers to satisfy
their needs. Marketing process is a continual series of actions and reactions between
the customers and the organizations. In marketing process the situation is analyzed to
identify opportunities, the strategy is formulated for a value proposition, tactical
decisions are taken, plan is implemented, and results are monitored Marketing Process.
The overall marketing process can be summarized into five main steps, namely:

 Understand the customer and the marketplace

Marketing is based upon an understanding of the firm’s potential
customers (its target market), as well as its key competitors and the main trends
in the market. By having a good understanding of what consumers want and
how they buy, a firm will be in a better position to design and execute its
marketing programs. In line with this point, is the need to also understand
competitive offerings. This is important because not only does the firm need to
meet consumer needs, but they need to do so in a way that is different to their
main competitors.
 Design a customer-driven marketing strategy
After the firm has a good understanding of the marketplace, they are then in a
good position to design their overall marketing strategy. As suggested by the
heading, their marketing strategy should be “customer-driven” – which means
that it should be designed to meet consumer needs and to provide value.
 Construct an integrated marketing program
Step three is the detailed execution of the firm’s marketing strategy. For
example, in Step Two they might decide that a key part of their marketing
strategy is to build a strong brand. Therefore, in Step Three they would create
that brand through advertising, social media, celebrity endorsements,
sponsorships, events and so on. As you can see, the marketing program is the
actual tasks (which are called tactics in marketing) required to implement the
firm’s overall marketing strategy.
 Build profitable relationships and satisfaction
Once the strategy and tactics are in place, the fourth step involves
“making it happen” and going to the marketplace. Step One was research and
analysis, Steps Two and Three were planning and documenting, while Step Four
is in the market. During this ongoing stage, the firm attempts to win customers
and build repeat sales and loyalty. This is achieved if the firm delivers value and
meets customer needs better than its competitors (as they first identified in Step
One).
 Outcome = Value for customers creates profits
Step Five of the marketing process is actually more of an outcome than a
step. If the firm has undertaken its first four steps well, then the outcomes
should be the win-win situation, where the customers are satisfied and the firm
will make ongoing profits as a result.
2. Discuss the difference between Selling and Marketing Concept with
relevant examples.
Answer,

S. No. Marketing S. No. Selling

1. Marketing starts with the buyer 1. Selling starts with the seller and
and focuses constantly on is preoccupied all the time with
buyer’s needs. the seller’s needs.
2. Seeks to convert “customer 2. Seeks to convert “products” into
needs” into “products”. “Cash”.
3. Views business as a customer 3. Views business as a goods
satisfying process. producing process.
4. Marketing effort leads to the 4. The company makes the product
products that the customers first and then figure out how to
actually want to buy in their sell it and make a profit.
own interest.
5. Marketing communication is 5. Seller’s motives dominate
looked upon as a tool for marketing communication
communicating the benefits’ (promotions).
satisfaction provided by the
product.
6. Customers determine the price, 6. Cost determines the price.
price determines costs.
7. Marketing views the customer 7. Selling views, the customer as
as the very purpose of the the last link in the business.
business. It sees the business
from the point of view of the
customer.
Customer consciousness
permeates the entire
organizations – all
departments, all the people
and all the time.
8. “Customer satisfaction” is the 8. “Sales” is the primary motive.
primary motive.
9. External market orientation. 9. Internal company orientation.
10. Marketing concept takes an 10. Selling concept takes an inside-
outside in perspective. out perspective.
11. It is a broad composite and 11. It is a narrow concept related to
worldwide concept, more so in product, seller and sales activity.
 this era of globalization.
12. Marketing is more “pull” than 12. Selling involves “push” strategy.
“push”.
13. Marketing begins much before 13. Selling comes after production
the production of goods and and ends with the delivery of the
services, i.e. with identification product and collection of
of customers’ needs. It payment.
continues even after the sale to
ensure customer satisfaction
through after sales services.
14. Marketing has a wider 14. Selling is a part of marketing.
connotation and includes many
activities like marketing
research, product planning &
development, pricing,
promotion, distribution selling,
etc.
15. It concerns itself primarily and 15. It over emphasizes “the
truly with the “value exchange” aspects without caring
satisfactions” that should flow for the “value satisfactions”
to the customer from the3 inherent in the exchange.
exchange.
16. It assumes “Let the seller 16. It assumes “Let the buyer
beware”. beware.”
17. Marketing generally has a 17. It has a functional structure.
matrix type of organizational
structure.
18 The main job is to find the 18 The main job is to find the
right products for your customers for your products.
customers.
19. The mindset is “What is that we 19. The mindset is “Hook the
can make here or source from customer”.
outside to satisfy the needs of
target customers.”
20. Conceptual and analytical skills 20. Selling and conversational skills
are required. are required.

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3. Differentiate between customer perceived value and customer
satisfaction with from your purchase experience as a customer.
 (10 marks)
Answer,

Customer Value Customer Satisfaction

Meaning Customer value is the Customer satisfaction refers to
difference between the total the differences between the
benefits expected from a actual performance experienced
product/service and the total by a customer and the
cost incurred to obtain that expectation of the customer.
product or service.
Types of Customer value is a proactive Customer satisfaction is a reactive
process process as it takes place before process which basically the
the customer has actually difference between the
experienced the product, i.e. it expectation of the customer and
is the pre-purchase assessment the experience of the customer
of a product by a customer. after using that product/ service.
Hence, it is the post-purchase
analysis of a product by the
customer.
Concept Customer value is evaluated Customer satisfaction, however, is
from the point of view of an emotional concept as it
customers. It is essentially the pertains to the feelings of
thought process of the customers. We determine how
customers, where they carry satisfied we are from a purchase
out a comparison between the on the basis of our experience of
values gained from a product in using that product/service.
comparison to that provided by
a competing product, so as to
determine the product that
offer higher benefits at a low
cost.
How they are Customer value is a strategic Customer satisfaction offers a
used measure that determines means of assessing how
product compositions, pricing customers respond to these
strategies, distribution measures. It is essentially a
methods, communication transactional measure that is used
systems and processes. appropriately in a post-sales
interaction between the customer
and the company.
Computation Customer value is determined Customer satisfaction is measured
by simply subtracting total in qualitative terms as subtracting
costs from benefits and can be actual performance from the
described in monetary terms. expected performance is more
subjective in nature. It involves
 emotions and is difficult to
quantify.
Pre-purchase Customer value is a proactive Customer satisfaction is a reactive
or Post- component, which reflects the component, which reflects the
purchase: state of difference between state of difference between
customer benefits and product or service experience
customer costs before with that of expectation (post-
purchase (pre-purchase ). purchase).
Competitor Customer value is a relative Customer satisfaction is an
Comparison concept, where customers emotional concept, where it is
compare an offering with that felt. Satisfaction cannot be
of competitors in deciding competitor centric. This is
which products offers more because, a customer chooses the
benefits with fewer costs. best out of the lot by pre-
Deciding on the value is a purchase analysis. So, if it doesn’t
thought process from customer meet their expectations, they will
viewpoint. not go for less valued competitor
products.
Calculation Customer value has a simple Customer expectation has a
equation of deducting costs complex equation of deducting
from benefits. It is rational and actual performance from
can be explained in monetary expectations. These elements are
terms. hard to quantify. Also, it is
emotional. Therefore, it can only
be explained from a qualitative
viewpoint.