Chapter “1”

Marketing: Set of processes for creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings
that have value for: Customers, clients, partners, and society at large

Exchange: Involves parties with:

 Something of value to one another

 Desire and ability to give up something to the other party

 Way to communicate with each other

Value: Customer’s perception of benefits against the costs of acquiring and consuming it.
(Benefits Vs Cost)

 Benefits are functional, experiential, and/or psychological

 Costs - Money paid for:

1. Acquiring a product or service or effort of purchase

2. Making the purchase and learning to use
3. Maintaining the product
Marketing Mix: (4Pcs) Product, price, place, and promotion
Importance of market analysis to develop effective strategies.

1. Be knowledgeable about the issues and options of each element of the mix
2. Know how to combine the elements to form an effective marketing program
3. Analyze the market and use the data
Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)
**Coordinate various promotional elements that communicate with a firm’s customers

**Recognizes the added value of a comprehensive plan that:

• Evaluates the strategic roles

• Combines the specialties to provide clarity, consistency.
Ensures all marketing and promotional activities project a consistent, unified image**

Criticism - Inside-out marketing approach: Packs promotional mix elements together, making
them look and sound.
Contemporary perspective
  Goal - Generate short-term financial returns and build long-term brand and
shareholder value

 Views IMC through strategic business process

Growing Importance of IMC**

1. Strategically integrates the various communications functions
2. Avoid duplication and takes advantage among promotional tools
3. Develops more efficient and effective marketing communications programs
4. Changing environment:
a. Evolution in micromarketing
b. Consumers’ unresponsiveness to traditional advertising
c. Changing rules of marketing

Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC): Role in Branding**

• Helps develop and sustain brand identity and equity
• Recognizes the need for companies to connect with consumers based on trust,
transparency, and authenticity

Promotional Mix
 Set of Tools that are used by a company to accomplish communication objectives
Includes: Advertising, Direct Marketing, Digital/internet marketing, sales promotion,
publicity/public relations, personal selling.

 Promotion: Coordination of all seller-initiated efforts to:

 Set up channels of information and persuasion

 Sell goods and services or promote an idea

Promotional Mix Elements:

1. Advertising: Paid, nonpersonal communication through mass media; high
reach, low feedback.

**Benefits of Advertising: Most way included cost-effective ( Per Person ) to

reach large numbers of consumers.
 • Builds brand equity by influencing consumers’ perceptions
Advertising to Consumer Markets: National advertising nationwide basis or
in most regions.

Retail/local advertising shop at a specific store, use a local service

Primary- versus selective-demand advertising:

• Primary demand: Stimulates demand for the general product class or entire
industry
• Selective demand: Creates demand for a specific
Business-to-business advertising: Targets individuals who buy or influence the
purchasing
Professional advertising: Targets professionals, encouraging them to use
product

Trade advertising: Targets marketing channel members, encouraging them to

stock, promote, and resell the products.

2. Direct Marketing: Communicating directly with target customers to generate a

response and/or a transaction

Involve Tools like database management, direct selling, and telemarketing.

 Direct-response advertising
i. Encourages the consumer to purchase directly from the manufacturer
Example Apple U.S.

3. Digital/Internet Marketing: Advantages such as reach, targeting, and

analytics.

**Advantages of Digital Marketing

1. Interactive media: Allow users to participate in and modify the form

2. Social media: Online means of communication and interactions used to create, share, and
exchange content.
3. Mobile marketing: Messages that are delivered specifically to a consumer’s location or
consumption situation
4. Interactive nature
 5. Capability to precisely measure the effects of advertising
4. Sales Promotion: Incentives for immediate sales; consumer-oriented vs.
trade-oriented.

activities that provide extra value or incentives to the: Sales force, Distributors

Aid in stimulating immediate sales: Categories, Consumer-oriented, and Trade-

oriented.

 Increased emphasis due to:

 Declining brand loyalty

 Increased consumer sensitivity to promotional deals
 Retailers’ demand for more trade promotion support from companies
5. Public Relations (PR) & Publicity: Nonpersonal communications
regarding an organization, product, service, or idea not directly paid for or run
under identified sponsorship

i. Advantages (High credibility and low cost) And disadvantages (lack

of control and Negative stories are highly damaging).

 Evaluates public attitudes

 Identifies policies of an individual or organization with the public interest

Goal - Establish and maintain a positive image among various publics

6. Personal Selling: Person-to-person communication tailored to customer needs.

 Purchasing product
 Act on an idea

Involves immediate and precise feedback.

Contact or Touch Point

 Customer interactions with the brand, categorized into company-created, intrinsic,
unexpected, and customer-initiated.

Every opportunity a customer has to see or hear.

IMC Planning Process
Integrated marketing communications management: Planning, evaluating, and
controlling all of that using in the promotional-mix elements to effectively communicate with
target audiences.

Integrated marketing communications plan: Developing, implementing, and controlling

an organization’s IMC program

Marketing Plan Components:

Describes overall marketing strategy and programs for an organization and includes:

 Elements such as situation analysis, setting objectives, targeting markets, and implementing
the marketing mix.

Review of Marketing Plan

1. Examining marketing plan and objectives
2. Identifying the role of advertising and promotion
3. Performing competitive analysis
4. Assessing environmental influences

Internal and External Analysis:

• Internal Analysis: relevant areas involving the product/service offering.

Evaluating firm capabilities, brand image, and past promotional results.

• External Analysis: Focuses on characteristics of a firm’s and Understanding
customers, competitors, and market environment.

**Communication Process Analysis:

• Factors like source, message, and channels.

• Establishing communication goals and objectives.

**Budget Determination: Set tentative marketing communications budget, Allocate

tentative budget.

Developing IMC Program: Involves the role of each promotional-mix element

Aspects of an advertising program

 Creative strategy Determining a basic message to be conveyed to the target audience

 Media strategy Determining communication channels that use to deliver the message

Monitoring and Evaluation of Promotional Programs:

 Meeting communication objectives
 Helping to accomplish overall marketing goals and objectives
 Measuring effectiveness and taking corrective actions as needed.

MCQ QUESTIONS
1. What is the main goal of marketing?
a) To create profits for the company.
b) To create and exchange offerings with value for customers, partners, and society.
c) To reduce production costs.
d) To develop products without customer feedback.
Answer: b

2. What does the concept of value in marketing refer to?

a) Only the monetary cost of a product.
b) Customer’s perception of benefits versus costs.
c) The manufacturing cost of a product.
d) The profit margin for the company.
Answer: b

3. Which of the following is not a benefit type mentioned in marketing?

a) Functional.
b) Psychological.
c) Behavioral.
d) Experiential.
Answer: c
4. What are the 4Ps of the marketing mix?
a) Product, Price, Place, Promotion.
b) Plan, Process, Price, Product.
c) Product, Price, Position, Plan.
d) Promotion, Process, People, Place.
Answer: a

5. What is a key criticism of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)?

a) It focuses only on digital platforms.
b) It uses an inside-out marketing approach.
c) It ignores brand-building strategies.
d) It is only relevant for short-term goals.
Answer: b

6. Which promotional mix element involves mass communication without immediate

feedback?
a) Advertising.
b) Personal Selling.
c) Direct Marketing.
d) Public Relations.
Answer: a

7. Which is not a tool of Direct Marketing?

a) Telemarketing.
b) Database management.
c) Sales force incentives.
d) Direct-response advertising.
Answer: c

8. What is the main purpose of sales promotions?

a) To create long-term brand loyalty.
b) To stimulate immediate sales.
c) To replace other promotional strategies.
d) To reduce advertising costs.
Answer: b

9. Which element of the promotional mix focuses on maintaining a positive public image?
a) Advertising.
b) Public Relations.
c) Direct Marketing.
d) Sales Promotion.
Answer: b

10. What is a "touchpoint" in marketing?

a) A tool used for digital marketing.
b) A moment when a customer interacts with the brand.
c) A product promotion strategy.
d) A pricing strategy for online sales.
Answer: b

11. Which analysis focuses on the firm’s customers, competitors, and market environment?
a) Internal analysis.
b) Performance analysis.
c) External analysis.
d) Brand analysis.
Answer: c

12. What is the first step in the IMC planning process?

a) Budget determination.
b) Situation analysis.
c) Media strategy development.
d) Evaluating program performance.
Answer: b
Chapter “2”
Strategic Marketing Plan
Guides to the allocation of resources, marketing programs, and policies.

 Example: Launching new products tailored to specific cultural events (e.g., Pepsi with
tamarhindi flavor for Ramadan).

Evolved from the organization’s overall corporate strategy.

Opportunity Analysis (Areas where):

• Identifying market opportunities requires:

o Observing favorable demand trends ‫اشوف السوق عاوز أي‬

o Customer’s needs are not satisfied

» If I want to establish a business , there should gap in market.

o Firm can compete effectively.

• Steps to identify market opportunities

o Examine the marketplace ‫بشوف السوق فيه اي‬

o Observe demand trends and competition in various market segments

Competitive Analysis

• Focus on Analyzing the competition in the marketplace and searching for a

competitive advantage

‫اشوف نقطة ضعف في المنافس بتاعي في نفس السوق واستغلها‬

Attributes that give a firm an edge over competitors

 Superior product quality.

 Better customer service.
 Low production costs lead to lower prices.
 Dominating distribution channels.

Target Market Selection

• Performed after evaluating market opportunities and competitive analysis.

• Directly impacts advertising and promotional strategies.

The Target Marketing Process

 Dividing markets into distinct groups with common needs, who respond similarly to a
marketing situation.**

**based on:

• Geographic segmentation: Targeting specific different locations.

» The place that I targeted it.

• Demographic segmentation: Age, gender, family size, education, income.

• Psychographic segmentation: basis of personality, lifecycles, and/or lifestyles

• Behavioristic segmentation: Dividing consumers according to usage, loyalties, or

buying responses , 80-20 rule: 20 percent of buyers account for 80 percent of sales
volume

.‫ أرباح‬%80 ‫ بتجيبلي‬, ‫ من الناس الي بتشتري مني‬%20‫ال‬ »

• Benefit segmentation: Grouping of consumers based on attributes sought in a product

**Selecting Target Market: Determine how many segments to enter and which segments offer
the most potential

**Market Coverage Alternatives:

1) Undifferentiated marketing: Ignoring segment differences and offering one product

or service to the entire market
‫ منتج او خدمة لسوق معين‬offering ‫» بتجنب فئة معينة وب‬
2) Differentiated marketing: in a number of segments, developing separate marketing
strategies for each
3) Concentrated marketing: Selecting a segment and attempting to capture a large
share of this market
Positioning

• Fitting to one or more segments to make it unique within the marketplace

‫ بتاعت المنتج ليه او اركز علي التنافس زي برسيل احسن‬benefits‫» يا اما هركز مع العميل اني ربط ال‬
.‫من اريل‬
Approaches
 • Focusing on the consumer: Linking the product with the benefits

• Focusing on competition: Positions the product by comparing the benefit it offers versus
the competition

Positioning strategies:
 Positioning by product attributes or benefits: Distinctive product features.
o Sets apart from competitors based on specific characteristics or benefits offered
o Salient attributes: for making a purchase decision

 Positioning by price/quality High-quality focus (e.g., Apple).

 Positioning by use or application: Specific use cases (e.g., McDonald’s breakfast menu).
Used to enter a market based on a particular use or application
 Positioning by product class Ex: Rolex
 Positioning by product user

‫استخدامي للمنتج عامل ازاي لو اشتريت بي ام يعني بحب الجري‬

 Positioning by competitor

 Positioning by cultural symbols Leveraging recognizable icons or symbols (e.g.,

Arabic perfumes).
 Makes the brand easily identifiable and differentiated from others

Repositioning

• Changing the perception of a product or brand due to: Stagnant or declining sales and
New market opportunities (MOA).

• Difficult to achieve customer attitudes.

Product Decisions
• Product symbolism: What the product means to consumers (e.g., Red Bull represents
energy).

• **Branding: Building and maintaining a favorable identity of the company

o Builds and maintains brand awareness
 o Enhances attitudes toward the company or product

o Build relationships between the consumer and the brand

o Brand identity: Combination of name, logo, symbols, design, packaging, and

image of associations held by consumers

o Brand equity: Intangible asset of added value

• Packaging: Combines functionality (storage, protection) with marketing appeal. (e.g. V-

Cola)

Pricing Decisions
 Price variable - Refers to what the consumer must give in exchange for a purchase

‫ أي الي امفروض هديهولك مقابل سعر معين‬

Determined by:
• Advertisting

• Costs of production.

• Demand and competition.

• Perceived product value and quality.

Marketing Channels ( Place )

• Direct Channels: Directly deals with customers (e.g., online stores, telemarketing).
Examples include Apple U.S.

• Indirect Channels: Involves intermediaries like wholesalers and retailers (e.g., Coca-
Cola distribution, Pepsi).

Promotional Strategies
» Push Strategy: Encourages intermediaries to stock and promote products.
» Pull Strategy: Drives consumer demand to request the product from retailers.
Promotional Push Strategies

 Programs designed to persuade the trade to stock, merchandise and promote a

manufacturer’s products

‫لو أكون نازل بمنتج جديد عاوز اقنع بيه في مصر‬

 Goal
 Push the product through the channels by selling and promoting it
 ‫زي بلبن‬

 Trade advertising: Used to motivate intermediaries to purchase products for resale Ex:
V-Cola

Promotional Pull Strategies ‫بصرف فقط علي العميل اخلي هو الي يجيلي‬

 Spending money on advertising and sales promotion efforts directed toward the ultimate
consumer

 Goal

 Create demand among consumers

 Encourage consumers to request the product from the retailer

MCQ QUESTIONS
1. What does a Strategic Marketing Plan guide?

a) Allocation of organization’s resources and specific marketing programs.

b) Identification of new competitors.
c) Evaluation of past promotional campaigns.
d) Setting annual revenue goals only.
Answer: a

2. What is a market opportunity?

a) A segment of the market that has no competitors.

b) A market area with favorable demand trends and unmet needs.
c) An over-saturated market where products are similar.
d) A strategy to lower production costs.
Answer: b

3. Competitive advantage refers to:

a) Market dominance through low pricing alone.

b) Attributes that give a firm an edge over competitors.
c) Rapid production of generic products.
d) Avoiding competition entirely.
Answer: b
4. Which of the following is not a segmentation criterion?

a) Geographic segmentation.
b) Psychographic segmentation.
c) Behavioral segmentation.
d) Corporate segmentation.
Answer: d

5. What does positioning focus on?

a) Finding the lowest cost product for consumers.

b) Making a product unique in the marketplace.
c) Imitating competitor strategies to gain traction.
d) Eliminating customer preferences.
Answer: b

6. A "Positioning by cultural symbols" strategy means:

a) Associating a product with international trends.

b) Differentiating a brand using recognizable cultural elements.
c) Using competitor pricing as a benchmark.
d) Promoting a product only through local festivals.
Answer: b

7. Repositioning a product or brand is often done due to:

a) Increased competition in the market.

b) Declining or stagnant sales.
c) A preference for cost over quality.
d) Changes in packaging standards.
Answer: b

8. What is product symbolism?

a) The physical attributes of a product.
b) What a product or brand represents to consumers.
c) The price of a product in the marketplace.
d) The advertising slogan associated with the brand.
Answer: b
9. Which of the following is an example of a direct marketing channel?

a) Wholesalers.
b) Retailers.
c) Online telemarketing by the company.
d) Third-party distributors.
Answer: c

10. Promotional push strategies focus on:

a) Encouraging consumers to demand the product directly.

b) Persuading the trade to stock and promote the product.
c) Enhancing product packaging for better storage.
d) Increasing brand value through cultural advertisements.
Answer: b

11. Promotional pull strategies are characterized by:

a) Encouraging retailers to order more stock.
b) Spending money to create consumer demand directly.
c) Negotiating lower prices with distributors.
d) Introducing lower-cost production alternatives.
Answer: b

MCQs

1. What is the primary goal of a strategic marketing plan?

a) Increasing short-term profits.
b) Allocating resources and guiding marketing programs.
c) Expanding the company’s physical infrastructure.
d) Focusing on minimizing operational costs.
Answer: b

2. Which of the following is NOT a step in identifying market opportunities?

a) Observing favorable demand trends.
b) Ensuring unmet customer needs.
c) Offering products at the lowest price.
d) Evaluating the firm’s ability to compete effectively.
Answer: c

3. Competitive advantage can be achieved by:

a) Focusing on unsaturated markets.
b) Emphasizing product attributes not offered by competitors.
c) Expanding production facilities regardless of demand.
d) Eliminating all advertising expenses.
Answer: b

4. Which of the following is a psychographic segmentation criterion?

a) Geographic location.
b) Income levels.
c) Lifestyle and personality traits.
d) Education levels.
Answer: c

5. Repositioning is primarily driven by:

a) Increased consumer loyalty.
b) New competitors entering the market.
c) Stagnant sales or new market opportunities.
d) Lower production costs.
Answer: c

6. What does "positioning by cultural symbols" aim to achieve?

a) Associating a brand with easily recognizable icons.
b) Highlighting price competitiveness.
c) Building functional product appeal.
d) Offering localized pricing strategies.
Answer: a

7. What is the difference between a push strategy and a pull strategy?

a) Push strategy focuses on customers; pull strategy focuses on intermediaries.
b) Push strategy persuades intermediaries; pull strategy creates consumer demand.
c) Push strategy requires less advertising; pull strategy is cost-effective.
d) Push strategy targets pricing; pull strategy targets promotion.
Answer: b

8. Which pricing decision factor directly relates to consumer perceptions?

a) Demand trends.
b) Perceived value of the product.
c) Competition in the market.
d) Production costs.
Answer: b

9. What is a direct channel in marketing?

a) Selling products directly to customers via telemarketing.
b) Distributing goods through wholesalers.
c) Using retailers to promote the product.
d) Outsourcing sales operations to external agents.
Answer: a

10. Which of the following is true for indirect channels of distribution?

a) They require significant interaction with customers.
b) They use intermediaries like wholesalers and retailers.
c) They are suitable for high-value, complex products.
d) They eliminate trade advertising needs.
Answer: b

True/False Questions

1. Market segmentation divides a market into groups based on common needs and
responses to marketing efforts.
True

2. Competitive analysis helps a firm identify its weaknesses in entering saturated markets.
False (It identifies competitive advantages, not weaknesses).

3. Positioning always focuses on the consumer’s perceived value of the product.

False (Positioning can focus on competition as well).

4. Repositioning is easier to achieve in established markets with entrenched perceptions.

False (It is difficult due to entrenched customer attitudes).
5. Packaging contributes only to product protection and storage.
False (It also has a marketing appeal and functional benefits).

6. A push strategy involves promoting products to intermediaries to stock and sell.

True

7. Perceived value has no role in determining the price of a product.

False (It directly influences pricing decisions).

8. Direct marketing channels often involve intermediaries like wholesalers.

False (Direct channels bypass intermediaries).

9. Geographic segmentation divides the market based on age, income, or gender.

False (That’s demographic segmentation).

10. Cultural symbols are often used in branding to make products more identifiable.
True