Marketing

Q. Is urban marketing strategy suitable for rural market?

A. There is a huge difference in terms of market dynamics and consumer behaviour when one
talks about urban versus rural markets. The per capita income, purchasing power, purchase
influencers, brand choices, brand awareness, priorities of consumers are all so different
between the two markets that every company would like to look at both of them separately
and never devise a common marketing strategy for rural and urban markets. For e.g. for a
product like toothpaste chances are that the brand is the market leader in urban markets
whereas in rural markets it will have to campaign against brushing teeth with home made
remedies. Thus, the focus of marketing strategy and allocation of resources will be very
different for both the markets as the situations are not same.

Q. What is underselling?

A. Underselling is when a company does not spend much on promotions and

advertising. This maybe when the demand in the market is good due to obvious
reasons like the product being a necessity product like salt or milk. Sometimes the
market demand is so high that it is not possible for a company to produce in the
required quantities and in such circumstances they will spend less on marketing
and advertising and also go in for selective distribution in most profitable sectors

Q. What should be the communications strategy for marketing high

involvement products?

A. High involvement products are where consumers get involved in all the details of
the product and service and would like to get maximum information for making a
rational decision of purchase. These are products which are of high price and
purchased once or twice in a lifetime and therefore, the consumer stakes are very
high. For e.g. a home theatre system or a house or a car. Therefore, providing right
information through various touch points becomes crucial for the company. So the
marketer has to be sure that he gives the needed information through
advertisements, retailers, salesmen and all other sources of information. So things
like training of sales person or brochure content becomes very important and they
become strong vehicles of providing right information to the consumers in order to
help them arrive at a rational decision.
Q. Compare the two: a) Vodafone b) Virgin Mobile

A. Vodafone and Virgin Mobile are two players in the mobile service provider
category. While Vodafone targets premium segment primarily, Virgin is more for the
lower income groups and consumers who would have low purchasing power like
college students. Vodafone is building its brand by emphasizing on its quality of
services with the recent campaigns of "Happy to Help" while Virgin advertising
strongly focuses on pricing, freebies and bundle offers like rentals and instrument
combo deals.

Q. What is the importance of studying consumer behaviour?

A. Consumer behaviour is a study that gives a significant idea to the marketer

about how the consumer behaves before, during and after purchase. It clearly tells
the marketer as to what are the factors that influence his/her decision making
process and who all are involved and how is the buying done. Based on this
understanding the marketer is going to design his strategies and implement it
accordingly. For e.g. multiplexes know that people like to see movies on weekends
and evenings and therefore, evening and weekend shows are priced higher than the
morning and weekly noon shows. They also know that there is a crowd of people
like college students who are highly price sensitive so to balance the traffic they
adopt such strategies. The probability of success increases if a marketer knows his
consumer well and has done proper research of his behaviour.

How does the family influence the consumer socialization of children? What role does
Q.
television advertising play in consumer specialization?
A. Children become aware of brands and advertisements as soon as they start consuming media
in multiple ways. They become aware of brands due to television commercials, hoardings,
peer talk, and socialization process. As a part of growing up, they start observing brands
used in the family and by friends. Today commercials targeted towards kids are in plenty
and they are shown on channels which is viewed most by them like Cartoon Network and
Pogo. Television plays a prominent role as it contributes heavily to the overall media
exposure of kids.

Q. What is the initial step for creating awareness for a product?

A. Product awareness or rather brand awareness is of great importance when a

new product is developed and launched in the market. Companies resort to heavy
spends on advertising, publicity and sales promotion to create brand awareness
among its target consumers. For products which are new to the market, brands
arrange for demonstrations and in-store shows. For e.g. Eureka Forbes uses home
to home demonstration of its new products as a means to create awareness. There
are brands that enter in a highly competitive market and hence resort to free
sampling like what Ariel did when it entered the detergents market in India. Nano is
put on public display in various small cities and town to create awareness.

Q. What steps are required for strengthening a publication that belongs to

a TG that is very disinterested in reading?

A. The strategy should be somewhat like Crossword i.e. first and foremost to
cultivate a habit of reading and Crossword stores aim at more and more people
coming to their stores and reading books. A publication first needs to properly
understand as to why is the TG not interested in reading. Surely one will get an idea
about the reasons behind lack of interest like poor content, irrelevant coverage of
issues, boring presentation, and so on and so forth. Doing an in-depth study of
reading habits and issues relevant to the TG is the answer to the question.

Q. What are the steps of coming up with a new product?

A. New product development is a long, costly and highly involving process. It starts
with ideas for a new product which gets analyzed and finally an idea worth taking
ahead gets converted into a concept which gets tested with target group of
consumers. After getting a green signal, the marketing strategy needs to be worked
out in terms of projections of profit and loss, break even period and 4 Ps. Finally
when the product is ready, it is launched in selected stores/markets for testing with
consumers. After getting responses, modifications are made and finally it enters
into the last stage called "commercialization" wherein the real product is advertised
and launched in stores.

Q. Does corporate image influence consumer buying behavior?

A. Corporate image has a long term impact on consumers. A good company always
evokes positive feelings and associations in the minds of consumers. All new
products launched by a company enjoying a strong reputation among stakeholders
always are seen with a positive eye and therefore, the probability of consumers
trying out the new product is high. The most important advantage that a company
with good corporate image gets is of consumer trust and that helps the firm in all its
activities.
Q. How should we come up with a new idea for a brand which is totally
related to rural people?

A. New product ideas come from various sources. It is product idea and not the
brand idea as product gets developed first and then it gets converted into a brand.
So, if a company wishes to launch products specially for rural consumers, an
indepth study of the rural consumer and their behaviour and buying habits is a
must. Also, observing other products available in the rural markets can be a good
practice.

Q. What is the difference between marketing objective and communication

objective?

A. Marketing objective is the goal set by an organization for a certain period of time
like sales target/ market share/ entering a new territory/ launching a new product.
Based on the marketing objective in a given period, the communication objective
gets decided. For e.g. if Maruti Udyog Limited has launched A-star and wants to
make consumers aware about it, then the communication objective would be to
have maximum frequency of ads since it's a new product. The company would also
create messages which will make consumers curious and attracted to go and try out
the car or go for a test drive.

Q. What are the tips to handle rural marketing effectively?

A. Rural marketing is a discipline wherein the people that you have as consumers
are very different from their urban counterparts. Once the marketer understands
the difference and tries to go closer to these target groups through observation and
research, all marketing decisions taken have a better probability of being effective.

Q. What is market segmentation? (Tanika, Jaipur)

A. Market segmentation is a process of dividing the market into homogenous consumer
groups based on criteria like age, sex, geography, income etc. in order to understand
which segment best represents an opportunity for the company.

Q. What are low involvement and high involvement products?

A. Low involvement products are one wherein the unit cost of the products is low
like mints, biscuits, cola drinks, salt etc. These are products where the stake of
consumer is very low and therefore, trial and error is possible, so his/her
involvement while deciding for purchase is very low. Moreover, he/she buys the
product as per past habit or some advertisement they have come across or from
some recommendation from friends. While high involvement products are where the
stakes are quite high because not only are these products high priced but also
because they are purchased not so frequently. E.g. house, car, white goods etc.
wherein one wrong move can cost the consumer substantially.

Q. What is virtual buying?

A. Virtual buying is when a consumer buys using the virtual stores and e-commerce sites. For
e.g. when a consumer buys a mobile phone on internet, it is virtual buying.
Q. What are touch points?

A. Consumer touch points are the possible points wherein a marketer can interact
with the consumer. Consumer touch points are decided on the basis of the media
exposure that the target audience has in his daily life. For e.g. for a person
travelling some 20 days in a month, the in-flight magazine can be a strong touch
point.

Q. What is ROI for marketing? How is it calculated?

A. ROI stands for return on investment. Marketing consists of various activities

which need investment in terms of time, money and energy. Companies are
becoming more and more conscious of every rupee spent on advertising,
promotions, sales efforts and so on. Worth or value of money spent on any of these
marketing activities is decided on the basis of the expected return on investment.

Q. How does packaging influence buying decisions irrespective of quality

and brand name?

A. Packaging today plays a vital role in terms of visual communication. Visual

communication is important in today's age of retail revolution. Packaging also helps
consumer take an informed buying decision and shows crucial information like
ingredients, quantity, company name, risk factors, right usage etc.

Q. What is the difference between consumers and target audience?

A. Consumers are people who buy or are interested in buying your product or
service. Group of such people is called as the target audience. Usually, consumer
and target audience are terms that are used interchangeably. For e.g. college going
girls and boys looking for economy in mobile bills are consumers as well the target
audience for Virgin Mobile. So the marketing strategy would be framed keeping in
mind these boys and girls and advertising would be aimed at the target audience.

Q. Which media should be used to target rural customers for a financial product?
A. Rural consumers are very different from urban counterparts. Financial product is a very new
domain in rural markets as the consumer's behaviour towards financial products has been
very different in nature. Mostly companies would penetrate in the rural markets in case of
financial products through self help groups and one to one communication. Road shows and
skits can be tailor made to attract attention of consumers towards savings and importance of
financial planning and so on.

Q. What is intrusive marketing?

A. The marketing process that intrudes the privacy of the consumer is intrusive
marketing. Door to door selling is intrusive if it is done without taking an
appointment from the consumer.

Q. How can we convert low involvement products like Amul ice cream into
high involvement products?

A. Products like ice cream and chocolates are highly preferred on taste platform. So
if a food product clicks with the consumer on 'taste', he or she will prefer to buy that
brand over other competing products in the market. Buying of ice cream is a low
involvement category as far as consumer behaviour is concerned. There is no way
to convert it into a high involvement category. But the way out is to create
"excitement" in order to attract and persuade consumers to buy the brand. Like for
e.g. free gifts and coupons.

Q. What is the difference between the terms 'consumer' and 'customer'? In

which context should they be used

A. 'Consumer' and 'customer' are terms used interchangeably most of the time.
However, if one wants to differentiate, consumer is the one who consumes the
product and customer is the one who buys the product for further processes. In
other words, consumer is the end user and customer is someone who buys the
product to re-sell or use it as a raw material i.e. an industrial buyer.

Q. Give me some hints for future rural markets in India.

A. Rural markets are now being seen as serious markets by most companies. As
there is a heavy rush towards rural markets, all kinds of products are now being
sold in these areas. Retail sector development has given the required infrastructure
for distribution. Government also is encouraging companies as superior products
provide a better standard of living. Products like LPG, FMCG products etc. make
lives easier and therefore are desirable. As far as the future is concerned, it is very
bright. One will see more companies, more products, better infrastructure, and
higher standards of living in the days to come.

Q. What is more in use - rural or urban marketing?

A. Both are happening. Since rural markets have been discovered in the last few years, more
and more marketers are keen on taking their products to the rural markets. The reason is
high disposable income, low competition and saturation in urban markets. Since both the
markets are totally diverse in terms of their characteristics, both offer a different set of
challenges and opportunities.

Q. What is experiential marketing

A. Experiential marketing is a term used when the brand is giving a unique

experience to the consumer. For e.g. a consumer gets attracted to Barista not only
because it sells good coffee but also due to the fact that the café has a rich
ambience, comfortable seating arrangement, allows internet access, good music,
courteous staff over and above the coffee. All these count in terms of the
experience that a consumer has whenever he is involved with the brand.

Q. What is permission marketing?

A. Permission marketing is marketing of products and services to consumers after

obtaining their permission. It is totally different from intrusive advertising. For e.g. if
consumers subscribe for a newsletter and allow all emails from a particular website,
it is called permission marketing.

Q. How would internet marketing grow in next few years?

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cashing in on the self-actualization needs.

The products that fall in each stage of hierarchy also depend on the socio-economic
structure of the consumer. Like for e.g. for a rich guy, branded apparel may be a basic need
whereas for the middle income group it may fall in esteem needs.
Q. What exactly is viral marketing? How does it help in promoting a brand?

A. Viral marketing is where consumers are encouraged and facilitated to spread

word of mouth or a marketing message voluntarily. Marketers identify consumers
with a huge social networking potential and target messages on them and these
messages then spread and create publicity for the brand. For e.g funny videos of
Himesh Reshamiya were circulated through emails and they were forwarded to
mailing lists and very soon it became the talk of the town.

Q. What is mobile marketing and how does it work?

A. Mobile marketing is where mobile telecommunications is used to market products

and services. Marketing through SMS, downloads and tie-ups with mobile service
providers is known as mobile marketing. Thus mobile marketing explores mobile
handset and service providers as a medium of communication with its target group
of consumers.

Q. What is marketing accounting?

A. Marketing accounting means accounting for all marketing activities in terms of

the time, effort and money required versus the achievement of the objective with
sales volume as the bottom line. For e.g. one full page ad with an objective to
enhance the corporate image of Adani group of companies is given in a newspaper.
Post release, evaluation would be done to find out whether the objective has been
achieved or not as compared to the spends.

Q. What is Phantom marketing?

A. Phantom marketing is the ability to make word of mouth work without actually
having a product. It may be a buzz that starts of as people suspect something will
happen. For e.g. the entire issue of Apple’s IPhone versus GPhone is a smart
example of phantom marketing.

People are suspecting that to counter attack Apple, Google is soon going to launch
GPhone which will promise better and smarter features than IPhone.

Google got a lot of publicity as journalists, consumers, bloggers started writing,

discussing and debating about the slash in prices by Apple for IPhone. Even without
having a product in the market Google gained a lot of publicity in this case and this
is what is known as phantom marketing.
Q. What is the significance of marketing in business plan?

A. Marketing in today’s age is omnipresent. Small, medium and large businesses

treat marketing as a core function due to its revenue generating capacity.
Marketing enables a business to earn revenues through brand awareness, consumer
satisfaction and retention. Therefore in a business plan marketing is the key to
success.