Market and Marketing Basics

A market is a situation where buyers and sellers interact to exchange goods and services, either physically or virtually.
Marketing is the process of Identifying, anticipating, and satisfying consumer requirements profitably, focusing on consumer demands.

Market research: systematic gathering, recording, and analyzing of data to identify consumer tastes, behavior, and competition, to make better product decisions.
Pricing: setting the price of products and services, considering supply and demand, and pricing strategies (penetration, cost-plus, market-oriented, market-skimming, psychological).
Packing: wrapping, displaying, and presenting products to customers, including display, description, safety precautions, and instructions.
Branding: differentiating products with a name, sign, symbol, or design, making them recognizable and memorable.
Sales promotion: short-term incentives to encourage sales and purchases of goods and services.
Advertising: informing, persuading, or reminding consumers about products or services through various forms (electronic, print, indirect, direct).
Distribution: making products or services available to customers or business users, directly or indirectly through distributors.

Product: goods or services needed by the targeted group, or what the firm wants the target group to buy.
Price: amount asked for the product, considering attractiveness, competition, cost, and profit.
Place (Distribution): storing and moving products to customers, through intermediaries like wholesalers and retailers.
Promotion: attracting attention and interest to products or services through advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, and public relations.

Packaging: outer wrapping or container for goods, protecting, promoting, preserving, and enhancing the product.
Labeling: providing printed information on the product, including brand name, grade, description, uses, maker, caution, and storage.
Branding: giving a distinctive name, term, symbol, or design to recognize and differentiate products.

Penetration pricing: setting a deliberately low price to enter the market.
Cost-plus pricing: calculating price by unit variable cost + fixed costs + markup.
Market-oriented pricing: setting competitive prices.
Market-skimming pricing: charging a high price to secure a large profit.
Psychological pricing: setting prices just below certain levels to appear cheaper.

Distribution refers to storing and moving products to customers, through intermediaries like wholesalers and retailers.
The task of distribution is getting the right amount of goods to the right places where customers can conveniently buy them.

Advertising: communicating information to create awareness of products or services, through various forms (electronic, print, indirect, direct).
Types of advertisement: informative, persuasive, competitive, defensive, reminder.
Functions of advertising: introducing new products, highlighting features, building brand loyalty, creating awareness of promotional activities, educating and informing consumers.
Sales promotion: short-term incentives to encourage sales and purchases of goods and services, through contests, sweepstakes, point of sales display, free samples, loyalty points, and trade shows.

Direct selling: selling goods directly from producers to consumers.
Telesales: selling goods directly from companies advertising on sales channels.
Online shopping: shopping from home via the internet.
Product displays: displaying products attractively, using merchandisers.
Samples: giving patrons samples at shops and malls, collecting feedback to enhance products.
Good after-sales service: providing reliable and efficient service to clients, adjusting pricing policy and offering discounts.
Merchandising: promoting sales by presenting products in retail outlets.
Pricing policy and discounts: adjusting pricing policies to encourage sales through cash discounts and trade discounts.

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