Market and Marketing Basics

Market and Marketing

• 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.

Marketing Activities

• 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.

Marketing Mix (4 Ps)

• 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.

Product

• 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.

Pricing Strategies

• 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

• 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.

Promotion

• 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.

Selling Techniques

• 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.

Learn about the differences between a market and marketing. Understand the key concepts of market research, pricing, and other marketing activities.