With Oshada Jayathilake

_______

_______

Thursday, May 8, 2014

MARKETING : Brand & it's features

6:55 PM Posted by Unknown No comments




BRAND

A brand can be identify as a name, slogan, logo which is used by a company to make their company different from them.
                                (Eg: AXE – turns nice girls naughty)

Features of a brand
     
    a)      People use brands to make a statement about them self.                                                                 
                             ( Eg: Armani Suits)


    

    b)      Brands allow organizations to change higher prices 
                                   ( Eg: Benz)


   c)      Brands are used by organization to positions the products in the minds of the consumers differently.   
                           (Eg: TAG HEUER watches, CASTLE beer in South Africa).
    


Levels of Branding 

01st - Level : Presence

Customers are alert of your brand, but little else. They may have tried your products and services before, but they have little or no emotional attachment to them.

02nd - Level : Relevance

Customers start to think about whether the brand meets their wants and needs. It's here that they begin comparing the cost of your products with respect to the value these provide.

Customers begin asking questions like:

"Does this brand fit my needs?"
"Is it in the right price bracket for me?"
"Is it worth it?"

03rd - Level :Performance

Customers begin comparing the brand with others, to see whether it delivers on its potential.

They're also starting to associate the brand with a specific identity, and they're beginning to recognize it and associate with it.

By now, the brand is on the customer's "short list" of brands to choose from.

04th - Level : Advantage

Customers have determined that there is a distinct advantage to using the brand, compared with others. They're also beginning to associate the brand with their emotions and with their sense of self.

05th - Level : Bonding

Customers have established a bond with the brand. They've determined that cost, advantage, and performance are all at levels that they're happy with.




Thank you for joining with me, meet with you a new post.

OSHADA JAYATHILAKE








MARKETING : Extended Marketing Mix

6:51 PM Posted by Unknown No comments
EXTENDED MARKETING MIX


When comes to service organizations there are additional “P”s that will meet to be addressed.

01)  People Mix – How friendly was the staff members, their skills, how helpful they should be looked. (Eg: “Kingfisher” airline staff)

     02)  Physical Evidence – Since services are invisible some components of the                                              organization will give visibility to the services         ( Eg: Arrangement of the service area and the cleanliness,                                         staff uniforms certain promotional activities and by products)


03)  Process Mix – This is the last elements of extends the marketing mix where the focus is to ensure the processes of providing the services.                          It’s quick efficient, customer friendly the customer should not                                have to wait for a long time and the customers must be giving                                                 high focus throughout the entire processes.


Thank you for Join with me, we will meet again with a new post.

OSHADA JAYATHILAKE

MARKETING : The Marketing Mix - 4 "P"s

12:08 AM Posted by Unknown 3 comments

                                                 


MARKETING MIX

The term marketing mix refers to the primary elements that must be attended to in order to properly market a product. Also known as The 4 Ps of Marketing, the marketing mix is a very useful, if a bit general, guideline for understanding the fundamentals of what makes a good marketing campaign. Here is a brief description of each component of the 4 Ps of the marketing mix with examples of how the “Manel Bakery” uses Marketing concept.


Product Mix
Price Mix
Place Mix
Promotion Mix

These four elements are adjusted until the right combination is found that serves the needs of the product's customers, while generating optimum income.
                          
Product Mix

Product mix is a combination of products manufactured or traded by the same business house to reinforce their presence in the market, increase market share and increase the turnover for more profitability. Normally the product mix is within the synergy of other products for a medium size organization. However large groups of industries may have diversified products within core competency. 

One of the realities of business is that most firms deal with multi-products .This helps a firm diffuse its risk across different product groups. Also it enables the firm to appeal to a much larger group of customers or to different needs of the same customer group.

“Manel Bakery” they introducing one or two new bakery items for their customers every month to attract the customers more and more.

Investing in the Product Mix

The product Mix will have the following dimensions.

01. Length – Identifies how many different types are there.                            (e.g.:- “Manel Bakers” is having different types of cakes, bakery items &                    sweet Items)

02. Breadth – The variety of products under each product type.                       (e.g.:- “Manel Bakers” is having different names of cakes e.g.: Chocolate cake,            Ribbon cake, Butter cake, Fruit cake & etc)

03) Depth – This Identifies for each variety what the different types of sub          categories are (Chocolate icing cake, Chocolate Fudge cake, Chocolate            Cake with Roasted Nuts, Chocolate Cup Cake).  

BCG Matrix

                                                             


This matrix was developed Boston consulting group for organisation when analyse the product mix of an organisation.


This analysis carried out based on market share and market growth of its product.


Place Mix

Place Mix is concerned above how the product will be made to reach the customers and it will focus on the following areas.


Although figures vary widely from product to product, roughly a fifth of the cost of a product goes on getting it to the customer. 'Place' is concerned with various methods of transporting and storing goods, and then making them available for the customer. Getting the right product to the right place at the right time involves the distribution system.

The choice of distribution method will depend on a variety of circumstances. It will be more convenient for some manufacturers to sell to wholesalers who then sell to retailers, while others will prefer to sell directly to retailers or customers.





           i)    Distribution Channels (through "Manel Bakery" outlets)

          ii)    Storage and ware house (they are keeping stocks only for day                   today business in their own storage house in a better way)
           
         iii)   Transportation vehicles
                    (they have their own vehicles for transport the cakes,bakery items &               sweet items for their own outlets , they are transporting day today                 for their outlets).

         iv)    Location of Outlets ( near to main bakery within 10km all outlets                                                                                                           located).
         
         v )   Arrangement of sales areas( “Manel Bakery” owners targeted for where                                                                          people are gathering a lot)

          vi)   Stock Levels(they are keeping stock only for day today business)

         vii)   Coverage.



With regard to a Place Mix the following decision have to be made;

    01)  Is the place of purchase convenient for the customers                                     ( Eg: McDonalds drive-thru)                           






     02)  Is the method of distribution is suitable for the product                                      ( Eg: “CK” into you should only be distributed thru high end malls.)

                                          

     03)  Is the product available in the right quantities.                                             (Eg: Near festival seasons “Coca-Cola” extra stocks available at                                                                                                         shops.)






Distribution Strategies

This identifies the different methods through which products are made to reach the customers.

ZERO Level – Company sell direct to the customers. In other words this is                          called Direct Marketing.
                One Level – Company sells to the customers through one intermediary.                             (eg: Newdale yogurt sold in Cargills) 
                Two Level – Products are made to reach the customers through two                                intermediaries.(eg: Anchor milk powder sold through whole                                                                                    sellers and retailers)
                N Level – Products are made to reach customers through more than two                        intermediaries.



Promotion Mix
Promotion is an important part of marketing mix of a business enterprise. Once a product is developed, its price is determined the next problem comes to its sale i.e., creating demand for the product. It requires promotional activities. 

The activities are technique which brings the special characteristics of the product and of the producer to the knowledge of prospective customers. Promotion is a process of communication involving information, persuasion, and influence.

The term 'selling' is often used synonymously with promotion. But promotion is wider that selling. Selling is concerned only with the transfer of title in goods to the purchaser, whereas promotion includes techniques stimulating demand. These techniques include advertising, salesmanship or personal selling and other methods of stimulation demand.
Advertising and sales promotion techniques are indirect and non-personal whereas personal selling or salesmanship is a direct and personal technique. All these techniques, however, should be integrated with the marketing objective of the enterprise. The salesmen can report about the different advertising and other promotional appeals as they are in close touch with the consumer public and market conditions.
Promotion is essentially the sales efforts of a business enterprise and includes the function of informing, persuading and influencing the purchase decision of the existing the prospective consumers with the object of increasing sales volume and profits. Promotion is the efforts of the seller to sell the product effectively. Promotion is the communication with the customers to pursue them to buy the product. It is the duty of the marketing manager to choose the communication media and blend them into an effective promotion programmed. These are more than one type of tools used to promote sales. The combination of these tools with a view to maintain and create sales is known as promotion mix. 

Promotion mix is the name given to the combination of methods used in communicating with customers. There are four tools of promotion mix. Advertisement, Personal selling, Publicity and Sales promotion. These are called elements of promotion mix.
“Manel Bakery” uses banners to introduce their new products and promotions to attract customers. When during the World cup season they gave an opportunity to their customers to watch the matches on a big screen.

To attract more customers in weekends evening to organized event for new evening bands to live perform in front of their bakery.

“Manel Bakery” marketing people get together and once a month they are going for their customers residencies to introduce their new products as well as to collect new ideas from them.

Packaging the products of the company in on attracting manner and innovating ways to make it more popular.”Manel Bakery” marketing people introduced a new bags for package their bakery products when customer take away to their houses. It’s very colorful and recyclable bag. 

Certain modern types if promotion come up;

     01)  Product placement – including a product in a film or on music, video
                                  Eg: “Audi” car in “transporter -03”






     02)  Viral Marketing – This is where the organization will create a video which is attract and post it on the internet, Then people will share with each other and send the links to one another through which many people get to know about it.
Eg: “EKCHO” clothing and air force “one” tagged video campaign.

    03)   Ambush Marketing - This is where the organization will plant its company products and logos in particular situations and where there is a very high attention and focus by the customers.                                                                                                                               (Eg: “Mathaka mandira” song and Elephant house Cream Soda)


        04)  Guerilla Marketing – This refers to innovative and uncommon marketing tricks which are usually carries out by small organisation with limited promotional budget.
(Eg: “CALGARY FARMERS” hanging fresh apples on tress during winter seasons).




Creating a marketing campaign

The following steps must be followed when carrying out a marketing  campaign.
        
       
                        i) Define the product or service that is being promoted.
                       ii) Identify the target market and the target group that is being focused on.
                     iii)Select the different media that will be used for the promotions.
                      iv) For each selected media develop different communication strategies.

Information Technology can also be used for promotional campaigns.
       a)      To create attractive promotional materials.
       
       b)      To distribute promotional materials via e-mail and internet.

       c)      To carry out market research about geographical areas before the                    promotions.



Price Mix

The price you set for your offering plays a large role in its marketability. This is the only element of the 4 P’s is the only revenue generating component. Pricing for offerings that are more commonly available in the market is more elastic, meaning that unit sales will go up or down more responsively in response to price changes. 

By contrast, those products that have a generally more limited availability in the market (but with strong demand) are more inelastic, meaning that price changes will not affect unit sales very much. The price elasticity of your offering can be determined through various market testing techniques. All Discounts, Credit policies & Prices fall under this Mix.

                 I.          Competitive – ensuring that the price of a product closely matched with                               the competitors.
       
                 II.            Cost Plus – Regardless the competition pricing an organization will add                            profit margin on   top its cost and charge.
    
        III.            Penetration – Charging a low price when entering a new market.                                       (Eg: “AIRTEL” Rs.2/= per minute when the time of                                               entering to Sri Lankan market.




          IV.            Predatory – Organization reducing prices so that new entrance find it                             difficult to survive in the market.

                     V.            Premium – This is where very high prices will be charge to maintain the                            brand image.
                           (Eg: Tag Heuer)



                   VI. Price Skimming – Organization charging very high prices at the beginning and later when competition came up with similar products reducing the prices.
             
                VII. Selective category (differential pricing) – An organization charging different pricing for different categories of product.                                                                   (Eg: :Johnny Walker)
                                   



        VIII.         Selective consumer group – Senior Citizens been charges a lower price                                                   in super markets.

                    IX.         Selective Peak – When products reach maturity they will be add at a                                       lower price.
                           (Eg: “BATA” stock clearance sale)
                  


                     X.         Loss leader – Giving the core product or the main product at a low price but charging high prices from other related products.                                       ( Eg: shaving razor are sold at a low price. But the blades, aftershave gel are expensive



Thank you for joining with me, meet with you a new post.

OSHADA JAYATHILAKE

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

MARKETING : The Marketing Environment

11:56 PM Posted by Unknown No comments

Marketing Environment

This refers to factors that influence an organization ability to satisfy the customers need and wants. There are three types of environments.

1.   Internal Environment.
2. Micro Environment.
3. Macro Environment.

Internal Environment

              An organization’s marketing system is also shaped by internal forces that are controllable by management.

              When competing with other firms, the strategy needs to be in place which essentially deals with the internal environment. The estimation for the right amount of internal resources in the internal environment is needed to go ahead and take up a project or else the project may result in undesired consequences.

Eg: Employees.
             Company policies.
                     Capital assets.
                     The firm's structure and materials.
      
              Most Sri Lankan students are trying their level best to study and to get a good job. A lot of young generation attract with the marketing environment because they know they can get a better income with commissions. So companies also try to give good oppournities to the employees to grow their business spread all over the Sri Lanka. Those companies arrange motivation projects to grow up the employees marketing skills.

Eg : MAS Holdings providing expenses to study and to improve the skills.



Micro Environment

The micro environment is made up of factors that are close to the firm and affect it on a day to day basis; usually these factors interact with the firm or are involved in the same industry.

           Eg: Customers.
        Banks.
        Trade unions.
        Distributors.
        Suppliers.


                      Competitors are also part of the micro environment because they are selling competing products & services; their activity could have a direct impact on the firm's daily business. Some of the factors within the micro environment can be controlled whilst but others cannot.

                                             To attract customers most of the Sri Lanka companies started to do marketing campaigns to rural areas as well.
               (Eg: Signal – Sinabo Wewa)


      Suppliers providing credit facilities according to the bank guarantee

Macro Environment

The macro environment is made up of factors that affect the firm on a long term basis. In general macro environment factors are not close to the firm. Micro environment factors could be national or global measures and affect many industries and groups.

                    Eg: Legislation,
         The economy (e.g. recession, inflation, VAT changes),
         Technological change such as the internet.

And this refers to a series of external factors over which has about no control or it has very little control. The PESTEL frame work can be used to understand this environment.
01.  Political - these factors include political relations between governments and other governments, terrorist problems and government policies.
In Sri Lanka after 2009 war ended most of the terrorist problems solved and that effect to the country economy. More foreign investments coming in to the country, government try to reduces the taxation policies to attract more and more foreign investors to come to Sri Lanka, and   Sri Lankan government highly concern about the tourism industry growth for that they are developing a good marketing environment in Sri Lanka.
                                 



02.  Economic factors – this refers consumer spending power, current situation of the economic cycle, exchange rate factors.
Sri Lanka’s economy growing up after 2009 war ended, but the exchange rates are not  stable as yet, but for the exporters in Sri Lanka have better business opportunities with this economy situation.
                          
 
                  

03.  Social factors - changes is population, age group, taste of consumer will have the impact an organization.
In Sri Lanka before starts a marketing campaign has to check twice, whether it’s damaged Sri Lanka’s culture and religious activities because all the Sri Lankans concentrate about that stuff. 
(Eg : “Bodu bala Sena” organisation & etc are now attached with Buddhist and forcing to private sector not to damage the religions.)



04.  Technological factors- these factors include looking at growth of internet usage growth of mobile communication, popularity of social networks & etc.
In Sri Lankan there is well growth marketing environment for internet and mobile communication, most of the companies launched their websites, Facebook fan pages to attract more customers. Most of the companies starting there company websites when the time of registering in company in Sri Lanka. In that way there is good technical effect created in Sri Lanka.

05. Ecological - these factors included environment concern such as global warming, rainforest conservation, preventing environment pollution & etc.
In Sri Lanka lot of companies trying not pollute the country. As an example Brandix started eco factory. Sri Lankan government also put a lot of regulations to keep the country eco friendly.



One factor can be part of a firm's micro environment and macro environment. The media can be used to illustrate this:
           

  • A one off media story about the firm may affect daily operations and will therefore be part of the firm's micro environment;
  • Whilst a general desire to avoid a negative media story may influence a firm's long term business operations and therefore make up the firm's macro environment.
  • Firms should not concern themselves too much about which of the three categories a factor fits into. Instead firms should ensure that they have correctly identified all of the factors which make up their marketing environment and plan how to manage them for the firm's benefit.

    (Eg :  Today Sri Lankan Media has improved their technical skills, it’s very             important to do the marketing to create a better business                             environment.

A lot of advertising companies situated in Sri Lanka to create good marketing environment in Sri Lanka.


Thank you for joining with me, meet with you a new post.

OSHADA JAYATHILAKE