Environment is a broad spectrum or sets of conditioned which prevail at a given time. For environmentalists, it is air, oxygen, dust, smoke etc .in atmosphere. But in marketing, we mean two things.
We have studied it previously.
1) The task environment
2) The broad environment
THE BROAD ENVIORNMENT
There are two types of factor
1) Controllable Factors
which are directed by top management and marketers Although, top management takes all decisions but five are directly affecting markets.
- Line of business: This consists of goods and services category, functions geographic coverage, type of ownership and specific business of the company.
- Overall objectives: Numerical goals, etc
- Role of Marketing: Importance and integration of services
- Corporate culture: the conditions that exist inside the organization
2) Uncontrollable Factors.
These are pertaining to External conditions. Such as
- Consumers: their characteristics, incomes, status, race, education etc.
- Competition: What are they doing and planning, their research, policies and strategies etc.
- Government: The legislation; laws, rules, controls, policies, framework,international laws etc.
- Economy: The rate of growth, sectoral factors, the trends and many other things.
- Technology: The research, methods, machines, equipment etc.
- Media: The independence of media, the public opinion, the information mode etc.Handling Broad Environment
MONITORING:
- must be closely monitored and scanned to adjust our marketing decisions.
- An immediate response to change must be ensure to take corrective measures or to avail of the opportunity
FLEXIBILITY:
- Marketing decisions must have inherent flexibility to alter/change with broad environment.
- Change has to be managed and implemented.
- Organization must have flexibility to alter its actions keeping in view the changes that have occurred in broad environment.
INFORMATION AND RESEARCH:
- Close and systematic mechanism must be developed for access to information and research.
- Changes either take place and broadcast, such as legal system etc. but certain changes are anticipated.
- Trends must be watched and mechanism is built to have information well in advance.
ADOPTION:
- Adoption of marketing decisions must be fully and carefully monitored.
- Whatever we change and alter must be done after taking into account the environment. But once a change is made, it must be fully adopted and working conditions adjusted to get maximum benefits etc.
‘Marketing-Environment Fit’ (MEF)
There is nothing much we can do about the broad environment, we can however take Marketing Decisions to fit to the environment and alter and change.It is like adjusting the course according to the readings on radar and in-time marketing decision leads to
1. Reducing losses or erosion of business or profit
2. Availing opportunity arising out of it.
‘An early bird catches moth’ dictum explains it all.
MARKETING DECISIONS
We will discuss marketing decisions in mainly four categories
• Product
• Price
• Place (distribution)
• Promotion
The Marketing Mix
- These four P’s are the parameters that the marketing manager can control,
- subject to the internal and external constraints of the marketing environment.
- The goal is to make decisions that center the four P’s on the customers in the target market in order to create perceived value and generate a positive response.
Product Decisions
The term “product” refers to tangible, physical products as well as services. Here are some examples of the product decisions to be made:
- Brand name
- Functionality
- Styling
- Quality
- Safety
- Packaging
- Repairs and Support
- Warranty
- Accessories and services
Price Decisions
Some examples of pricing decisions to be made include:
- Pricing strategy (skim, penetration, etc.)
- Suggested retail price
- Volume discounts and wholesale pricing
- Cash and early payment discounts
- Seasonal pricing
- Bundling
- Price flexibility
- Price discrimination
Distribution (Place) Decisions
Distribution is about getting the products to the customer. Some examples of distribution decisions include:
- Distribution channels
- Market coverage (inclusive, selective, or exclusive distribution)
- Specific channel members
- Inventory management
- Warehousing
- Distribution centers
- Order processing
- Transportation
- Reverse logistics
Promotion Decisions
promotion represents the various aspects of marketing communication, that is, the communication of information about the product with the goal of generating a positive customer response. Marketing communication decisions include:
- Promotional strategy (push, pull, etc.)
- Advertising
- Personal selling & sales force
- Sales promotions
- Public relations & publicity
- Marketing communications budget
Limitations of Marketing Mix Framework
- It was useful in the early days of the marketing concept when physical products represented a larger portion of the economy.
- Today, with marketing more integrated into organizations and with a wider variety of products and markets, some authors have attempted to extend its usefulness by proposing a fifth P, such as packaging, people, process, etc.
- Today however, the marketing mix most commonly remains based on the 4 P’s.
- Marketing starts with the product since it is what an organization has to offer its target market. As we’ve stressed many times in this tutorial, organizations attempt to provide solutions to a target market’s problems. These solutions include tangible or intangible (or both) product offerings marketed by an organization.
- Distribution decisions are relevant for nearly all types of products. While it is easy to see how distribution decisions impact physical goods, such as laundry detergent or truck parts, distribution is equally important for digital goods (e.g., television programming, downloadable music) and services (e.g., income tax services).
- In fact, while the Internet is playing a major role in changing product distribution and is perceived to offer more opportunities for reaching customers, online marketers still face the same distribution issues and obstacles as those faced by offline marketers.
