ESSENTIAL READINGS-1

MARKETING
DESCRIPTION: An organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating,
and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit
the organization and its stakeholders.
KEY INSIGHTS The definition of marketing has changed over the years. Defined by the Board
of Directors of the American Marketing Association (AMA) in July 2004, the current definition
of marketing reflects the changes in the nature of marketing which have occurred in the last two
decades. Prior to the current definition, marketing was defined by the AMA in 1985 as the
process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas,
goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives. In
1935, the AMA originally defined marketing as the performance of business activities that direct
the flow of goods and services from producers to consumers. Unlike previous definitions, the
current definition reflects a paradigm that accounts for the continuous nature of relationships
among marketing actors.
KEY WORDS: Organizational function, processes, value, customer relationships, stakeholders
IMPLICATIONS: While some marketers may have a different personal definition of marketing,
the current view of marketing emphasizes a need to deliver value to customers and managing
customer relationships, where the ultimate aim of such activity is to benefit the organization and
its many stakeholders. In this regard, marketing can be viewed as having a broad charter within
an organization. As such, regardless of the nature of an organizations marketing function and
offerings, it is imperative that marketers strive to actively manage the organizations many value
delivery processes as well as its ongoing relationships with its customers to ensure maximum
organizational and stakeholder benefits.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Keefe, Lisa M. (2004). What is the Meaning of Marketing? Marketing News, 15, September,
1718.

Page | 1

Course-: MSL-862 (Product Management)

Course Coordinator: Dr. Mahim Sagar

MARKETING MIX (also called the Four Ps or the Seven Ps)

DESCRIPTION The set of controllable marketing elements that marketers are able to blend
either tactically or in support of broader marketing strategies. KEY INSIGHTS The marketing
mix is traditionally known as consisting of the Four Ps (4Ps) of marketingprice, product,
promotion, and place (or distribution)a classification suggested by McCarthy (1960). Yet the
marketing mix may certainly have elements beyond the 4Ps when one considers that the
marketing of an offering may be influenced by other vitally important elements. Some marketers,
therefore, refer to the marketing mix by the Five Ps, where people is added as another key
element. Further extensions of the marketing mix found in the academic literature include a
reference to a sixth Ppoint in time, i.e. the marketing effort must involve the right point in
time (Seiss 2003).
The service marketing mix, also called the extended marketing mix, is traditionally recognized as
comprising the Seven Ps, namely, the Four Ps plus people, process, and physical evidence. The
Ps of marketing have many variations, however. Sets of Ps put forth by marketers include the
9Ps of the consultants marketing mix planning, price, place, packaging, positioning, people,
product, promotion, and professionalism (Greenbaum 1990) and variously suggested new Ps for
e-marketing, including penetration, permission, personalization, and profitability.
Alternatives to the consideration of marketing mix Ps also are raised by various marketers.
Adopting a relationship marketing perspective, Gummesson (1999) advocates the use of 30Rs
instead of the 4Ps. Adopting a customer perspective to the original four Ps of the marketing mix,
four Cs have also been put forthcustomer solution, customer cost, convenience, and
communication, where they are customer equivalents to product, price, place, and promotion,
respectively (Lauterborn 1990).
KEY WORDS Ps, controllable marketing elements
IMPLICATIONS The Four Ps classification of the marketing mix may certainly assist marketers
with the identification and evaluation of combinations of marketing elements in support of a
firms tactical and strategic marketing approaches. At the same time, marketers should not be
constrained by its use, or even led to believe that the focus of a successful marketing effort
resides in the Four Ps alone. Understanding alternative marketing mix classifications to a greater

Page | 2

Course-: MSL-862 (Product Management)

Course Coordinator: Dr. Mahim Sagar

extent can provide the knowledge with additional perspectives that may lead to the development
of marketing plans and strategies of greater effectiveness.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Van Waterschoot, W., and Van Bulte, C. (1992). The 4P Classification of the Marketing Mix
Revisited, Journal of Marketing, 56(4), 8393.
Lauterborn, Robert (1990). New Marketing Litany: 4Ps Pass; C-Words Take Over,
Advertising Age, October, 26.
Gummesson, E. (1999). Total Relationship Marketing. Rethinking Marketing Management:
From 4Ps to 30Rs. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
McCarthy, E. Jerome (1960). Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach. Homewood, Ill.:
Richard D. Irwin.
Greenbaum, Thomas L. (1990). The Consultants Manual: A Complete Guide to Building a
Successful Consulting Practice. New York: Wiley.
Siess, Judith A. (2003). The Visible Librarian: Asserting your Value with Marketing and
Advocacy. Chicago: American Library Association.
Dibb, Sally, Simkin, Lyndon, Pride, William M., and Ferrell, O. C. (2006). Marketing: Concepts
and Strategies, 5th edn. New York: Houghton Mifflin.
Kotler, Philip, and Armstrong, Gary (2004). Principles of Marketing, 10th international edn.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education International.
Kotler, Philip, and Armstrong, Gary (2006). Principles of Marketing, 11th edn. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

MARKETING STRATEGY
DESCRIPTION The set of marketing decisions made by a firm determining its choice of product
markets in which to invest and compete and how the firm decides to compete in terms of its
customer value proposition, assets and competencies, and functional area strategies and
programs.
KEY INSIGHTS
Marketing strategy comprises decisions that have a major impact on an organization over a longterm time horizon. Firms with a strategic marketing focus (see strategic marketing) are
concerned with marketing strategy development and implementation to enable the firm to
Page | 3

Course-: MSL-862 (Product Management)

Course Coordinator: Dr. Mahim Sagar

achieve and sustain a competitive advantage. A comprehensive marketing strategy provides the
basis for sound marketing planning, as opposed to being mere aspirations for a firm. As such,
marketing strategy development necessarily involves external analyses including that for
customers, competitors, markets/submarkets, and the environment as well as analyses of the
internal organization. Outputs of strategic analyses include identification of opportunities,
threats, trends, and strategic uncertainties as well as strategic strengths, weaknesses, problems,
constraints, and uncertainties. In the identification, selection, and implementation of a firms
marketing strategy, the choice of where and how a firm decides to compete includes decisions
about the nature of product-market investment by the firm, its value proposition, its assets,
competencies, and synergies, and its functional area strategies and programs. Examples of
functional area strategies, where a functional area strategy can be viewed as any strategy within
an organization concerned with a particular function or related activity that is part of a process,
are those for individual elements of the firms marketing mix (e.g. product strategy, pricing
strategy, promotion strategy, and distribution strategy) as well as areas often highly influential to
marketing strategy development and implementation such as manufacturing strategy and
information technology strategy.
KEY WORDS Strategy, product markets, value, assets, competencies, functional strategies
IMPLICATIONS Marketing strategy is an area of marketing that receives considerable attention
as a result of its importance in enabling a firm to achieve major long-term objectives. As such,
marketers should strive to understand the different strategic options available to a firm as well as
the processes by which the firms marketing strategy is developed and implemented.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Aaker, David A. (2004). Strategic Market Management, 7th edn. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

STRATEGIC MARKETING
DESCRIPTION: Marketing with an emphasis on achieving important long-term marketing aims
and objectives that further provide a basis for competitive advantage.
KEY INSIGHTS Strategic marketing emphasizes decisions and actions that have a major impact
on an organization over a long-term time horizon. More specifi- cally, it is a marketing approach
that involves setting the strategic direction for the firm with a long-term vision to guide
investments in marketing assets and competencies, which can be leveraged within business
Page | 4

Course-: MSL-862 (Product Management)

Course Coordinator: Dr. Mahim Sagar

processes towards providing sustainable competitive advantages. Actual time horizons associated
with strategic marketing initiatives are broad, however, and might range anywhere from six
months to one year in the future, to three to five years or beyond. Firms engaged in strategic
marketing are concerned with the development and implementation of marketing strategies (see
marketing strategy) that are focused on particular future timeframes having important
competitive advantage implications. Models, frameworks, concepts, and analytical tools used in
strategic marketing help the analysis of marketing decisions from an organizational perspective.
Along with competencies of the firm, strategic marketing deals with long-term assets such as
brand equity and customer equity (Rust et al. 2004), out of which marketing actions are derived.
Firms can make decisions about which strategic marketing orientations to take based on
developing competitive benchmarking and investigating the business environment. An
integrative strategic marketing-planning framework enables the company to formulate effective
marketing policies. For example, such a framework enables the firm to take into account total
quality management issues using feedback from the major forces that impact the company such
as customers, employees, and competitors (Lu et al. 1994).
KEY WORDS Competitive advantage, long-term horizon, planning
IMPLICATIONS While the scope of marketing is sufficiently broad as to encompass day-today
marketing initiatives as well as the very long term, marketers should recognize the importance of
planning and implementing marketing initiatives concerning any timeframe in such a way that
they provide the marketers organization with a possible source of competitive advantage. Such a
focus can assist the marketer with efforts aimed at not only achieving appropriate short-term
objectives (e.g. reducing inventory) but also ensuring such efforts give sufficient consideration to
the evolutionary dynamics of competition and customer wants and needs.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Aaker, David A. (2004). Strategic Market Management, 7th edn. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Rust, R. T., Ambler, T., Carpenter, G. S., Kumar, V., and Srivastava, R. K. (2004). Measuring
Marketing Productivity: Current Knowledge and Future Directions, Journal of Marketing, 68(4),
7689.
Lu, Min Hua, Madu, Christian N., Kuei, Chu-hua, and Winokur, Dena (1994). Integrating QFD,
AHP and Benchmarking in Strategic Marketing, Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing,
9(1), 4150.
Page | 5

Course-: MSL-862 (Product Management)

Course Coordinator: Dr. Mahim Sagar

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE
DESCRIPTION: A state of psychological discomfort where an individual has cognitions which
are inconsistent.
KEY INSIGHTS: Cognitive dissonance is a key concept in Festingers (1957) cognitive
consistency theory and therefore is often examined and considered in the context of cognitive
consistency. Cognitive dissonance is important in that it can ultimately lead to individuals
changing their beliefs rather than behaviors which may have created or contributed to the
inconsistency.
KEY WORDS: Cognitions, inconsistency, consumer behavior
IMPLICATIONS: Marketers often speak of cognitive dissonance as a possible outcome of
purchases that do not meet consumers expectations. In this context, such consumers may decide
not to purchase the same product again; they may convince themselves of the merits of the
purchase by deciding to dismiss the problems or disappointments encountered; or they may add
justifying cognitions (e.g. but the price was right.) In this context, marketers must consider how
their communications and actions can potentially reduce cognitive dissonance occurring after a
consumers product purchase by, for example, providing appropriate messages of reassurance.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Anderson, Rolph E. (1973). Consumer Dissatisfaction: The Effect of Disconfirmed Expectancy
on Perceived Product Performance, Journal of Marketing Research, 10(1), February, 3844.
Festinger, Leon A. (1957). A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford
University Press.
Akerlof, George A., and Dickens, William T. (1982). The Economic Consequences of Cognitive
Dissonance, American Economic Review, 72(3), June, 307319.

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

DESCRIPTION: Emphasis within a firm on developing, enhancing, and maintaining effective
customer relationships.
KEY INSIGHTS: Customer relationship management (CRM) involves an emphasis on multiple,
interdependent processes within the firm which support mutually beneficial relationships
Page | 6

Course-: MSL-862 (Product Management)

Course Coordinator: Dr. Mahim Sagar

between firms and customers. Whether the processes are pre-sales, sales, service, or other
processes directly or indirectly supporting marketing, CRM seeks to deepen and extend customer
relationships with the firm through the development of processes which facilitate customer
satisfaction and loyalty. By integrating customer specific information into many of the firms
marketing processes, as opposed to making fragmented use of such information, the firm may
not only increase its marketing effectiveness and efficiency but also enhance substantially the
customers experience with the firm. When the focus of the firms marketing is based on CRM,
the firms approach to marketing may be referred to as customer relationship marketing or
simply relationship marketing.
KEY WORDS: Relationships, customer integration
IMPLICATIONS: A firms relationship with its customers may be short or long or close or
distant. To the extent the firm sees a benefit in strengthening customer relationships by extending
them and making them closer through integrating information on customer needs and wants into
its processes, CRM can increasingly become a strategic focus of the firm. A greater knowledge
of the many multidisciplinary processes supporting CRM can assist marketers in evaluating the
benefits and costs associated with extensive or limited CRM adoption among current and future
customers.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Winer, Russell (2001). A Framework for Customer Relationship Management, California
Management Review, 43, Summer, 89105.

SURPLUS
DESCRIPTION: As per Peter F. Drucker, Surplus is defined asSurplus= Profit+ Goodwill

BRAND EQUITY
DESCRIPTION: The marketing and financial value that is built up and associated with a brand.
KEY INSIGHTS: The concept of brand equity captures the notion that marketing actions can
lead to brands possessing equity in the sense that they become valuable strategic sets of a firm.
Positive brand equity enables the firm to expect future revenues that are higher than that for an
identical non-branded product as a result of the brands positive influence on consumer purchase
Page | 7

Course-: MSL-862 (Product Management)

Course Coordinator: Dr. Mahim Sagar

behavior. For example, a brands association with perceived high quality can lead to trust and
confidence in the firms branded products that can increase product purchase likelihood among
consumers.
KEY WORDS: Brand value
IMPLICATIONS: Marketers should seek to understand and regularly monitor the level and
nature of brand equity for each of their brands to determine and ensure their brands strategic
significance to the firm. The dynamic nature of many markets is such that brand equity will
decline if not actively managed through coordinated marketing actions involving efforts to
maintain or strengthen brand recognition and specific, positive brand associations.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Aaker, David A. (1996). Building Strong Brands. New York: The Free Press.
Other Terms
Other than this we have also discussed the followings

Venture Capitalist driven Model

Traffic Monetization

Concept of Mergers & Acquisition

Brandchannel.com/Inter-brand Brand Equity Ranking

STP MARKETING
DESCRIPTION:A methodical approach in marketing planning whereby a marketer follows a
three-step process involving segmentation, targeting, and positioning.
KEY INSIGHTS: STP marketing adopts the view that segmentation is a key part of the
competitive strategy of many organizations. As such, it can be argued that the tasks of
identifying, characterizing, and targeting appropriate marketing segments form the basis for
much of strategic marketing and an organizations strategic thinking more generally. In the
process of STP marketing, the marketer gives critical consideration to segmentation, which is the
identification of groups of customers that have similarities in characteristics or needs who are
likely to exhibit similar purchase behavior (Smith 1956); targeting, or selecting particular
segments to target; and positioning, which necessarily involves selecting a desirable positioning
strategy (see positioning) and subsequently developing marketing programs that convey the
desired brand position.
Page | 8

Course-: MSL-862 (Product Management)

Course Coordinator: Dr. Mahim Sagar

KEY WORDS: Marketing planning, planning process, segmentation, targeting, positioning

IMPLICATIONS: As part of the overall strategic marketing planning process, a marketer may
conduct an internal analysis of the firm, a competitive analysis, and a market analysis. All such
marketing research efforts may support the firms efforts to engage in STP marketing, where,
after establishing market segments and targeting appropriate segments, positioning plays a
centrally important role after segmenting and targeting the appropriate market segments. As
follow-on to the STP marketing process, marketers must then ensure the development of
effective marketing programs and mixes, implement such efforts, and then ensure their adequate
control.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Weinstein, Art (1997). Strategic Segmentation: A Planning Approach for Marketers, Journal of
Segmentation in Marketing, 1(2), 716.
Smith, Wendell (1956). Product Differentiation and Market Segmentation as Alternative
Marketing Strategies, Journal of Marketing, 21, July, 38.
Kotler, Philip (1999). Kotler on Marketing: How to Create, Win, and Dominate Markets. New
York: Free Press.

Page | 9

Course-: MSL-862 (Product Management)

Course Coordinator: Dr. Mahim Sagar