MARKETS

DEFINE MARKET

Any situation where buyers and sellers come into contact.

EXAMPLES OF MARKETS:

• Street markets

• Supermarkets

• Fish markets

• Bus travel market

• Online electronic marketplaces

• Market for tourists and tourist vendors

• Finance markets

TYPES OF MARKET

• Niche Market – Target specific groups in the whole market. This means it caters to a very specific segment of the whole market.

  • Examples: Vegan & Plant Based Foods, Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Products

• Mass Market – This ignores segmentation and covers the whole market. This market will aim to cater to all individuals

  • Example: providing a single type of tea, which is of interest to all tea drinkers.

SEGMENTS IN A MARKET

Markets are divided into segments. Segments are the criteria used to divide the market based on the target audience. Eg: Age of target

TRENDS IN MARKETS

• Data mining: refers to finding patterns in large sets of data, such as purchases of customers

• Integrated Marketing: refers to the unified experience of customers when they interact with the company through a range of communication channels

  • Examples: Advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing

• Social media: Internet-based communication instruments that enable people to interact with each other by sharing information 

E-TAILER

A business that uses the Internet to communicate and sell goods to shoppers. Enables communication with a larger audience.

MARKETING

DEFINE MARKETING

Identifying, anticipating, and meeting customer needs to ensure profitability.

Involves the following aspects:

• Identifying: finding out what customers want and their preferences

• Anticipating: predicting future customer requirements.

• Discovering customer requirements: finding out what specific products customers are looking for and the features involved

• Meeting these requirements: responding to customer requirements by giving customers what they want.

• Making a profit: marketing activity will enable a business to predict whether it will make a profit and profit size

TYPES OF MARKETING ACTIVITIES:

• finding out about buyers and their buying behaviour

• advertising goods and services in an appealing and accessible way

• distributing a product

• selling (the act of persuading someone to buy).

MARKET RESEARCH

Market research means carefully gathering and analyzing data about a market for particular goods or services

QUANTITATIVE VS QUALITATIVE MARKET RESEARCH

QUANTITATIVE research is research that can be measured in numbers, gathering data from large samples of people, while QUALITATIVE research seeks to expose customers’ views and opinions using open-ended questions, involving a small sample of people

MARKETING VS SELLING

Marketing is concerned with finding out and delivering what the customers want. Selling is persuading customers to buy what you have (your product).

FACTORS AFFECTING MARKETING ACTIVITY:

• Consumer Taste (personal bias) - What consumers are looking for in the products they buy and how their tastes are changing.

• Competition - A company must know competitors' offerings and plans to stay relevant, differentiate itself, and continually provide new & satisfactory products and services

• Consumer behaviour - factors that influence consumers to buy one product over another

PRICING

Involves determining the price level for new and existing products, impacting consumer behavior

Internal factors influencing pricing:

• Production cost

• Determining the optimal price for maximizing sales or profits.

• Deciding if a company wants to convey a specific image through its pricing

External factors influencing pricing:

• Competitor’s price decisions

• State of the economy

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Factors influencing consumer choices between products and how this behaviour might change over time.

PACKAGING

Refers to the materials used to pack and protect goods.

• colours and logos used on the packaging can help to promote the brand’s image.

• Customers look for different forms of packaging for different products. For example, expensive perfume is often packaged in an interesting bottle and an attractive-looking box.

BRAND & BRANDING

A brand is a unique, consistent and well-recognised image for a product or set of products. Branding relates to establishing a distinct brand and enables a firm to establish a position in the market.

BRAND IMAGE

Set of beliefs that consumers hold about a specific brand.

SALES PROMOTION

A tool used for a relatively short time period to build brand awareness and motivate customers to make purchases

Examples:

• Free samples

• Offering an additional quantity

• Offering an additional good with a purchase

• Discounts and price reductions

ADVERTISING

Any form of paid, formal communication about goods or services to communicate with buyers. Through ways like TV, radio, websites, social media, sites, posters, newspapers, and flyers.

FUNCTIONS OF ADVERTISING:

1. Providing information - What it looks like, how much it costs

2. Persuading customers to buy the product – The main aim of advertising is to generate sales by having customers buy products

3. Communicating brand identity – Advertising compliments, companies, who have already built their brand

4. Generating demand - getting the message across that the product will satisfy customer requirements

5. Maintaining customer loyalty

6. Enabling price comparisons

7. Illustrating new trends

DISTRIBUTION

Movement of goods from a source through a distribution channel so that the goods reach consumers. Marketing activity is needed to identify the best methods of this.

CONSUMER PANEL

Group of people selected for marketing purposes to provide advice about products/services

MARKETING MIX

Four key decisions that must be taken in the effective marketing of a product. These are called the four Ps

THE 4 P’S:

• PACKAGING

• PRICE

• PROMOTION

• PLACE

PRODUCT

The most important part of the marketing mix, and must meet an identified consumer need. Products have several features:

• Shape

• Design

• Colour

• Size

• Packaging

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

The life of a product is the period over which a product appeals to customers

• Introduction stage: sales growth is slow as only a small amount of people understand its benefits.

• Growth phase: profit begins to increase as more people are exposed to the product and want it.

• Maternity phase: The product is at the maximum purchase stage and may be repeatedly purchased.

• Declining stage: The product is seen as old and sales start to fall

GIVING NEW LIFE

• Modify the Product

• Alter Distribution Patterns

• Change Prices

• Promotional Campaigns

PRICE

How much an item/service costs. Depends on the percentage of the market it is trying to attract.

• A lower price can attract sales by undercutting the competition. Large quantities, low costs

• An average price requires a company to compete with rivals using other means

• A higher price can make a company appear better than its rivals in meeting customer needs

PLACE

Place decisions concern deciding how much products should pass from the manufacturer to the final customer.

CHANNELS OF DISTRIBUTION

Bringing together an organization and customers to buy and sell goods at a specific place and time.

Organisations involved in the distribution chain:

• Manufacturers

• Wholesalers

• Retailers

PROMOTION

Refers to ways of spreading info about a product, brand or company.

The four main types of promotion are: advertising, public relations, personal selling, sales promotion

PERSONAL SELLING

When members of a sales force are directed to interact with customers to explain a product and how it works, to hopefully make sales

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Includes managing information from an organization to its “public” to build the reputation of a company and its brands

WAYS OF PROMOTION

• Coupons

• Loyalty points

• Rebate

• Bundling

• Loss Leader

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

A form of internet marketing that uses social media sites such as Facebook and YouTube to generate social media activity

FACTORS INFLUENCING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

• Price

• Price of substitutes

• Quality

• Taste

• Tradition

• Income

• Spending patterns

• Brand loyalty

PURPOSES OF PACKAGING:

• To enable branding of the product

• To provide details of the product

• To protect the product from contamination

• To keep the product fresh

• To make the product more attractive