What is Sponsorship? Sponsorship is a business relationship between a provider of funds, resources, or services and an individual, event, or organization which offers in return some rights and associations that may be used for commercial advantage. Understanding Corporate Sponsorship Sponsorship allows a business to demonstrate its affiliation to the individual, event, or organization that … Read more
Functions of Public Relations Public relations accomplishes many objectives: Facilitates Company’s Overall Operations Public relations fosters prestige and reputation which can help companies to sell products, attract and keep good employees, and promote favorable community and government relations. Aids Promotion Public relations can help in promotion of products. Awareness and interest in products and companies can … Read more
Definition of Advertising Objectives All advertisements should increase sales. Some may induce purchase action immediately (direct action advertising), while some may stimulate demand for a later period (indirect action advertising). The objective of advertising should be to make the consumer buy the company’s brand every time he faces a need for the product. Thus, every … Read more
Marketing Objectives Marketing objectives should be set in terms of which products to sell in which markets. Strategic objectives for each product need to be agreed. This begins the process of planning at the product level. There are four alternatives: Build, Hold, Harvest and Divest. For new products, the strategic objectives will be to build … Read more
Creating a Differential Advantage Although skills and resources are the sources of competitive advantage, they are translated into a differential advantage only when the customer perceives that the firm is providing value above that of competition. The creation of differential advantage, then, comes with the marrying of skills and resources with key attributes (choice criteria) … Read more
Competitive Behavior In many markets, competition is the driving force of change. Without competition, companies satisfice. They provide satisfactory levels of service but fail to excel. Where there is a conflict between improving customer satisfaction and costs, the latter often takes priority since companies feel that such cost cuts do not affect customer services, and … Read more
Designing the Sales Force Two critical decisions determine the design of sales force: sales force size and sales force organization. Sales Force Size Sales force size is decided by workload approach. Workload approach is based on calculation of total annual calls required per year divided by the average calls per year that can be expected … Read more
Phases of Selling Process There are different phases of selling process. A salesperson must know some of the personal selling strategies to make a sale. Moving step by step from preparation to presentation can help a salesperson to close a sale early and quickly. Preparation Preparation enhances confidence and performance when the salesperson comes face … Read more
Personal Selling Strategies Personal selling strategies should be derived from the marketing strategy and should be consistent with other elements of the marketing mix. The following variables should be considered while formulating a sales strategy. Below are few Personal Selling Strategies 1. Call Rates If the intensity of competitive rivalry is high in the … Read more
Criteria for Successful Positioning Following are the characteristics that are used to determine the criteria for successful positioning. Clarity The positioning idea must be clear in terms of both target market and differential advantage. The target market should be clearly demarcated and identifiable in terms of demographic or geographic parameters, or a combination of both. … Read more
Positioning, Differentiation and Marketing Mix A company’s offer has to be distinct from those of its competitors and should fulfill the requirements of the customers of its target markets. A company’s positioning is the result of whatever the company does. Marketing mix is the most tangible and the most flexible tool to create the desired … Read more
Different Sales Forecasting Techniques/Approaches The approaches to forecasting include the causal and non-causal approaches. In the causal approach, the business has no control over the causal variables in society. These variables include gross national product, population, and general economic conditions. However, a business does exercise some control over its prices, advertising, production lines, and the … Read more
Elements of Positioning Positioning is the perception or the image that customers have of the company and its products. A company has to select the target market in which it will offer its products. It will have to determine the differential value that it will provide to customers to make the product attractive to them, … Read more
Product Mix Modifications A company’s product mix is never static. Customer’s preferences change, new customer segments emerge, and company’s competencies and priorities change. All these changes warrant a change in a company’s product mix. Product Mix Expansion Product mix expansion is achieved by increasing the depth within a particular product line i.e. new brands or … Read more
Price Wars A company can fight a price war without eroding its brand equity and profits. Besides retaliatory price cutting, there are other ways of reacting to price cuts initiated by a competitor. Of all the variables of a company’s marketing strategy, it takes the least time for executives to make changes in their pricing … Read more
