Q.

1 A brand is a composite set of beliefs and associations in the mind of

consumers. In brand development, as a part of branding strategy decision,
the brand manager can decide to create new brand elements for the new
products, apply some of the existing brand elements to the new product, or
use a combination of existing and new brand elements to the existing and
new products. Explain the different branding strategies used by the
companies for their range of products.
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol, any other feature that identifies a sellers
good or service as distinct from those of other sellers. There are three aspects of
this definition. Firstly, it focuses on What, of the brand. Secondly, it emphasizes on
what the brand does. A brand can be a combination of name, symbol, logo or trade
mark. Brands do not have fixed lifetimes.
Advantages of Brand:
a) A brand promises and delivers a high level of assurance to consumers.
b) A brand serves as an assurance to customer about the product performance.
A brand helps customers to identify the product on the shelf and helps in
making an informed choice.
c) A brand as a symbol of status and social significance gives you psychological
satisfaction.
d) The brand speaks about the products attributes and how they perform,
about the brand name and what it stands for and about the company
associated with a brand. Hence, for consumer, the brand aids decision
making by building trust, familiarity, and assurance of a certain standard.
The brand also provides benefits to the company. It develops a loyal customer
base e.g., brands like Starbucks coffee, Harley, Lux, Kelloggs, and Horlicks have
a strong loyal consumer base.
Different branding strategies adopted by companies: a) Company Name: In this case a strong brand name (or company name) is
made the vehicle for a range of products (for example, Mercedes Benz or Black
& Decker) or a range of subsidiary brands (such as Cadbury Dairy Milk or
Cadbury Fingers in the United States).
b) Individual Branding: Each brand has a separate name, putting it into a de
facto competition against other brands from the same company (for example,
Kool-Aid and Tang are both owned by Kraft Foods). Individual brand names
naturally allow greater flexibility by permitting a variety of different products, of
differing quality, to be sold without confusing the consumer's perception of what
business the company is in or diluting higher quality products.
c) Attitude Branding and Iconic Brands: This is the choice to represent a larger
feeling, which is not necessarily connected with the product or consumption of
the product at all. Companies that use attitude branding include: Nike,
Starbucks, The Body Shop, and Apple, Inc. Iconic brands are defined as having
aspects that contribute to the consumer's self-expression and personal identity.

Brands whose value to consumers comes primarily from having identity value
are said to be "identity brands Some brands have such a strong identity that
they become "iconic brands" such as Apple, Nike, and Harley Davidson.
d) "No-brand" Branding: Recently a number of companies have successfully
pursued "no-brand" strategies by creating packaging that imitates generic
brand simplicity. "No brand" branding may be construed as a type of branding
as the product is made conspicuous through the absence of a brand name.
"Tapa Amarilla" or "Yellow Cap" in Venezuela during the 1980s is a prime
example of no-brand strategy. It was simply recognized by the color of the cap
of this cleaning products company.
e) Derived Brands: Some suppliers of key components may wish to guarantee its
own position by promoting that component as a brand in its own right. For
example, Intel, positions itself in the PC market with the slogan (and sticker)
"Intel Inside".
f) Brand Extension and Brand Dilution: The existing strong brand name can be
used as a vehicle for new or modified products. For example, many fashion
and designer companies extended brands into fragrances, shoes and
accessories, furniture, and hotels. Frequently, the product is no different than
what is already on the market, except it has a brand name marking. The risk
of over-extension is brand dilution, which is when the brand loses its brand
associations with a market segment, product area, or quality, price, or cachet.
g) Multi-brands Strategy: Alternatively, in a very saturated market, a supplier
can deliberately launch totally new brands in apparent competition with its own
existing strong brand (and often with identical product characteristics) to soak
up some of the share of the market. The rationale is that having 3 out of 12
brands in such a market will give a greater overall share than having 1 out of
10. Procter & Gamble is a leading exponent of this philosophy, running as
many as ten detergent brands in the US market. In the hotel business,
Marriott uses the name Fairfield Inns for its budget chain. Cannibalization is a
particular problem of a multi-brands strategy approach, in which the new
brand takes business away from an established one which the organization
also owns. This may be acceptable (indeed to be expected) if there is a net
gain overall.
h) Private Labels: Also called own brands, or store brands, these have become
increasingly popular. Where the retailer has a particularly strong identity this
"own brand" may be able to compete against even the strongest brand
leaders, and may outperform those products that are not otherwise strongly
branded.
i) Individual and Organizational Brands: These are types of branding that
treat individuals and organizations as the products to be branded. Personal

branding treats persons and their careers as brands. Faith branding treats
religious figures and organizations as brands.
j) Crowdsourcing Branding: These are brands that are created by the people
for the business, which is opposite to the traditional method where the
business creates a brand. This type of method minimizes the risk of brand
failure, since the people that might reject the brand in the traditional method
are the ones who are participating in the branding process.
k) Nation branding: This is a field of theory and practice which aims to
measure, build, and manage the reputation of countries (closely related to
place branding).
Q.2 Describe the international market entry strategies in brief.
The following are the international market entry strategies: a) Joint Ventures: A joint venture is a strategic alliance where two or more
parties, usually businesses, form a partnership to share markets, intellectual
property, assets, knowledge, and profits. A joint venture differs from a
merger, in the sense that there is no transfer of ownership in the deal.
For example, Best Price Modern Wholesale is a joint venture between WalMart and Bharti Enterprises. American retail giant Wal-Mart chose this route
to enter the Indian market.
Establishing a joint venture with a foreign firm has long been a popular mode
for entering a new market. The most typical joint venture is a 50/50 venture,
in which there are two parties, who hold a 50% ownership stake and
contribute a team of managers to share operating control.
b) Strategic alliance: A strategic alliance is formed when two or more
businesses join together for a set period of time. The companies, generally,
are not in direct competition, but have similar products or services that are
direct towards the same target group. For example, Tata Motors and Fiat
entered into a strategic alliance to cooperate in areas like research and
development, and marketing.
In the new economy, strategic alliances enable business to gain competitive
advantage through access to a partners resources, including markets,
technologies, capital, and people. Choosing a strategic alliance as the entry
mode will overcome some of those problems like established competition,
hostile government regulations, and operating complexity. In the process, it
will help reduce the entry cost.

c) Direct Investment: -Through Foreign Direct Investment a firm invests

directly in facilities to produce and/or market a product in foreign country.
For example, in the early 1980s, Honda, a Japanese automobile company,
built an assembly plant in Ohio and began to produce cars for the North
America market. These cars were substitutes for imports from Japan. Once a
firm undertakes FDI, it becomes a Multinational Enterprise.

d) Contract Manufacturing: Contract manufacturing is a process that

establishes a working agreement between two companies. As part of the
agreement, one company will custom produce parts or other materials on
behalf of their client. In most cases, the manufacturer will also handle the
ordering and shipment processes for the client. As result, the client does not
have to maintain manufacturing facilities, purchase raw materials, or hire
labour in order to produce the finished goods.
Companies like D-Link, TVS Electronics, and WeP Peripherals offer contract
manufacturing services.
e) Franchising: Franchising is basically a specialized form of licensing in which
the franchiser not only sells intangible property (normally a trademark) to
the franchisee, but also insists the franchisee to abide by strict rules with
respect to how business is done. The franchiser will also often assist the
franchisee to run the business on an ongoing basis.
While licensing works well for manufacturers, franchising is often suited to
the global expansion efforts of service and retailing. McDonalds, Tricon
Global Restaurants, and Hilton Hotels have all used franchising to build a
presence in foreign markets.
Q. 3 Explain the classification of market based on nature of Competition
and area.
Market can be defined as a set of consumers, potential consumers, past consumers,
sellers, resellers, and intermediaries who are involved in either the process of
exchange or the process of getting involved in an exchange process. Hence,
marketplace is a physical place where buyers and sellers meet for an exchange,
whereas market space is the virtual world where buyers and sellers meet through
the internet.
Classification of market based on nature of Competition: a) Perfect Competition: This is a kind of market structure which reflects a
perfect degree of competition and where a single price prevails. The concept

of perfect competition was propounded by Dr. Alfred Marshall. It is a freemarket situation in which the following conditions are fulfilled: i)

Buyers and sellers are numerous but a few have a degree of individual
control over the prices.

ii)

Buyers and sellers attempt to maximize their profit (income).

iii)

Buyers and sellers are free to get in or leave the market.

iv)

Buyers and sellers are endowed with the information regarding

availability, price, and quality of goods being traded; and

v)

Goods of a specific category are homogeneous, hence they are

interchangeable for one another. This market structure is also called
perfect market or pure competition.

b) Imperfect Competition: In market category where individual firms

exercise control over the price, there are fewer buyers and sellers, and the
firms do not sell identical products. These markets are further divided into
three parts as follows: i)

Monopoly: A kind of market structure where there is a single seller

and there is no close substitute for the product that is offered by the
seller. The price of the product is set by the single seller. There are
four key features of monopoly: (a) there is single firm that sells all the
output in a market, (b) the firm or the seller offers a unique product,
(c) there are restrictions to enter and exit the industry, and (d) other
potential producers do not have access to the specialized information
about the production techniques. A few examples of monopoly are
local water utility, local electricity utility, railways, etc.

ii)

Oligopoly: A kind of market structure where there are a few sellers in

the market and they control the supply of a product in the market.
Each seller has some degree of control over the price. There are three
key features of oligopoly: (a) the industry is controlled by a small
number of large firms, (b) the firms sell either homogeneous or
differentiated products, and (c) there are significant barriers enter the
industry. A few examples of oligopoly are the petroleum, steel, and
aluminium industry.

iii)

Monopolistic Competition: A kind of market structure where there

are many sellers (but not as many as in a perfect market) and they
produce somewhat different products that are close substitutes of each
other. There are four key features of monopolistic competition: (a)

there are large numbers of small firms, (b) they sell similar but not
homogeneous products, (c) there is relative freedom of entry and exit,
and (d) the producers have extensive knowledge of technology and
prices.
Classification of market based on nature of Area: a) Local Markets: This market includes the client or customers who purchase
the product in the region or area where it is brought forth. Marketing
managers must know the target customers, their location, and the distance
they are willing to travel to purchase the product. The local market includes
customers located within the region where the products or services are
available. For example, vegetable market, hairdressers, tailors, etc.
b) National Markets: This market encompasses domestic marketplace for
goods and services functioning within the borders and is governed by the
regulations of a particular country. The health of national markets can be a
deciding factor for business success. For example, spice market located in
Kerala, rice market located in Kolkata, etc.
c) International Markets: This market is for products and services that are
bought by consumers residing outside the national boundaries of the country
to which the manufacturing company belongs. For example, for companies
like Tata Motors, Reliance, Wipro, etc., all countries except India constitute
international market.
Q. 4 Personal selling focuses in on personal or one to one selling. It
involves an individual salesman or a sales team establishing and building a
profitable relationship with customers over a period of time through a
series of steps. Explain the steps in the personal selling process which
helps in the successful sales.
Personal selling is an activity which involves a face-to-face interaction with the
customers wherein there is quick response and personal confrontation. This allows
for more specific adjustment of the message. Here, the communication message
can be adjusted as per the customers specific needs or wants. It offers you the
opportunity to develop long-term familiarity and relationship.
The following are the steps involved in the Personal Selling Process: a) Stimulus response selling: In stimulus response selling approach,
salesperson provides the stimulus and expects the response from the buyer.
This process will continue till the purchase decision has been made.
b) Need satisfaction selling: In need satisfaction selling approach, sales
executive identifies the need of the product by the customer and confirms it.

He/She provides the various offerings for the customer to choose and
continues this process till the purchase has been made.
c) Problem solving selling: Problem solving selling approach is used when the
customer faces the purchasing problem. In the approach, sales executive
defines the problem of the customer, generates the alternative solution, and
evaluates them. Then he/she works with the particular solution till the
customer makes a purchase.
Q. 5 List out the various methods of pricing and explain the product mix
pricing strategies in detail with examples.
The following are the various methods of pricing:

Cost Based Pricing

Value Based and Competition Based Pricing

Perceived-value pricing

Competition-based pricing

Sealed-bid pricing

Product Mix Pricing Strategies: The several forms of product mix pricing are as follows: a) Product-line Pricing: -In this method, the prices of different products in a
product line are being set on the basis of cost differences among products,
various features assessment by customers, and competitors prices. The price
steps must consider cost differences among products in the line, various
features assessment by customers, and competitors prices. For example, a
soap manufacturer makes two different types of soaps. The second soap
need more labour cost but less material cost per cake than the first soap.
Also the second soap takes more overhead than the first one. Table Depicts
the specific costs per cake for both the soaps.

Cost Structure
Materials Cost
Labour Cost
Overhead Cost
Full Cost (1+2+3)
Incremental Cost(1+2)
Conversion Cost (2+3)

Soap 1 (in )
2.00
1.00
0.50
3.50
3.00
1.50

Soap 2 (in )
1.00
1.50
1.00
3.50
2.50
2.50

Table depicts the alternative product-line prices.

Table: Alternative Product-line Prices
Mark-up
Full Cost Pricing
10%
Incremental Pricing
20%
Conversion
Cost 90%
Pricing

Soap 1 (in )
3.85
3.60
2.85

Soap 2 (in )
3.85
3.00
4.75

b) Optional features pricing: It focuses on pricing of additional aspects with

the main products, e. g., pricing of air conditioners, personal computers,
automobiles, etc. These supplementary aspects or features a purchaser may
or may not prefer to add to the main product purchased. The main strippeddown product holds a low price, while additional components margin is
higher. E. g., various computer and auto companies keep a lower price for the
basic model while for further parts such as LCD monitor, larger RAM, power
windows, power steering, etc., are charged extra.
c) Captive-product pricing: Products that require the use of ancillary products
are produced by certain companies e. g, razors, inkjet or laser printers.
Various types of razors are manufactured by Gillette and for each type the
company has special blades that fit a particular type of razor. The razor price
is low, however, the margins on blades are high. Manufacturers of inkjet or
laser printer sell printers at low initial price but their ink or toner cartridges
prices are higher for earning higher margins.
d) Two-port pricing: This method is widespread among service providing
companies. For providing basic service, they charge a fixed price and a
variable usage rate. E. g, a monthly fixed price is charged by telephone
service providers and variable per call charges for calls beyond a specific
number.
e) By-product pricing: It is setting a price for by-products for making main
products price more competitive. In this, the producer will seek a market for
the by-products and usually accept any price that is higher than the cost of
storing and delivering them. E. g, processed meat meant for individual
consumption produces by-products, which can be destined for cats or dogs.
The manufacturer of meat may seek market for these by-products and might
accept price for them which covers storage and delivering.
f) Product-bundling pricing: In this pricing, a bundle combining several
products is being offered at reduced price. The theaters and sports teams
where season tickets are sold at less than the cost of single tickets popularly
use this type of pricing.

Q. 6 Do you think the argument of some theorists that the traditional Ps

are not enough for services marketing? Give suitable examples to prove
your point.
Marketing has been considered to be an integral business aspect for long. Service
marketing is the endorsement of economic activities offered by a company to its
consumers, it is considered to be a special sub set of marketing because it focuses
on how rendering of services can affect both the customer attitude and the
marketing strategy. Service marketing includes building public relations, advancing
customer loyalty, developing quality of service, handling relationships and complaint
management.
The following are the 4ps of products marketing plan: a) Product
b) Price
c) Place
d) Promotion
a) Product: In marketing mix, the product or service is the most important
element. Customers acquire products for a singular reason that they are
perceived as the means to satisfy their needs and wants. According to Philip
Kolter, A product is anything that can be offered to a market for attention,
acquisition, use, or consumption that might satisfy a need or want. In effect,
according to this definition, products include physical products, services,
persons, places, organizations, and ideas.
Products have various attributes such as quality, variety, design, brand,
packaging, services, and warranties that can be manipulated depending on
what the target market wants. For example, when consumers wanted a
premium but fuel efficient sedan, Tata Motors launched Tata Indigo Marina,
which was an updated version of Tata Indigo.
b) Price: The second element is the price, which impacts the volume of sales. It
is a value will purchase a specific quantity, weight, or other measure of a
product. For example, you buy a packet of chips which is net 10grams in
weight for 10 denotes the price of the product. Price is the only marketing
mix variable that can be altered quickly. Price directly influences the
development of marketing strategy as it is a major factor that influences the
assessment of value obtained by customers.
c) Place: This is another key marketing mix tool, which encompasses the various
activities the company attempts to make the product available to the target

customers. Place mix deals with the physical distribution of products at the
right time and right place. For example, a customer usually purchases toiletries
from nearby retail stores. So, toiletry marketers must ensure that their
products are available at almost every nook and corner store.
Distribution channels may also be used in marketing strategy to differentiate a
product from its competitors. For example, Amway distributes its products
using direct distribution channel while HUL uses multi-channel distribution
(through retailers, wholesalers, online sources, etc.). A company uses
distribution channels like retailers, wholesalers, merchants, brokers and value
added resellers.
The management also aims to keep the physical distribution costs (inventory,
transportation, and storage) as low as possible.
d) Promotion: This includes the methods to communicate the features and
benefits of the products or services to its target customers. Some common
methods include advertising, sales promotion, direct selling, public relations,
and direct marketing. For example Toyota promotes its brands by advertising,
sales promotions, public relations, sponsorships, etc. Promotion is a key
element of marketing programs that is used to favourably influence target
customers perceptions to facilitate exchange between the marketer and the
customer.
The following are the additional 3ps of products marketing plan: a) People
b) Process
c) Physical evidence
a) People: This is a very important element of the modern marketing mix or
the service mix. An essential ingredient to any service provision is the use of
appropriate staff and people. Recruiting the right staff and training them
appropriately to delivery their services are very essential if the organization
wants to obtain a competitive advantage.
Consumers make judgments and deliver perceptions of the service based on
the behavior and performance of employees they interact with. Therefore,
the service staff should have the appropriate interpersonal skills, aptitude,
and service knowledge to provide the service that the consumers are paying
for.

b) Process: This refers to the way in which a service is delivered to the end
customer. For example, when you go to McDonalds drive-through, you are
first greeted by an attendant who asks you for your order. Then, he/she
notes down your order and informs a crew member about it. By the time you
pay the billed amount, your order arrives. You take your order and leave.
This represents a service delivery process.
Service process can be mechanized as well. For example, movie theatres
have introduced online ticket booking facility and ticket kiosks to offer
convenience to customers and also reduce the human element in the service
delivery process.
c) Physical evidence: Physical evidence is the tangible part of a service.
Service customers experience a greater perceived risk as they cannot rate a
particular service until it is consumed. Therefore, service providers should try
to attach an element of tangibility to their service offering.
Physical evidence can include web pages, pager work, brochures, furnishings,
ambience, signage, brand logos, uniform of employees, business cards, and
the building itself.