MGT602 Technical Article Theme 11

Author: Sara Hussain, Lecturer Business Administration, Virtual University of Pakistan

Technical Articles Theme 11

Title: The marketing and legal aspects for an entrepreneurial venture

Videos: 125-145

Topics Covered

125. The marketing aspects for entrepreneurial venture
126. Relationship marketing
127. Buzz marketing
128. Guerrilla marketing
129. Choosing the right segment and target market
130. Choosing the right customer to serve : Identify the needs and wants of your customers
131. How to conduct a market research? Turning data into knowledge
132. Design your market offering(s)
133. Product Design and quality
134. Product or service specifications
135. Explicit and implicit promises (interview)
136. Packaging and labelling
137. Where to sell and what? The Display matters
138. Smart choice for selling product/services and The virtual markets

Q139. What is price?

140. Pricing strategies (new product pricing )
141. Price Adjustment strategies
142. Price Change and Price war
143. What is Advertising Mix? And Integrated marketing communication strategies
144. Brand : Business identity
145. Interview: Brand building and selling tactics : Issues and challenges

The Marketing and Legal Aspects of an Entrepreneurial Venture

Now we will be discussing marketing and different aspects of marketing. First we will start with the definition of marketing given by Philip Kotler. According to Kotler and Armstrong, Marketing is “the process by which companies create value for customers and build strong customer relationships in order to capture value from customers in return”. This definition has some components that are process, value for customer, customer relationship, goodwill and profit. Moving on we will be talking about need. We have earlier talked about NABC (Need approach benefit and competition). Whenever you discuss or talk about a business idea, the first thing that is considered with the business idea is the need. So, need is identified at the first place whenever you are designing any product or service. So what is need?

Need, Want, and Demand

Need is a state of felt deprivation. (Kotler and Armstrong) Anything that you feel is lacking in you is called need. Let’s see when this need is converted into want. According to Philip Kotler and Armstrong, want is “The form human needs take as they are shaped by culture and individual personality”. Your need becomes you want based on the culture, weather and belief system of the area you are living in. This want finally takes the shape of demand. What is demand? Demand is “Human wants that are backed by buying power”. (Kotler and Armstrong)

Market offerings

How this need, want or demand is fulfilled? It is fulfilled through market offering. For fulfilling need, want and demand of customers, businesses make market offerings. Kotler and Armstrong define Market offerings as “some combination of products, services, information, or experiences offered to a market to satisfy a need or want”. In marketing, you would have heard about 4 P’s or 7 P’s. This is an important and main framework of marketing which explains which aspect to keep in mind during the marketing process. What are 4 P’s of Marketing?

 Product: what are the design, quality and attribute of the product?

 Price: what will be the price of the product?

 Place: what will be your market place?

 Promotion: how will you inform your customer about your product service or experience?

In case you are offering a service, there mostly 7 P’s of service marketing are considered. Along with the 4 Ps three more Ps are added making it product, price, place, promotion, process, people and physical evidence. Now coming towards market, it says that Market is “the set of all actual and potential buyers of a product or service” (Kotler and Armstrong).

Markets and Marketing Strategies

There can be many types of markets like business markets, customer markets and online markets. Business markets: when selling to the business Customer markets: when selling to customer Online markets: when selling through digital media and not through physical markets

Marketing Strategy will be briefly discussed here and detail will be given in later modules. While designing a marketing strategy, following steps are involved.

1. Identify the customer need
2. Choose your value proposition
3. Design a consistent brand and message
4. Select your target audience
5. Select the marketing/social channel for your startup
6. Build your referral network
7. Assemble smart marketing team
8. Become your product’s loyal user
9. Be vigilant to customer’s feedback
10. Relationship marketing

Coming to the next topic, we will be discussing customer relationship management. You will have to develop a relationship between your customer and your business.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

“The overall process of building and maintaining profitable customer relationships by delivering superior customer value and satisfaction” (Kotler and Armstrong) The building blocks of CRM include deliver customer value and delight your customer. Customer value is very important. While purchasing a product, whatever benefit or value I attach to your product, I will be comparing it to alternate products by the competitors. If the value or promise you are offering is better as compared to the competitors, then I will be buying your product.