Marketing Principles

Publicity – Meaning, Areas and Vehicles

Public relations are often confused with publicity, which in simple terms mean making things public or bringing things to the public notice. Many tools including word of mouth to the mass media to advertising to the Internet are used for publicizing information. However, publicity is only one part of public relations.

Many marketing experts put public relations under publicity. Thus, publicity is an important part of public relation. Many tools are used for publicizing information and facts. The major and most effective ones are the mass media. Publicity coverage could be in the form of news stories, news analyses, interviews, features, articles, and editorials in printed media and in news bulletins, interviews, discussions or special programmes on radio and television.… Read the rest

Abey Francis

The macroeconomic environment in marketing

An analysis of many companies’ financial results will often indicate that business people attribute their current financial success or failure to the state of the economy. For example, in 2002 the house builder Taylor Woodrow reported increased profits, which it attributed to a buoyant housing market, based on a high level of consumer confidence within the economy. Ten years earlier, a weak economy and falling house prices had led to big losses for many house builders, and some went out of business.

Economic growth and the distribution of income

Few business people can afford to ignore the state of the economy, because it affects the willingness and ability of customers to buy their products.… Read the rest

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The demographic and technological environment in marketing

The demographic environment in marketing

Demography is the study of populations in terms of their size and characteristics. Among the topics of interest to demographers are the age structure of a country, the geographic distribution of its population, the balance between males and females, and the likely future size of the population and its characteristics. Changes in the size and age structure of the population are critical to many firms’ marketing. Although the total population of most western countries is stable, their composition is changing. Most countries are experiencing an increase in the proportion of elderly people, and companies who have monitored this trend have responded with the development of residential homes, cruise holidays, and financial portfolio management services aimed at meeting this group’s needs.… Read the rest

Abey Francis

The Social and Cultural Environment in Marketing

The socio-cultural environment is made up of institutions and other forces that affect a society’s basic values, perceptions, preferences, and behaviors. Socio-cultural forces usually influence the welfare of a business firm in the long-run. With ever changing society the New demands are created and old ones are lost in due course. Thus necessary adjustments are to made in the marketing plan to meet the need need/wants of the target market. The socio-cultural factors that contribute to a change are;

  • Demographics
  • Cultural Influences
  • Environmental issues
  • Animal Welfare
  • Social influences

Social and cultural factors influence all aspects of consumer and buyer behavior. The difference between these factors in different parts of the world can be a central consideration in developing and implanting international marketing strategies.… Read the rest

Abey Francis

The Political Environment Concept in Marketing

The political environment can be one of the less predictable elements in an organization’s marketing environment. Marketers need to monitor the changing political environment because political change can profoundly affect a firm’s marketing. Consider the following effects of politicians on marketing.

  • At the most general level, the stability of the political system affects the attractiveness of a particular national market. While western Europe is generally politically stable, the instability of many governments in less developed countries has led a number of companies to question the wisdom of marketing in those countries.
  • Governments pass legislation that directly and indirectly affects firms’ marketing opportunities.
… Read the rest
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Firm That is Stuck in the Middle

The three Porters generic competitive strategies are alternative, viable approaches to dealing with the competitive forces. The converse of the previous discussion is that the firm failing to develop its strategy in at least one of the three directions – a firm that is stuck in the middle – is in an extremely poor strategic situation.

According to Porter, a company’s failure to make a choice between cost leadership and differentiation essentially implies that the company is stuck in the middle.

Porter argued that cost leadership and differentiation are such fundamentally contradictory strategies, requiring such different sets of resources, that any firm attempting to combine them would wind up “stuck in the middle” and fail to enjoy superior performance,  Cost leadership requires standardized products with few unique or distinctive features or services so that costs are kept to a minimum.… Read the rest

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