Marketing Funda’s

for
Marketing Interviews
 The 6 marketing strategy steps
1. Consumer analysis
2. Market analysis
3. Review of competition and self
4. Review of distribution channels
5. Development of marketing mix
6. Evaluation of economics

Remember – Revision of strategy required till

consistent fit is achieved in all areas.
 1. Consumer analysis
 Who needs us and why?
 Who buys product? Who uses product?
 Planned or impulse buy?
 What is the buying process?
 Think in terms of – What makes a person aware of needs, where does he find information,
what influences his decision, what criterion does he look at before he purchases, what is his
post purchase behaviour
 Is product a high or low involvement product
 High involvement if high price or high psychological reward
 Do I intend to segment market? Why? How?
 Segmentation useful to find large enough customer base to assure profitability (size, growth
potential, profitability)
 Helps in developing marketing programs
 Helps in finding out population whose needs we can satisfy through our capabilities
 Segmentation usually on basis of geography, demography, psychographic tendencies and
behavioural aspects
 Ex – segmentation for coffee drinkers could be - 25 to 54 year olds, college educated,
professionals, childless house hold, incomes greater than Rs 10 Lakhs.
 2. Market analysis
 What is the relevant market
 Make it specific. For example - not just people who
wear jeans but teenage girls who would buy
expensive jeans.
 Where is the product on the product life cycle
and therefore how should the marketing strategy
be altered
 Introduction(what is it?), growth (where can I get it?),
maturity (why this one?), decline (how much?)
 What are the key competitive factors within the
industry?
 Quality, price, advertising, R&D, service?
 3. Analysis of competition and self
 What are our core competencies?
 What do we do better than the others?
 Ex distribution, new product development, ads, etc
 What do we do worse?
 Where are we?
 Market share and market size
 Financial position
 Historic performance and reputation
 Where are our products on the perceptual maps
compared to others.
 Is there an empty space on the perceptual map
where we can introduce a new product?
 4. Review of distribution channels
 How can my product reach the consumer?
 Wholesalers, distributors, sales
representatives, sales forces, retailers,
innovative methods (ex if you sell this product
to five friends you get it for free)
 How much do the players in each
distribution channel profit?
 Who holds the bargaining power in each
distribution channel available?
 5. Marketing mix
 Product
 How does my product fit with my other products?
 How will I differentiate my product?
 Think positioning statement – what is customer need, how do I satisfy it better than competition
 Differentiation (use perceptual maps for positioning statement), cost leadership, focus
 How does the product life cycle affect my plans?
 Promotion
 Think about where product is in life cycle (what is it? or why this one? Etc)
 Think about consumer behaviour process (trying to elicit awareness about product’s benefits
or trying to differentiate from alternatives?)
 Push or pull?
 Types
 Advertising – Richness, reach and frequency important. Break advertising into the Message and the
medium. Different mediums have different advantages and disadvantages (ex Newspapers vs TV).
Need to use complementary mediums. Messages should always be complementary and consistent as
part of an integrated marketing strategy
 Personal selling – when direct contact with customer is required
 Sales promotions – coupons and refunds to encourage loyalty, samples to encourage trials,
contests, dealer and sales employee incentives, trade shows, in store demonstrations, etc
 PR – usually cheaper and more credible but harder to control
 Direct selling – junk mails, catalogs, etc
 5. Marketing mix (con’td)
 Price
 Cost plus – not advisable nowadays
 Perceived value to customer – far better
 Skimming – initial high price before competitors enter
 Penetration – initial low price to get large market share
 Competition – match competition in undifferentiated competitive
market
 Consider elasticity of demand, profit requirements of company,
price/quality relationship as well
 Distribution
 Exclusive, selective or mass distribution?
 Review slide ‘4 – Review distribution channels’
 6. Economics of strategy
 What are the costs? Fixed or variable?
 What is my break even and is it reasonable?
 What is the payback period on my investment?
 Obviously the most theoretically accurate
analysis is NPV that takes into account cost of
capital, time value of money, opportunity costs,
etc
 Always mention sensitivity analysis