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    Master of Business Administration-MBA semester 2

    MB0046-Marketing Management

    Assignment set -1

    1 a. Explain the different micro-environmental forces with examples.

    b. Mention the different ad appeals with suitable examples.

    a. Micro Environment Forces:

    The Company :

    A company Safe Express, a leader in the supply chain management solution wants to hold its

    number one

    position in the US $ 90 billion Indian logistics market. The company plans to expand its service

    areas in the coming months. To meet the targets of the marketing plan, other departments of safe

    express also expanding their horizon. The Company is coming out with logistics parks indifferent cities; plans to hold seven million square feet of warehousing capacity in the next three

    years and invest Rs 10 billion in three years to meet those targets.

    The above example shows that the companys marketing plan should be supported by the other

    functional departments also.

    Intermediaries

    Marketing intermediaries: These are firms which distribute and sell the goods of the company to

    the consumer.

    Marketing intermediaries play an important role in the distribution, selling and promoting the

    goods and services. Stocking and delivering, bulk breaking, and selling the goods and services to

    customer are some of the major functions carried out by the middlemen. Retailers, wholesalers,

    agents, brokers, jobbers and carry forward agents are few of the intermediaries. Retailers are

    final link between the company and the customers. Their role in the marketing of product is

    increasing every day.

    Publics These are microenvironment groups, which help a company to generate the financial

    resources, creating the image, examining the companies policy and developing the attitude

    towards the product.

    We can identify six types of publics :1. Financial publics influence the companys ability to obtain funds. For example, Banks,

    investment houses and stockholders are the major financial publics.

    2. Media publics carry news and features about the company e.g. Deccan Herald

    3. Advertisement regulation agencies, telecom regulation agency( TRAI), and insurance

    regulation agency(IRDA) of the government

    4. Citizen action groups: Formed by the consumer or environmental groups. For example, people

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    for ethical treatment of animals (PETA) or Greenpeace.

    5. General publics: a company should be concerned towards general publics attitude towards its

    products and services.

    6. Internal publics: Employees who help in creating proper image for the company through word

    of mouth.

    Competitors.

    A company should monitor its immediate competitors as its sale will be affected by the nature

    and intensity of the competitors. The sale of Coca cola will be affected by Pepsi cola, or

    Britannia cheese by Amul cheese. Michael Porter, the author of Competitive Advantage of

    Nations suggested that, in addition to direct competition, companies should also consider

    competition from substitutes. In addition to existing competitors, the potential competitors

    should also be anticipated. Competition may arise from

    a. Small firms with low overheads producing duplicates.

    b. Firms which diversify into certain products by merely being in the particular industry for e.g.Pepsi entered the snacks sector competing with pure snack producers like Haldiram.

    c. Firms which expand in the same vertical for e.g. Godrej which manufactured office furniture

    and steel cupboards went on to the entire range of home furniture thereby giving competition to

    pure home furniture makers.

    How do companies or enterprises survive and grow under the above circumstances. While we

    shall study this in detail later, a simple step could be that the product should be positioned

    differently and the company should be able to provide better services.

    Suppliers

    There are many kinds of suppliers to an enterprise or an institution. There are typically, rawmaterial suppliers, energy and fuel suppliers, labour suppliers, office item suppliers and so on.

    Suppliers are the first link in the entire supply chain of the company. Hence any problems or cost

    escalation in this stage will have direct effect on the company. Many companies adopted supplier

    relation management system to manage them well. Suppliers are a source of competition to firms

    today. For a large retail store like Reliance Retail or Big Bazaar the suppliers play the most

    significant role in both cost and time. Timely supplies reduce stocking of goods and blocking of

    space, at the same time meet customer requirements.

    In a globalised scenario suppliers are even more important as competition goes up manifold! The

    Tamil Nadu State Electricity Board imports coal from New Zealand despite huge coal reserves in

    India. For Volvo, India is a manufacturing hub.

    Customers

    A company may sell their products directly to the customer or use marketing intermediaries to

    reach them. Direct or indirect marketing depends on what type of markets Company serves.

    Generally we can divide the markets into five different categories.

    They are

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    a. Consumer market.

    b. Business market

    c. Reseller market

    d. Government market and

    e. International market

    The following example illustrates different markets.

    MRF, a tyre company sells its product directly to consumer (in case of urgency, customer

    purchases directly from showroom) i.e. operates in consumer market. It operates in business

    markets by selling tyres to companies like Maruti Udyog limited. MRF also sells TYREs to

    BMTC and KSRTC, transport organizations of Karnataka government. If MRF sells tyres in

    African or American countries then it is operating in the international market. If MRF buys the

    old tyres, retreads it and sells it to the consumer at a profit then company is operating in the

    reseller market

    B. (b) Mention the different ad appeals with suitable examples.

    Advertising intends to promote the sales of a product or service and also to inform themasses about the highlights of the product or the service features. It is an efficient means ofcommunicating to the world, the value of the product or the service. Advertising utilizes differentmedia to reach out to the masses and uses different types of appeals to connect to the customersacross the globe. The various types of advertising appeals harness different means ofhighlighting the features of a product and drawing the attention of the masses towards it. Here isan overview of the different types of advertising appeals.

    Audio-Visual Media Advertising: In this advertising technique, the advertisers use the verypopular audio and visual media to promote a product. It is the most widely used media that caneffectively influence the masses. Television and radio have always been used to achieve a massappeal.

    Corporate Advertising: Corporate advertising is an advertising appeal wherein corporate logosand company message are publicized on a large scale. Hot air balloons are commonly used inadvertising a product. Some companies propose to place their logos on booster rockets and spacestations to achieve a wide publicity of the company.

    Email Advertising: This is a relatively new advertising appeal that makes use of emails to

    advertise products. Advertisements are sent through emails, thus bringing out communicationwith a wide range of audiences.

    Emotional Words: This advertising appeal makes use of positive words to generate positivefeelings in the minds of the people about a certain product. The advertisers often use the wordslike 'luxury', 'comfort' and 'satisfaction' to create positive vibes among the masses to attract themtowards the product being advertised.Internet Advertising: It is a relatively recent form of advertising appeal. Internet has become

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    one of the most influential media of the modern times. Websites attract thousands of userseveryday and expose them to the advertisements on the websites.

    Outdoor Advertising: Outdoor advertising is a popular advertising appeal that uses differenttools to attract the customers outdoors. Billboards, kiosks and tradeshows are some of the

    commonly used means of outdoor advertising. Fairs, exhibitions and billboards that draw in thepassersby are often used in outdoor advertising.

    Relationship Marketing: This form of advertising focuses on the retention of customers andcustomer satisfaction. Advertisers appeal to the target audiences with information that suits theirrequirements and interests.

    Subliminal Advertising: This advertising appeal makes use of subliminal messages, which areintended to be subconsciously perceived. Subliminal signals go undetected by the human eye.However, they are perceived at a subconscious level. Subliminal appeal often makes use ofhidden messages and optical illusions.

    Viral Advertising: It can take the form of word-of-mouth publicity or of Internet advertising.The aim of the advertiser is to market the product on a very large scale. This advertising appealintends to achieve a speedy publicity of a product similar to the spreading of a pathological or acomputer virus

    2 What are the different market entry strategies if a company wants to enter international

    markets?

    International Market Entry Strategies

    Organizations that plan to go for international marketing should know the answers for some

    basic questions like

    a. In how many countries would the company like to operate?

    b. What are the types of countries it plans to enter?

    Thats why companies evaluate each country against the market size, market growth, and cost of

    doing business, competitive advantage and risk level.

    Once the market is found to be attractive, companies should decide how to enter this market.Companies can enter the international market by adopting any one of the following strategies.

    They are

    a. Exporting

    b. Licensing

    c. Contract manufacturing

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    d. Management contract

    e. Joint ownership

    f. Direct investment

    Exporting is the technique of selling the goods produced in the domestic country in a foreign

    country with some modifications. For example, Gokaldas textiles export the cloth to different

    countries from India. Exporting may be indirect or direct. In case of indirect exporting, company

    works with independent international marketing intermediaries. This is cost effective and less

    risky too. Direct exporting is the technique in which organization exports the goods on its own

    by taking all the risks. Maruti Udyog Limited, Indias leading car manufacturer exports its cars

    on its own. Company can also set up overseas branches to sell their products. Adani Exports,

    another leading exporter from India has international office in Singapore.

    Licensing: According to Philip Kotler, licensing is a method of entering a foreign market in

    which the company enters into an agreement with a license in the foreign market, offering the

    right to use a manufacturing process, trademark, patent, or other item of value for a fee orroyalty. For example, Torrent Pharmaceuticals has license to sell the cardiovascular drugs of

    Chinese manufacturer Tasly. Licensing may cause some problems to the parent company.

    Licensee may violate the agreement and can use the technology of the parent company.

    Contract manufacturing: Company enters the international market with a tie up between

    manufacturer to produce the product or the service. For example, Gigabyte Technology has

    contract manufacturing agreement with D- link India to produce and sell their mother boards.

    Another significant manufacturer is TVS Electronics; it produces key boards in its own name as

    well as for other companies too.

    Management Contracting: In this case, a company enters the international market by providingthe know how of the product to the domestic manufacturer. The capital, marketing and other

    activities are carried out by the local manufacturer, hence it is less risky too.

    Joint ownership: A form of joint venture in which an international company invests equally with

    a domestic manufacturer. Therefore it also has equal right in the controlling operations. For

    example, Barbara, a lingerie manufacturer has joint venture with Gokaldas Images in India.

    Direct Investment: In this method of international market entry, Company invests in

    manufacturing or assembling. The company may enjoy the low cost advantages of that country.

    Many manufacturing firms invested directly in the Chinese market to get its low cost advantage.

    Some governments provide incentives and tax benefits to the company which manufactures the

    product in their country. There is government restriction in some countries to opt only for direct

    investment, as it produces the jobs to the local people. This mode also depends on the country

    attractiveness. It may become risky if the market matures or unstable government exists.

    Q.3. a. State the meaning of Product life cycle and explain the different stages involved in

    it. b. Define Customer Relationship Management.

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    Meaning of Product Life Cycle: It means a product has to go through the various stages sinceits inception and till it completely fades out from the market.

    The following graph represents the PLC curve and the 5 stages that it has to undergo.

    The product which is introduced into the market will undergo some modifications over theperiod. Its sales also fluctuate. Therefore a marketer will be interested in finding out how saleschanges over a period and what strategies are best suited at that point. A product life cycle can begraphed by plotting aggregate sales volume for a product category over time. Generally the curveresembles a bell shaped curve. We can obtainstyle, fashion or fad style of product life cycles also.

    Product life cycle (bell shaped curve)

    Five stages of PLC:

    1. Product development stage: In this stage company identifies the viable idea and develops it.Even if sales in this stage are nil it requires huge research and development budget. Thereforecompany incurs losses at this stage. For example, TATA Docomo before entering the cellularservices market had done research and found that calls were charged for minutes rather thanseconds.

    2. Introduction stage: Company introduces the product into the market. As the product is new tothe market, consumer awareness is usually very low. Here company adopts heavy salespromotion and product awareness programs. The cost of product is very high and sales are verylow. At this juncture the company charges high price to the customers. For example, TATADocomo has entered into cellular services initially through the Billboards.

    3. Growth stage: Company gets experience over the period and now tries to get the maximummarket share (takes first mover advantage). Sales will grow rapidly, resulting in lesser cost andbetter profit. Company reduces the price of the product and offers varieties and values in it. Itfocuses on building better distribution network and pushes the product through it. Thereforecompany needs less sales promotion. There will be increase in Competition and the company isforced to keep a tab on its competitors. For example, TATA Docomo has entered into the growthstage by aggressively advertising on Television and other mediums and at the same time givingcompetition to the existing players.

    4. Maturity stage: In this stage, the product has already established itself in the market. These arethe characteristics of this stage

    a. Peak sales.b. Low cost per customer.c. High profits.d. Competition based pricinge. Communicating the product differentiation (or USP) to consumers.

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    f. Improving supply chain efficiency.g. Defend the market shareh. Industry experiences consolidation.

    For example, Airtel in its advertising is clearly stating its subscriber base as 1, 10,000 indicating

    that it has entered into a mature stage.

    5. Decline stage: In this stage, product sales and profit decline. Company should phase out weakitems from their product mix and may even lower the prices of the existing products. Theadvertisement budget of the company also comes down and the company may struggle to meetits costs. For example, VCRs have been replaced with DVD players and so VCR entered intothe decline stage and is almost out of the market.

    b. Definitions of Customer Relationship Management

    Berry defines CRM as attracting, maintaining and in multi-service organizations enhancing

    customer relationships.Berry and Parasuraman define CRM as attracting, developing and retaining customerrelationships.In Industrial Marketing, Jackson defines CRM as marketing oriented toward strong, lastingrelationships with individual accounts.

    Doyle and Roth define CRMS as the goal of relationship selling is to earn the position ofpreferred supplier by developing trust in key accounts over a period of time.

    The sequence of activities for performing relationship marketing would include developing coreservices to build customer relationship, customization of relationship, augmenting core serviceswith extra benefits, and enhancing customer loyalty and fine-tuning internal marketing topromote external marketing success.

    Christopher considers relationship marketing as a tool to turn current and new customers intoregularly purchasing clients and then progressively moving them through being strong supportersof the company and its products to finally being active and vocal advocates for the company.Relationship marketing is in essence selling by using psychological rather than economicinducements to attract and retain customers. It seeks to personalize and appeal to the hearts,minds and purses of the mass consumers.- James J. Lynch

    Thus, Customer Relationship Management is about acquiring, developing and retainingsatisfied loyal customers; achieving profitable growth, and creating economic value incompanys brand,

    From the above definitions, it could be concluded that Customer Relationship Managementrefers to all marketing activities directed towards establishing, developing, and sustaining longlasting, trusting, win-win, beneficial and successful relational exchanges between the focal firmand all its supporting key stakeholders.

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    CRM is not a new concept but an age-old practice, which is on the rise because of the benefits itoffers, especially in the present marketing scenario. So, CRM today is a discipline as well as aset of discrete software and technology which focuses on automating and improving the businessprocess associated with managing customer relationships in the area of sales, marketing,

    customer service and support. CRM helps companies understand, establish and nurture long-termrelationships with clients as well as in retaining current customers. The most important step thatan organization has to take in the direction of CRM is to create an interdisciplinary team toreview how the organization interacts with each customer and determine how to improve andextend the relationship

    Q.4. a. You are a sales manager in ABC firm. You have taken some interviews and

    shortlisted a few candidates. How will you select the right candidate for the sales job?

    b. As a consumer, what are the steps you will undertake before you decide to buy a car?

    The Selection of a Salesman in most companies is a "hit-or-miss' affair normally attempted

    without any job analysis or serious thought as to exactly what kind of man is desired .Friends andrelations or people who or are available may be utilised because most people feel that all a

    salesman needs is to be friendly and presentable .This approach has contributed to low sales and

    high personal turnover for many companies.

    Procedures of Selection

    Progressive companies have attempted to use scientific procedures, including the use of

    application blanks, single or multiple interviews with various executives, letters of

    recommendations and psychological tests. The personally and characteristics of an applicant may

    be compared with successful. salesman in the job. Unfortunately none of these techniques can

    guarantee success selection. But experiments by companies hiring many salesman have shown

    these procedures to be considerably more effective than using no selection at all . Psychological

    tests particularly have caused a great deal of controversy .like motivation research many

    proponents have oversold the idea. But used with care such test can be.

    Considerably reduce turnover and improve the quality of the sales force. This is a highly

    specialised area in larger companies or others without such progress . independent consultants

    have developed.

    One of the major stumbling in the effective selection of salesmen may be that the effectiveness

    of salesmen depends upon the kinds and personalities of the company's customers.b. Consumer passes through five different stages while purchasing the product.

    1. Need recognition: customer posses two type of stimuli at this juncture. One is driven by the

    internal stimuli and another is external stimuli. The examples of internal stimuli are customers

    desire, attitude or perception and external stimuli are advertising etc. From both stimuli

    customers understand the need for the product. Here marketer should understand what customers

    needs have that drew customers towards the product and should highlight those in the

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    communication strategy.

    2. Information search: In this stage customer wants to find out the information about the product,

    place, price and point of purchase. Customer collects the information from different sources like

    a. Personal sources: Family, friends and neighbors

    b. Commercial sources: Advertising, sales people, dealers, packaging and displays.

    c. Public sources: mass media and consumer rating agencies.

    d. Experiential sources: Demonstration, examining the product.

    In this stage marketer should give detailed information about the product. The communication

    should highlight the attributes and advantages of the product in this stage so that he created the

    positive image about the product.

    3. Evaluation of alternatives: After collecting the information, consumers arrive at someconclusion about the product. In this stage he will compare different brands on set parameters

    which he or she thinks required in the product. The evaluation process varies from person to

    person. In general Indian consumer evaluate on the following parameters

    a. Price

    b. Features

    c. Availability

    d. Quality

    e. Durability

    At this stage marketer should provide comparative advertisements to evaluate the differentbrands. The advertisement should be different for different segments and highlight the attribute

    according to the segment.

    4. Purchase decision

    In this stage consumer buys the most preferred brand. In India affordability plays an important

    role at this stage. Organizations bring many varieties of the products to cater to the needs of

    customers.

    5. Post purchase behavior

    After purchasing the product the consumer will experience some level of satisfaction and

    dissatisfaction. The consumer will also engage in post purchase actions and product uses of

    interest to the marketer. The marketers job does not end when the product is bought but

    continues into the post purchase period. Customer would like to see the performance of the

    product as he perceived before purchase. If the performance of the product is not as he expected

    then he develops dissatisfactions. Marketer should keep an eye on how consumer uses and

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    disposes the product. In some durable goods Indian consumer want resale value also. Many

    automobile brands that were not able to get resale value lost their market positions.

    b. As a consumer, what are the steps you will undertake before you decide to buy a car?Consumer buying decision process.

    In general Consumer passes through five different stages while purchasing the product

    Need recognition: Customer posses two type of stimuli at this juncture. One is drivenby the internal stimuli and another is external stimuli. The examples of internal stimuliare customers desire, attitude or perception and external stimuli are advertising etcFrom both stimuli customer understand the need for the product. Here marketer shouldunderstand what customers needs have that drew customers towards the product andshould highlight those in the communication strategy.

    2. Information search: In this stage customer wants to find out the information about theproduct, place, price and point of purchase. Customer collects the information from

    different sources likea. Personal sources: Family, friends and neighborsb. Commercial sources: Advertising, sales people, dealers, packaging and displays.c. Public sources: mass media and consumer rating agencies.d. Experiential sources: Demonstration, examining the product.

    In this stage marketer should give detailed information about the product. Thecommunication should highlight the attributes and advantages of the product in this stageso that he created the positive image about the product.

    3. Evaluation of alternatives: After collecting the information, consumers arrive at

    some conclusion about the product. In this stage he will compare different brands on setparameters which he or she thinks required in the product. The evaluation process variesfrom person to person. In general Indian consumer evaluate on the following parametersa. Priceb. Featuresc. Availabilityd. Qualitye. DurabilityAt this stage marketer should provide comparative advertisements to evaluate the differentbrands. The advertisement should be different for different segments and highlight the attributeaccording to the segment.

    4. Purchase decisionIn this stage consumer buy the most preferred brand. In India affordability plays an importantrole at this stage. Organizations bring many varieties of the products to cater to the needs ofcustomers.

    5. Post purchase behaviorAfter purchasing the product the consumer will experience some level of satisfaction and

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    demand, larger will be the organizational buying. For example, mobiles are being used by a large

    population and so cellular companies have to meet this rising demand.

    4. Inelastic demand: The demand is also inelastic because organizations cannot make rapid

    changes in the production structure and so prices remain constant in the short-term. For example,

    Shoe manufacturers will not buy much leather if the price of leather is less neither will they buy

    less leather if the price increases.

    5. Systematic purchasing: The purchasing activity is directly between the buyer and supplier

    organization which means there are no or very few middlemen involved. Purchasing activity is

    usually undertaken by purchase departments based on a proper structure and through various

    mechanisms like having purchase requisitions from other sections, inviting tenders and sending

    invoices from the suppliers, purchasing agreements or contracts with the key suppliers, renewing

    agreements etc. For example, Reliance Fresh has regular contracts with the agricultural

    producers for smooth supply of fresh fruits and vegetables.

    6. Multiple buying influences: There will be several parties involved in deciding about the

    purchases because organizations will have several departments and units functioning under it

    with different requirements. So, unless they have the proper resources to work with there will be

    problems in the departments. For example, purchase department in a Hospital must be aware

    about the specific requirements in the clinical wards, operation theaters, labs, etc.

    7. Reciprocation: This means that when an organization buys goods from another organization

    then the supplier organization also might need certain other goods that are produced by the buyer

    organization. For example, a stationery supplier will supply the necessary stationeries to thepaper manufacturer who in turn provides papers to the supplier.

    8. Lease agreements: Most organizations take on lease the expensive equipments required by

    them rather than buy it. So, in this way, they reduce cost, get better service and the lessor or one

    who provides the equipments will also profit from the rent or lease charges. For example, TATA

    provides the transport trucks to other organizations on lease.

    Difference between Consumer and Business Buyer Market

    Characteristics Consumer Market Business market

    1. Demand Direct Derived

    2. No of customers Large Few

    3. Location Dispersed Concentrated

    4. Nature of buy Personal Profession

    5. No of buying roles Few Many

    6. Negotiations Easy Complex

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    7. Promotion Advertising Personal selling

    The differences stated above may not be exacting and water tight divisions. Even in case of a

    business making a purchase for a regular stationary item, the responsible employee may adopt an

    individualistic and direct approach. Similarly industrial advertising may be effective. The

    differences lead to behavior patterns which are also different. As an example, emotion plays a

    major role in a purchase decision for an individual in a consumer market but will hardly come

    into play in the business market.

    b. List out the 5 important requisites of an effective segmentation by giving suitable

    examples.

    Requisites of Effective SegmentationSegmentation of market must exhibit some characteristics that are as follows:1. Measurable and Obtainable: The size, profile and other relevant characteristics of the

    segment must be measurable and obtainable in terms of data. If the information is not obtainable,no segmentation can be carried out. For example, Census of India provides the data on migrationand education level, but do not specifies how many of the migrated employees are educated andif educated how many are there in white color jobs. If a company wants to target white coloremployees who are migrated to particular city, will not able to measure due to non availability ofdata.

    2. Substantial: The segment should be large enough to be profitable. For consumer markets, thesmall segment might disproportionably increase the cost and hence products are priced too high.For example, when the cellular services started in India cost of the incoming calls and outgoingcalls were charged at Rs 12/minute. As the number of subscribers grew, incoming calls became

    free. Further growth of subscribers resulted in lowering tariffs to the lowest level in the world.

    3.Accessible: The segment should be accessible through existing network of people at aaffordable cost. For example, Majority of the rural population still not able to access the internetdue to high cost and unavailability of connections and bandwidth.

    4.Differentiable: The segments are different from each other and require different 4Ps andprograms. For example, Life Insurance Corporation of India needs separate marketing programsto sell their insurance plans, unit plans, pension plans and group schemes

    5.Actionable: The segments which a company wishes to pursue must be actionable in the sense

    that there should be sufficient finance, personnel, and capability to take them all

    Q. 6. Explain briefly what are the several processes involved in new product development.

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    New Product Development

    New products are essential for existing firms to keep the momentum and for new firms they

    provide the differentiation. New product doesnt mean that it is absolutely new to the world. It

    may be a modification, or offered in a new market, or differentiated from existing products.

    Therefore it is necessary to understand the concept of new products.

    Meaning of New Products:

    a. They are really innovative. For example, Googles Orkut, a networking site which

    revolutionized social networking. In this site people can meet like minded people; they can form

    their own groups, share photos,

    comments and many more.

    b. They are very different from the others: Haier launches path-breaking 4-Door Refrigerators

    first time in India

    c. They are imitative; these products are not new to the market but new to the company. For

    example, Cavin Kare launched Ruchi pickles. This product is new to Cavin Kare but not to the

    market.

    New product development process:

    Stage 1 -Idea generation: New product idea can be generated either from the internal sources or

    external sources. The internal sources include employees of the organization and data collected

    from the market. The external source includes customers, competitors and supply chain

    members. For example, Ingersoll Rand welcomes new ideas from the General public.

    Stage 2-Idea screening: Organization may have various ideas but it should find out which ofthese ideas can be translated into concepts. In an interview to Times of India, Mr. Ratan Tata,

    chairman TATA group discussed how his idea saw many changes from the basic version. He told

    that he wanted to develop car with scooter engine, plastic doors etc... But when he unveiled the

    car, there were many changes in the product. This shows that initial idea will be changed on the

    basis of market requirements.

    Stage 3 - Concept development: The main feature or the specific desire that it caters to or the

    basic appeal of the product is created or designed in the concept development. Concepts used for

    Tata Nano car are

    Concept I: Low-end 'rural car,' probably without doors or windows and with plastic curtains that

    rolled down, a four-wheel version of the auto-rickshaw.Concept II: A car made by engineering plastics and new materials, and using new technology

    like aerospace adhesives instead of welding.

    Concept III: Indigenous, in-house car which meets all the environment standards

    Stage 4 -Concept testing: At this stage concept is tested with the group of target customers. If

    any changes are required in the concept or the message it will be done during this stage. Also the

    effectiveness is tested on a minor scale. If the concept meets the specific requirements, then it

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    will be accepted.

    Stage 5 Marketing strategy development: The marketing strategy development involves three

    parts. The first part focuses on target market, sales, market share and profit goals. TATAs initial

    business plan consisted sales of 2 lakhs cars per annum. The second part involves product price,

    distribution and marketing budget strategies. TATAs fixed Rs 1 lakhs as the car price, and

    finding self employed persons who work like agent to distribute the cars. The final part contains

    marketing mix strategy and profit goals.

    Stage 6 -Business analysis: it is the analysis of sales, costs and profits estimated for a new

    product and to find out whether these align with the company mission and objectives.

    Stage 7 -Product development: during this stage, product is made to undergo further

    improvements, new features or improvised versions are added to the product. There is also scope

    for innovation and using the latest technology into the product.

    Stage 8 -Test marketing: is the most crucial stage for the testing products performance and its

    future in the market. There are certain cases where product has failed in the test marketing and

    had to be withdrawn.. The product is introduced into the realistic market

    . The 4Ps of marketing are tested.

    . The cost of test marketing varies with the type of product.

    Stage 9 - Commercialization: In this stage product is completely placed in the open market and

    aggressive communication program accompanied with promotion activities is carried out to

    support it.