Unit 1: Understanding marketing and the environment
Marketing Management notes · PTU syllabus (MCOP204-18)
On this page
- Unit summary
- Nature and scope of marketing
- Core concepts of marketing
- Marketing vs selling and marketing philosophies
- Customer value and satisfaction
- The marketing environment
- The marketing mix: 4Ps and 7Ps
- Strategic planning and the marketing planning process
- Marketing information system (MIS)
- Key terms
- Quick revision
- Important questions
Unit summary
Marketing creates, communicates and delivers value to customers. This unit covers the definition, importance, scope and core concepts of marketing, the marketing mix, marketing vs selling, customer value, the micro and macro marketing environment, corporate strategic planning and the marketing planning process, and the marketing information system.
After this unit you can
- Explain the definition, scope and core concepts of marketing
- Distinguish marketing and selling and explain customer value
- Analyse the micro and macro marketing environment
- Explain strategic and marketing planning and the marketing information system
PTU syllabus topics
- Definition
- importance
- scope and basic concepts of marketing
- marketing mix
- marketing vs selling
- customer value
- analyzing the micro and macro marketing environment
- corporate strategic planning and marketing planning process
- marketing information system
- 1
Situation analysis
SWOT, environment
- 2
Set marketing objectives
- 3
Segmentation, targeting, positioning
- 4
Marketing mix decisions
4Ps or 7Ps
- 5
Implementation
- 6
Control and evaluation
Topic 1
Nature and scope of marketing
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 (Kotler). The AMA defines it as the activity, set of institutions and processes for creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners and society. Nature: customer-oriented, a continuous process, exchange-based, goal-oriented and both an art and a science. Scope: goods, services, events, experiences, persons, places, ideas, organisations and information can all be marketed.
Topic 2
Core concepts of marketing
Needs
Basic human requirements
Hunger, safety, belonging
Wants
Needs shaped by culture and personality
A pizza to satisfy hunger
Demands
Wants backed by ability and willingness to pay
Buying a ₹400 pizza from Domino's
Other core concepts: value (benefits − costs), satisfaction (performance compared with expectations), exchange, transactions, relationships and markets.
Topic 3
Marketing vs selling and marketing philosophies
- 1Production concept
Consumers want cheap, available products — focus on efficient production
- 2Product concept
Consumers want the best quality — focus on product improvement
- 3Selling concept
Consumers must be persuaded — focus on aggressive selling
- 4Marketing concept
Find needs and satisfy them better than competitors
- 5Societal marketing concept
Satisfy needs while preserving consumer and society's well-being
Starting point
Factory
Market
Focus
Existing products
Customer needs
Means
Selling and promotion
Integrated marketing
End
Profit through sales volume
Profit through customer satisfaction
Topic 4
Customer value and satisfaction
- Customer perceived value (CPV): total customer benefit (product, service, personnel, image) minus total customer cost (monetary, time, energy, psychological).
- Customer satisfaction: performance compared with expectations — dissatisfied, satisfied or delighted.
- Customer lifetime value (CLV): present value of future profits from a customer over the relationship.
- Value delivery: value chain (Porter) and value delivery network with suppliers and distributors.
Topic 5
The marketing environment
Micro: company itself
Departments working together
Micro: suppliers and intermediaries
Resellers, logistics, agencies
Micro: customers and competitors
Markets served and rivals
Micro: publics
Media, government, local communities
Macro: demographic and economic
Population, income, spending
Macro: natural, technological, political, cultural
Resources, innovation, laws, values
Exam tip
In exam answers, give an Indian example for each environmental factor — e.g. rising disposable incomes (economic) and UPI adoption (technological).
Topic 6
The marketing mix: 4Ps and 7Ps
The marketing mix is the set of controllable tools a firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market (Neil Borden; 4Ps by E. Jerome McCarthy).
| P | Decisions |
|---|---|
| Product | Variety, quality, design, features, brand, packaging, services |
| Price | List price, discounts, allowances, payment terms |
| Place | Channels, coverage, locations, inventory, transport |
| Promotion | Advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations |
| People (services) | Staff who deliver the service |
| Process (services) | How the service is delivered |
| Physical evidence (services) | Tangible cues: store design, uniforms, website |
Topic 7
Strategic planning and the marketing planning process
- 1Define the corporate mission
- 2Set objectives and goals
- 3Design the business portfolio
BCG and GE matrices, growth strategies (Ansoff)
- 4Plan marketing and functional strategies
- 1
Situation analysis
SWOT, market and competitor analysis
- 2
Marketing objectives
- 3
Marketing strategy
Segmentation, targeting, positioning
- 4
Marketing mix programmes
- 5
Budget
- 6
Implementation
- 7
Control
Annual plan, profitability, efficiency and strategic control
Topic 8
Marketing information system (MIS)
A marketing information system consists of people, equipment and procedures to gather, sort, analyse, evaluate and distribute timely and accurate information to marketing decision-makers (Kotler).
Internal records
Orders, sales, inventory, receivables
Marketing intelligence
Everyday information on developments — salespeople, distributors, competitors, online sources
Marketing research
Systematic studies for specific problems
Marketing decision support system
Data, models and software for analysis (CRM analytics, dashboards)
Key terms
- Marketing
- Process of creating, communicating and delivering value to customers profitably
- Customer perceived value
- Total customer benefit minus total customer cost
- Marketing environment
- Actors and forces outside marketing that affect it
- Marketing plan
- Document of marketing objectives, strategies and programmes
- Marketing information system
- System to gather and distribute marketing information
Quick revision
- Core concepts: needs, wants, demands, offerings, value, exchange, markets.
- Philosophies: production, product, selling, marketing, societal.
- Environment: micro (company, suppliers, intermediaries, customers, competitors, publics) and macro (PESTEL).
- Strategic planning → marketing planning (situation, objectives, STP, mix, control).
- MkIS: internal records, intelligence, research, decision support.
Important exam questions
Practice questions written to the PTU exam pattern for this unit's syllabus: short answers (Section A style) and long answers (Sections B and C style).
Short-answer questions
- Q1.Define marketing.
- Q2.Distinguish marketing and selling.
- Q3.What is customer lifetime value?
- Q4.Name the components of the micro environment.
- Q5.State the steps of the marketing planning process.
- Q6.What is a marketing information system?
Long-answer questions
- Q1.Explain the nature, scope and core concepts of marketing.
- Q2.Explain the micro and macro marketing environment.
- Q3.Explain the strategic planning and marketing planning process.
- Q4.Explain the components of a marketing information system.
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