POSTGRADUATE INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT
University of Sri Jayewardenepura
Master of Business Administration
MBA 504: Marketing Management
1. Defining Marketing for the New Realities – Chapter 1
2. Marketing Planning & Management – Chapter 2
3. Consumer Buying Behavior & Profiling The Sri Lankan Consumer – Chapter 3 & PIM Publication
4. Conducting Market Research – Chapter 5
5. Identifying Market Segments & Target Customers & Crafting the Brand Positioning – Chapters 6 & 7
6. Designing & Managing Services – Chapter 9
7. Building Strong Brands – Chapter 10
8. Managing Marketing Communication & Designing an IBC in the Digital Age – Chapter 12 & 13
9. Channels & Distribution Strategies – Chapter 15 & 16
10. Revision & Discussion
Dr Asanga Ranasinghe
The Importance of Marketing
• The financial success of a business often depends on its marketing ability
o creating & keeping demand for products & services, profitably (both top line for bottom line)
• For a business to grow, it is marketing that create gaps vs competition
o differentiate or die
• It is only through skillful marketing a business will be able to satisfy its stakeholders
o loyal consumers lead to satisfied customers, employees, suppliers & other stakeholders
• Brilliant marketing builds strong brands & loyal customers - intangible assets that contribute heavily to
enhance the business value of the firm
• All business functions will not really matter if there is no sufficient demand for products & services
• Skillful marketing is a never-ending pursuit
Fortune 500 Ranked Among the Top 3
2023 Profits ~ exceeds USD 100 billion
Apple continues to feature in the Fortune 500’s 10 most profitable companies
& is the largest company in the world, with a market cap more than $2 trillion.
Dr Asanga Ranasinghe
What is Marketing?
"Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception,
pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to
create exchanges that satisfy individual and organisational objectives“
"Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying,
anticipating and satisfying consumers' requirements profitably“
Dr Asanga Ranasinghe
What is Marketing?
"Marketing is a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and
want through creating and exchanging products and value with others"
Marketing is a business philosophy that long-term profitability is best achieved by focusing the
coordinated activities of the organization toward satisfying the needs of particular market segment (s)
“Marketing is the art of selling products”
Underlying themes of all definitions of Marketing?
• Focus is on the needs of the marketplace
• Built on satisfying genuine needs & wants through the creation of targeted products/services
• Involves analysis, planning & control Thinking about creating value, profitability
• All marketing decisions have the end-user in mind
• Customer satisfaction is key to achieving company goals
• Takes place against a dynamic environment
• Organisation must reflect on the acceptance of marketing as a business philosophy
What is Marketed?
• Marketing is all about making a brand to reside in the minds of consumers.
• To market a brand, consumers must be taught
o “who” the brand is – a label for identification
o “what” the product of the brand does, vis-à-vis others in the category - the “Differentiator”
o “why” the consumers should believe the “Brand Promise” – RTB (Reason To Believe)
• For a brand to survive & grow, the core “Target Group” must perceive a relevant difference among
other brands in the category
• The role of marketing is to win the customer when in a choice situation & retain him/ her profitably
o Create & keep the customer profitably
• Every company’s greatest assets are its customers, because without customers there is no company.
Dr Asanga Ranasinghe
What is Marketed?
Goods Experiences Places
Services Organizations
Persons
Events Information
Ideas
Dr Asanga Ranasinghe
Core Marketing Concepts
• Marketing is an exchange process between sellers & buyers.
o Inner loop shows an exchange of money for goods & services.
o Outer loop shows an exchange of information.
A Simple Marketing System
• Marketing aims to satisfy needs & convert them into wants & then create demand.
o Needs are basic human requirements
o Needs become wants when directed towards specific products that might satisfy the need
o Demands are wants backed by the ability to afford
• Core of marketing is segmentation of the market, identification of the right target markets & correct
positioning of the offering.
o Not everyone can be satisfied in a market & some segments present the greatest opportunity
o Need to identify & profile customer segments correctly to serve - target markets
o Market offering then need to be positioned in the minds of the target market to offer a bundle of benefit(s)
through a differentiated marketing program.
Dr Asanga Ranasinghe
Core Marketing Concepts
• Marketing happens through market offerings & brands
o An offering is the value proposition to customers as a combination of product, service, information &
experience
o Brand is a “promise” of the offering built in the minds of the target market
o Building brand awareness & brand image makes a brand strong
• Market offerings & brands need to create superior value to the target market viz-a-viz competition
o Value is a combination of quality, service & price
– customer value triad
o Marketing is identification, creation, communication,
delivery & monitoring of customer value
o Customers see value when he/ she perceives usefulness
&/ or desirability in the offering
• Supply chain is the value delivery process of brands
o Supply chain adds value from getting raw materials to delivering the final offering to end consumers
o Problems with a supply chain can be damaging or even fatal for a business
Dr Asanga Ranasinghe
The New Marketing Realities
• Marketing has never been as important as it is today, though it's never been as difficult as it is today.
• The business environment today has been profoundly influenced by 4 Market Forces.
1. Technology
The rapid rise of e-commerce, online & mobile communication, &
artificial intelligence has offered marketers increasing capabilities.
2. Globalization
The world has become a level playing field that offers competitors
across the globe an equal opportunity to succeed with new
transportation, shipping & communication technologies.
3. Physical Environment
Two particularly far-ranging changes in the physical environment are
affecting the ways companies operate & they are climate change and
changes in global health conditions.
4. Social Responsibility
The role of corporate social responsibility is getting elevated with The New Marketing Realities
companies taking responsibility for poverty, pollution, water shortages,
climate change, social injustice & wealth concentration. Dr Asanga Ranasinghe
The New Marketing Realities
• Marketing has never been as important as it is today, though it's never been as difficult as it is today.
• The business environment today has been profoundly influenced by 4 Market Forces.
• Market Forces are fundamentally changing the ways consumers & companies interact with each
other leading to 3 Market Outcomes.
1. New Consumer Capabilities
Consumers today have more power at their fingertips than they have ever had in the past.
o online resources as a powerful information & purchasing aid.
o mobile connectivity to search, communicate & purchase on the go.
o social media to share opinions & express loyalty.
2. New Company Capabilities
The New Marketing Realities
Companies have a new set of capabilities to create value for their customers, collaborators & stakeholders.
o internet as a powerful information & sales channel.
o fuller & richer information about markets, customers, prospects & competitors.
o quick & efficient reach via social media & mobile marketing.
3. New Competitive Environment
Dynamics of competition & the nature of the competitive landscape have also dramatically changed.
o Deregulation, privatization, retail transformation, private labels, mega brands etc.
Dr Asanga Ranasinghe
Response – A Holistic Approach To Marketing
The New Marketing Realities
IBM has managed to rise to the
challenges in the technology field
by pivoting its strategic focus to
address the needs of the changing
environment and by carefully
listening to and working closely
with its customers.
Dr Asanga Ranasinghe
Response – A Holistic Approach To Marketing Extended Reading
Organizations are responding to these challenges in different ways
Improving Customer Focus Improving Internal Processes
• Talent & organization • Organizational culture shifts
o right people in right jobs o shared values / performance & innovation
o skills & capability building culture
o team working, interpersonal skills &
customer facing • Organisational structure & design
o customer service culture o de-layering/ down-sizing
• Technology o outsourcing non-essential activities &
concentrating on core activities
o serve customers better/ faster
o level of physical, human interaction –
o MIS enhancement automation
o market segmentation – value analysis o matrix/ teams around specific
o sophisticated market analysis segments of customers
o tracking customer satisfaction
• Loyalty enhancing services
Dr Asanga Ranasinghe
Company Orientations Towards the Marketplace
• The Production Concept
o Holds that customers will prefer products that are widely available &
inexpensive
o Internally focused to achieve high production efficiency, low costs & mass
distribution
• The Product Concept
o Holds that customers will favor those products that offer the most quality,
performance or innovative features
o Focused on making superior products & improving them over time
o Sometimes caught up in a love affair with their products
- better mousetrap fallacy
• The Selling Concept
o Holds that customers/ businesses, if left alone, will ordinarily NOT buy enough
products.
o Focused on aggressively selling more & promoting more
Dr Asanga Ranasinghe
Company Orientations Towards the Marketplace
• The Marketing Concept
o A shift from “make & sell” to “sense & respond” philosophy
- customer centric vis-à-vis product/ production/ selling centric
- NOT to find right customers for YOUR products but to find right products for YOUR customers
o Holds that the key is to be more effective than competitors in creating, delivering & communicating superior
customer value to its chosen TG.
Competition is intense between
Pepsi & Coke who sell similar
products, but their value
propositions are completely
different!
Pepsi: Focuses on winning over
the younger generations
Coke: Focuses on winning over
everyone in a more holistic
approach!
Dr Asanga Ranasinghe
Company Orientations Towards the Marketplace
• Integrated Marketing
Developing & executing, marketing programs that create, communicate & deliver value to customers using all
relevant touch points for the chosen target market/ consumer segment
4 P Model
Product Place
Product variety Channels
Quality Coverage
Design Assortments
Features Locations
Brand name Inventory
Packaging Transport
Sizes
Warranties Promotion
Returns Sales
Price promotion
List price Advertising
Discounts Sales force
Allowances Public relations
Credit terms Direct
Payment period marketing
Dr Asanga Ranasinghe
Company Orientations Towards the Marketplace
• Social Responsibility Marketing
o Marketing activities go beyond the company & customers
to impact the society as a whole
– Need consideration of ethical, environmental, legal & social
context Good Corporate
Citizenship
o Holds that the organization's task is to determine the
needs, wants & interests of the TG & to deliver the desired
satisfactions more effectively & efficiently than
competitors in a way that preserves or enhances the
consumer’s & society’s long term well being.
o Sustainability a major corporate concern – sustainability =
business Ford plans to reduce their
greenhouse gas emissions
o Marketing plans need to take responsibility for all the
using their EcoBoost engine
activities in the value chain from sourcing raw materials to to increase fuel efficiency. It
selling final products to the customers also plans to introduce 40
electrified vehicles (electric
o All about good corporate citizenship that go beyond
and hybrid) by 2022, in an
marketing emotional & rational promises investment of $11 billion.
Dr Asanga Ranasinghe
Marketing Management Tasks
• Developing Marketing Strategies & Plans
o based on the market opportunities & the ability to succeed with the core competencies/ experience
• Capturing Marketing Insights & Performance
Marketing Information System
o through a reliable MIS, the marketing environment has to be monitored
– microenvironment: suppliers, marketing intermediaries, customers & competitors who affect the company’s
ability to produce & sell
– macro environment : demographic, economic, physical, technological, political-legal & social-cultural that
affect sales & profits
o through a dependable marketing research system must measure market potential, forecast demand & make
decisions on marketing activities/ expenditure
• Connecting with Customers
o segment & identify the best customer segment to serve
o create value for the chosen TG (Target Group)
o develop strong, profitable, long-term relationships with customers/ businesses
o build capability in the sales force to create & keep profitable customers
Dr Asanga Ranasinghe
Marketing Management Tasks
• Building Strong Brands
o The strength of a brand lies in what consumers have learnt, felt, seen & heard about the brand as a
result of their experiences over time – associations that resides in the minds of the customers
service refreshment
quality
cleanliness availability accessibility
Value for money
Unhealthy?
Fast food
- unhealthy?
For kids taste
convenient affordability
o A brand is strong when the consumer has a high level of awareness & familiarity with the brand (brand
awareness) & hold some strong, favorable & unique brand associations in memory (brand image)
Dr Asanga Ranasinghe
Marketing Management Tasks
• Shaping the Market Offerings
o right deployment of 4Ps
o customer relevant product quality, design, features & packaging
o value adding services such as leasing, delivery, repair, maintenance & training
o competitive pricing (commensurate with the perceived value) including wholesale/ retail prices, discounts,
allowances & credit terms
• Delivering Value
o right distribution channel selection & servicing to make products & services accessible / available to the Target
Group (TG)
• Communicating Value
o Integrated Brand Communication program to cover all touch points for the TG
• Creating Long term Growth
o non-innovation led growth to maximize full potential of current mixes
o renovating current mixes & innovating new mixes for expressed/ latent needs
o robust feedback & control to understand the efficiency & effectiveness of marketing activities
Dr Asanga Ranasinghe
Dr Asanga Ranasinghe
Nike focused on providing affordable, high-quality To keep the cost of the shoes competitive,
running shoes designed for athletes by athletes. the company outsourced its production to
lower-cost manufacturers in Asia.
Central to the company’s branding was its belief in
a “pyramid of influence,” with the preferences of a In the late 1990s, Nike moved into soccer
Nike – page 51-52 small group of top athletes influencing the product
& brand choices of consumers.
in a big way securing marketing rights for
several major soccer federations & World
Cup events. Nike’s heavy investment in
One of Nike’s greatest successes came in 1985 with the signing Michael Jordan soccer helped propel the brand’s growth
as a spokesperson. Nike’s bet paid off as consumers clamored for the Air Jordan internationally as its image morphed from
line of basketball shoes with the distinctive Nike swoosh. As one reporter stated, that of a sneaker company into a brand
“Few marketers have so reliably been able to identify and sign athletes who that represented emotion, allegiance, and
transcend their sports to such great effect.” identification.
Nike has successfully expanded its brand into many sports & athletic wear In 2003, overseas revenues surpassed U.S.
categories & increased its presence across the globe. revenues for the first time.
While Nike’s athletic endorsements have helped in attracting & inspiring Questions
consumers, its recent innovations in technology have resulted in more loyal &
emotionally connected customers. [Link] are the key components of Nike’s
marketing strategy?
With increasing numbers of consumers shopping online, Nike is searching for a [Link] are Nike’s strengths &
winning strategy for promoting its brand in a digital age. Despite its focus on new weaknesses?
forms of promotion & distribution, the firm’s long-term strategy remains the [Link] you were Adidas, how would you
same: to produce innovative, high-quality products that help athletes win. compete with Nike?
Summary
• Marketing is the process of planning & executing the conception, pricing, promotion & distribution of
ideas, goods & services to create exchanges that satisfy individual & organizational goals.
• Marketing management is the art & science of choosing target markets & getting, keeping & growing
customers through creating, delivering & communicating superior customer value
• Marketers are involved in marketing many types of entities: goods, services, events, experiences,
persons, places, properties, organizations, information & ideas
• Marketing is not done only by the marketing department – needs to affect every aspect of the customer
experience
• Marketing has never been as important as it is today & never been as challenging as today. New
challenges & opportunities needing new skills & competencies
• There are 5 competing concepts to conduct business. Production, product, selling are limited in use
today. Marketing concept has evolved to holistic marketing now.
• Key marketing tasks are developing strategies & plans, connecting with customers, building strong
brands, shaping the market offerings, delivering & communicating value, capturing marketing insights &
performance & creating long term growth Dr Asanga Ranasinghe
