marketing terms

Product Intoduction

Low sales, high cost per customer, no profits, few competitors/Create product awareness and trial/Offer a basic product-Use heavy promotions to entice trial

customer irritation

Many consumers view direct-marketing solicitations as annoying. Most e-mail programs have "spam filters" to help individuals weed out unsolicited e-mails.

function

Many marketing departments consist of functional specialists—for example, a sales manager and market-research manager who report to a marketing VP. This structure simplifies administration of marketing, but loses effectiveness if products and markets proliferate. Specifically, products that no one favors may get neglected, and functional groups may compete for budget and status.

psychological

Motives: conscious and subconscious needs that are pressing enough to drive a person to take action; for example, the need for safety or self-esteem/Perceptions (interpretations of a situation), beliefs, and attitudes (a person's enduring evaluation of a thing or idea)/Learning: changes in someone's behavior because of experience or study

cultural forces

National values, such as an emphasis on material comfort, youthfulness, or patriotism/Ethnic or religious messages or priorities/Identification with a particular socioeconomic class

trade show exhibits

Observe how much interest participants show in the product, how they react to various features, and how many express clear intention of buying the product or placing an order for it. Note, though, that your competitors will also get a look at your product at trade shows. Therefore, it's best to launch the product soon after the show.

consumer control

Offer customers tools or methods for controlling the degree of frustration they may encounter in using your products or services. For instance, one Internet service provider's software lets customers block unsolicited e-mails.

product maturity

Peaking sales and profits, stable or declining number of competitors/Maximize profit while defending market share/Diversify brands-Intensify promotion to encourage switching to new brands

controlled test marketing

Place your product in a number of stores and geographic locations that you're interested in testing. Test different shelf positions, displays, and pricing. Measure sales through electronic inventory control systems.

deepen customer loyalty

The company can pique customers' interest and enthusiasm by remembering their preferences and sending gifts, coupons, and special information.

Identify prospects

The company may generate sales leads by advertising its product and then build a database from the responses that come in. It can sort through the database to identify the best prospects and then contact them by e-mail, mail, phone, or other means in an attempt to convert them into customers.

Exchange

The core of marketing, exchange entails obtaining something from someone else by offering something in return.

decide which customers should receive a particular offer

The firm defines the ideal target customer for an offer, then searches the database for those most closely resembling the ideal.

Implementation

budgeting resources wisely, organizing work effectively, motivating others

Ideas

concepts such as "Donate blood" or "Buy savings bonds" that reflect a deeply held value or social need

identification of a problem source

looking for the source of a problem in the marketing function, the plan itself, the company's policies or culture, or in other areas

Secret needs:

needs that customers feel reluctant to admit; for example, some people may have a strong need for social status but feel uncomfortable about admitting that status is important to them.

"push" maketing

occurs when the product is presented assertively from the seller to the consumer. The most common type of push marketing is when a company uses a direct sales force to call on prospective companies or consumers. It is the salesperson's task to persuade the consumer to purchase the product. Salespeople are most effective for the following marketing (or selling) tasks: • Looking for new prospects (people from whom a marketer is seeking a response—whether it's attention, a purchase, a vote, and so forth) • Communicating face-to-face, so that customer questions and concerns can be directly addressed • Selling, which consists of knocking on doors, presenting the product, and selling it • Servicing, which entails providing services for customer such as repairing or replacing parts for a product • Performing market research

"pull" marketing

persuading the customer to try a product and continue to use the product. It is a paid form of impersonal promotion that can appear in many venues: • Print brochures or flyers • Billboards • Point-of-purchase ads • Television and radio ads • Web site banners • E-mail campaigns

Good

physical offerings such as food, commodities, clothing, housing, appliances, and so forth

information

produced, packaged, and distributed by schools, publishers, Web-site creators, and other marketers

Unstated needs:

requirements that customers don't happen to mention; for example, an easy solution to insulating the house.

Delight needs

the desire for luxuries, as compared to real needs.

Product growth

Rising sales and profits, more and more competitors/Maximize market share/Offer product extensions-Reduce promotions due to heavy demand

Real needs

what customers actually require; for example, a house that is better insulated and therefore warmer during the winter

Stated needs

what customers say they want; for example, "I need a sealant for my window panes for the winter."

negative demand

when customers avoid a product

increasing demand

when customers become aware of a product, begin to like it, and start asking for it

Latent demand

when customers have a strong need that can't be satisfied by existing offerings

no demand

when customers have no awareness of, or interest in a product

full demand

when customers want everything a company has to offer

unwholesome demand

when customers want unhealthy or dangerous products

overfull demand

when customers' demands exceed the company's ability to satisfy those demands

declining demand

when demand diminishes

irregular demand

when demand varies by season, day, or hour

online consumers

• They comprise an almost equal number of men and women. • They represent an increasingly skeptical and demanding mindset. • They tend to place great value on information. • Many of them respond negatively to messages aimed only at selling. • They like to control the information they receive about products, and the conditions under which they receive that information. • They—not the marketers—give permission to be contacted and control the resulting interactions. • They're well informed and more discerning shoppers. • They generally respond to targeted messaging.

step for making a purchase

1. Recognize a need—for example, your computer has become outdated, and you need a new one. 2. Search for more information: such as surfing the Internet for details on the various features offered by computer companies. 3. Weigh the alternatives: "That computer seems to have more memory than this other one." 4. Decide to buy: including determining that the price is right, concluding that you've done enough "shopping around," and buying the product. 5. Evaluate and act on the purchase—you may feel satisfied, disappointed, or even delighted with your purchase; you may return the product or decide to buy it again; you may use and dispose of the product in ways that are important for marketers to know.

Alpha testing

: Build a few units of the new product or create a test pilot for the service. Then carefully select a couple of your most important and friendliest customers to try the product for free and comment on its functionality, features, and problems. You might make sure that a representative from your firm accompanies the unit to the alpha-testing customer and "walks" them through the testing process. Your goal at this point is to collect advice for making the product or service the best it can be.

Need

A basic human requirement, such as food, air, water, clothing, and shelter, as well as recreation, education, and entertainment.

sales promotion

A collection of incentive tools, usually short term, designed to stimulate consumers to try a product or service, to buy it quickly, or to purchase more of it.

Selling

A company has to sell its products aggressively, because consumers won't buy enough of them on their own. Company Focus-Using a battery of selling and promotional tools to coax consumers into buying, especially unsought goods (such as insurance or funeral plots)

Brand

A company or product name, term, sign, symbol, design—or combination of these—that identifies the offerings of one company and differentiates them from those of competitors.

Societal marketing

A company's task is to determine its target customers' needs, wants, and interests—and to satisfy them better than their rivals do, but in ways that preserve or enhance customers' and society's well-being. Company Focus- Building social and ethical considerations into marketing practices; balancing profits, consumer satisfaction, and public interest

stisfaction

A customer's feelings of pleasure or disappointment resulting from comparing a product's perceived performance with the customer's expectations of that performance.

brand image

A customer's perceptions of what a brand stands for. All companies strive to build a strong, favorable brand image.

grography

A firm's national sales manager supervises several regional sales managers, who supervise zone managers, who in turn oversee district sales managers, who finally manage salespeople. Some companies subdivide regional markets further into ethnic and demographic segments and design different ad campaigns for each.

industry

A group of firms that offer a product or class of products that are close substitutes for each other.

prospect

A party from whom a marketer is seeking a response—whether it's attention, a purchase, a vote, and so forth.

product or brand

A product or brand manager supervises product-category managers, who supervise specific product and brand managers. This structure works well if the company creates markedly different kinds—or huge numbers—of products. It lets product managers develop a cost-effective marketing mix for each product, respond quickly to marketplace changes, and monitor smaller brands. However, it can result in conflict if product managers don't have enough authority to fulfill their responsibilities.

Demand

A want for a specific product that is backed by a customer's ability to pay. For example, you might want a specific model car, but your want becomes a demand only if you're willing and able to pay for it.

marketing network

A web of connections among a company and its supporting stakeholders—customers, employees, suppliers, distributors, and others—with whom it has built profitable business relationships. Today, companies that have the best marketing networks also have a major competitive edge.

Personal forces

Age: including stage in the life cycle; for example, adolescence or retirement/Occupation, economic circumstances, and lifestyle (or activities, interests, and opinions)/Personality and self-image: including how people view themselves and how they think others view them

compeition

All of the actual and potential rival offerings and substitutes that a buyer might consider.

Profitable customer

An individual, household, or company that, over time, generates revenue for a marketer that exceeds, by an acceptable amount, the marketer's costs in attracting, selling to, and servicing that customer

competitor

Any company that satisfies the same customer needs that another firm satisfies.

product

Any offering that can satisfy a customer's need or want. Products come in 10 forms: goods, services, experiences, events, persons, places, properties, organizations, information, and ideas.

advertising

Any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor.

Simulated test marketing

Ask a number of qualified buyers to answer questions about their product preferences. Then invite them to look at a series of commercials or print ads that include one for your new product. Finally, give them some money and set them loose in a store. See how many of them buy your product.

product design

Ask whether your new products fulfill customer needs—or just cause confusion or annoyance. Evaluate consumers' likely reactions, then eliminate features or functions that threaten to prove overwhelming or irritating for buyers. For example, one health-and-beauty-products manufacturer has standardized its products' packaging and pruned marginal brands that attracted mediocre consumer attention.

relationship marketing

Building long-term, mutually satisfying relations with key parties—such as customers, suppliers, and distributors—to earn and retain their long-term business.

global perspective

Companies that market internationally may have an export department with a sales manager and a few assistants, or an entire international division with functional specialists and operating units structured geographically, according to product. Or such firms may be truly global organizations—where top management direct worldwide operations, marketing policies, financial flows, and logistical systems. In these companies, global operating units report directly to top management, not to an international division head.

customer markets

Companies that sell their products to a diverse set of markets—for instance, offering fax machines to individual consumers, businesses, and government agencies—have a marketing manager who supervises market specialists (sometimes also called industry specialists).

Product

Consumers favor products that offer the most quality, performance, or innovative features. Company Focus-The design and constant improvement of superior products, with little input from customers

Production

Consumers prefer products that are widely available and inexpensive.Company Focus-High production efficiency, low costs, and mass distribution of products

invasion of privacy

Critics worry that marketers know too much about customers' lives and may use this knowledge to take advantage. For online marketers, consumers are particularly worried about the security of their credit-card numbers and other personal information.

intangible

Customers can't see, touch, smell, or handle services before deciding whether to buy

product decline

Declining sales, profits, and number of competitors/Reduce expenditure and "milk" the brand/Phase out weak products-Cut price; reduce promotion

direct marketing

Direct marketing's most important benefit for companies is that it lets firms engage in relationship marketing, or one-to-one marketing. Through this special kind of marketing, companies build stronger, more profitable bonds with target customers. In addition, technology has made it easier than ever for companies to compile robust customer databases, organized collections of updated, accessible information about individual customers or prospects. Your company's customer database lets it:

chaos and clutter:

For online marketers, especially, the Internet makes a staggering amount of information possible. Navigating the Web can be frustrating or overwhelming for some consumers, thus many companies' sites go unnoticed.

Social forces

Friends, neighbors, coworkers, and other groups with whom people interact frequently and informally/Family members, friends: parents, spouses, partners, children, siblings/Individuals' own status within their families, clubs, or other organizations

Handling of personal information

If your firm is not using the personal information they're gathering from customers, stop collecting it "just in case." Be honest with consumers, too, about why you request personal information: You want to win their business and loyalty. Then, make sure they understand why your deal is the best.

marketing channels

Intermediary companies between producers and final consumers that make products or services available to consumers. Also called trade channels or distribution channels.

Sales Wave

Let some consumers try the product at no cost. Then reoffer the product, or a competitor's product, at slightly reduced prices. See how many customers choose your product again, and gauge their satisfaction with it.

Transient

Services are used up upon delivery, not stored for future sale

inseparable

Services are usually delivered and consumed simultaneously, so both the provider and the buyer influence the outcome of the service delivery.

variable

Services vary depending on who provides them and when and where they're provided; thus, controlling their quality is difficult.

unfairness

Some unscrupulous direct marketers take advantage of impulsive buyers; for example, by using inflated claims to capture customers with low sales resistance.

marketer

Someone who is seeking a response—attention, a purchase, a vote, a donation—from another party

differentiation

The act of designing a set of meaningful differences to distinguish a company's offering from competitors' offerings.

marketing concept

The belief that a company can achieve its goals primarily by being more effective than its competitors at creating, delivering, and communicating value to its target markets. The marketing concept rests on four pillars: (1) identifying a target market, (2) focusing on customer needs, (3) coordinating all marketing functions from the customer's point of view, and (4) achieving profitability.

societal marketing concept

The belief that a company's task is to identify the needs, wants, and interests of target markets and to deliver the desired satisfactions better than competitors do—but in a way that preserves or enhances consumers' and society's well-being.

selling concept

The belief that companies must sell and promote their offerings aggressively because consumers will not buy enough of the offerings on their own.

product concept

The belief that consumers favor products that offer the most quality, performance, or innovative features.

production concept

The belief that customers prefer products that are widely available and inexpensive.

Prositioning

The central benefit of a market offering in the minds of target buyers. For example, a car manufacturer that targets buyers for whom safety is a major concern would position its cars as the safest that customers can buy.

Marketing

The key to achieving a company's goals is its ability to be more effective than its rivals in creating, delivering, and communicating value to its target customers. Company Focus-Target markets, customer needs, coordination of all company functions from the target customer's point of view

market-oriented strategic planning

The managerial process of developing and maintaining a viable fit among a company's objectives, skills, and resources and its changing market opportunities.

the new task

The organization buys a product for the first time—which may require a lengthy and complex decision process between your firm and the company.

The Straight rebuy

The organization regularly reorders office supplies, bulk chemicals, or other materials. If the company buys from your firm, you'll probably feel pressure to maintain the quality of your product.

the modified rebuy

The organization wants to change purchasing terms, such as product specifications, prices, or delivery requirements. If the company buys from your firm, you may feel some pressure to protect the account to keep rivals from encroaching on your business.

procurement

The process by which a business buys materials or services from another business, with which it then creates products or services for its own customers.

marketing

The process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals.

marketing mix

The set of tools—product, price, place, and promotion—that a company uses to pursue its marketing objectives in the target market.

outright deception and fraud

These include false claims about products and performance and questionable gimmicks such as envelopes that resemble government documents or "personalized" e-mail subject lines—which make recipients feel compelled to open and read the contents.

test-market

This is test-marketing on a grand scale. Select a few representative cities, get your sales force to give the product thorough exposure in those cities, and unleash a full advertising and promotion campaign. See how well the product sells.

Beta testing

This resembles alpha testing, except that it's done a bit later in the product-development process—when the product is somewhat closer to its final form. With beta testing, send more units out to more customers for their feedback than you did with alpha testing. You might have a more specific list of concerns or issues that you want testers to think about as they use and experiment with the product. And, you might actually offer to sell testers the product at a big discount.

"reactivate" customer purchases

Your firm can use automatic mailing programs to e-mail or send customer birthday cards, holiday shopping reminders, or other timely offers.

diagnosis

anticipating what might go wrong and preparing for it

Sale promotion

are another form of "pull" marketing. In this case, you may send out coupons for product savings, contests, free trials, or cash refunds.

Evaluation

assessing the results of marketing programs