Marketing Management
What this domain tests
Marketing mix, segmentation-targeting-positioning, product life cycle, branding, pricing, channels and promotion, plus the distinction between marketing and selling.
Core rules
- Marketing is the whole business seen from the customer's viewpoint; selling is only one part, namely promotion.
- The 4Ps are product, price, place and promotion. Segmentation divides a heterogeneous market; targeting selects segments; positioning creates a distinct image.
- Product life cycle: introduction, growth, maturity and decline; strategy changes by stage.
- Pricing methods: cost-plus, penetration, skimming, competitive and value-based.
- Promotion mix: advertising, sales promotion, personal selling and publicity or public relations.
Worked example
A new soap costs Rs 80 a unit; the firm wants a 20% markup on cost, giving Rs 96. A competitor sells at Rs 90 and buyers are price-sensitive. Reasoning: cost-plus ignores demand and competition; penetration pricing near Rs 90 may buy market share, but check contribution margin. If Rs 90 exceeds variable cost, it can work short term.
Traps that cost marks
- Defining marketing as advertising.
- Treating skimming and penetration pricing as the same.
- Forgetting place, or distribution, in the mix.
- Assuming the decline stage always means immediate withdrawal.