CorporateViews - Entrepreneurship

Marketing vs Sales

What is marketing?

This has been one of the most popular questions to be asked at the
beginning of many tertiary marketing courses.
However, the answer to this question may varies greatly between different
individuals.

To the Layman, Marketing means carrying out A&P (Advertising &
Promotional) activities to promote one's company products or services.

To a marketing student, Marketing is defined as a social and managerial
process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want
through creating and exchanging value with others. (By Philip Kotler and
Gary Armstrong, Principles of Marketing)

For an Entreprenuer, Marketing generally refers to understanding the
customer needs and providing a product/service which is able to address the
customer's concerns.
The need to carry out marketing activities is to generate potential leads for
the company.

This way, the leads generated by the marketing activities can be properly
closed up by the sales personnels using the appropriate sales strategies.

Marketing Strategy

In order to devise a good marketing strategy, you have to first identify the
characteristics of the market segment you have chosen as your
primary/secondary market.

Using this information and the knowledge gained from the market analysis,
you can determine an appropriate market positioning and market
differentiation for your product/service.

1. Market Positioning
> The company's product/service positioning can be set in the market by
aligning its perceived value in line with the actual needs of the targeted
customers.

For instance, if you are looking to sell to the rich and affluent, you will have to
position your product/service in the high-end market segment.

2. Market Differentiation
> As there will always be competition in the marketplace (may be direct
and/or indirect), the perceived value of your product/service will have to be
made different as compared with the present offerings of your competitors.

There are numerous ways to create differentiation of your product/service,
such as product/service exclusivity, branding, customer service, etc.

Market Execution (the four Ps)

Market Execution or otherwise known as Marketing Mix (which can be
broadly defined by the four Ps) is the methodology used to implement the
marketing strategy.

1. Product
> This refers to the actual product/service to be launched by the company to
capture the targeted market segment. Slight variations of the same
product/service may be launched to address the primary and secondary
markets separately.

For instance, looking at the automotive industry, auto companies have often
ultilize the same vehicle platform and launch several different models in
different market segments across different countries.
E.g. Honda has launched the Honda Fit for the US and Japan market while
launching the Honda Jazz for the ASEAN markets, the 2 of which are
essentially similar vehicles within the same family.

2. Price
> The price is the amount the customer pays for the product/service.
There are generally 3 main pricing methods namely Cost-Based Pricing,
Competition-Based Pricing and Value-Based Pricing.

By determining the purchasing power of the customer and the perceived
value they have for the product/service, an appropriate pricing method can be
ultilized.

3. Place
> Place generally refers to the distribution channels of the product/service.
The common distribution channels in use today are the conventional retail
outlets, internet, phone ordering systems, etc.

Place has often been underestimated of its importance in the marketing mix.
If the optimal place/distribution channels are selected for the product/service,
the company will be able to capture a bigger customer base at a much lower
cost (as the pricing and promotional expenses can be minimized).

For example, if we are looking to sell a new kind of diapers targeting at
newborns, we will need a sizeable marketing budget to promote the product if
we were to sell via the traditional retailing channels solely. However, by
ultilizing gynaecology clinics as a possible alternative distribution channel,
we will be able to pitch to the targeted audience (i.e. mothers) at a much
lower cost as compared to using media advertisements and promotions.

4. Promotion
> Promotion is one of the main channels for Market Communications
(marcom).
There is primarily 4 basic elements of promotion - advertizing, public
relations, word of mouth, point-of-sale.

Advertising: Print advertisements, TV commercials, Online ads, etc
Public Relations: Sponsorships, Exhibitions, Press Releases, Seminars, etc
Word of mouth: referrals from existing customers, vendors or sales people
Point-of-Sale: retail activities such as free gifts, promotional packages, etc