Question 1

Managing direct and online marketing : What is online marketing? Give examples.

Accepted Answer

Online marketing is the exchange of products and services between the buyers and sellers on the internetIt is also known as e-marketing or internet marketing or online advertising It may take the form of : aB2C where the products are sold directly to the customers bB2B where trading networks or auction sites maybe used to reach out to the new customers and serve the existing one cC2C where one customer may further sell the product to another customer Examples of online marketing may include banner ads, blogs, social network advertisement

Question 2

Controlling marketing activities : What does monitoring and controlling marketing activities entail?

Accepted Answer

All those activities which have been planned out by the marketing department must be tried out in the market several times in order to be able to conclude if such activities are worthwhile or not Such activities may be repeated several times over a period say six months or a year in order to be able to decide whether to stick to them or replace them with other better alternatives Monitoring and controlling the marketing activities entails keeping proper records of the various activities and tracking them time and again particularly when it comes to the media, when to promote the product, cost factor, reach or the number of persons towards whom the promotions have been targeted, responses generated, sales generation and return on sales

Question 3

The new product development process usually starts with

Accepted Answer

idea generation

Question 4

Which Bank has tied up with Samsung Pay through which cardholders will be able to pay using smartphones at merchant establishments ?

Accepted Answer

Kotak Mahindra Bank

Question 5

Marketing refers to -

Accepted Answer

Philosophy that stresses customer value and satisfaction

Question 6

Concentrating the marketing efforts on one particular segment of consumers is known as ?

Accepted Answer

Niche Marketing

Question 7

What is a Product Roadmap?

Accepted Answer

A Product Roadmap is a plan that matches short-term and long-term business goals with specific technology solutions to help meet those goals It is a high-level visual summary that maps out the vision and direction of your product offering over time 1 A product roadmap communicates the why and what behind what you're building 2 It's a guiding strategic document as well as a plan for executing the strategy 3 Roadmapping is the exercise of building a product roadmap Roadmaps can apply to new products or services or existing offerings

Question 8

What is Sales Order (SO)?

Accepted Answer

The Sales Order is a confirmation document sent to the customers before delivering the goods or services Sales Order (SO) can be created once the quote is accepted by your prospective customer and the Purchase Order (PO) is sent by the customer for further processing

Question 9

If Average Total Cost is declining then

Accepted Answer

The Marginal Cost is Less than Average Cost

Question 10

Promotions and promotion mix : What is the difference between a marketing mix and a promotional mix?

Accepted Answer

A marketing mix and a promotional mix does have some differences, both being highly crucial for the success of a business Marketing is very essential for the growth and continuity of business operations It helps in creating new customers and retaining the existing ones to keep the business ongoing Marketing focuses on all the elements of the marketing mix viz product, price, place and promotion while promotion focuses more on the customer- how to reach a product to its customers and how to sell it to them ultimately

Question 11

Marketing organisation: As a consultant, what advice would you give a company while setting up its marketing department?

Accepted Answer

As a consultant , I would: • Recommend structuring of the marketing department as per the demands of the different tasks, roles and responsibilities keeping in mind the cost(budget) factor as long as it fits within the budget of the company • Finding out and establishing the level of skills, duties and responsibilities of the employees via job descriptions and job specifications • Proper and regular supervision of the department to ensure its smooth functioning • Determine the marketing functions of the department as per the requirements (advertising,distribution channels,promotional activities)

Question 12

Managing the sales force : For a new salesperson, what are his training needs?

Accepted Answer

New salespersons needs: a) He needs to know the information on company history, its policies, rules and regulations etc b) Details about the product- its features, usage , demand c) Systems and procedures as followed by the company This may include the work timings, overimed, field work, work culture of that particular organisation etc d) Training on the basic ethics that need to be followed while selling a product e) He must know the basics of selling the different products of the company

Question 13

Demand side market failures occur when

Accepted Answer

Market failure arises because it is not possible for the market to correctly weight cost and benefits in a situation in which some of the cost is completely unaccounted. Demand-side market failures happen when demand curves do not reflect consumer’s full willingness to pay for goods or services. Supply-side market failures occur when supply curves do not reflect the full cost of producing a good or services.

Question 14

Productivity is the combination of

Accepted Answer

Productivity is a result of the way that a business operates – the result of the way that its people, business processes, different functional units and suppliers come together to meet the needs and wants of its customers. Productivity is the combination of intelligent planning and focused efforts and hence, it is a combination of Efficiency and Effectiveness. Efficiency : Efficiency is an internal measure of performance for companies that shows how well the company converts inputs into outputs. The more the ratio of outputs to inputs approaches 100 percent, the better the efficiency of the process will be. In simple terms, it is “doing things right” and comes from proper harnessing of time, cost and efforts. Effectiveness : Organizational effectiveness is an external measure of performance and indicates how well an organization fulfills the demands of various organizational stakeholders. Simply put, it is “doing the right things."

Question 15

Which of the following are examples of plagiarism? I. Using someone else's idea in your own writing, and including an in-text citation that links to a works-cited list. II. Using someone else's words in your writing without putting quotation marks a…

Accepted Answer

Plagiarism is when you copy someone's work and try to pass it off as your own. Plagiarism can be a violation of copyright laws and can be considered cheating, resulting in you getting a failing grade or even being kicked out of school.

Question 16

Selecting and managing marketing channels : On what criteria can channel members be evaluated for their proper selection?

Accepted Answer

The SCPCA method can be used to evaluate channel members a) Sales (S): How much sales each channel member can give within a cetain time frame b) Cost(C): How much cost would be incurred for each channel? c) Profitability(P): Which channel can give better profitability to the company? d) Control(C): Whether company can have better control over its channel members or not e) Adaptability (A): Whether the channel alternatives are flexible enough to any changes or not The channel meeting the objectives of the company is selected

Question 17

Selecting and managing marketing channels : How are the channel members managed and motivated, once they are selected?

Accepted Answer

These days channel members are being accepted by companies as their partners The intermediaries are even being asked to integrate their business with the companies which results in lesser costs, greater efficiency and improved customer service Corporates like Airtel are adopting PRM (Partner relationship management) software to give that added advantage to their supply chain They organise rewards and recognition programs for their channel partners and also organise proper channels though which partners can vent any of their grievances relating to payments, violation of codes etc

Question 18

Selecting and managing marketing channels : What are the factors to be considered before deciding upon setting up a channel?

Accepted Answer

aUnderstanding the customer profile : the tastes,preferences, habits of the customers may differ from person to person bDetermining the objective as to who would be the target market, whether the company wants to go for cost minimisation or not etc cType of channel members :Who all would be involved? Wholesalers, retailers? dThe criteria on which the channel members would be evaluated and selected eHow many intermediaries will be involved in the overall distribution?

Question 19

Designing pricing strategies and programs : How do sellers respond to price changes of their competitors?

Accepted Answer

In the light of competition, it may be seen that competitors may initiate price changes If the cutting off on prices does not affect the company, then the current pricing strategy itself can be continued to maintain the profitability of the company However if the price change on one firm is affecting the other, then it can: areduce the product price at par with competitors’ price or below competitors’ price or b Provide added advantage to the existing product like better quality, or ‘a buy one get one free’ offer or cProvide better quality of the product at a higher price thereby not being at par with the competitors

Question 20

Designing pricing strategies and programs : How do buyers respond to price changes?

Accepted Answer

Depending upon the increase or decrease in price rates, buyers may respond accordingly Some buyers may assume that quality of the product may have reduced to to reduction in price or that the company may not be selling the product as per expectations The other assumption that buyers may make is that prices may go down in the future and so may delay purchase On the other hand increased price may lead to a decrease in demand as the product may be more costly for the consumers who may switch to another seller offering similar products at lower prices

Marketing and Sales Questions