Sales Promotion: Tool of the Communication Mix. Sales promotions work by offering customers an incentive to buy now rather than in the future; they ‘accelerate’ sales. They provide additional value, in order to induce an immediate sale. Sales … [Continue reading] about Sales Promotion: Tool of the Communication Mix
Advertising, a tool of the communication mix. Advertising is a paid, mediated form of communication from an identifiable source, designed to persuade the receiver to take some action, now or in the future. One of the distinctive qualities that … [Continue reading] about Advertising: Tool of the Communication Mix
Understand the nature, purpose and scope of marketing communications. Learn about the three models of communication and describe how personal influences can enhance the effectiveness of marketing communication activities. Understand the role of … [Continue reading] about Marketing Communications
Marketing distribution channel (also known as the distribution channel) refers to the functions performed by the producer (marketer) or intermediaries to make a firm's goods or services available to the end-user (customer). Learn about the nature … [Continue reading] about Distribution Channels (Place in the Marketing Mix)
Product Strategy & Value Proposition in marketing. What is Product Proposition? "Anything that can be offered for use and consumption, in exchange for money or some form of other value, is referred to as a proposition or offering. We occasionally use … [Continue reading] about Product Strategy & Value Proposition
What is Branding - Meaning, importance, definitions, types, functions and related study notes. What is a Brand? A brand is perception resulting from experiences with, and information about, a company or line of products. A brand is more than just a … [Continue reading] about What is Branding? Study Notes on Brands and Branding
Public Relations: Tool of the Communication Mix. Public relations is a management activity that attempts to shape the attitudes and opinions held by an organisation's stakeholders. It attempts to identify its own policies with the interests of its … [Continue reading] about Public Relations: Tool of the Communication Mix
Pricing is one of the elements of the marketing mix and the only element that generates revenue; others elements are cost centres. There is a strong link between Pricing and the business model. Understand price, and understand its relationship with … [Continue reading] about Pricing Concepts (Marketing Mix)
Every new product goes through a product life cycle and the various stages in the life cycle impacts the marketing strategy and the marketing mix, and management decisions within the firm. Before Porter’s famous Five Forces Model came into existence … [Continue reading] about Industry or Product Life Cycle
Marketing Planning is the process of analysing marketing situations, deciding marketing objectives, and implementing various marketing strategies to achieve those objectives. Here's more on marketing planning and its process. What is Marketing … [Continue reading] about Marketing Planning (& Marketing Plan)
Consumer behaviour refers to the physiological process related to the emotions of the consumer. For Marketers, it is important to understand Consumer behaviour as it provides them with a better understanding of the buying pattern of consumers. … [Continue reading] about Consumer Behaviour: Theories and Concepts
A perceptual map (P-map) is a tool used to illustrate the consumer's perceptions of a product/ brand. A perceptual map is a tool for determining the position of a brand in the marketplace, based on consumer perceptions of the brand and its … [Continue reading] about Perceptual Maps (Positioning maps/P-maps)
The SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat) analysis is a useful tool for any business. SWOT is a two-dimensional analysis, in which the 'Internal' and 'External' dimensions of an organization are analysed. The objective of SWOT is to … [Continue reading] about SWOT Analysis
Marketing mix includes the "set of marketing tools that a firm uses to pursue its marketing objectives in the target segment". Marketing Mix 4P's: Product, Price, Place (distribution), Promotion - foundation model in marketing. This is the Shortened … [Continue reading] about Marketing Mix (4P’s and 7P’s Explained)
Essential Reading Bhattacharyya, D. K. (2009) Organisational Systems, Design, Structure and Management, 1st ed), Himalaya, Mumbai. Buchanan, D. A. & Huczynski, A.A. (2013) Organisational Behaviour: An Introductory Text (8th ed), Prentice Hall, Hemel … [Continue reading] about Organisation Structures for Effective Management: Books & Journals
Strategy involves setting goals, determining the best course of actions and allocating resources to achieve those goals. Here's an introduction to Strategy and Strategising. Strategy is a set of processes and activities: Consideration of … [Continue reading] about What is Strategy?
One of the best known classic marketing models, AIDA traces journey of a customer through Awareness, Interest, Desire and Action (Lamb, Hair and McDaniel, 2012). Stages of the AIDA model: Awareness: Focus on grabbing attention of consumers by using … [Continue reading] about AIDA model explained
Doing business or investing in foreign markets, especially emerging countries, carry a certain element of risk. The risks could be from the government that may decide to make changes to the country's foreign investment rules, or it could be a small … [Continue reading] about Country Risk Analysis
Organisational Behaviour: Books, Journals and Resources Best Organisational Behaviour Books Bhattacharyya, D. K. (2009) Organisational Systems, Design, Structure and Management, 1st ed), Himalaya, Mumbai. Buchanan, D. A. & Huczynski, A.A. … [Continue reading] about Organisational Behaviour: Books, Journals and Resources
Organizations consist of several factors such as functions, people, resources, etc. Differing organisational goals and objectives implies a varying degree of importance on each of these factors, that eventually give rise to different types and … [Continue reading] about Types of organizations
Best Marketing and Marketing Planning Books, Journals and Resources Best Marketing Books Here are the best books on marketing. Baines, P., Fill, C. and Rosengren, S., 2017. Marketing. Oxford University Press. Principles of Marketing (Philip Kotler, … [Continue reading] about Marketing: Books, Journals and Resources
Best Operations Books, Journals and Resources. Operations: Best Books Slack, N., Brandon-Jones, A. and Johnston, R. (2016), Operations Management, 7th Edition Operations: Journals Abdallah, A.B., Dahiyat, S.E. and Matsui, Y., (2019). Lean … [Continue reading] about Operations: Books, Journals and Resources
STRATEGY Books, Journals & Resources. Strategy Books Assen, M.V; Berg, G.V.D and Pietersma, P (2009). Key Management Models. 2nd ed. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. p1-77. EXPLORING CORPORATE STRATEGY (J JOHNSON, G, SCHOLES, K, & … [Continue reading] about STRATEGY Books, Journals & Resources
The theory of the firm, a microeconomic concept (in neoclassical economics), states that a company’s main goal should be to maximize profits, to create as big a gap between revenue and costs as possible by allocating resources to maximize net … [Continue reading] about Theory of the Firm
The General measure of Enterprising Tendency test (GET2) is a measure of enterprising tendency; developed for educational use and self assessment. The General Enterprise Tendency (GET) test measures five entrepreneurial attributes such … [Continue reading] about General Measure of Enterprise Tendency (GET) test
PESTLE analysis consists of components that influence the business environment and each letter in the acronym denotes a set of factors that directly or indirectly affect every industry. What is PESTLE / PESTEL / PEST Analysis? PESTLE, acronym for … [Continue reading] about PESTLE / PESTEL Analysis
A strategy refers to the set of actions that managers in a company take to increase their company’s performance. The strategy formulation task is the task of selecting strategies, whereas strategy implementation is the task of putting strategies into … [Continue reading] about 3 Levels of Strategy
The resource-based view (RBV) of strategy asserts that the competitive advantage & superior performance of an organisation are explained by the distinctiveness of its capabilities. It is sometimes also called the 'capabilities view'. Proponents … [Continue reading] about Resource Based View (RBV)
Personal Selling: Tool of the Communication Mix Personal selling concerns interpersonal communication and the role is largely one of representation. Personal selling is a highly potent form of communication simply because messages can be adapted … [Continue reading] about Personal Selling: Tool of the Communication Mix
The key role of direct marketing is to reach target audiences with personalized and customized messages that aim to provoke a change in the audience’s behaviour. A secondary role of direct marketing is to collect customer information, in order to … [Continue reading] about Direct Marketing
STP (acronym for Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning) is a three-step framework in marketing that enables firms to develop specific, actionable, and effective marketing strategies. Using the STP approach, marketers first identify distinct customer … [Continue reading] about Market Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP)
What is Ethics? Moral principles that govern a person’s behaviour or the conducting of an activity. The branch of knowledge that deals with moral principles. More definitions by Crane and Matten (2010, p.8). "Morality is concerned with the norms, … [Continue reading] about Ethical Theories: Overview
German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) is one of the most important philosophers although he is not very easy to understand. Kant was not a consequentialist, but attempted to base his moral theory on human reason rather than on feeling, as the … [Continue reading] about Kant’s Ethical Theory: Kantian Ethics, Categorical Imperatives, Morality
Market segmentation refers to the division of a market into different groups of customers with distinctly similar needs and product/service requirements. The variables used for segmentation include geographic, demographic, behavioural and … [Continue reading] about What is segmentation in marketing?
Target marketing involves selecting the appropriate target market/s from the entire market and effectively marketing to them. It is a common practice in marketing to divide the market into various smaller homogeneous segments and then target the more … [Continue reading] about Market Targeting Process in Marketing
In Marketing, Positioning is a concept that outlines how a business should market its products/services to customers. In positioning, the marketing team creates an image for the product, for its intended audience. Two fundamental elements: Physical … [Continue reading] about What is Positioning in Marketing?
In his book 'Swimming with the Sharks', the author Joris Luyendijk tries to find out what were the real reasons for the 2008 crash, and if sufficient measures have been taken post the crisis to prevent such instances from happening again. When … [Continue reading] about Swimming with the Sharks by Joris Luyendijk: Book Review
Michael Lewis Liar’s Poker (2006 [1989]) London: Hodder “Fuckspeak” in Finance: A Sociological and Gender Retrospective (Book Review) '"The fuckin’ frogs are getting their faces ripped off," said the Pirhana, meaning the French [government] were … [Continue reading] about Michael Lewis Liar’s Poker (Book Review)
The TOWS Matrix is a framework that enables businesses to come up with business strategies based on its SWOT analysis, by connecting the internal as well as the external factors (Weihrich, 1982). Considering the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities … [Continue reading] about TOWS Matrix
Every organization goes through different phases; an organizational life cycle divided into the following phases: Existence / Start-up (or Birth): Early days of the company. Survival: Organizations try to expand their business (try to achieve … [Continue reading] about What is Organisational Lifecycle?
Strategic analysis is the process of analyzing a company and its operating environment in order to come up with a suitable strategy. The exact definition of strategic analysis may vary a bit from an academic or business perspective. Strategic … [Continue reading] about What is Strategic Analysis?
Mergers and Acquisitions An acquisition is when you buy another business and end up controlling it. A merger is when you integrate your business with another and share control of the combined businesses with the other owner(s). Mergers and … [Continue reading] about Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)
Finance and Accounting for Managers. Managers need to have enough information about finance/accounting that will help them make good decisions based on financial data, and enable them to evaluate company performance. Introduction It is important to … [Continue reading] about Finance and Accounting for Managers
Characteristics of Corruption: Occurs and takes on various forms and functions in different contexts. Petty vs Grand Corruption Collusive vs Extortive "Corruption is indeed one of the greatest evils of our time. Corruption rewards those who do … [Continue reading] about Corruption Theories
The distribution of wealth and capacity to generate incomes in the world can be captured in the form of an economic pyramid, known as the BOTTOM OF THE PYRAMID (BOP) – Prahalad 2005. At the top is the rich and at the bottom is the poor (BOP). With … [Continue reading] about Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP)
