1. Lim Sei Kee @ cK

2.  If your business is to succeed, you have to be able to sell your product.  Businesses that succeed do so by creating and keeping customers.  They do this by providing better value for the customer than the competition.

3.  The main problem with this process is that the “environment” in which businesses operate is constantly changing.  SO? A business must adapt to reflect changes in the environment and make decisions about how to change the marketing mix in order to succeed.

4.  A marketing plan is a business document written for the purpose of describing the current market position of a business and its marketing strategy for the period covered by the marketing plan - include researching the market, through to the preparation of sales forecasts.

5.  Step 1 - market research  Step 2 - marketing mix  Step 3 - marketing strategy

6.  Looking at the market - how big is the market? What type of consumers are we aiming to attract? What is the spending pattern of the target consumers?  Competitors - who are the key competitors? How can we differentiate our product from theirs? What prices do they charge?  Price - we may need to test how sensitive consumers are to price changes (how elastic is the price?).  Promotions - if you are proposing any promotions or other advertising then it may be worth research to see what the reaction of consumers

7.  Two main types: desk research (or secondary research) and field research (primary research).

8. Research using secondary data. This is data that has already been found by someone and published. This may mean:  Using government published statistics  Using existing market research information  Using sales figures from competitors, together with pricing and product information  Trade associations  Internet

9.  Research that collects primary data. This is data or information that does not already exist. It can be collected through:  Customer questionnaires  Focus group  Direct mail surveys  Web-based surveys  Customer interviews

10.  The marketing mix is the balance of marketing techniques required for selling the product. Its components are often known as the four Ps:  Price  Product  Promotion  Place

11.  Price - the price of the product - particularly the price compared to your competitors. There are two possible pricing techniques: ◦ Market skimming - pricing high but selling fewer ◦ Market penetration - pricing lower to secure a higher volume of sales  Product - targeting the market and making the product appropriate to the market segment you are trying to sell into  Promotion - this may take the form of point of sale promotion, advertising, sponsorship or other promotions.  Place - this part of the marketing mix is all about how the product is distributed. Current trends are towards shortening the chain of distribution.

12.  There are two main types of promotion and these are:  Above the line promotion - above the line promotion is promotion that is carried out through independent media that enable a firm to reach a wide audience easily. These might include newspapers and television.  Below the line promotion - below the line promotion is promotion over which the firm has direct control. It includes methods of direct promotion like direct mailing, exhibitions and trade fairs and sales promotions.

13.  Choosing the appropriate medium for your promotion is important.  The firm will want the maximum exposure to the most appropriate audience to ensure people are as aware as possible about the product, service or brand.

14.  Trade journals  Newspapers & magazines  Cinema  Radio  Direct mail  Television  Sales promotions / discount schemes  Exhibitions/trade fairs  Personal selling

15. The choice of which medium you use is likely to be down to a number of factors, and these might include:  Cost  How well the method reaches the target market  The behaviour of competitors  Legal restrictions  How well the medium enables you to reach your desired marketing mix  The effectiveness of the medium and the impact it has

16.  A) Are you doing any market research? Why or why not?  B) What is your marketing mix?  C) What is your marketing strategy?