AMITY SCHOOL OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY

AMITY UNIVERSITY

Module III
MARKETING AND RETAILING MIX

Program : B.Des Fashion Design

Course Title: Fashion Marketing and Merchandising IV
Course Code: FASH 235
 Objective of Module

By the end of this module students will be able to understand

 Students will learn about the Marketing Principles and its planning process.
 The aim is to enable the students, unique aspects and concept of marketing and Retail mix
 Students will understand the marketing planning and process in the domestic as well as
International scenario.
Marketing is an ancient art and has, since the day of Adam and Eve, been practiced in one
form or the other. In the modern world, Marketing is everywhere; most of the task we do and
most of the things we handle are linked to marketing. Marketing is an activity. Marketing
activities and strategies result in making products available that satisfy customers while
making profits for the companies that offer those products. Your morning tea, your
newspaper, your breakfast, the dress you put on for the day, the vehicle you drive, the mobile
in your pocket, the quick lunch you have at the fast-food joint, the PC at your desk, your
internet connection, your e-mail ID almost everything that you use and everything that is
around you, has been touched by marketing. Marketing has its imprint on them all depending
on the product and the context/experience the imprint may be visible or subtle. But it is very
much there. Marketing permeates most of your daily activities. Marketing is an omnipresent
entity.
 Meaning of Market and Marketing

A market is any such person, group or organization which has existing or potential exchange
relationship. It starts with customers and ends with customers. Creation of superior customer value
and delivering high levels of customer satisfaction are at the heart of present-day marketing.
Companies today, needs to understand customer needs, study completion, develop and offer
superior value at reasonable price, and make the product available to customer at convenient place.
Only then their products will be in demand and sell consistently.

Marketing deals with customers. It is delivery of customer satisfaction at a profit. The twofold goal of
marketing is to attract new customers by promising superior value and to keep current customers by
delivering satisfaction.
 Definition of Marketing
Market The concept of market has undergone significant changes over the years, commensurate with the
changes in the structure and scope of markets.

Kotler (1) defined market as

“A set of all actual and potential buyers of a product.” This definition implies that wherever there is a buyer of
a product or service, there is a market. It succeeded in changing the view that market is a place. Further this
definition also indicates that market refers to the existence of buyers of a product or service, that when these
things get exchanged, the marketing process commences.

Kohl‟s and Uhl (2) characterized market as

“an arena, wherein all buyers and sellers were highly sensitive to each others' transactions, and where what
one did affected the other.”

This concept of market focuses on a situation where all buyers and sellers would be able to communicate
with one another; they would also be capable, of exchanging products with each other. It could also be
inferred from the definition that buyer-seller interaction is crucial to market.
 Marketing Concepts

Marketing concept has undergone a great change over the period. The different
stages of change are explained below.

1. PRODUCTION CONCEPT OF MARKETING This is the oldest concept of

marketing. It emphasizes that consumers will favour those products that are
available and highly affordable and therefore management should focus on
improving production and distribution activities. This holds good when

I. the demand for a products exceeds the supply and

II. the product cost is high. To overcome the problem of cost, production should
take place in large scale to meet the demand.

At the same time, price should also be addressed so that by making available
large quantity, buyer who wants to buy the product would be able to buy. But there
are occasions when the product is not attractive, even at low price, the buyers may
not buy the product.
2. PRODUCT CONCEPT OF MARKETING
This concept believed that the consumers would favor those products that offer the best quality, performance and
features and therefore the organization should devote its energy to making continuous product improvements. This
concept implies that there is no effort required for marketing a product, as long as the product is good and its price
is reasonable. This concept remained as an important guideline for the manufacturers for quite a long time. But
when considering the reality, it could easily be proved that this concept is not true. A producer may feel that he
should come up with a good quality product, while the consumers may look for better solution to a problem. FOR
EXAMPLE, colleges may feel that the high school students want a liberal arts education, failing to note that the
preference is for vocational education. Hospitals may feel that patients want fast cure, but patients may be looking
for permanent remedy. The consumers may not be aware of the product features and qualities unless a vigorous
selling effort is made by the producers. Further, now a days every manufacture has a separate research and
development section to facilitate continuous product improvement. For example, from a 7 stage of ordinary washing
soap, continuous research has brought us the detergent powder easy to use. But this concept of marketing would
expect a well-organized promotional drive to make the product a success.
3. SELLING CONCEPT OF MARKETING In this concept the importance of sales efforts to be undertaken to
make the consumers buy the products which otherwise will remain unsold. So every organization has to
make substantial selling and promotional effort to push the sales of its product. Even the best product cannot
have desired sales without the help of sales promotion and aggressive salesmanship. This concept points
out that goods are not bought but they have to be sold through organized advertisement and sales promotion
efforts. FOR EXAMPLE, goods like automobiles are not readily bought by the consumers and they have to
be sold only through promotional effort. Hence, the producers must develop effective promotional effort.
Hence, the producers have to develop effective promotional programmes to sell the products. Even in the
case of election, several political parties attempt to project their candidates by using various promotional
efforts. While there is nothing illogical about this approach, yes, producer might have to conceal the flaws in
the product and hard sell the product. Hence, more often than not, the consumers regret their decision after
purchasing the product. Even if they try to force the producers to compensate the loss, it might not be
forthcoming.
4. PROFIT CONCEPT OF MARKETING According to profit concept of marketing, there is a necessity for the
marketing function to generate profit for the organization. But it is the production activities which would
determine the cost of manufacturing and so profit generation becomes the ultimate responsibility of the
marketing function. For this purpose, the marketing personnel have to identify the right product and take it to
the right people at the right time at right price through the right channel and with right promotion. This would
indicate the extent to which the marketing function has to ensure profit realization for a firm. This in turn will
force the production function to minimize its cost of production so that marketing function can try to optimize its
activities by maximizing profit at minimum cost. On its part, the production department has to protect its own
interest. So now a days, the production department would sell the product to marketing at a price befitting its
cost of production and a market quantum of profit. In turn, the marketing would determine a price with which it
would be able to generate profit and also meet its promotional expenses. Hence this concept of marketing
underscores the need to minimize cost at every level, so that at every level every function can earn profit.
5. MODERN MARKETING CONCEPT The modern marketing concept revolves around customer. It focuses on
the ultimate customer and undertakes to meet his requirements in full. For this the organization has to correctly
understand the customer requirement and deliver the desired products more effectively and efficiently than the
competitors. 8 Hence a major shift took place in emphasis from product to customer. This has led to the
manufacturers accept the philosophy, manufacturer is following the old approach, [manufacturing what he can],
then be would be out of business in no time. The modern concept is built in recognition of consumers‟
sovereignty and so it helps every organization to maximize customer satisfaction and profit. It is this realization
of the need to study customer want that very detailed research efforts are made to study and analyze
consumer behavior. Similarly marketing information system has become a significant method of receiving
valuable inputs about consumers‟ wants and needs. Based on this approach, every manufacturer has to
redefine his production decision from design to delivery. A constant study of the change in consumer's behavior
has become a necessity to remain in business. The unique selling proposition is developed on the basis of
customer's reaction to various product features.
6. SOCIAL MARKETING CONCEPT This philosophy of marketing underlines the importance of marketing
activities to support and ensure social well-being. Marketing should determine the needs, wants and interests of
target markets and deliver the desired satisfaction effectively. Only through this marketing can keep the
competitors at bay. This broadened role of marketing is prescribed for marketing as in modern days, several
products and services hasten environmental pollution, scarcity and inflation.
FOR EXAMPLE, excessive use of ground water resources to produce mineral water and earn money will result in
faster depletion of water source. Similarly, use of harmful ingredients in product manufacturing/process, would
cause irreparable damage to human beings.
 Role of Marketing

Some of the most important role of marketing in making a product successful are as
follows:
1. Meets consumer needs and wants:
Needs pre-exist in market. Marketers identify the needs of the consumer and adopt their
marketing strategies accordingly. They influence wants, as these are shaped by cultural and
individual personalities. Their needs are satisfied through the exchange process.
2. Ensures organization survival, growth and reputation:
A business survives because of customer retention and increase in the market share. Marketing
helps companies achieve their objectives because it is customer-centric. Marketing helps in
satisfying customers beyond their expectations.
3. Widens market:

Marketers use mass communication tools such as advertising, sales, promotion, event marketing and PR
to promote their products far and wide. Moreover, PR programmes build and protect a company’s image
and product. Revolutions in media technology have made market­ing more interactive.

4. Adapting the right price:

Price is a critical element in the marketing mix of a producer because it generates revenue. Marketing
strategies help in setting fair prices, incorporating appropriate changes, and preparing a right approach.
The exchange process move smoothly when prices are fixed in a favorable manner.

5. Better product offerings:

Most companies sell more than one product. Physical products, that is goods have to be well packed and
labelled. In contrast, services are characterized by intangibil­ity and inseparability. Thus, marketing plays
an active role by designing and managing product offerings.
7. Management of demand:
Marketers are skilled professionals who play a key role in influencing level, timing and composition of
demand. A demand can be a negative demand, no demand, latent demand, declining demand,
irregular demand, full demand or overfull demand. Marketing helps in dealing with these varied levels
of demand.
8. Face competition:
Competitive orientation is important in today’s global markets. Marketing helps in maintaining balance
of consumers’ expectations and competitor’s offerings by monitor­ing the market closely. Superior
services, premium products and efficient dealership are used by marketers to retain their market share.
9. Discharge social responsibilities:
Rising customer expectations, government pressure and environmental degradation have forced
companies to practice higher levels of social responsibili­ties. Here, social marketing plays an
important role. Cause-related marketing is widely used by big corporate houses. For example,
through the promotion of low-priced Lifebuoy, Hindustan Unilever Limited spreads hygiene
awareness in rural areas.
10. Economic growth:
Marketing creates demand. Increased demand encourages production and distribution activities. As
a result, industrial growth is boosted, and income levels improve due to increased employment
opportunities. This improves the standard of living by offering superior and improved products.
Thus, the overall economic growth is boosted.
 Functions of Marketing

In most of the business the major purpose of marketing department is to generate revenue
for the business by selling want satisfying goods and services to the customers. In order to
fulfill this purpose, the Marketing Manager performs the following functions:

• RESEARCH FUNCTIONS
• EXCHANGE FUNCTIONS
• FUNCTIONS OF PHYSICAL TREATMENT
• FUNCTIONS FACILITATING EXCHANGE

These functions of Marketing are subdivided to understand the function clearly. The
following figure will clearly show the various functions of marketing department.
 Importance of Marketing
Importance of marketing can be studied as follows:

(1) Marketing Helps in Transfer, Exchange and Movement of Goods:

Marketing is very helpful in transfer, exchange and movement of goods. Goods and services are made
available to customers through various intermediaries’ viz., wholesalers and retailers etc. Marketing is
helpful to both producers and consumers.

(2) Marketing Is Helpful In Raising And Maintaining The Standard Of Living Of The Community:

Marketing is above all the giving of a standard of living to the community. Paul Mazur states, “Marketing is
the delivery of standard of living”. Professor Malcolm McNair has further added that “Marketing is the
creation and delivery of standard of living to the society”.
By making available the uninterrupted supply of goods and services to consumers at a reasonable price,
marketing has played an important role in raising and maintaining living standards of the community.
Community comprises of three classes of people i.e., rich, middle and poor. Everything which is used by
these different classes of people is supplied by marketing.
 (3) Marketing Creates Employment:
Marketing is complex mechanism involving many people in one form or the other. The major
marketing functions are buying, selling, financing, transport, warehousing, risk bearing and
standardization, etc. In each such function different activities are performed by a large number of
individuals and bodies.
Thus, marketing gives employment to many people. It is estimated that about 40% of total population
is directly or indirectly dependent upon marketing. In the modern era of large scale production and
industrialization, role of marketing has widened.
This enlarged role of marketing has created many employment opportunities for people.

(4) Marketing as a Source of Income and Revenue:

The performance of marketing function is all important, because it is the only way through which the
concern could generate revenue or income and bring in profits. Buskirk has pointed out that, “Any activity
connected with obtaining income is a marketing action. It is all too easy for the accountant, engineer,
etc., to operate under the broad assumption that the Company will realize many dollars in total sales
volume.
(5) Marketing Acts as a Basis for Making Decisions:

A businessman is confronted with many problems in the form of what, how, when, how much and for
whom to produce? In the past problems was less on account of local markets. There was a direct link
between producer and consumer.
In modern times marketing has become a very complex and tedious task. Marketing has emerged as
new specialized activity along with production.
As a result, producers are depending largely on the mechanism of marketing, to decide what to produce
and sell. With the help of marketing techniques, a producer can regulate his production accordingly.

(6) Marketing Acts as a Source of New Ideas:

The concept of marketing is a dynamic concept. It has changed altogether with the passage of time.
Such changes have far reaching effects on production and distribution. With the rapid change in tastes
and preference of people, marketing has to come up with the same.
Marketing as an instrument of measurement, gives scope for understanding this new demand pattern
and thereby produce and make available the goods accordingly.
 RETAILING MIX
Components of the retail mix that are ultimately the pieces of
the retailer’s strategy.
• 1. Price
What is my pricing strategy? What is my markup strategy and
how does that affect my overall retail price? You must make
sure you calculate your retail price based on the markup you
receive and not the costs involved. You also want to think about
profitability and relate this back to the goals of your area as well
as your organization.
• 2. Promotion
What promotional tools will you use to influence the consumer’s
purchase decision and, overall, their intention to purchase? This
is where you also want to make sure you include a budget that
shows where resources are allocated as well as a timetable for
the promotional activities. Remember to include specific
examples of your proposed promotional activities. Some
examples include online promotions, print advertising, and any
television advertising.
5. Presentation
Will you have a free-standing location? Will you be located in the mall? How is the location
you have chosen a good fit for your target market? It is during this time you will also want to
provide a thorough trade analysis that shows the population in the area and how they are a
good fit for your business.

6. Personnel
How are you selling to your customers? What kind of internal marketing supports your sales
team? What are the graphics that set your store apart? What does the signage look like inside
and outside of your store? These are all key elements you want to consider.
For the final segment of this section let’s take a look at how we the retailer can take the one
element of the mix (product) and transform it into a customer experience as well as why this is
important.
 Evaluation Process
• The course will be assessed by Multiple choice questions
and projects
• Discussion forum will be conducted with the student with
relevant topic to clear all the doubts related to the lecture.
References:

https://www.business2community.com/marketing/why-is-marketing-important-9-reasons-why-you-really-do-n
eed-it-02186221

https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/marketing/7-major-importance-of-marketing-marketing-management/2585
7

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/marketing.asp#:~:text=Marketing%20refers%20to%20activities%20a,
on%20behalf%20of%20a%20company
.

https://www.ama.org/the-definition-of-marketing-what-is-marketing/
THANK YOU