Research can be defined as "A careful investigation or inquiry especially through search for new facts in any branch of knowledge". Data collection is an elaborate process in which the researcher makes a planned search for all relevant data. Data is the foundation of all marketing research. It is the raw material with which a market researcher functions. Data or facts may be obtained from several sources. Data can be classified as primary data and secondary data. Primary data is gathered for the first time by the researcher; secondary data is data that is collected by the researcher from secondary sources. Secondary can be internal or external. Marketing is the craft of linking the producers (or potential producers) of a product or service with consumers, both existing and potential. Some form of marketing arises naturally in all capitalist societies but is not limited to capitalist societies. Marketing techniques are also applied in politics, religion, personal affairs, and many other aspects of life. Marketing methods are informed by many of the social sciences, particularly psychology, sociology, and economics. Marketing research underpins these activities. Through advertising, it is also related to many of the creative arts. Successful marketers typically have a customer orientation or focus.
[...] In this case, the brand becomes a unifying force for the corporate group that transcends the different areas of business or organizational structure of the companies. As M&A activity and restructuring become increasingly common, it is likely that employees will no longer be unified by the conventional sense of belonging to a company. Rather, they will have to share a common recognition of the promise made by the brand. The vital first step towards creating a strong brand is for the company to determine what specific values the brand will offer its customers, both now and in the future. [...]
[...] Product management deals with questions like: What products to produce and sell What new products to add What existing products to discontinue How long will it take for a product to penetrate the market How many products to have in the product line How to balance a product portfolio Whether to use a product differentiation strategy What is the best product positioning What brand name to use Whether to use individual branding or family branding Whether to use product bundling or product lining What logo to use Product Life Cycle considerations Planned obsolescence considerations In marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a market that might satisfy a want or need. [...]
[...] Against the traditional brand management merchandising practice followed by most retailers, Pantaloon has employed the concept of product (which it calls category management) management in its day-to-day merchandising function. "The core assumption Pantaloon makes is that customers are more product-driven than brand-driven, when they go shopping", says Kishore Biyani, MD, Pantaloon Retail. Pantaloon's internal studies confirm this - out of every 100 customers that enter a retail store to buy a specific product are not very particular about the brand. [...]
[...] FOOD RETAILING IN INDIA From happy farmers to smiling customers In a country where there are grocery shops at every street corner and a vegetable & fruit vendor near each bus stop, how can organized retail of food become feasible? To counter the unbeatable advantages of convenience of a hop, skip and a jump access and home delivery, organized retailers seem to have just one option - offer attractive prices to the consumer. A successful retailer's winning edge will therefore come from sourcing - how best it can leverage its scale to drive merchandise costs down, increase stock turns and get better credit terms from its vendors. [...]
[...] If corporate management intends to invest in brand equity and take a long term position in the market (ie. penetration and growth strategy), it would be a mistake for the product manager to use short term cash flow objectives (i.e. price skimming strategy). Only when these conflicts and tradeoffs are made explicit, is it possible for all levels of objectives to fit together in a coherent and mutually supportive manner. Many brand managers set objectives that optimize the performance of their unit rather than optimize overall corporate performance. [...]
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