Changing face of Marketing

Marketing has undergone a metaphasis during the past decade. Markets and consumers are changing. Today markets are both online and offline. Online markets are flourishing because of many factors like convenience to the consumers as everything is a click away; better prices as the number of intermediaries are less and the benefits are passed on to the consumers; geographical barriers have been overcome as anyone living in any part of the country can order online; a large variety of products are available; assurance of quality products makes it easy to shop; further ease of payments like cash on delivery are attracting those customers who are apprehensive of credit card payments and fraud online; return policy makes it flexible to exchange or return the product if it does not satisfy the customer. Besides these online markets the offline markets are also changing as more and more retail formats are coming into the country. In short the organised retail business is increasing in size.

The consumer behaviour is also changing. Consumers are becoming more brand conscious, but at the same they are also value conscious. We have the largest youth population in the world.  Along with it a large middle class. Youth are more susceptible to technological changes and their adaption cycle is faster. As a consequence, companies are foreseeing a new class of consumers who are not traditional buyers. They are open to buying anything online as long as it suits their pocket, is trendy and appeals to them. The traditional culture of saving consumer to indulging consumer is a new phenomenon. Further services are available online like buying movie tickets to booking a holiday.

 

In view of the above scenario, marketers are using social media as an effective medium of advertising rather than the traditional newspaper or television advertisements. They are trying to connect with the youth through twitter and Facebook. Every retailer in order to survive has come up with a brick and mortar store as well as virtual stores. Smart consumers have to be dealt with smart marketing strategies. Event marketing is gaining footage. Customer relationship marketing has reached new levels. The key to the business has changed from need based marketing to partnership marketing, where customers are treated as partners. Innovative marketing is the new buzz word. Getting to know the ever changing consumer behaviour has become a challenge for marketers. Thus market research both qualitative and quantitative has gained much importance in today’s scenario. Marketing activities of a company must be dynamic to suit the market conditions. Those companies which take longer to adapt their marketing strategies to the new market scenario find themselves out of sync. Many examples can be cited although the most popular one being NOKIA.

Thus the new marketing goes beyond the four p’s or seven p’s of marketing. Rather it is a 360-degree approach to knowing the customer and serving him best.

Dr. Sartaj Khera

Assistant Professor

Dept. of Management Studies