Page 28 - DMGT408DMGT203_Marketing Management

Unit 1: Marketing: Scope and Concepts

customers still takes 18 to 24 months. Given these dynamics, it is more profitable to retain Notes
an existing customer than fighting for a new customer.
Today, non-portability of numbers in India acts as one of the biggest retention devices but
this could be a temporary benefit. During the early stages of mobile telephony, customer
retention typically meant providing basic customer services.
But when new entrants were actively wooing our customers, we recognised the need to
focus on customer retention. We formed the Customer Asset Management (CAM) team,
the business division parallel to our sales business unit. This team has a single-minded
focus on retention activities with a direct say in all aspects of the business.
We also started to focus on attracting the right quality of customers. Towards this, we fine-
tuned our acquisition strategy. We are exploring alternative channels for selling.
It is important for a service brand to create differentiation, which is an experiential sum of
all its interactions with the customer.

The total experience is our ability to deliver advanced products first in the market, providing
an impeccable network quality and rounding off the product experience with a memorable
service experience every time the customer interacts with us.
Source: Krishna Angara, Executive Vice President, BPL Mobiles, Business Standard, June 19, 2005
The major differences between selling concept and marketing concept:
1. The selling concept starts with the seller and its focus is on existing products, it being
seller-oriented. The company believes in aggressive selling and other promotions.
Customer value and satisfaction are no concern for the seller. The firm produces the
products first and then figures out ways to sell and make profits. Different company
departments operate without coordination.
2. Marketing orientation starts with the customer and the company strives to learn customer
needs and wants, develops appropriate products or services to satisfy the customer.
Business is viewed as a customer need satisfying activity. All departments coordinate
their activities and the focus is on customer needs. Profits are an outcome of doing the job
well by the company. It requires reliable company-wide information system and maintains
it. All departments are responsive to informational inputs. Everybody understands the
critical role played by marketing, a fact visibly demonstrable when the head of marketing
is part of top management.

Societal Marketing Concept

Marketing concept was accepted widely among companies in developed and some developing
countries and continued to evolve and take on new meanings. Not long after this, criticism
started about the nature of its social responsibility. The emphasis shifted to how marketing
affected society as a whole in an age of depleting and increasingly scarce resources, environmental
deterioration, etc. It was good enough to produce what customers needed or wanted, and for
achieving organisational objectives, but in certain cases the concept could be in conflict with
customers' and society's best long-run interests. Societal marketing concept is a management
philosophy that takes into account the welfare of society, the organisation, and its customers.

Adoption of this concept requires that marketing decisions be made in an ethical and socially
responsible manner. Companies must pay attention not only to the short-term needs of customers
but also to their long-term well being. This includes, for instance, excess fat content in ready-to-
eat foods, toxic wastes, and environmental issues.

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