Orientation For Corporate Connect on Marketing and Product Management

The orientation session conducted on 17th September 2022, which was the first event of the Corporate Connect series of CHRIST University School of Business and Management (CUSBMA), Lavasa- Pune campus was addressed by Mr. Anirudh Venkitaraman. The accomplished expert explained in a very lucid way of all key areas that are essential for a business organization to take into consideration such as product development strategy through roadmaps, competitor analysis, market size and revenue potential, product cannibalization, defining the consumer segment, consumer retaining and maximizing market share were also discussed. It was learnt that a particular good’s lifestyle in the market has four stages i.e., The inception or initial testing phase, the acceleration or rapid growth period, the maturity phase, also called the plateau growth stage and ultimately. the declining phase.

The 5 P’s of marketing were also mentioned, which consisted of Product, Price, People, Promotion and Place. Furthermore, the distinguished speaker threw light on the USP (Unique Selling Point) of electric vehicles, which is less maintenance and cost of running over petrol and diesel automobiles along with the process of defining a new customer segment for the product. The session came to an end with an informative question and answer forum, which left us all inspired for the rest of our lives. key areas, as well as the life cycle of commodities in the market.

He also extended the 5 P’s with reference to the following:

Product:

The product is something that you have that serves the needs of the customers. It is tangible (a physical item) or intangible (like digital items or services). Now, we all know that the product is what you are selling and what you have to market. So, the question is, how does it connect to the marketing strategy? You have to assess your product and connect the dots to the needs of customers. Demand can’t be created for a desire that does not exist. If the customer is not aware of what your product does, they will definitely have a need or a desire that your product solves and that you need to connect.

Marketing may also demand a modification of the product or its positioning, a pivot if you will. Or simply an addition of features based on user demand. For example, many Slack users often go to Meet or Zoom for their calls. Slack now provides this in its own app.

This brings more things to the scope of marketing, such as distribution of the product, the context where customers of this product directly think of the product, habits, and how frequently they need to come to your product. We think that’s why the ‘People’ and ‘Positioning’ part is as important as the ‘Product’ in this day and age.

Pricing:

Pricing is one of the key determiners of a customer’s decision. Especially if you have accessible competitors, a customer will often vet all options before choosing one. So, a marketing strategy needs you to correctly price your product while not only considering what your customers can pay but also considering what your competitors are charging.

If we look at the determiners for setting a pricing model, they are:

• Internal costs – Costs of manufacturing the product or running the business.

• Competitors – What competitors are charging for the same product

• Accessibility – How accessible are products of competitors?

• Buying power – How much buying power do your customer profile have to pay for your product?

• Model – How are you going to charge for the product? (Lumpsum, Monthly, Annual, etc.)

• Quality – Does the quality you provide match the price you want to charge?

There are also some psychological elements to pricing, and going into them will need a separate article. To provide a quick example, many vendors often use the pricing of a plan to prime users to another plan. For example, if you get 10 packs of chips for $100 and 30 packs of chips for $200, the latter would seem like a greater deal even if you don’t need 30. There are many more strategies that you can read up on. We recommend that you start by reading on Porter’s five force analysis for analyzing the competitive landscape of an industry.

Place/Placement:

Both place and placement are used to talk about this second P. It includes both location and placement. Let’s start with location. Where does your target audience reside? If you are targeting a particular geographic area, you are dependent on several things: the population of the area, the buying power of the area, the spending patterns of people in the area. Or, if you are in B2B, you could replace it with the type of company. A prospect in a third-world country will not have the same buying power as the prospect in a first-world country. With digital marketing, the lines have now gotten thinner as you go global, but the geographic properties still need to be kept in mind while marketing.

Coming to placement, where you put your ads matters greatly. Are you putting them in places where your buyer already has intent and searching for something you already offer? (e.g., Search Ads) Or, are you putting them in a place where they are not actively looking for something? (e.g., Display ads)

• Market condition – Is the market condition favorable to charge a particular price?

Which platforms you are placing them at only greatly affects the outcome of your marketing strategy. Different websites, platforms, and communities have different types of buyers, and you need to keep that in mind.

Promotion:

Placement and promotion go side by side, and there are some overlaps with what we discussed already. Promotion is how you promote your product.

Do you want to run ad campaigns? Do you want to send outreach emails? Do you want to promote your products in certain groups? Do you want to promote certain websites?

People:

Big brain moment here, people. The amendment to the list that kind of seems obvious but needs to be pointed out anyways. People include both your staff and your customers, and they make your business.

Every marketing strategy needs to consider people – their behavior, their fears, psychosocial elements, and everything that connects a person to the business.

Now, coming to staff, they are your colleagues and employees. Who you hire, what motivates them, how they work, and the overall atmosphere in your company will shape how you grow.

We also cannot forget the importance of positioning as it exists in your audience’s mind. To quote Wikipedia again, “Positioning refers to the place that a brand occupies in the customers’ minds and how it is distinguished from the products of the competitors and different from the concept of brand awareness.”

Overall, it was an informative and interactive session and gave us insights about the concepts of product management as well as marketing, which form an essential part in the working of a business corporation. By citing a few personal and relatable examples, the learned speaker helped the target audience to understand how these tools are dealt with in the corporate world.