Explain any four functions of Marketing.
Answer – Marketing is a social process through which people obtain what they need and want by creating, offering and exchanging products of value. Marketing management selects target markets and attracts, retains and grows customers by creating, delivering and communicating superior value.
- Gather and analyse market information: understand customers, competition and opportunities.
- Marketing planning: set targets and coordinate activities to achieve them.
- Product design and development: create suitable features, quality and appearance.
- Standardisation and grading: set standards and classify products into quality groups.
- Packaging and labelling: protect products and communicate identity and information.
- Branding: give products a distinctive identity.
- Customer support: provide after-sales service, complaints handling, maintenance and useful assistance.
- Pricing: decide the amount customers pay, considering cost, demand, competition and objectives.
- Promotion: communicate and persuade through suitable tools.
- Physical distribution: make products available through appropriate channels and logistics.
- Transportation: move goods from production to consumption points.
- Storage and warehousing: maintain supplies between production and sale and protect goods.
These functions must work together; strong promotion cannot permanently compensate for an unsuitable product or unreliable delivery.