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Business Dictionary defines green marketing as promotional activities aimed at taking advantage of changing consumer attitude towards a brand. These changes are Increasingly being influenced by a firm’s policies and practices that affect the quality of the environment and reflect the level of Its concern for the community. It can also be seen as the promotion of environmentally safe or beneficial products.
Definition: All activities designed to generate and facilitate any exchanges intended to satisfy human needs or wants, such that the satisfaction of these needs and wants occurs, with minimal detrimental Impact on the natural environment Green Marketing In arms of Price, Product, Place and Promotion: Green Marketing begins with ‘green design’. Product design constitutes an active interface between demand (consumers) and supply (manufactures). The product itself has to be made in such a way that it satisfies consumer and manufactures needs.
For ecologically sustainable products to be successful, green branding attributes have to be efficiently communicated. Most buyer decisions are influenced by the labeling, (green labeling) that states all that makes the product green compliant. The price of green product has to be affordable for the customer to encourage purchase. Industrial differentiation works only when products reduce client’s cost. Most buyers are influenced by advertisement that reflects a company’s commitment to environment. Companies that do green advertisement that tend to portray an image of environmental friendliness, Influences their customer purchase decisions.
Consumers love to associate themselves with companies that are environmental stewards. When a company communicates this through their advertisements, promotions, publicity and corporate social responsibilities, they are sure to get many loyal customers. Green distribution Is a very delicate operation. Customers must be guaranteed of the ‘Ecological nature’ of the product. The green environment Is a constantly regulated environment and as such high level of compliance is necessary when carrying out distribution of green products. Why green marketing is important? ‘OFF marketing is playing a vital role nowadays.
Green marketing is important for the firms to utilize the limited resources satisfying the consumer needs as well as achieving the organization’s selling objectives. It also looks at how marketing activities utilize these limited resources, while satisfying consumers wants, both of individuals and industry, as well as achieving the selling organization’s objectives. It also improved environmental quality & customer satisfaction, Consumer value positioning, efficiency and cost effectiveness, health and safety, gaining and retaining customer’s innovation in products and operation staff development.
It is a marketing tool used to help address the social issues of the day, through providing resources and funding, whilst at the same time addressing important business objectives. Examples of Cause Related Marketing in the UK include a partnership by Catbird Limited and Save the Children which raised funds for Save the Children and focused community programmers to the benefit of Actuary’s corporate image. Another good example from the retailing industry is Deco’s ‘Free Computers for Schools’ which is based on parents and friends of schools collecting vouchers in proportion to the amount of money they spend in Tests stores.
When Cause Related Marketing works well, everyone wins – the company, the cause and the consumer. In business terms, this is known as a win/win/ win situation. Why Is Cause-Related Marketing So Important? Importance of cause-related marketing. The first study mentioned was the 2012 Sponsorship Report by GIG Consulting. According to that report, cause-related marketing in North America is projected to grow 3. 1% this year to $1. 7 billion. The second study mentioned in the Adage article was the 2010 Cone Cause Evolution Study.
That study pointed out that in 2010, 83% of Americans over the age of 18 wished that more of the products, services and retailers that they use would support causes. The last figure alone should help brands understand the importance of cause-related marketing. For brands that sell products and services that are targeted to Gene Y consumers, cause-related marketing might be even more important. Cause-Related Marketing and Gene Y Generation Y (Gene Y), also known as the Millennial Generation (or Millennial), are particularly interested in supporting brands that support the causes that they care about. In a blob post on blob. Reckless. Com, Jeff From, SSP of Sales, Marketing & Innovation at Barley, points out that, “This generation’s purchase decisions are heavily influenced by their opinions of a company’s because marketing initiatives. They also value charitable contributions via cause marketing because of the ease of participation and the scope of impact that a corporate-based charitable program can have in comparison to an individual donation. “From goes on to mention that showing Gene Years that the brand cares is critical for brands that are searching for ways to engage and tap into this generation of consumers.
Kit Yarrow, Ph. D. , and Jane O’Donnell also emphasize that cause-related marketing is important to Gene Y consumers. Gene Years, in part by virtue of their age but also because of our more superficial society, are yearning for purpose and want to belong to something bigger than them. They are often genuinely attuned to and passionate about causes, but there are other reasons why this technique has worked so well. Causes also add purpose and meaning to shopping-??and sometimes Just enough added benefit to rationalize a purchase.
Being seen by others as being passionate about a cause is en gouge-??and it unites people together. ” Yarrow and O’Donnell also point out that, “Businesses that support causes also appear to be more compassionate and socially responsible than those that don’t, which is reassuring and a stamp of quality to Gene Years. Many Gene Years make it their business to support the brands and retailers that they perceive to be good to their employees, good for the environment, or doing something good for the world. E-MARKETING Internet marketing, also known as online marketing or e-marketing, is the marketing and promotion of products or services over the Internet. Electronic marketing refers to the application of marketing principles and techniques via electronic media and more specifically the Internet. The terms E-Marketing, Internet marketing and online marketing, are frequently interchanged, and can often be considered synonymous- Marketing is the process of marketing a brand using the Internet.
It includes both technologies to help connect businesses to their customers. By such a definition, E- Marketing encompasses all the activities a business conducts via the worldwide web with the aim of attracting new business, retaining current business and developing TTS brand identity. Types of e-marketing Internet marketing is broadly divided in to the following types:- ; Display advertising: the use of web banners or banner ads placed on a third-party website or blob to drive traffic to a company’s own website and increase product awareness. Search engine marketing: a form of marketing that seeks to promote websites by increasing their visibility in search engine result pages (Seers) through the use of paid placement, contextual advertising, and paid inclusion, or through the use of free search engine optimization techniques. ; Search engine optimization (SEE): the recess of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the “natural” or UN-paid (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results. Social media marketing: the process of gaining traffic or attention through social media websites such as Face book, Twitter and Linked. ;Email marketing: directly marketing a commercial message to a group of people using electronic mail. ;Referral marketing: a method of promoting products or services to new customers through referrals, usually word of mouth. ;Affiliate marketing: a marketing practice in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliates own marketing efforts. Inbound marketing: involves creating and freely sharing informative content as a means of converting prospects into customers and customers into repeat buyers. ;Video marketing: This type of marketing specializes in creating videos that engage the viewer into a buying state by presenting information in video form and guiding them to a product or service. Online video is increasingly becoming more popular among internet users and companies are seeing it as a viable method of attracting customers. Advantages Internet marketing is inexpensive when examining the ratio of cost to the reach of the target audience.
Companies can reach a wide audience for a small fraction of traditional advertising budget. The nature of the medium allows consumers to research and to purchase products and services conveniently. Therefore, businesses have the advantage of appealing to consumers in a medium that can bring results quickly. Internet marketers also have the advantage of measuring statistics easily and inexpensively; almost all aspects of an Internet marketing campaign can be traced, assured, and tested, in many cases through the use of an ad server.
The advertisers can use a variety of methods, such as pay per impression, pay per click, pay per play, and pay per action. Therefore, marketers can determine which messages or offerings are more appealing to the audience. The results of campaigns can be measured and tracked immediately because online marketing initiatives usually require users to click on an advertisement, to visit a website, and to perform a targeted action. Limitations many internet products are outright scams or promoted with deception making it official to know what one is buying.
This is especially the case with products that are supposed to train or aid Internet marketers in making money. While the quality of products has improved in the past few years, ethics is still often missing in internet marketing. Many so-called money making products are “empty boxes” in which there is essentially nothing there yet a buyer is to make money by reselling this empty box to others. Pyramid schemes are also still prevalent. ;The consumer is unable to physically feel or try on the product which can be a limitation for certain goods.
However a survey of consumers of cosmetics products shows that email marketing can be used to interest a consumer to visit a store to try a product or to speak with sales representatives. ;The marketer will not be able to use personal interaction to influence the audience as the marketing is completely based on the advertisement and the information that the advertisement might lead to (websites, blobs and other channels). MARKETING – ETHICAL MARKETING Ethics are moral guidelines which govern good behavior.
So behaving ethically is doing what is morally right. Behaving ethically in business is widely regarded as good easiness practice. An important distinction to remember is that behaving ethically is not quite the same thing as behaving lawfully: ;Ethics are about what is right and what is wrong ;Law is about what is lawful and what is unlawful An ethical decision is one that is both legal and meets the shared ethical standards of the community. Ethical practices are those practices that result in the greatest good and/or the greatest happiness for all.
Marketers can often drive human desires and behaviors, getting people to buy things that they may or may not need, making them feel better or worse about them in the process. So what are some of the ethical issues in marketing? First and foremost is using marketing to make a product that is clearly harmful more appealing to people – for instance, selling cigarettes by appealing to people at a deep emotional level? This can be achieved by linking the cigarette brand to independence, rebellion, good times, coming into one’s own power, etc. Next is getting people to buy things that they Just don’t need.
How many toys does one child actually need? How many pairs of shoes are enough? Or, how many homes are enough? Then there is using fear to sell something. As we all know, fear works really well as a motivator, however constantly using fear to market products and services only serves to create a more fearful society motivated more by avoidance of potential problems than by embracing that which is beneficial or uplifting. Making false claims is both unethical and illegal. For instance stating that one’s brand is “the best in the world,” because few people are going to take that statement at face value.
If you lie about what your product does and the consumer ends up finding out the reality right after purchase, you’re creating unhappiness and lack of good. Create more happiness rather than less, do better rather than less, and it’s inevitable that people will want your product in their lives more. And, is it better to market to and deliver on a need or a desire? Is one better than another? Problem? Is it another person’s right to Judge what is good or bad for another? A lot of practices have no ethical impact that feel like they might. Behaving in an ethical manner is the cornerstone of long-term profitability!
Some time we market our product in such a way that we degrade the other brand or product. For example honing your product in an advertisement and giving light image of competitor’s product as an ineffective product in both unethical and unlawful act. Finally, remember that the definition and ideal to strive for is to do the greatest good possible, which means minimizing or eliminating harm when and where possible. What if you’re confronted with a situation where a small amount of harm is generated or significant harm to a tiny number of people, and a large amount of good results?
The goal is to explore ways to remove that harm, and to find a better way to achieve the same result with less harm done. The reasons we behave unethically in marketing have less to do with ill intent and more to do with laziness or expediency. If you force yourself to do the maximum amount of good possible, there’s a strong chance that you’ll come up with some innovative new ways of doing the same old things. That eventually leads to transformation of your products, services, practices, and company, one that you can be proud to work at and proud to market as loudly as possible to the world.
FUTURE OF RETAILING Future of retailing – a brand new event providing the latest technologies, models and traceries for increasing sales, driving profits and inspiring innovation across the retail globe. Attended by regional and international retailers, retail distributors, mall operators and professional service providers, as well as developers, franchise operators, architects and designers; it will share progressive approaches to successful retail in both challenging and evolving markets.
Future Retail will equip you with tools required to: ;Increase Productivity: with a solid grasp of the newest supply chain, resounding, real estate and customer service strategies ;Drive Customer Loyalty: Measure and engage the metrics of customer loyalty and use your insight to increase sales and average spend ;Expand your brand: by truly engaging with the new consumer via the latest social media, technology and marketing expansion tools ;Grow internationally: Secure, protect and expand your international presence by selecting the right business model for your brand An ongoing study by PIG Media Lab reveals that shopper satisfaction at retail stores is declining up to 15% per year. Stores that used to define the diversity of shopping centers, from bookstores and clothing to consumer electronics and home goods, are closing.
Small and large brands alike are searching for strategies to react to the change in customer expectation, where online retailers win on prices and convenience. Three key future trends in retailing: Technology: Internet shopping will continue to grow and be the biggest threat to bricks and mortar retailers. You either have to Join in by offering a significant Internet presence, or offer something that can’t be done online – or both! Internet-based shopping will need to become a lot more interactive, making use of augmented on the Internet, and this is what retailers need to focus on. These would include: Creating shopping experiences. The look, feel, ambiance of your store needs to have something special, unique, noteworthy about it. Use the senses – smell, taste, feel cannot be sent by the Internet. ;Create a community of people who are passionate about your store and what you sell. Too many retailers focus only on how to create connections between themselves and their customers – you also need to find ways to create connections between your customers, so that you can build a fan base, a tribe, a community of passion around your store and your brand. ;Create reasons for people to come to your store. And give them someone (a real person) to connect to when they come. Your social media presence should be linked to real individuals, not a corporate presence. ;Surprise people.
The best recent example of this is what KILL did at Siphon airport during the recent holidays. They watched online for people using social media check INS (with gee-location sites like Foursquare, Go Walla or Face book Places). They then did a quick search of that person’s social media profile to find what they liked, bought an appropriate small gift for them, and then using their picture, scoured the airport o find them, wish them a good trip and give them a personalized gift. It cost very little but made a big impression. Demographics: Many retailers are youth obsessed. It’s good to be focused on getting the next generation into your store – your long term survival depends on it. But don’t forget about older generations.
Besides the fact that most of them are much more likely to want to come and shop in a high street retail store, there are very good reasons for having a specific strategy for older shoppers. More than half of all the people who have ever turned 80 are still alive. And the Baby Boomer generation (born after World War II and into the sass and sis) are about to start retiring. Except they won’t retire, Most of them are planning to continue working in one way or another. They 50 to 70 year old age group own about half of the wealth and control over half of the disposable income of this country. You must not ignore this age group. And they are a group that is used to having things made especially for them. You need to do that too.
To ensure that the supply chain is operate as efficient as possible and generate the highest level of customer satisfaction at lower cost. Companies have adopted supply chain management process and associated technology. The concept of Supply Chain Management is based on two core ideas. The first is that practically every product These organizations are referred to collectively as the supply chain. The second idea is that while supply chains have existed for a long time, most organizations have only aid attention to what was happening within their “four walls. ” Few businesses understood, much less managed, the entire chain of activities that ultimately delivered products to the final customer. The result was disjointed and often ineffective supply chains.
Supply chain process: If the company is expecting to achieve benefit from its supply chain management process, they will require some level of investment in technology. The objective of every supply chain is to maximize the overall value generated. The value a supply chain generates is the difference between what the final product is worth to the customer and the cost of supply chain incurs in filling the customer’s request. 1. Cycle View: The processes in a supply chain are divided into a series of cycle, each performed at the interface between two successive stages of a supply chain. Cycle view of Supply chain process includes: Customer order cycle – Replenishment cycle – Manufacturing cycle – Procurement cycle. 2.
Push/ Pull view: The processes in a supply chain are divided into two categories depending on whether they are executed in response to a customer order or in anticipation of customer orders. Pull process are initiated by a customer order, whereas push process are initiated and performed in anticipation of customer orders. Supply chain management involves developing efficient and effective information systems that can inform strategic decisions. The supply chain information systems rely on either EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) or the Internet to transmit information within the supply chain. Information systems are essential to managing a supply chain. Wall-Mart is using the supply chain management to increase the efficiency of global market supply and decrease the inefficiency of inventory, decision and handling.