Management Guru Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri's Interview:-

Sharpen your marketing skills

What is marketing management?
Normally marketing management is defined as a process of identifica­tion of the needs existing In mar­kets (consumers) and satisfying them in a manner resulting in an increased market share for the organisation. The whole effort is directed at making the consumers more satisfied in order to beat the competition and Increase profits. Thus theoretically speaking, market­ing management would deal with topics like analysing market opportunities, researching and selecting target markets, designing marketing strate­gies, planning the marketing programmes, organis­ing, implementing and controlling the marketing effort.

Practical facts about marketing management
Despite strong claims by marketing men about marketing being a social and managerial process which aims to satisfy the consumers and by fulfilling his needs the reality is quite different. What we see in reality is a frantic attempt by most of the organisa­tions to Increase their market share, very often by bringing in dissatisfaction in the mind of a satisfied consumer and then pushing in their product as the satisfier. So instead of Identifying needs It becomes an attempt to create needs. It has to be kept in mind that "need being a state of felt deprivation" is a relative term and can be created In an individual by making him feel deprived. This process is done with the help of advertising and other such methods.

Marketing management and the Indian market
For the success of marketing efforts in any market, the most important (actor Ls the existence of purchas­ing power amongst the consumers. This is what the Indian market lacks. Organisations have to realise that for their own future and increased profits they need a market which has got purchasing power and it is less often because of poor marketing strategies that they fall and more often due to the former reason.

The papers that should be taught in a marketing management specialization
Ideally, a marketing management specialisation should cover the following subjects: Sales manage­ment, advertising, brand management, distribution management, marketing communication, strategic marketing, research methodology, marketing research, consumer behavior, direct marketing, ser­vices marketing, rural marketing, social marketing, political marketing, quantitative techniques In mar­keting, international and industrial marketing.