Marketing Environment Analysis The Companys Macro and Microenvironment

Marketing Environment Analysis

The Company’s Macro and Microenvironment

Analyzing the Marketing Environment • A company’s marketing environment consists of actors and forces outside marketing that affect marketing management’s ability to build and maintain successful relationships with target customers. Companies need to constantly watch and adapt to the changing environment.

• Marketers need to be environmental trend trackers and opportunity seekers. 2 special aptitudes of Marketers which equip them for the task : • Major tools : Marketing research and Marketing intelligence. • Time spent in customer and competitor environments.

Need for an Marketing Information System ( MIS) A MIS consists of people, equipment and procedures to gather, sort, analyze, evaluate, and distribute needed, timely and accurate information to marketing decision makers. It relies on : • Internal company records • Marketing intelligence activities • Marketing research

Internal Records • The Order – to payment Cycle • Sales Information Systems • Databases ( Customer, product and salesperson combined), Data Warehousing and Data Mining

Sources of the MIS • Sales force • Distributors, retailers and other intermediaries • Hiring of external experts to collect intelligence • Network internally and externally • Customer Advisory panels • Government data • Outside suppliers like Ac Nielsen- ORG MARG or TAM Media Research

Marketing Intelligence from the Internet • Customer Goods and Services Review Forums • Distributor or sales Agent feedback sites • Combo sites giving customer reviews and expert opinions • Customer complaint sites • Public blogs

Marketing Environment Micro environment : Company, suppliers, marketing intermediaries, customer markets, competitors and publics. Many of these actors can be controlled/influenced by the company with its own actions, and hence can also be called controllable factors.

Macro environment : Consists of larger societal factors that affect the microenvironment : Demographic , economic, natural, technological, political and cultural forces which cannot be controlled by the company , at least in the short run. These are the uncontrollable factors.

The Company’s Microenvironment Marketing Management’s task is to build relationships with customers by creating customer value and satisfaction.

Major actors in the Marketer’s Microenvironment To succeed marketers would need to build relationships with : Other company departments( Internal environment) Suppliers ( Important link in the company’s value delivery system) Marketing intermediaries ( Resellers, physical Distribution firms, marketing service agencies, and financial intermediaries). Currently viewed as partners.

Customers ( Consumer markets, business markets, reseller markets, Government markets, international markets) Competitors Various publics constituting the company’s value delivery network ( Financial, media, government, citizen – action, Local, general, internal)

The Company

Suppliers They provide the resources needed by the company to produce goods and services. Supplier problems can seriously affect Marketing Managers must watch supply availability and costs. Supply shortages or delays, labour strikes and other events can cost sales in the short run. Rising supply costs may force price increases that can harm the company’s sales volumes. Today suppliers are treated as partners in creating and delivering customer value.

Marketing Intermediaries • Marketing intermediaries help the company to promote, sell, and distribute its goods to final buyers. They include resellers, physical distribution firms, marketing services agencies, and financial intermediaries.

• Resellers are distribution channel firms that help the company find customers or make sales to them. These include wholesalers and retailers, who buy and resell merchandise. Selecting and working with resellers is not easy. • No longer do manufacturers have many small, independent resellers from which to choose. They now face large and growing reseller organizations. These organizations frequently have enough power to dictate terms or even shut the manufacturer out of large markets.

• Physical distribution firms help the company to stock and move goods from their points of origin to their destinations. Working with warehouse and transportation firms, a company must determine the best ways to store and ship goods, balancing factors such as cost, delivery, speed, and safety.

• Marketing services agencies are the marketing research firms, advertising agencies, media firms, and marketing consulting firms that help the company target and promote its products to the right markets. • When the company decides to use one of these agencies, it must choose carefully because these firms vary in creativity, quality, service, and price.

• Financial intermediaries include banks, credit companies, insurance companies, and other businesses that help finance transactions or insure against the risks associated with the buying and selling of goods. • Most firms and customers depend on financial intermediaries to finance their transactions.

• Like suppliers, marketing intermediaries form an important component of the company's overall value delivery system. In its quest to create satisfying customer relationships, the company must do more than just optimize its own performance. • It must partner effectively with marketing intermediaries to optimize the performance of the entire system.

• Today's marketers recognize the importance of working with their intermediaries as partners rather than simply as channels through which they sell their products. • For example, Coca-Cola recently signed a 10 -year deal with Wendy's that will make Coke the exclusive soft drink provider to the fast-food chain, picking up more than 700 Wendy's franchises that were previously served by Pepsi. • In the deal, Coca-Cola promised Wendy's much more that just its soft drinks. It pledged the powerful marketing support that comes along with an exclusive partnership with Coke.

Customers • The company needs to study its customer markets closely. There are five types of customer markets: • Consumer markets consist of individuals and households that buy goods and services for personal consumption. • Business markets buy goods and services for further processing or for use in their production process, whereas reseller markets buy goods and services to resell at a profit.

• Government markets are made up of government agencies that buy goods and services to produce public services or transfer the goods and services to others who need them. • International markets consist of these buyers in other countries, including consumers, producers, resellers, and governments. Each market type has special characteristics that call for careful study by the

Types of Customer Markets

Competitors • The marketing concept states that to be successful, a company must provide greater customer value and satisfaction than its competitors do. • Thus, marketers must do more than simply adapt to the needs of target consumers. They also must gain strategic advantage by positioning their offerings strongly against competitors' offerings in the minds of consumers.

• No single competitive marketing strategy is best for all companies. Each firm should consider its own size and industry position compared to those of its competitors. Large firms with dominant positions in an industry can use certain strategies that smaller firms cannot afford. • But being large is not enough. There are winning strategies for large firms, but there also losing ones. Small firms can develop strategies that give them better rates of return than large firms enjoy.

Publics

PUBLICS The company's marketing environment also includes various publics. A public is any group that has an actual or potential interest in or impact on an organization's ability to achieve its objectives. There can be 7 kinds of publics : Financial publics: influence the company's ability to obtain funds. Banks, investment houses, and stockholders are the major financial publics. Media publics: carry news, features, and editorial opinion. They include newspapers, magazines, and radio and television stations.

Government publics: Management must take government developments into account. Marketers must often consult the company's lawyers on issues of product safety, truth in advertising, and other matters. Citizen action publics : A company's marketing decisions may be questioned by consumer organizations, environmental groups, minority groups, and others. Its public relations department can help it stay in touch with consumer and citizen groups.

Local publics: include neighborhood residents and community organizations. Large companies usually appoint a community relations officer to deal with the community, attend meetings, answer questions, and contribute to worthwhile causes. General public: A company needs to be concerned about the general public's attitude toward its products and activities. The public's image of the company affects its buying. Internal publics: include workers, managers, volunteers, and the board of directors. Large companies use newsletters and other means to inform and motivate their internal publics. When employees feel good about their company, this positive attitude spills over to external publics

The Company’s macroenvironment

Analyzing the Macroenvironment Successful companies recognize and respond profitably to unmet needs and trends and distinguish between a: Fad : Unpredictable, short lived and without social, economic and political significance eg The Rubix cube, the Hula Hoop Trend : More predictable and durable than a fad. eg A trend towards health. Megatrend : A large. social, political and technological change. Slow to form but a 7 -10 year movement. eg Urbanization

Putting it all together through an example • Explosive population growth ( demographic) leads to more resource depletion and pollution ( natural) which leads consumers to call for more laws ( political – legal), which stimulates new technological solutions and products ( technological) that, if they are affordable, ( economic)may actually change attitudes and behaviour( socio – cultural)

Demographic Environmment • Demography is the study of human populations in terms of size, density, location, age, gender, race, occupation, and other statistics. The demographic environment is of major interest to marketers because it involves people, and people make up markets.

• The world population is growing at an explosive rate. It now totals more than 6. 8 billion people and will exceed 8. 1 billion by the year 2030. Major contributors are countries in the Indian sub continent. • The explosive world population growth has major implications for business. A growing population means growing human needs to satisfy. • Depending on purchasing power, it may also mean growing market opportunities. However, the world’s large and highly diverse population poses both opportunities and challenges.

Implications for business Changes in the world demographic environment have major implications for business. Eg in China where government regulation 25 years ago ( in order to combat skyrocketing population ) restricted families to one child each. This had resulted in the creation of little emperors and little empresses doted upon owing to the “six pocket syndrome”– attention and luxuries showered upon them by 2 parents and 4 doting grandparents.

Implications for Marketing • The Indian subcontinent also has a proportionately large population of children. In Pakistan young people 14 years and younger comprise close to 40% of the population, out of which nearly 14% are 4 years old or younger. • There is a 173 million strong young people presence as a business opportunity for Marketers. Thus, P & G launched its world famous disposable diapers brand in Pakistan in Aug 2000. At that time cloth nappies were in general use.

Clever Marketing P & G’s strategy was : a ) Directed towards mothers of new borns through hospital education programmes. b) Since a significant percentage of births were in homes instead of hospitals, Pampers also tried to reach families that lived in low income, hard to reach areas through mobile clinics that provided baby care education. The strategy has been highly successful and P& G has garnered significant market share.

• Thus Marketers keep close track of demographic trends and their markets, both at home and abroad. They track changing age and family structure, geographic population shifts , educational characteristics, and population diversity.

Important demographic trends in the sub continent • Increasing population • A Growing middle class • Growth in the Rural population • A Changing family system

• The changing role of women • A better educated, more white collared , more professional population • Increasing diversity

Increasing population • Main characteristic of the Asian population is the rapid growth in the urban population. According to Haruhiko Kuroda, President of the Asian Development Bank. • 1. 1 billion people in Asia will move to cities in the next 20 years. He adds that by 2030 half of the population of the continent will live in cities.

In India nearly 2/3 rds of the total population increase over the next 20 years will occur in urban areas. The population in urban areas will rise from 29 % today to 37 %. ( From 318 million to 523 million). Urban India is already more populous today than the US and will exceed the current population of the EU by 2025.

A growing middle class The Indian population consists of several income groups divided in to 5 by Mckinsey Global Institute ( MGI) based on their real annual disposable incomes

• Deprived households ( Annual disposable income ( ADI) of less than 90, 000 per annum) • Aspirers ( ADI between 90, 000 to 2, 000) • Seekers ( ADI between 2, 000 to 5, 000 ) • Strivers ( ADI between 5, 000 to 10, 000) • Global Indians ( Over 10, 000 )

• Deprived households : Poorest economic class. Mostly unskilled or semi – skilled workers working on daily wages, may not have all year round employment. • Aspirers : Spend almost half their income on basic necessities. Small time retailers, small farmers, and low- skilled industrial workers. • Seekers : White collar employees, mid-level government officials, newly employed young post graduates, medium –scale traders and business people.

• Strivers : Established professionals like lawyers, CAs, MBAs, senior government officials, medium scale industrialists in towns, rich farmers in villages. People in this category and above are generally considered successful and well – established in Indian society. They have a stable source of income and amenities or luxuries such as their own home, car, TV, refrigerator and airconditioner at home.

• The middle class is defined as a combination of Seekers and Strivers falling between the income bracket of 2, 000 to 10, 000. • The middle class consists of 7 million households today and is forecasted to have 87 million households by 2025. These households are enjoying an increase in annual income by 4. 9 per cent. If an Average household is pegged at 4. 4 family members this adds up to 384 million people.

• Global Indians : This is the creamy layer and consists of senior corporate executives, large business owners, topmost professionals, politicians, film actors and big farmers. • Of late this has been joined by upwardly mobile mid- level executives of MNCs , investment bankers, and graduates from IITs and IIMs. Made up of globe trotters who enjoy a very high standard of living.

Rural Population • India has about 639, 000 villages where 743 million people reside accounting for about 72% of India’s population. • About 62% of villages have less than 1000 people. And only 3 % have a population of more than 5000 people. • Most villages with less than 500 people do not have any shops. • Young adults between 20 -35 constitute 25 % of the rural population and the age group 5 to 14 accounts for another 25%.

Growth in the Rural population • The MGI Consumer demand model has forecasted that the population in Rural India will be 906 million by 2015. • The demand in Rural India is expected to grow at an annual compound rate of 5. 1% during the next 15 years. By 2025, rural consumption will nearly triple creating a market of over 26 trillion rupees. This BOP will see consumption growth on a per household basis.

Main constraint for Marketers in Rural Markets • Is not purchasing power alone but a combination of several other factors such as lack of proper infrastructure such as roads and telecommunication connectivity, reliable supply of electricity which affects distribution infrastructure such as cold storage.

• With G. O. I developing this infrastructure the rural market will come closer to the urban market. There are similar challenges for marketers in Pakistan and Bangladesh. • Unilever subsidiaries have drawn on successful elements of Project Shakti of HUL in India empowering women entrepreneurs and launched similar programmes in these countries.

A Changing family system • Today’s India is rapidly abandoning the traditional joint family system, partly out of necessity. Both husband wife work. They may not live with their parents. • The nuclear family takes the help of baby sitters and crèches to look after the kids when parents are out earning. The dual income single kid ( DISK) family has created a dent in the social fabric of Indian society.

• The + ive side is the increase in family income and hence increase consumption and demand. The young couple, no longer supervised, have freedom and can eat whatever they want and spend in whichever way they wish to, living life their own way. • India has moved into an era where the wife and mother – in - law are both working and may no longer be available to the new generation of kids in the family. • Also, the husband wife , both being career – oriented, marriages have become more fragile. As a result, the urban nuclear family is splitting

• Growing number of nuclear families has led to the problem of old, retired and sometimes invalid parents. Young couples , busy making their own careers, either in the country or abroad are too busy to look after their parents. • Thus, how to take care of the rising number of older people is emerging as a major concern. (Only 4% of the 80 million Indians aged over 60 receive a pension).

The changing role of women • Till 3 decades ago the primary role of women in the subcontinent was to look after the house. Very few would study beyond high school and complete their graduation. Today more and more women, even in rural India, are completing graduation and even postgraduation. • Women have emerged to work shoulder to shoulder with men in education, companies, space research organizations , banks etc. Many women head organizations.

A better educated , more white collared , more professional population Provision of education has been one of the topmost priorities and social objectives of GOI. As a result of government spending, the Indian population is becoming better educated. This increase in number of educated people will increase the demand for quality products, books, magazines, travel, personal computers, and Internet services. The workforce is also becoming more white collar. Job growth is now strongest for professional workers and weakest for manufacturing workers.

Increasing Diversity • Countries vary widely in their ethnic and racial make –up. The US is a melting pot of many nationalities and cultures. In contrast Japan has almost all Japanese. • With increasingly diverse markets, most large companies are targeting specially designed products , ads and promotions to one or more ethnic groups.

Economic Environment Economic environment consists of factors that affect consumer purchasing power and spending patterns • Industrial economies are richer markets • Subsistence economies consume most of their own agriculture and industrial output. • In between are developing economies which can offer outstanding marketing opportunities for the right kinds of products.

• India’s growing middle class and rapidly rising incomes make it an attractive market for many. European, North American and Asian automakers are introducing smaller, more affordable vehicles in India since only 1 in 7 Indians owns one.

• The last few years have seen many ups and downs in the economic landscape of the world and also in countries in the Indian subcontinent. • The global financial crisis of 2007 -2009 swept away many of the gains made by economies in several years of steady growth. These economic trends have impacted heavily on the consumption of goods and services across the subcontinent.

Major economic events and trends • The US economic crisis of 2007 -2009 was triggered off by subprime housing loans extended by overambitious bankers to consumers who did not have the capacity to service them. • When real estate prices collapsed in the US many customers defaulted on these loans. Many of these loans had been repackaged by banks and sold onwards to investment bankers, insurance companies and other financial institutions in the US and also all over the developed world.

• These eventually led to the collapse of Wall street icons such as Lehman Bothers , Merrill Lynch and others. Some like AIG were bailed out by huge injections of money from the US government. • Most stock markets in the world including the Indian subcontinent crashed and lost billions of rupees in capitalization. Banks stopped lending and there was a huge liquidity crunch. Ford , General Motors received bailouts from the US Government. But the developed world went into a major recession.

When America sneezes the rest of the world catches a cold. Countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives were most hit. India with a robust economy fared better. Even so demand for housing, construction , IT, and consumer durables was hurt. GDP for 2008 was downgraded two points to 7 percent and forecasts for 2009 were pegged at 5 %. This significant drop in GDP growth rates in the subcontinent has impacted the consumption of many products and services.

However, these Governments have successfully used fiscal and monetary instruments to revive their economies. • Marketers brought in new low- priced versions of their products , providing trade and customer discounts and by using finer segmentation and targeting of consumers. Citibank in Pakistan lost buyers for its very successful consumer credit portfolio. In the US even Apple sales growth and stock performance took a beating.

Changing Income Distribution and Consumer spending patterns • Food, housing and transportation use up the maximum household income. But consumers at different income levels have different spending patterns, noticed by Ernst Engels about a century and a half ago. Engels studied how people shifted their spending as their incomes rose.

• Engels found that as family income rises the percentage spent on food declines. • The percentage spent on housing remains the same ( Except for utilities such as gas, electricity, and public services, which decrease) • Both the percentage spent on most other categories and that devoted to savings increase. Engel’s Laws ( 1857) have been generally supported by late studies.

• Prior to the recent global crisis many sub continent countries were enjoying an enviable economic development. They are expected to regain their earlier pace of development in a few years. The sustained growth has changed the income distribution of household significantly, giving rise to a growing and more affluent urban middle class. • In Pakistan, as well as India, the distribution of income has led to a tiered market. ( Thus Mercedes Benz eyes the moneyed class, Tata Motors targets those with modest means. The Nirmas and the Ghadis go for the least affluent sections).

• Changes in the income, cost of living , interest rates, saving and borrowing patterns have a large impact on the marketplace. Companies watch these variables for economic forecasting. • Moral of the story : Businesses do not have to be wiped out by economic downturns or taken by surprise in a boom. With adequate warning they can take advantage of changes in the economic environment.

NATURAL ENVIRONMENT • The natural environment includes the natural resources that are needed as inputs by marketers or that are affected by marketing activities. • Industries cluster in a region based on natural resources. Concentration of industries can be a cause for concern and a threat to the environment. • Air and water pollution have reached dangerous levels in many cities round the world. World concern continues to escalate about possibilities of global warming and many environmentalists fear we will soon be buried under our own trash.

Trends in the Natural Environment • Shortages of raw materials • Increased pollution • Increased government intervention

Green movement • Concern for the environment has spawned the so called Green Movement. Companies are today developing strategies and practices that support environmental sustainability – an effort to create a world economy that the planet can support indefinitely. • Eg, GE uses “Ecomagination” to create products for a better world- cleaner aircraft engines, cleaner locomotives, cleaner fuel technologies.

• Other companies are developing recyclable or bio- degradable packing, recycled materials and components, better pollution controls and more energy efficient operations. eg HP is pushing legislation to force recycling of old TVs, computers and other electronic gear. • Companies are today looking to do more than just good deeds. They increasingly recognize the link between a healthy ecology and a healthy economy. They are learning that environmentally responsible actions can also be good business.

Technological Environment • The technological environment is the most dramatic force now shaping our destiny. • Take antibiotics, robotic surgery, miniaturized electronics, laptops and the Internet to name a few wonders. • On the dark side, nuclear missiles, chemical weapons, assault rifles. • Also, technology has given us mixed blessings such as the automobile, TV, credit cards.

• Our attitude towards technology rests upon whether we are more impressed with its wonders or blunders. • RFID. ( Radio frequency identification) is the new kid on the block). This can be embedded in the products you buy. Beyond benefits to consumers – such as showing product deals, suggesting accompanying for his use, totalling his purchases and automatically charging them to his credit card, scanning the RFID chip also gives producers and retailers an amazing way to track their products electronically anywhere in the world.

• New technologies create new products and opportunities. However, every new technology replaces an older technology. • Transistors hurt the vacuum tube industry, xerography hurt the carbon paper business, CDs hurt phonograph records, digital photography hurt the film business.

• When old industries fought or ignored new technologies, their businesses declined. Thus modern marketers must keep a hawk eye on the technological environment. • Companies that do not, will find soon their products updated and they will miss new product and market opportunities

• Today’s research is carried out by research teams not by lone inventors. Many companies are adding marketing people to R &D teams to obtain a stronger marketing orientation. • The challenge in any innovation is to make it not only technical but commercial. – to make it a practical, affordable version of the product

As products and technology become more complex the public needs to know these are safe. Thus government agencies investigate and ban potentially unsafe products. Eg in India, the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA)has set up complex regulations for testing new drugs. The Consumer Protection Acts sets safety standards for consumer products and penalizes companies that fail to meet them. Hence higher research costs and longer times between new product ideas and their introduction. Marketers need to be aware of these while applying new technologies and developing new products

Political and Social Environment • The political environment consists of laws, government agencies and pressure groups that influence or limit various organizations and individuals in a given society. • Owing to ever increasing globalization companies are now affected by the sociopolitical environment not only of their own country but also of other countries with whom they trade.

• Changes in tariffs , quotas, or even sentiments of civil society might have a direct impact on their profitability or even survival. Marketers need to be keenly conscious of the changing sociopolitical environment to seek out opportunities and handle potential threats.

Major trends • The world including India has seen increasing legislation to cover competition, fair trade practices, environmental protection, product safety, truth in advertising, consumer privacy, packaging and labeling, pricing and other important areas. • Overlaps between local , state and national laws make interpretation of laws a difficult task. Also, regulations change and marketers must keep abreast of these changes

Broad purpose of laws a) To protect companies from each other. b) To protect consumers from unfair business practices c) To protect the interests of society against unrestrained business behaviour.

Various enforcement agencies exist • In the US you have federal regulatory agencies such as : • Federal State Commission • Food and Drug Administration • Federal Communication Commission • The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission • The Federal Aviation Administration • The Consumer Product Safety Commission • The Environmental Protection Agency

In India, food companies need special approval to launch duplicate brands, such as another cola drink or a brand of rice. A legislation passed in 2001 makes it mandatory for packaged food manufacturers to have green dots and red dots on vegetarian and non vegetarian products respectively

Thus Marketers need to know about major laws protecting competition consumers and society. They need to understand these laws at the local, state, national and international levels.

Non Tarrif barriers in trade • Although WTO has been very active in reducing tariff and non tariff barriers in international trade, pressures from civil society groups in the developed world have resulted in a set of hurdles for companies operating in the sub continent. • This is in the form of social compliance regulations which exporting companies have to adhere to.

• These do not take into account the ground realities of developing countries and also increase costs for them. They also indirectly hurt the intended beneficiaries. Marketers must pre – empt the concerns of international buyers before a crisis situation is reached.

Increased emphasis on Ethics and socially responsible action Many companies are today encouraging their managers to look beyond what the regulatory system allows and simply “do the right thing”. Many industrial and professional trade organizations have suggested codes of ethics and companies have developed policies and guidelines for complex social responsibility issues. With internet marketing and tele calling privacy issues have also come into play. Consumer advocates and policymakers have also stepped into the picture to deal with these.

Cause related Marketing • To exercise social responsibility and build more positive images many companies have linked themselves to worthwhile causes. • Eg Buy a pink mixer from Kitchen Aid and support breast cancer Purchase Ethos water from Starbucks and help children round the world. • Purchase CRY cards and money will be used for the protection of children’s rights

Cause related marketing Has stirred some controversy. Critics claim that Cause related marketing is more a strategy for selling than a strategy for giving. However, if handled well , cause related can greatly benefit both the company and the cause. The company gains an effective marketing tool while building amore positive public image. The charitable organization or cause gains greater visibility and important new sources of funding and support.

SOCIO - CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT • The socio -cultural environment is made up of institutions and other forces that affect a society’s basic values, perceptions, preferences and behaviours.

Major trends observed today • Persistence of core beliefs and values passed on from parents to children. Eg Most Asians believe in working, getting married, giving to charity and have strong faith in religion. • These beliefs are and reinforced by schools, religious institutions, business and government.

• Secondary beliefs and values are more open to change. • Thus believing in marriage is a core belief. Getting married early is a secondary belief. • Or believing in religion is a core belief. Believing your dress must reflect your religosity is a secondary belief.

• Marketers have some chance of changing secondary beliefs but very unlikely to change core beliefs. Thus a family planning marketer would argue more effectively that people should marry late rather than not get married at all.

Shifts in Secondary Cultural Values • In India colonial rule left its imprint upon dress codes, leisure activities, and job preferences. In addition, exposure to T. V. , cinema , books and magazines had its effect cultural values and outlook of younger people in the subcontinent.

Other opportunities for Marketers A ) People’s views of themselves Eg For one who considers himself an adventurous type, Master Card says” There are some things in life that money can’t buy. For everything else there’s Master card”. B) People’s views of others - tendency to” cocoon” has been noticed in past decades. People don’t want to go out so much with others. They want to enjoy home comforts from a networked home office, to home entertainment centres, to finding a quiet spot to plug into their i. Pods while they check into their favourite web hangouts. Thus DVD players, broadband, video games have proliferated. Thus less demand for theatre going and greater demand for home improvement.

C) People’s views of Organizations Many people see organizations not as a source of satisfaction but a necessary chore to earn money to enjoy their non work hours. Hence organizations need to find new ways to win consumer and employee confidence through marketing themselves better. “Customer engagement” is the new mantra D) People’s View of Society eg Marketing keeping the patriotic angle in mind eg done by political parties, Bollywood films and Marketers using Independence day themes, channels etc.

E) People’s View of Nature - eg Marketing natural, organic, nutritional products, fuel efficient cars and alternative to those following Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability ( LOHAS. ) F) People’s View of the Universe : Renewed belief in spirituality , yoga etc. Affects Books that people read and services they buy. Also permeates TV. Eg Baba Ramdev , Aaastha channel

Moral of the story • While a company would have little success in trying to influence geographic population shifts or the economic environment or major cultural values, a smart marketing manager will take a proactive rather than a reactive approach to the marketing environment