Research_on_Marekting_Books

A research on Reference Books and Case Studies in Marketing Management Paper No.: 6 A research on Reference Books and Case Studies in Marketing Management Abstract This research aims to understand the type of marketing books that are in use in B-Schools. This is done to understand the content of these books and its usability to the students. The purpose of this exercise is to understand the scope and relevance of these books to today’s marketing students and what are their most important considerations when selecting a book on marketing management. The final analysis aims to give a view as to which book across any sector is preferred by students and which are the main analysis parameters. In the end we aim to give a fair idea as to which book is best across parameters and which is most sought after by the student community. Research Team The research team consisted of the following PGDBA 1st year students AroraSumitGopal, Cheruvelil Georges James, KhatanharKiran Mohan, DhargalkarSarveshDurgaram, AcharyaPriyesh Vijay, MusaleKirtiShirish, OberoiAnkushJugal, Sinha Mani Shankar Awadesh Kumar Prem, PradeepShashidharankumar Faculty Guide Dr.ChitraRamanan&Prof. Ranjith P V 1. NEED & IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY • Marketing Management as a subject is an integral part of the MBA curriculum worldwide. Majority of students take it up as a specialization and even for people who do not, it is a vital part of their course as Marketing is a concept which has all-round application. Marketing is the strategic arm of hard core selling and hence Sales and Marketing management always go hand in hand. Selling is the blood of Business. • Keeping these facts in mind, it becomes important to have some idea as to what kinds of books are available to the Students of Marketing Management. These books serve as the main source of information and ideas and act as a library of thoughts which lead to enhanced understanding of the subject and initiate a student of marketing management into the fold of knowledge passed on from Marketing experts. This information passed on from Academic scholars of the subject or Industry experts is the crux around which any student of marketing management will base his/her understanding of the subject and its application in their professional lives. • The Case studies presented in these books are fundamental to explaining not just marketing but also other aspects of Business Management. They are an important source to study real-life business scenarios and help in understanding business processes and encourage lateral thinking and generate productive discussion and debates about tackling various issues in Management. • This kind of research thus becomes imperative to gauge the quality of books on Marketing Management available in the markets right now and to identify the areas of improvement wherein new books may be suggested for the college library and thereby try to reduce the gaps existing in the academic needs of the students. This would surely act as a measure that would compliment the Academic resources of the College and eventually benefit the College and the student community at large. 2. SCOPE OF STUDY Marketing Management books currently in use by students of MBA and MMS Geographic boundary: Mumbai / Navi Mumbai 3. OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH • Come up with a comprehensive review on the existing collection of reference material on Marketing Management in the institute and compare it with that of other B-Schools • Identify the areas of concern where the addition of any other literary matter would be a significant value add for institute and students • Check the availability of any such books and the economic feasibility of acquiring them 4. LITERATURE REVIEW Marketing Management being a fundamental subject of Management Studies, periodical review of books pertaining to this topic is critical as it keeps students and Professors aware as to what are the new books in this area and what readers of such books all over the world feel about them. Based on this premise the premier book marketing websites and several marketing based websites publish rankings and feedback from readers about the most read books and based on this we can judge which books are considered the benchmark in this subject and what are the factors based on which they are reviewed. This helps in understanding whether we are up to speed with the latest literature available in the world and if there are any gaps in our current approach towards acquiring books in this subject. The case studies in these books are crucial to understanding management practices and the constant flow of new ideas in this subject makes it imperative to keep abreast of the latest happenings from around the world. Such a research on the type of books of a particular subject helps to bridge any kind of academic gap that may exist and helps to prevent any such gaps arising later on. 4.1 Previously Done Research Research carried out on this topic is a bit formless and is mainly from online sources. “Amazon.com” which is the world’s largest online bookstore has come out with rankings of the best books in Marketing Management of all time and “Advertising Age” which is also a industry recognised portal which has published reports on the Best Advertising books of all time. There are quite a few parallels between these studies and some books clearly stand out as definitive guides to marketing. Research work on this topic is thus very subjective and through an allied research using various secondary sources of data collection we plan to align all the research in this area and focus mainly on books that are a part of Management curriculum and suggest ways and means to create a mechanism whereby we can come up with a comprehensive ranking of books on Marketing and suggest any improvements if necessary. 4.2 Benefits of Study This study mainly aims to establish a concrete guide which points out the most highly regarded books in Marketing Management and what the student community or academic community as a whole thinks about these books and suggest some recommendations if any. Parameters Considered 1) Sample Size of 300 people 2) Responses recorded through e-mail and social networking sites like LinkedIn 3) People responded with more than one choice and total number of books evaluated was 400 4) Books related to Advertising came to top the rankings |Rank |Book Name |Author | |1 |POSITIONING: THE BATTLE FOR YOUR MIND |Al Ries and Jack Trout | |2 |OGILVY ON ADVERTISING |David Ogilvy | |3 |THE 22 IMMUTABLE LAWS OF BRANDING |Al Ries and Laura Ries | |4 |E |Matt Beaumont | |5 |HEY, WHIPPLE. SQUEEZE THIS: A GUIDE TO CREATING GREAT |Luke Sullivan | | |ADVERTISING | | |6 |WHERE THE SUCKERS MOON: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF AN |Randall Rothenberg | | |ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN | | |7 |GOOD TO GREAT: WHY SOME COMPANIES MAKE THE LEAP AND |Jim Collins | | |OTHERS DON'T | | |8 |THE BOOK OF GOSSAGE |Howard Luck Gossage, Jeff Goodby and| | | |Bruce Bendinger | |9 |INFLUENCE: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSUASION |Robert B. Cialdini | |10 |BLINK: THE POWER OF THINKING WITHOUT THINKING |MalcomGladwell | Maria Veloso(Los Angeles, California)Qualifications:www.webcopywritinguniversity.com |Rank |Book Name |Author | |1 | Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Collins Business |Robert B. Cialdini | | |Essentials) | | |2 | The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference |Malcolm Gladwell | |3 |Web Copy That Sells: The Revolutionary Formula for Creating Killer|Maria Veloso | | |Copy Every Time | | |4 | Crossing the Chasm |Geoffrey A. Moore | |5 |Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind |Al Ries | |6 | Confessions of an Advertising Man |David Ogilvy | |7 | Kotler on Marketing: How to Create, Win, and Dominate Markets |Philip Kotler | |8 | Triggers: 30 Sales Tools you can use to Control the Mind of your |Joseph Sugarman | | |Prospect to Motivate, Influence and Persuade. | | |9 |The Anatomy of Buzz: How to Create Word of Mouth Marketing |Emanuel Rosen | |10 | The Secrets of Word-of-Mouth Marketing: How to Trigger |George Silverman | | |Exponential Sales Through Runaway Word of Mouth | | Rankings and Surveys Source http://adage.com/bookstore/post'article_id=134945 http://www.amazon.com/Best-Marketing-Books-All-Time/lm/R1EFYILSME8GVI http://www.amazon.com/Top-Marketing-Books-All-Time/lm/3JOLQUOTP0K0T http://www.twistimage.com/blog/archives/if-you-could-only-have-five-marketing-books/ http://www.amhe.com/articles/marketing-books.php 5. METHODOLOGY OF STUDY Research-centric Segmentation The segmentation has been done inorder to get precise details on each area under the marketing umbrella. These segments have been made after referring to various course curriculums of different management institutes. It gives us an idea of how to take forward the distribution of research work and would make the result analysis simple. 5.1 Consumer Behaviour Consumer behaviour referred to as the study of when, why, how, where and what people do or do not buy products. It blends elements from psychology, sociology, social, anthropology and economics. It attempts to understand the buyer decision making process, both individually and in groups. It studies characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics and behavioural variables in an attempt to understand people's wants. It also tries to assess influences on the consumer from groups such as family, friends, reference groups, and society in general. Customer behaviour study is based on consumer buying behaviour, with the customer playing the three distinct roles of user, payer and buyer. Relationship marketing is an influential asset for customer behaviour analysis as it has a keen interest in the re-discovery of the true meaning of marketing through the re-affirmation of the importance of the customer or buyer. A greater importance is also placed on consumer retention, customer relationship management, personalisation, customisation and one-to-one marketing. Social functions can be categorized into social choice and welfare functions. Each method for vote counting is assumed as a social function but if Arrow’s possibility theorem is used for a social function, social welfare function is achieved. Some specifications of the social functions are decisiveness, neutrality, anonymity, monotonicity, unanimity, homogeneity and weak and strong Pareto optimality. No social choice function meets these requirements in an ordinal scale simultaneously. The most important characteristic of a social function is identification of the interactive effect of alternatives and creating a logical relation with the ranks. Marketing provides services in order to satisfy customers. With that in mind, the productive system is considered from its beginning at the production level, to the end of the cycle, the consumer (Kioumarsi et al., 2009). Belch and Belch define consumer behaviour as 'the process and activities people engage in when searching for, selecting, purchasing, using, evaluating, and disposing of products and services so as to satisfy their needs and desires'. 5.2 CRM Customer relationship management (CRM) are methods that companies use to interact with customers. The methods include employee training and special purpose CRM software. There is an emphasis on handling incoming customer phone calls and email, although the information collected by CRM software may also be used for promotion, and surveys such as those polling customer satisfaction. 5.3 Direct Marketing Direct marketing is a sub-discipline and type of marketing. There are two main definitional characteristics which distinguish it from other types of marketing. The first is that it attempts to send its messages directly to consumers, without the use of intervening media. This involves commercial communication (direct mail, e-mail, telemarketing) with consumers or businesses, usually unsolicited. The second characteristic is that it is focused on driving a specific "call-to-action." This aspect of direct marketing involves an emphasis on trackable, measurable positive (but not negative) responses from consumers (known simply as "response" in the industry) regardless of medium. If the advertisement asks the prospect to take a specific action, for instance call a free phone number or visit a website, then the effort is considered to be direct response advertising. 5.4 E-Marketing Internet marketing, also referred to as i-marketing, web marketing, online marketing, or E-marketing, is the marketing of products, or, services over the Internet. The Internet has brought media to a global audience. The interactive nature of Internet marketing, both, in terms of providing instant response and eliciting responses, is a unique quality of the medium. Internet marketing is sometimes considered to have a broader scope because it not only refers to, such as, the Internet, e-mail, and wireless media, but also it includes management of digital customer data and electronic customer relationship management (ECRM) systems. Internet marketing ties together creative and technical aspects of the Internet including design, development, advertising, and sales. Internet marketing also refers to the placement of media along different stages of the customer engagement cycle through search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization (SEO), banner ads on specific websites, e-mail marketing, and Web 2.0 strategies. In 2008 The New York Times, working with comScore, published an initial estimate to quantify the user data collected by large Internet-based companies. Counting four types of interactions with company websites in addition to the hits from advertisements served from advertising networks, the authors found the potential for collecting data upward of 2,500 times on average per user per month. 5.5 Industrial Marketing Industrial marketing is the marketing of goods and services from one business to another. Industrial goods are those which are used in Industry for producing a Different end product from one or more rawmaterials. The word "industrial" means machinery run by power to produce goods and services. But "industrial marketing" is not confined to these types of business activities. Broadly, marketing could be split into consumer marketing (B2C "Business to Consumer") and industrial marketing (B2B "Business to Business"). 5.6 B2B Business to Business (or “Industrial”) Typical examples of a B2B selling process are... An organization is seeking to build a new warehouse building. After carefully documenting their requirements, it obtains three proposals from suitable construction firms and after a long process of evaluation and negotiation it places an order with the organization that it believes has offered the best value for money. An organization has significant need for legal services and obtains submissions from two law firms. Analysis of the proposals and subsequent discussions determines that there is no price advantage to placing all of the work with one firm and the decision is made to split the work between the two firms based on an evaluation of each firm's capabilities. A sales representative makes an appointment with a small organization that employs 22 people. He demonstrates a photocopier/fax/printer to the office administrator. After discussing the proposal with the business owner it is decided to sign a contract to obtain the machine on a fully maintained rental and consumables basis with an upgrade after 2 years. The main features of the B2B selling process are... Marketing is one-to-one in nature. It is relatively easy for the seller to identify a prospective customer and to build a face-to-face relationship. Highly professional and trained people in buying processes are involved. In many cases two or three decision makers have to be considered in purchasing industrial products. High value considered purchase. Purchase decision is typically made by a group of people (“buying team”) not one person. Often the buying/selling process is complex and includes many stages (for example; request for expression of interest, request for tender, selection process, awarding of tender, contract negotiations, and signing of final contract). Selling activities involve long processes of prospecting, qualifying, wooing, making representations, preparing tenders, developing strategies and contract negotiations. 5.7 International Marketing: International marketing (IM) or global marketing refers to marketing carried out by companies overseas or across national borderlines. This strategy uses an extension of the techniques used in the home country of a firm. According to the American Marketing Association (AMA) "international marketing is the multinational process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives."In contrast to the definition of marketing only the word multinational has been added. In simple words international marketing is the application of marketing principles to across national boundaries. However, there is a crossover between what is commonly expressed as international marketing and global marketing, which is a similar term. 5.7 Logistics Logistics is the management of the flow of goods, information and other resources, including energy and people, between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet the requirements of consumers (frequently, and originally, military organizations). Logistics involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material-handling, and packaging, and occasionally security. Logistics is a channel of the supply chain which adds the value of time and place utility. Today the complexity of production logistics can be modeled, analyzed, visualized and optimized by plant simulation software. 5.8 Business Logistics Logistics as a business concept evolved only in the 1950s. This was mainly due to the increasing complexity of supplying one's business with materials and shipping out products in an increasingly globalized supply chain, calling for experts in the field who are called Supply Chain Logisticians. This can be defined as having the right item in the right quantity at the right time at the right place for the right price in the right condition to the right customer and is the science of process and incorporates all industry sectors. The goal of logistics work is to manage the fruition of project life cycles, supply chains and resultant efficiencies. In business, logistics may have either internal focus (inbound logistics), or external focus (outbound logistics) covering the flow and storage of materials from point of origin to point of consumption (see supply chain management). The main functions of a qualified logistician include inventory management, purchasing, transportation, warehousing, consultation and the organizing and planning of these activities. Logisticians combine a professional knowledge of each of these functions so that there is a coordination of resources in an organization. There are two fundamentally different forms of logistics. One optimizes a steady flow of material through a network of transport links and storage nodes. The other coordinates a sequence of resources to carry out some project. 5.8 Supply Chain Management Supply chain management (SCM) is the management of a network of interconnected businesses involved in the ultimate provision of product and service packages required by end customers (Harland, 1996). Supply Chain Management spans all movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, and finished goods from point of origin to point of consumption (supply chain). Another definition is provided by the APICS Dictionary when it defines SCM as the “design, planning, execution, control, and monitoring of supply chain activities with the objective of creating net value, building a competitive infrastructure, leveraging worldwide logistics, synchronizing supply with demand, and measuring performance globally.” Defining the scale and relevance The scale that is being used for the research is highly subjective in nature. The books on various streams of marketing that have been sourced from various locations have been evaluated on the scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is considered as low and 5 is a higher score. A book is assigned a ranking based on various factors. The factors that are considered are taken one at a time. The factors that are going to be considered for each book are as given below: 1. Student Preference 2. Faculty Preference 3. Usability 4. Content 5. Case Studies 6. Practical Application 7. Availability 8. Price The parameters would be rated on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest and 1 being the lowest. Consideration would also be given to the reviews based on the source of the review. The total of ratings of all the parameters will determine the rankings. The parameter ratings would be done on the basis of responses from various parties involved in the research such as Students, Faculties, Corporates, Publishers, etc. The books listed in the research are sourced from various college and public libraries, offices across Mumbai. After considering the score on the scale of 1 to 5 on each of the above mentioned parameters we will come up with a cumulative score and then rank the books on the scale of 1 to 5. This will lead to a selection of best books within each category. The main objective throughout the research was to gauge the relevance of the marketing book considered. The books had to be of relevance to the stream of marketing that they cater to. Since the scope of the research is restricted to the marketing books available to colleges in and around Mumbai the books were checked for the relevance in relation to the Indian context. The scoring was such that the books that were more close to the Indian point of view were scored higher, since the styles of marketing vary significantly in different countries. Stating the relevance and purpose of ranking based on parameter scaling While conducting a research of such a topic it is imperative to consider all facets of a Marketing book before reaching concluding which book is good. So in order to make this study as comprehensive and credible as possible we have given a rank to each book on various parameters. These parameters were given based on the inputs that we gathered from various sources namely the students of MBA colleges in Mumbai, Faculty of MBA colleges, Corporate etc. The parameters that were considered for the ranking (on a scale of 5), with a brief explanation of each header are as follows: 1. Students' Preference MBA students who have taken up marketing as their specialization were asked to rank books that are frequently referred by them. During the course of their MBA curriculum the students start taking a liking to a book with which they are comfortable. Such a book would be ranked higher. Also for students the simplicity of the language is the main consideration. This is not a standalone ranking based on which conclusions can be drawn, since the student might be biased towards a books he uses extensively. It might also be possible that the student has not referred many books, so the books he has not referred will automatically get a lower score. 2. Faculty’s Preference Faculty of MBA colleges were asked for their preference of marketing books and they were asked to rate the books. In this case the content will be the main consideration and simplicity won’t be main issue of concern since the faculty is already proficient with the complex concepts. 3. Usability This was another main issue for taken into consideration. Even if the book being considered for study is the best book on marketing, if the information that is being searched cannot be found easily then the book would be rated lower. 4. Content This is an all encompassing parameter that deals with many factors. It is a parameter that takes the entire book’s content as a single entity and helps us to gauge how good the entire book is. Thus this becomes the most important parameter in the entire research. 5. Case Studies Case studies are an important factor in understanding the concepts of marketing. The books with relevant case studies have been given a higher score. 6. Practical Application The concepts discussed in the book should be relevant in practical applications. How the books help to solve daily problems that the business comes across on a day to day basis. 7. Availability Books can be availed and acquired through many channels. The various channels considered are:- College Library Public Library Websites Book fair Books that were available through the many channels were given a higher score 8. Price The price is a factor which is very significant considering the location of the research. Since the entire research is restricted to colleges in and around Mumbai it is a very price sensitive market. Books that are priced lower would be given a higher rating. Primary Study Collecting information about new marketing management books from the following sources • College library • Book Fairs • Other B-Schools • Publishers • Seniors in our batch • Faculty of Marketing (Literature Survey – incase any study done earlier - what are the results - outcome & the benefits) BENEFIT OF STUDY This study will help to bring the students and the college up to date with the latest books on marketing management that aren’t currently a part of the college library and such a study will act a reference point for further studies where a need arises to review the depth of literature available on a particular topic and if possible setup a periodic review mechanism in tandem with other institutes whereby everyone will share information regarding new material in different management subjects. 6. ANALYSIS [pic] 6.1 Advertising: Advertising is a form of communication used to influence individuals to purchase products or services or support political candidates or ideas. Frequently it communicates a message that includes the name of the product or service and how that product or service could potentially benefit the consumer. Advertising often attempts to persuade potential customers to purchase or to consume a particular brand of product or service. Modern advertising developed with the rise of mass production in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Commercial advertisers often seek to generate increased consumption of their products or services through branding, which involves the repetition of an image or product name in an effort to associate related qualities with the brand in the minds of consumers. Different types of media can be used to deliver these messages, including traditional media such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio, billboards or direct mail. Advertising may be placed by an advertising agency on behalf of a company or other organization. [pic] [pic] [pic] 6.2 Marketing research by Aaker, David ;Kumar, V. ; Day, George [pic] Other Books [pic] 6.3 CRM at the speed of light: essential customer strategies for the 21st century‎ - Paul Greenberg [pic] 6.4 Retail Management: Winning at retail: developing a sustained model for retail success‎ - Willard N. Ander, Neil Z. Stern [pic] 6.5 Direct Marketing: Direct marketing rules of thumb - Nat G. Bodian [pic] 6.6 E-Marketing: Max-e-marketing in the net future - Stan Rapp, Chuck Martin [pic] 6.7 Industrial marketing: Strategies for international industrial marketing - Peter W. Turnbull, Jean-Paul Valla [pic] 7. RECOMMENDATION The Marketing management books covered in this research are ones used by marketing students across colleges. This research has found that to a large extent these books are able to provide the students with the knowledge they are looking for but sometimes are lacking in some areas. These areas are generally ones wherein practical application and case studies are more because they are more relevant to students. The new generation authors with more contemporary themes and ideas are more popular and hence colleges should look to focus more on acquiring these kind of books. The older books with more conventional ideas are also important but the focus now should be for emerging B-Schools to acquire newer books covering different aspects of marketing and redefining older concepts. It is also imperative that the books are not filled with jargon or old school concepts but reflect the new dynamism and creativity of the new world. 8. CONCLUSION Just as a new millennium begins and just as the pace of change in the marketplace is accelerating, It is an opportunity to look back at the past as well as forward to the future, to retain the best of what was as well as to focus on what will be. The books on marketing management reflects a major effort to feature the marketing ideas, tools and practices companies will need to operate successfully in the New Millennium. Hundreds of minicase examples have been added to illustrate what leading companies are doing to meet the challenges of the new environment. These books show how the World Wide Web and e-commerce are dramatically altering the marketing landscape. Suppose you are now back sitting at your desk faced with a task of developing a marketing plan for a new product. Do you believe that you might have the skills to develop a marketing plan' Of course your ability to develop a quality plan will depend on your learning experience during your course work and the amount of practise you have had. For example, if you developed a promotion plan in your advertising course it is likely that you could a better job on the promotion phase of the marketing plan. Similarly your experiences in analysing cases should have sharpened your skills at recognizing problems and developing solutions to them. But experience or (in experience) aside hopefully you feel that you understand the process of developing a marketing plan. You at least know where to start,where to seek information, how to structure the plan and some of the crucial issues that require analysis.