Marketing is undergoing a sea change. Marketers need to operate in a borderless market domain at present because economic liberalization has ushered in a new business environment that has a global perspective. So, organizations are remodeling their existing plans, objectives, strategies, structures and core competent areasa subtle modification of all these is the need of the hour to cope with the hyperactive and vicious environment. The article makes an attempt to trace the major forces and factors contributing to the radical change of business scenario which affect business decisions in the end. A few strategic measures, for organizations to handle these marketing challenges firmly and effectively, are also provided.
Regardless
of ages, customer satisfaction is the prime goal of any business organization.
Perpetual customer satisfaction brings in social recognition for the organization.
According to Drucker (1954), the very purpose of business is to create satisfied
customers. The basic philosophy of customer satisfaction is universal and unchanging.
But, the very pertinent question that strikes the business firms vis-à-vis
marketers is: How are they able to derive complete customer satisfaction along
with profit generation? Often, marketers confront criticisms regarding ethical
and social norms of marketing. Striving to fulfill customer demands in socially
and ethically approved manners should be a continuous endeavor for marketers.
But, at times, its variability is so vast and uncontrollable that even a reputed
customer-satisfying firm may lose customer affiliation for a faulty business decision.
It can even change the mind of a hard-core loyal customer and drift him to a competing
product, e.g., Nirma's downturn from its once occupied formidable position in
the hands of HLL. Nirma once dominated over HLL in the late 1980s with its unique
low-priced version detergent powder that mesmerized surf to become a market leader
in the economy segment. Marketing being such a volatile phenomenon, if one remains
complacent and contended with the market success for the existing brands, it may
prove disastrous to the firm. Tracking down the market movements cautiously like
customers' changing tastes and preferences, dynamics of customer behavior, drifts
in competitors' actions, macroeconomic transitions, etc., are essential for marketers
to move ahead amidst competitive clouts. Nirma's downfall may be attributed to
non-responsiveness to the customers' inner calls for the product's quality improvement.
Besides, package designs, promotional themes and distribution channels of Nirma's
products need some qualitative renovations to hold its once enviable market position.
In fact, competitors have made a detailed probe of Nirma's market ascendancy to
identify its success factors. Kazmi (2005) rightly pointed out that competitors
have dug out the mystery of Nirma. Today, detergent market is a vying ground for
a number of low-cost detergents that continuously battle to establish their positions
in consumer's perceptual space. |
