IGNOU : M.COM : MCO 6 : UNIT 1 : Q - 1. Define Marketing and explain its implications for an emerging economy like India ?

 Ans. According to Philip Kotler "marketing is a societal process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating, offering and freely exchanging products and services of value with others. Marketing is an ongoing process of discovering and translating consumer needs and desires in to products and services, creating demands for these products and services, serving the consumer and his demand through a network of marketing channels and expanding the market base in the face of competition ".

Implications for an emerging economy like India

Indian market has changed from a developing market to an emerging market. The market is enroute to a developed market as the choices in the consumption basket of consumers have increased in the last decade. However, one can not ignore the negative effects also. The divide between the rich and poor is increasing day by day. A large section of the society is staying away from the use of benefits of these changes. Marketing managers have to rethink at all these issues and try to take a developmental orientation so that more and more customers will enjoy the benefit of liberalization and free market economy.

The recent thrust by Hindustan Lever through its operation Bharat, Procter and Gamble's tie up with Marico for enhancing rural distribution, the e-Choupal strategy by ITC are indicators that the marketers are trying to woo the rural customers for increasing their consumption. This will be only possible when the income power of the rural consumer increase. Marketers have to take the developmental approach for building such a strategy. Hindustan Lever is now trying to market the products through self-help groups where by the socially backward arid vulnerable people can become part of the mainstream and earn to consume. In the long run, marketing manager's success will be measured on different parameters than the current approach of market share, as the revenue as well as the profits from the urban market will sure to dry down in future. There is no doubt that the status of the Indian consumer has increased but the percentage is so small that the task now is to bring more people to the field of consumption.