1. Brand audit

A brand audit is effectively a health check of the brand to identify and address problems areas with a net result of helping you turn things around and grow your bottom line. Brands are like living entities with life cycles. The purpose behind a brand audit is plain and simple: to gain a fundamental understanding of where your brand stands in its current state. A brand audit can help you see how consumers currently perceive your organization.

2. Brand equity

Brand equity is a phrase used in the marketing industry which describes the value of having a well-known brand name, based on the idea that the owner of a well-known brand name can generate more money from products with that brand name than from products with a less well known name, as consumers believe that a product with a well-known name is better than products with less well-known names. Brand equity is an intangible asset that depends on associations made by the consumer. Brand equity is a critical part of building a business, and companies that successfully build one understand just how important it is to the bottom line. “Brand equity” is a construct that is designed to reflect the real value that a brand name holds for the products and services that it accompanies. Measuring brand equity is considered important because brands are believed to be strong influencers of critical business outcomes, such as sales and market share.

3. Breakeven analysis

An analysis to determine the point at which revenue received equals the costs associated with receiving the revenue. Break-even analysis calculates what is known as a margin of safety, the amount that revenues exceed the break-even point. This is the amount that revenues can fall while still staying above the break-even point. Break-even analysis is a supply-side analysis; that is, it only analyzes the costs of the sales. It does not analyze how demand may be affected at different price levels.

4. Brick and Click companies

Bricks and clicks is a jargon term for a business model by which a company integrates both offline (bricks) and online (clicks) presences, sometimes with the third extra flips (physical catalogs). Additionally, many will also offer telephone ordering and mobile phone apps or at least provide telephone sales support. The advent of mobile web has made businesses operating bricks and clicks businesses especially popular, because it means customers can do tasks like shopping when they have spare time and do not have to be at a computer. Many of these users prefer to use mobile shopping sites. A company with a physical presence in the real world as well as online.

5. Pure Click companies

Pure click companies are companies, which have their business segments only in online markets. The most prominent companies are Ebay and Amazon. These companies have

ONLY an online model and no offline model. Ebay does not sell products offline and neither does amazon. There are several kinds of pure click companies - Search engines, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), commerce sites, transaction sites, content sites etc.

6. Business database

Business database is most comprehensive, up-to-date resource for finding business sales leads and mailing lists. Search by industry, business sizes, sales volume, geography, and other firm graphics to create a customized list that will help. Communicating, promoting, and selling activities based on a database management system (DBMS), Database marketing is a systematic approach to the gathering, consolidation, and processing of consumer data (both for customers and potential customers) that is maintained in a company's database.

7. Convenience goods

A consumer item that is widely-available purchased frequently and with minimal effort. Because a convenience good can be found readily, it does not require the consumer to go through an intensive decision-making process. Examples of convenience goods include newspapers and candy. Convenience goods are different than specialty goods, such as a car, which are more expensive and often carry a greater opportunity cost to the consumer. Convenience Goods The items which are bought frequently, immediately and with minimum shopping efforts are convenience goods.

8. Core benefits

The core benefit is what consumers feel they are getting when they purchase a product. Core products are a company's products or services which are most directly related to their core competencies. They refer to the use, benefit or problem-solving service that the consumer is really buying when purchasing the product.

9. Core Competency

A core competency is a company's unique characteristic or capability that provides a competitive advantage in the marketplace, delivers value to customers, and contributes to continued organizational growth. Core competencies are the combination of pooled knowledge and technical capacities that allow a business to be competitive in the marketplace. Theoretically, a core competency should allow a company to expand into new end markets as well as provide a significant benefit to customers. A unique ability that a company acquires from its founders or develops and that cannot be easily imitated

10. Corporate Culture

Corporate culture refers to the beliefs and behaviors that determine how a company's employees and management interact and handle outside business transactions. Corporate culture refers to the shared values, attitudes, standards, and beliefs that characterize members of an organization and define its nature. Corporate culture is rooted in an organization's goals, strategies, structure, and approaches to labor, customers, investors,

and the greater community. The values and behaviors that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an organization

11. Focus Group

A focus group is a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs, and attitudes towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging. A group of people assembled to participate in a discussion about a product before it is launched, or to provide feedback on a political campaign, television series, etc.

12. Global firm

A Global Firm (AKA an International Firm) is a company with multi-national branches and head quarters such as Wal-mart, Coke, Toyota, GE, Siemens, FedEx, Sony, and Microsoft. Not to be mistaken with Global Market or Global Economy whereas a locally based company sells their products globally to other countries such as companies selling thru E-bay and the internet.

13. Exploratory research

Exploratory research is research conducted for a problem that has not been clearly defined. It often occurs before we know enough to make conceptual distinctions or posit an explanatory relationship. Exploratory research helps determine the best research design, data collection method and selection of subjects.

14. Descriptive Research

Descriptive research is used to describe characteristics of a population or phenomenon being studied. It does not answer questions about how/when/why the characteristics occurred. Descriptive research is a study designed to depict the participants in an accurate way. More simply put, descriptive research is all about describing people who take part in the study.

15. Causal Research

Research that involves finding the effect of one thing on another or the effect of one variable on another is called Causal Research. To conduct this type of research, one must hold one variable (the one that is suspected to cause the change in the other variables) constant so the other variables can be measured. Causal research might be used in a business environment to quantify the effect that a change to its present operations will have on its future production levels to assist in the business planning process.

16. Marketing Research

Marketing research is "the process or set of processes that links the consumers, customers, and end users to the marketer through information — information used to identify and

define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a process. Marketing research specifies the information required to address these issues, designs the method for collecting information, manages and implements the data collection process, analyzes the results, and communicates the findings and their implications

17. Consumer Behavior

Consumer Behavior is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society.

18. Holistic marketing

“A holistic marketing concept is based on the development, design, and implementation of marketing programs, processes, and activities that recognize their breadth and interdependencies.

19. Firm

A business organization, such as a corporation, limited Liability Company or partnership. Firms are typically associated with business organizations that practice law, but the term can be used for a wide variety or business operation units.

20. Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)

A management concept that is designed to make all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing work together as a unified force, rather than permitting each to work in isolation. Integrated Marketing Communications is a simple concept. It ensures that all forms of communications and messages are carefully linked together. At its most basic level, Integrated Marketing Communications, or IMC, as we'll call it, means integrating all the promotional tools, so that they work together in harmony.

21. Joint Venture

A joint venture (JV) is a business agreement in which the parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets. A joint venture is a business deal in which two or more people combine their expertise and share the risk, profits and liabilities.

22. Market Demand

Market demand is the sum of the individual demand for a product from buyers in the market. If more buyers enter the market and they have the ability to pay for items on sale, then market demand at each price level will rise. The total demand for a product or service

in the market as a whole, a market demand schedule for a product indicates that there is an inverse relationship between price and quantity demanded.

23. Market Opportunity Analysis

An extension of the business planning process that focuses on identifying future opportunities and assessing the organization's financial, technological and competitive readiness to exploit them. The process includes identifying unmet or underserved customer needs, identifying target markets, assessing competitive advantages, and assessing the company's resource capacity in meeting the market's needs.

24. Market Positioning

An effort to influence consumer perception of a brand or product relative to the perception of competing brands or products, its objective is to occupy a clear, unique, and advantageous position in the consumer's mind. Positioning is a marketing strategy that aims to make a brand occupy a distinct position, relative to competing brands, in the mind of the customer.

25. Market Penetration Pricing

Market penetration pricing is a pricing strategy that sets a low initial price for a product. The goal is to quickly attract new customers based on the low cost. The strategy is most effective for increasing market share and sales volume while discouraging competition. A strategy adopted for quickly achieving a high volume of sales and deep market penetration of a new product. Penetration pricing is the practice of offering a low price for a new product or service during its initial offering in order to attract customers away from competitors.

26. Mission Statements

A mission statement defines what an organization is, why it exists, and its reason for being. At a minimum, mission statement should define who are primary customers are, identify the products and service produce, and describe the geographical location in which operate.

27. Parent Brand

A Parent brand is an existing brand that gives rise to a brand extension by supporting the allied products/services by sharing its brand identity. A strong brand that can stand alone to represent a core product/service or be used to support allied products/services by sharing its brand identity.

28. Relationship Marketing

Relationship marketing is a facet of customer relationship management (CRM) that focuses on customer loyalty and long-term customer engagement rather than shorter-term goals like customer acquisition and individual sales. Marketing activities that are aimed at developing and managing trusting and long-term relationships with larger customers

29. Service

Intangible products such as accounting, banking, cleaning, consultancy, education, insurance, expertise, medical treatment, or transportation are services. Sometimes services are difficult to identify because they are closely associated with a good; such as the combination of a diagnosis with the administration of a medicine. No transfer of possession or ownership takes place when services are sold, and they (1) cannot be stored or transported, (2) are instantly perishable, and (3) come into existence at the time they are bought and consumed.

30. Shopping Goods

A higher end product occasionally bought by consumers that are usually compared for their appropriateness, quality, cost and features before purchase occurs. Consumers tend to take more time when purchasing a shopping good produced by a business, and they might even travel to buy such goods.

31. Social Marketing

Social marketing is an approach used to develop activities aimed at changing or maintaining people's behaviour for the benefit of individuals and society as a whole.Kotler and Andreasen define social marketing as "differing from other areas of marketing only with respect to the objectives of the marketer and his or her organization. Social marketing seeks to influence social behaviors not to benefit the marketer, but to benefit the target audience and the general society."

32. Strategic Business Units

An autonomous division or organizational unit, small enough to be flexible and large enough to exercise control over most of the factors affecting its long-term performance, Because strategic business units are more agile (and usually have independent missions and objectives), they allow the owning conglomerate to respond quickly to changing economic or market situations A relatively autonomous division of a large company that operates as an independent enterprise with responsibility for a particular range of products or activities, "these strategic business units are responsible for their own profit or loss but are answerable to the top management"

33. Total Quality Management

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a comprehensive and structured approach to organizational management that seeks to improve the quality of products and services through ongoing refinements in response to continuous feedback. A core definition of total quality management (TQM) describes a management approach to long–term success through customer satisfaction. In a TQM effort, all members of an organization participate in

improving processes, products, services, and the culture in which they work, a system of management based on the principle that every member of staff must be committed to maintaining high standards of work in every aspect of a company's operations.

34. Value Chain

A value chain is the whole series of activities that create and build value at every step. Definition: A value chain is the whole series of activities that create and build value at every step. The total value delivered by the company is the sum total of the value built up all throughout the company. A value chain is a set of activities that a firm operating in a specific industry performs in order to deliver a valuable product or service for the market. A value chain is the full range of activities that businesses go through to bring a product or service to their customers

35. Vertical Marketing System

A vertical marketing system (VMS) is one in which the main members of a distribution channel—producer, wholesaler, and retailer—work together as a unified group in order to meet consumer needs. A vertical marketing system (VMS) refers to a channel of distribution in which there is formal cooperation among members at the manufacturing, wholesaling, and retailing levels.Unlike a conventional marketing system, where each channel member is an independent business that competes for their own profits, the VMS channel members act as a unified system.

36. Culture

A culture is a way of life of a group of people--the behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that they accept, generally without thinking about them, and that are passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next. Culture is symbolic communication. Culture is the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization

37. Marketing Management

Marketing management is the organizational discipline which focuses on the practical application of marketing orientation, techniques and methods inside enterprises and organizations and on the management of a firm's marketing resources and activities. Marketing management is defined as the process of overseeing and planning new product development, advertising, promotions and sales. An example of marketing management is creating an advertising plan and implementing that plan.

38. Brand loyalty

Brand loyalty is the tendency of consumers to continuously purchase one brand's products over another. The extent of the faithfulness of consumers to a particular brand, expressed through their repeat purchases, irrespective of the marketing pressure generated by the competing brands. Use brand loyalty in a sentence. Brand loyalty occurs when a customer chooses to repeatedly purchase a product produced by the same company instead of a substitute product produced by a competitor. 'Brand Loyalty' when consumers become committed to your brand and make repeat purchases over time, Brand loyalty is a result of consumer behavior and is affected by a person's preferences.

39. Co-branding

‘Co-branding’ marketing partnership between at least two different brands of goods or services, Co branding encompasses several different types of branding partnerships, such as sponsorships. This strategy typically associates the brands of at least two companies with a specific good or service. Co-branding is the practice of using multiple brand names together on a single product or service. Co-branding occurs when two or more brand names function together in creating a new product.

40. Cognitive Dissonance

In psychology, cognitive dissonance is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time, performs an action that is contradictory to one or more beliefs, ideas or values, or is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values. Cognitive dissonance refers to a situation involving conflicting attitudes, beliefs or behaviors. This produces a feeling of discomfort leading to an alteration in one of the attitudes, beliefs or behaviors to reduce the discomfort and restore balance etc.

41. Customer Value

Customer value is the satisfaction a consumer feels after making a purchase for goods or services relative to what she must give up to receive them. The difference between what a customers gets from a product, and what he or she has to give in order to get it.

42. Differentiated Marketing

A differentiated marketing strategy targets different market segments with specific marketing mixes designed especially to meet those segments' needs. Each mix includes a product, price, placement and promotional program customized specifically for a particular segment. Differentiated marketing is a type of marketing strategy where a firm offers products or services to a number of market segments and develops separate marketing strategies for each. Differentiated marketing combines the best attributes of undifferentiated marketing and concentrated marketing. It appeals to two or more distinct market segments, with a different marketing plan for each. Typically differentiated marketing creates more total sales than undifferentiated marketing, but it also increases the costs of doing business.

43. Mass Marketing

Mass marketing is the advertising or promotion of a product, good or service to a wide variety of audiences with the expectation of appealing to as many people as possible. Mass marketing is a market coverage strategy in which a firm decides to ignore market segment differences and appeal the whole market with one offer or one strategy. The idea is to broadcast a message that will reach the largest number of people possible. An attempt to appeal to an entire market with one basic marketing strategy utilizing mass distribution and mass media

44. Direct Marketing

Direct marketing is a type of advertising campaign that seeks to elicit an action (such as an order, a visit to a store or Web site, or a request for further information) from a selected group of consumers in response to a communication from the marketer. Direct marketing is a channel-agnostic form of advertising which allows businesses and nonprofit organizations to communicate straight to the customer, with advertising techniques that can include cell phone text messaging, email, interactive consumer websites, online display ads, database marketing, fliers, catalog. Direct marketing is a very effective and powerful way to share information about a product or service.

45. Marketing ethics

Ethical marketing is a process through which companies generate customer interest in products/services, build strong customer interest/relationships, and create value for all stakeholders by incorporating social and environmental considerations in products and promotions. Basic principles and values that govern the business practices of those engaged in promoting products or services to consumers. Marketing ethics is an area of applied ethics which deals with the moral principles behind the operation and regulation of marketing. Some areas of marketing ethics (ethics of advertising and promotion) overlap with media ethics. Marketing ethics is an area of applied ethics which deals with the moral principles behind the operation and regulation of marketing. Some areas of marketing ethics (ethics of advertising and promotion) overlap with media ethics.

46. Micro marketing

A marketing strategy in which advertising efforts are focused on a small group of highly-targeted consumers, Micromarketing requires a company to narrowly define a particular audience by a particular characteristic, such as ZIP code or job title, and tailor campaigns for that particular segment. The marketing of products or services designed to meet the needs of a very small section of the market and activity of marketing products or services directly to particular groups of people

47. Nuclear family

A nuclear family or elementary family is a family group consisting of a pair of adults and their children. This is in contrast to a single-parent family, to the larger extended family, and to a family with more than two parents. A family unit consisting of a child or children living with two parents, who are married to each other, especially when all live under the same roof,

48. Opinion leadership

An opinion leader is a well-known individual or organization that has the ability to influence public opinion on the subject matter for which the opinion leader known. Opinion leaders can be politicians, business leaders, community leaders, journalists, educators, celebrities and sports stars. Opinion leadership is leadership by an active media user who interprets the meaning of media messages or content for lower-end media users. Typically the opinion leader is held in high esteem by those who accept his or her opinions.

49. Personality

Personality is the combination of qualities and characteristics of a person. An example of personality is charismatic. Personality refers to individual differences in characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving. The study of personality focuses on two broad areas: One understands individual differences in particular personality characteristics, such as sociability or irritability. Personality has to do with individual differences among people in behavior patterns. the visible aspect of one's character as it impresses others: the sum total of the physical, mental, emotional, and social characteristics of an individual, something apprehended as reflective of or analogous to a distinctive human personality, as the atmosphere of a place or thing

50. Reference Groups

A reference group includes individuals or groups that influence our opinions, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. They often serve as our role models and inspiration. Marketers view reference groups as important because they influence how consumers interpret information and make purchasing decisions. A reference group is a group to which an individual or another group is compared. Sociologists call any group that individuals use as a standard for evaluating themselves and their own behavior a reference group.

51. Transit Advertising

As a small business owner, advertising and marketing techniques may be imperative to the growth and evolution of your company. Many different modes of advertising can be implemented within a business plan, but some techniques may work better than others. Depending on what your product is and what type of demographic you are looking to advertise to, transit advertising may be one marketing method for your small business to pursue.

Transit advertising is advertising placed in or on modes of public transportation or in public transportation areas. Using this method of advertising, ads can be placed anywhere from on the sides of buses, trains and taxis, to inside subway cars, inside bus stations and near train or bus platforms. The main purpose of transit advertising is to reach riders and acquaint them with your brand.

52. Video Advertising

While our industry has seen tremendous growth over the past few years, there remains a critical issue holding us back: the lack of a concrete definition for “video advertising.”Currently, what “video advertising” is depends on who you ask, and this ambiguity has a negative effect on the entire ecosystem. Media pundits, reporters, and many companies, especially networks entrenched in display, claim video advertising is any digital ad that contains video, including in-banner and in-text ads. Others see video advertising as any type of advertisement in the video stream, regardless of format. Meanwhile, super influencer releases rankings based only on in-stream ads that contain video, thus missing in-stream branded and interactive overlay ads entirely. This confusion helps absolutely no one.

53. Web-Casting

Webcasting is the method of broadcasting live audio and video in real-time, to audiences all over the world via the Internet. Using streaming media, there is no need to download the content before viewing. The term webcasting is usually reserved for referring to non-interactive linear streams or events. Webcasting is also used extensively in the commercial sector for investor relations presentations (such as Annual General Meetings), in E-learning (to transmit seminars), and for related communications activities. However, webcasting does not bear much, if any, relationship to the idea of web conferencing which is designed for many-to-many interaction.

54. Sales Executives

Sales executives, also known as sales managers, run departments whose primary function is to offer goods and services to customers so their companies can turn a profit. They may handle general categories of merchandise, such as goods in department stores, or focus on such specialties as hair-care products, automobiles or office services. Their duties focus on management rather than buying and selling.

55. Selling

Although sales executives do not normally sell goods and services, they can step in for special customers or if subordinate salespeople are inadequate to the task. They typically spend many years as sales agents before they are promoted to their management positions. In a sales capacity, executives meet with customers and determine their need for goods and services; recommend products; and process transactions. They may apply discount prices

for customers during sales promotions or for customers who buy over a certain amount, and provide customer service for any problems.

56. Consumer Goods Marketing

The advertising of products for personal consumption directly to end users in the public rather than to middlemen or businesses, using tactics dissimilar to those used in industrial goods marketing. Research looks at factors such as personal shopping habits (for example, impulse buying), types of products purchased, location of customers, and the nature of demand. The expense of researching and disseminating information to promote the products to the target is usually passed along to the end user in the product price.

57. Motivation

Internal and external factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to be continually interested and committed to a job, role or subject, or to make an effort to attain a goal. Motivation results from the interaction of both conscious and unconscious factors such as the (1) intensity of desire or need, (2) incentive or reward value of the goal, and (3) expectations of the individual and of his or her peers. These factors are the reasons one has for behaving a certain way. An example is a student that spends extra time studying for a test because he or she wants a better grade in the class.

58. Pure Competition

Pure competition is a term that describes a market that has a broad range of competitors who are selling the same products. It is often referred to as perfect competition. Here are some characteristics that define a pure competition.

In an ideal purely competitive market, the products being sold would be identical, which removes the option of one seller offering something different or better than another seller.

Because there are so many competitors in the market offering the same product at the same price, one competitor doesn't have an edge over the others. Essentially, all the sellers are equal.

New companies can easily enter the market. The price of products is determined solely by what consumers are willing to pay.

59. Psychological Pricing

Psychological pricing uses the customer's emotional response to encourage sales. By pricing products strategically, a company may increase sales without significantly reducing prices. In some cases, a higher price is actually more likely to increase sales. Consider several factors in crafting a psychological pricing strategy to get the best results.

60. Needs

Human needs are the basic requirements and include food clothing and shelter. Without these humans cannot survive. An extended part of needs today has become education and healthcare. Generally, the products which fall under the needs category of products do not require a push. Instead the customer buys it themselves. But in today’s tough and competitive world, so many brands have come up with the same offering satisfying the needs of the customer that even the “needs category product” has to be pushed in the customers mind. Example of needs category products / sectors – Agriculture sector, Real Estate (land always appreciates), FMCG, etc.

61. Wants and Demands

Wants are a step ahead of needs and are largely dependent on the needs of humans themselves. For example, you need to take a bath. But I am sure you take baths with the best soaps. Thus Wants are not mandatory part of life. You DONT need a good smelling soap. But you will definitely use it because it is your want. In the above image, the baby needs milk but it WANTS candy. Consumer wants and needs should drive marketing decisions, and no strategy should be pursued until it passes the test of consumer research. Customer focus should be treated as a subset of the corporate strategy rather than the sole driving factor. This means looking beyond current-state customer focus to predict what customers will demand in the future, even if they themselves discount the prediction.

62. Service Marketing

The service marketing mix is also known as an extended marketing mix and is an integral part of a service blueprint design. The service marketing mix consists of 7 P’s as compared to the 4 P’s of a product marketing mix. Simply said, the service marketing mix assumes the service as a product itself. However it adds 3 more P’s which are required for optimum service delivery. The product marketing mix consists of the 4 P’s which are Product, Pricing, Promotions and Placement. These are discussed in my article on product marketing mix – the 4 P’s.

The extended service marketing mix places 3 further P’s which include People, Process and Physical evidence. All of these factors are necessary for optimum service delivery.

63. Technical Selling

While the majority of marketing is about the sale of branded goods to consumers (so-called b2c or business to consumer) in contrast there are many firms that sell the majority or all of their products or services to other businesses. This category of marketing is referred to as business to business marketing (or b2b). There is a third category business-to-government (b2g) which is actually much the same as B2b but has some specific features that make it worthy of a separate category.

64. Trade Selling

A type of account management selling, mostly found in consumer products industries, where salespeople first get distributors, such wholesalers and retailers, to handle their products and once this is accomplished help distributors sell their products by offering promotional and merchandising support. A trade sale is a common way of exit to a trade buyer. This allows the management to withdraw from the business and may open up the prospect of collaboration on larger projects.

It normally entails the disposal of a company's shares or assets and even liabilities, in whole or in part. This may refer to a strategic buyer who intends to grow his business or to a financial buyer who wants to generate a financial return on his invested capital at the time of exit. The term Trade Sale is mostly used in the context of Venture Capital and refers to the sale of a company in its early stages.

65. Centralized Organization

A management structure where decision making is done at higher consolidated levels by those with a broader perspective that includes having amassed considerable knowledge and information about what needs to be done. In a centralized organization, decisions made by higher management are typically communicated to lower organizational tiers who are then expected to accept and move forward in a way consistent with those decisions. The systematic and consistent reservation of authority at central point within the organization is called centralization of authority. The various activities of office are brought under the direct control of the office manager. Centralization of office services may be physical or functional centralization. In the former state of centralization, all office personnel are placed at a central place for work but in the later set up, personnel are scattered at departmental level but their control is exercised from a central point.

66. Channels of Distribution

A distribution channel in marketing refers to the path or route through which goods and/or services travel to get from the place of production or manufacture to the final users. It has at its center, transportation and logistical considerations. Distribution channels in marketing are one of the classic “4 Ps” (product, promotion, price, placement a.k.a. “distribution”). They’re a key element in your entire marketing strategy — they help you expand your reach and grow revenue.

The distribution function of marketing is comparable to the place component of the marketing mix in that both center on getting the goods from the producer to the consumer.

67. Conciliation

The purpose of conciliation proceedings is to reach an amicable, swift and costefficient settlement of a dispute. If the parties to a dispute formally agree to submit it to conciliation, ICMA assigns a member of its panel of conciliators as conciliator to the case. The members of this panel are persons of high integrity with wide experience of the international capital market. They are appointed by ICMA's executive committee on an annual basis. The place of

the conciliation proceedings is to be agreed upon by the parties, failing which it is determined by the conciliator. The conciliator hears the case and then recommends a settlement proposal to the parties. Following a settlement, or, if no settlement can be reached, the conciliator closes the conciliation proceedings and notifies ICMA and the parties accordingly. The costs of conciliation proceedings, including the remuneration of and the costs incurred by the conciliator as well as ICMA, are normally borne in equal parts by the parties concerned.

68. Confiscation

Seizure and expropriation of private property by a government or its agency as a punishment for breach of a law. In confiscation, a property is expropriated (see expropriation) without the consent of its owner and (unlike in condemnation) usually without any compensation. See also eminent domain.

69. Consumer Behavior

It is the study of consumers and the processes they use to choose, use and dispose of products and services. A more in depth definition will also include how that process impacts the world. Consumer behavior incorporates ideas from several sciences including psychology, biology, chemistry and economics.

70. Consumer Products

A consumer product is generally any tangible product for sale that is used for personal, family, household or non-business purposes. To determine whether an item is a consumer product requires a factual finding, on a case-by-case basis. This will vary from one jurisdiction to another. Merchandise or other item of common or daily use, ordinarily bought by individuals or households for private consumption. See also consumer goods. A consumer product is any tangible product for sale that is used by a person or household for non-business purposes.

71. Corporate Planning

Corporate planning is a process used by businesses to map out a course of action that will result in revenue growth and increased profits. Although large corporations may have staff members -- or entire departments -- devoted to performing the planning function, small business owners can become proficient through learning basic concepts and putting forth the effort necessary to create a comprehensive plan. Effective planning requires gathering data about the projected growth of the industry and information about competitors -- their strengths, weaknesses and the strategies they are deploying. The small business owner also must identify the best opportunities for his company to pursue. He starts by analyzing customer needs and determines how to create products and services to meet these needs. He then sets goals for the company, which may include revenue targets and productivity goals such as the gross margin percentage he intends to achieve. The next step is designing strategies and action plans -- the specific steps the owner and his team will take to reach company goals.

72. Counter Trade

International trade in which goods are exchanged for other goods, rather than for hard currency. Countertrade can be classified into three broad categories - barter, counter purchase and offset. Barter forms the oldest countertrade arrangement, and essentially involves the direct exchange of goods and services having an equivalent value, but with no cash settlement. In a counter purchase, the overseas seller agrees to buy goods or services sourced from the buyer's country up to a defined amount. In an offset arrangement, the seller assists in marketing products manufactured by the buying country or allows part of the assembly of the exported product to be carried out by manufacturers in the buying country; this practice is often found in the aerospace and defense industries.

73. Counter Purchase

Countertrade means exchanging goods or services which are paid for, in whole or part, with other goods or services, rather than with money. A monetary valuation can however be used in counter trade for accounting purposes. In dealings between sovereign states, the term bilateral trade is used. OR "Any transaction involving exchange of goods or service for something of equal value."

74. Cultural Borrowing

The definition of cultural borrowing is taking ideas and practices from another culture, ethic group or religion. Example of cultural borrowing is the use of indigenous art styles or imagery by non-indigenous artists. It may be considered especially problematic when permission has not been sought and the work of indigenous artists is simply copied.

75. Cultural Change

Culture change is a term used in public policy making that emphasizes the influence of cultural capital on individual and community behavior. It places stress on the social and cultural capital determinants of decision making and the manner in which these interact

with other factors like the availability of information or the financial incentives facing individuals to drive behavior.

76. Exclusive distribution

Exclusive distribution, describe something you immediately picture something that is expensive and not readily available to everyone. Distribution is the method a business uses to move its product from its warehouse to retailers and ultimately to you, the customer. You may ask, how is distribution exclusive? Distribution is exclusive when only certain retailers are given the option of carrying a product in its store. Exclusive distribution is an agreement between a supplier and a retailer granting the retailer exclusive rights within a specific geographical area to carry the supplier's product. Often the supplier severely limits the number of products it supplies the retailer as well. There are many factors involved in deciding to use an exclusive distribution strategy and determining if exclusive distribution is right for the supplier's product.

77. Expropriation

The act of taking of privately owned property by a government to be used for the benefit of the public. In the United States, the government has the right to take property through eminent domain. The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution provides that private property will not "be taken for public use without just compensation." While there is compensation, the expropriation occurs without the property owner's consent.

78. Extortion

The term extortion refers to the crime of obtaining money or property by using threats of harm against the victim, or against his property or family. Extortion might involve threats of damage to the victim’s reputation, or to his financial well being. Anything obtained by the use of extortion, including consent, has been illegally obtained, and the perpetrator has committed a felony. To explore this concept, consider the following extortion definition.

79. Price Escalation

A disparity in pricing where goods have higher costs in a foreign market than in the domestic market due to transportation and exporting costs. Price escalation can also refer to the sum of cost factors in the distribution channels which add up to a higher final cost for a product in a foreign market.

80. Franchising

A continuing relationship in which a franchisor provides a licensed privilege to the franchisee to do business and offers assistance in organizing, training, merchandising, marketing and managing in return for a monetary consideration. Franchising is a form of business by which the owner (franchisor) of a product, service or method obtains distribution through affiliated dealers (franchisees). In addition to a well-known brand name, buying a franchise offers many other advantages that aren't available to the

entrepreneur starting a business from scratch. Perhaps the most significant is that you get a proven system of operation and training in how to use it. New franchisees can avoid a lot of the mistakes startup entrepreneurs typically make because the franchisor has already perfected daily operations through trial and error.

81. Gender Imbalance

Gender imbalance refers to unequal treatment or perceptions of individuals based on their gender. It arises from differences in socially constructed gender roles as well as biologically through chromosomes, brain structure, and hormonal differences. Gender systems are often dichotomous and hierarchical; gender binary systems may reflect the inequalities that manifest in numerous dimensions of daily life. Gender imbalance stems from distinctions, whether empirically grounded or socially constructed.

82. Global Brands

Global brand is the brand name of a product that has worldwide recognition. A global brand has the advantage of economies of scale in terms of production, recognition, and packaging. Global branding involves extending all three aspects of a brand across the world. While this is not possible for many products, some products are more amenable to global branding. Products aimed at luxury and youth segments seem ideally suited for global brands. In markets such as telecom, airlines and hotels, where there is heavy consumer mobility, global branding is more feasible. When the country of origin is important, global branding is easier. Brands such as Marlboro, whose identity focuses more on the product and its roots can more easily go global. When there is an untapped market segment, a global brand may fill the gap.

83. Global Marketing Orientation

A company philosophy focused on discovering and meeting the needs and desires of its customers through its product mix. Unlike past marketing strategies that concentrated on establishing selling points for existing products, market orientation works in reverse, attempting to tailor products to meet the demands of customers. In essence, market orientation can be thought of as a coordinated marketing campaign between a company and its customers.

84. Green Marketing

Marketing products and services based on environmental factors or awareness. Companies involved in green marketing make decisions relating to the entire process of the company's products, such as methods of processing, packaging and distribution. Green marketing companies seek to go above and beyond traditional marketing by promoting environmental core values in the hope that consumers will associate these values with their company or brand. Engaging in these sustainable activities can lead to creating a new product line that caters to a new target market also known as sustainable marketing, environmental marketing or ecological marketing.

85. Grey Advertising

A market where a product is bought and sold outside of the manufacturers authorized trading channels. The unofficial trading of a company's shares, usually before they are issued in an initial public offering (IPO). For example, if a store owner is an unauthorized dealer of a certain high-end electronics brand, the product is considered to be sold in the grey market. If the product is illegal, it would be selling on the "black market".

86. Immigration

The action of coming to live permanently in a foreign country. The place at an airport or country's border where government officials check the documents of people entering that country.

87. Quotas

Quotas are numerical limits imposed on imported goods. Consumers are harmed by quotas, while domestic and foreign producers benefit by receiving higher prices. In the graph below, the market initially clears at P0, Q0. The supply curve Sd+i0 represents the quantity supplied by both domestic and foreign producers before the imposition of the quota. D0 is the domestic demand curve. After the quota, the supply curve looks like Sd+i1. Both foreign and domestic producers receive higher prices while consumers lose out.

88. Tariffs

Tariffs are taxes imposed on imported goods; they will increase the price of the good in the domestic market. Domestic producers benefit because they receive higher prices. The government benefits by collecting tax revenues.

89. Multinational Corporations

A corporation that has its facilities and other assets in at least one country other than its home country. Such companies have offices and/or factories in different countries and usually have a centralized head office where they co-ordinate global management. Very large multinationals have budgets that exceed those of many small countries. Nearly all major multinationals are either American, Japanese or Western European, such as Nike, Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, AOL, Toshiba, Honda and BMW. Advocates of multinationals say they create jobs and wealth and improve technology in countries that are in need of such development. On the other hand, critics say multinationals can have undue political influence over governments, can exploit developing nations as well as create job losses in their own home countries.

90. Indirect Exporting

Indirect exporting is exports that are not handled directly by the manufacturer or producer but through an export agent or freight forwarder.

91. Inflation

Inflation is the rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services is rising and, consequently, the purchasing power of currency is falling. Central banks attempt to limit inflation, and avoid deflation, in order to keep the economy running smoothly.

92. Intellectual Property

Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce. IP is protected in law by, for example, patents, copyright and trademarks, which enable people to earn recognition or financial benefit from what they invent or create. By striking the right balance between the interests of innovators and the wider public interest, the IP system aims to foster an environment in which creativity and innovation can flourish.

93. International Monetary Fund (IMF)

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international organization created for the purpose of standardizing global financial relations and exchange rates. The IMF generally monitors the global economy, and its core goal is to economically strengthen its member countries. Specifically, the IMF was created with the intention of: Promoting global monetary and exchange stability, Facilitating the expansion and balanced growth of international trade, assisting in the establishment of a multilateral system of payments for current transactions.

94. Least Developed Countries

The least developed countries (LDCs) are a group of countries that have been classified by the UN as "least developed" in terms of their low gross national income (GNI), their weak human assets and their high degree of economic vulnerability.

95. Logistics Management Potential

Logistics management is the governance of supply chain functions. Logistics management activities typically include inbound and outbound transportation management, fleet management, warehousing, materials handling, order fulfillment, logistics network design, inventory management, supply/demand planning, and management of third party logistics services providers. To varying degrees, the logistics function also includes customer service, sourcing and procurement, production planning and scheduling, packaging and assembly. Logistics management is part of all levels of planning and execution -- strategic, operational and tactical. It is an integrating function, which coordinates all logistics activities, as well as integrates logistics activities with other functions including marketing, sales manufacturing, finance, and information technology.

96. Letter Of Credit

A letter issued by a bank to another bank (especially one in a different country) to serve as a guarantee for payments made to a specified person under specified conditions. To establish a letter of credit in favor of the seller or exporter (called the beneficiary) the buyer (called the applicant or account party) either pays the specified sum (plus service charges) up front to the issuing bank, or negotiates credit.

97. Verbal Communication

The sharing of information between individuals by using speech. Individuals working within a business need to effectively use verbal communication that employs readily understood spoken words, as well as ensuring that the enunciation, stress and tone of voice with which the words are expressed is appropriate.

98. Budget

An estimate of costs, revenues, and resources over a specified period, reflecting a reading of future financial conditions and goals. One of the most important administrative tools, a budget serves also as a (1) plan of action for achieving quantified objectives, (2) standard for measuring performance, and (3) device for coping with foreseeable adverse situations.

99. Audit

Analysis and evaluation of a firm's marketing approach, activities, aims, and results achieved. Marketing audit is a systematic, critical and impartial review and appraisal of the total marketing operation: of the basic objectives and policies and the assumptions which underlie them as well as the methods, procedures, personnel and organization employed to implement the policies and achieve the objectives.

100. Local advertising

Local advertising refers to optimizing delivering ads according to the position of the recipient (client, user). It is used in Geo (marketing).Local search (Internet) often fuels uses optimization for targeting the advertising or Local advertising refers to optimizing delivering ads according to the position of the recipient (client, user). It is used in Geo (marketing). Local search (Internet) often fuels uses optimization for targeting the advertising.

101. Mass media

Mass media is a term used to denote, as a class, that section of the media specifically conceived and designed to reach a very large audience such as the population of a nation state. It was coined in the 1920s with the advent of nationwide radio networks, mass-circulation newspapers and magazines, although mass media was present centuries before the term became common. (wikipedia)

102. Perception

Perception the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses."the normal limits to human perception"

the way in which something is regarded, understood, or interpreted."Hollywood's perception of the tastes of the American public"

103. Promotion

Promotion refers to raising customer awareness of a product or brand, generating sales, and creating brand loyalty. It is one of the four basic elements of the market mix, which includes the four P's: price, product, promotion, and place.

104. Related marketing

This is a form of marketing in which a company and a charity team up together to tackle a social or environmental problem and create business value for the company at the same time.

105. Repositioning

Changing a brand's status in comparison to that of the competing brands. Repositioning is effected usually through changing the marketing mix in response to changes in the market place, or due to a failure to reach the brand's marketing objectives. See also positioning.

106. Spot advertising

Television advertising occupying a short break during or between programmes.

107. Teaser campaign

Teaser campaign known as a pre-launch campaign, is an advertising campaign which typically consists of a series of small, cryptic, challenging advertisementsthat anticipate a larger, full-blown campaignfor a product launch or otherwise important event.

108. TelemarketingThe marketing which of goods or services by means of telephone calls, typically unsolicited, to potential customers

109. Trade Advertisement A trade advertisement is an advertising undertaken by the manufacturer and directed toward the wholesaler or retailer.

110. Transit media

Transit media is a form of out-of-home advertising that displays advertisements in or on the outside of vehicles such as on the side of or above the seats of a bus or tram.

111. Advertising

Method of paying for commercial presentations to promotes ideas, products, and services

112. Database Marketing

Communicating, promoting, and selling activities based on a database management system (DBMS), which stores and refines data generated by a firm's routine marketing and selling efforts. The DBMS constructs customer profiles based on their personal, demographic, geographic, and psychographic characteristics, enabling the firm to direct its marketing efforts with greater accuracy.

113. Databases of customers

Database marketing is a form of direct marketing using databases of customers or potential customers to generate personalized communications in order to promote a product or service for marketing purposes. The method of communication can be any addressable medium, as in direct marketing.

114. Data mining

Data mining requires a class of database applications that look for hidden patterns in a group of data that can be used to predict future behavior. For example, data mining software can help retail companies find customers with common interests

115. Data warehouse

Development of a data warehouse includes development of systems to extract data from operating systems plus installation of a warehouse database system that provides managers flexible access to the data. The term data warehousing generally refers to the combination of many different databases across an entire enterprise. Contrast with data mart.

116. Dumping

In international trade, the export by a country or company of a product at a price that is lower in the foreign market than the price charged in the domestic market. As dumping usually involves substantial export volumes of the product, it often has the effect of endangering the financial viability of manufacturers or producers of the product in the importing nation. Dumping is also a colloquial term that refers to the act of offloading a stock with little regard for its price.

117. Experience Curve

The experience curve is an idea developed by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in the mid-1960s. Working with a leading manufacturer of semiconductors, the consultants noticed that the company's unit cost of manufacturing fell by about 25% for each doubling of the volume that it produced.

118. Focus group

A focus group is a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs, and attitudes towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging. Questions are asked in an interactive group setting where participants are free to talk with other group members.

119. Grey Market

A grey market (sometimes called a parallel market, but this can also mean other things; not to be confused with a black market or a grey economy) is the trade of a commodity through distribution channels that are legal but unintended by the original manufacturer

120. Questionnaire

A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. Although they are often designed for statistical analysis of the responses, this is not always the case

121. Hybrid marketing system

Hybrid marketing system, also called hybrid channels, is a system that uses a number of different channels and communication methods to serve a target market.

122. Distribution Channel

The chain of businesses or intermediaries through which a good or service passes until it reaches the end consumer. A distribution channel can include wholesalers, retailers, distributors and even the internet. Channels are broken into direct and indirect forms, with a "direct" channel allowing the consumer to buy the good from the manufacturer and an "indirect" channel allowing the consumer to buy the good from a wholesaler. Direct channels are considered "shorter" than "indirect" ones.

123. Consumer Goods

Products that are purchased for consumption by the average consumer. Alternatively called final goods, consumer goods are the end result of production and manufacturing and are what a consumer will see on the store shelf. Clothing, food, automobiles and jewelry are all examples of consumer goods. Basic materials such as copper are not considered consumer goods because they must be transformed into usable products.

124. Currency

Currency is a generally accepted form of money, including coins and paper notes, which is issued by a government and circulated within an economy. Used as a medium of exchange for goods and services, currency is the basis for trade.

125. Cost Escalation

Cost escalation is defined as changes in the cost or price of specific goods or services in a given economy over a period. This is similar to the concepts of inflation and deflation except that escalation is specific to an item or class of items (not as general in nature), it is often not primarily driven by changes in the money supply, and it tends to be less sustained. While escalation includes general inflation related to the money supply, it is also driven by changes in technology, practices, and particularly supply-demand imbalances that are specific to a good or service in a given economy

126. Franchise

A franchise is a type of license that a party (franchisee) acquires to allow them to have access to a business's (the franchiser) proprietary knowledge, processes and trademarks in order to allow the party to sell a product or provide a service under the business's name. In exchange for gaining the franchise, the franchisee usually pays the franchisor initial start-up and annual licensing fees

127. Gender inequality

Gender inequality refers to unequal treatment or perceptions of individuals based on their gender. It arises from differences in socially constructed gender roles as well as biologically through chromosomes, brain structure, and hormonal differences.

128. Market Orientation

A company philosophy focused on discovering and meeting the needs and desires of its customers through its product mix. Unlike past marketing strategies that concentrated on establishing selling points for existing products, market orientation works in reverse, attempting to tailor products to meet the demands of customers. In essence, market orientation can be thought of as a coordinated marketing campaign between a company and its customers.