Marketing Glossary

4 Ps: product, place, price, promotion

7 Ps: product, place, price, promotion, process, people, physical evidence

Above-the-line advertising: advertising in the mass media, including press, radio, television, and posters

ACORN: stands for A Classification of Residential Neighbourhoods, which is a system of UK geodemographic segmentation provided by the CACI company

Acquisition: usually, the purchase of a company by another company

Ad-hoc research: a research project which focuses on a specific problem

Administered vertical marketing system: a channel. situation where a manufacturer who dominates a market through its size and strong brands may exercise considerable power over intermediaries even though they are independent

Advertising allowance: money paid to a retailer by a manufacturer for featuring its brands in the retailer's advertising

Advertising clutter: the confusion caused by the presence of many advertisers using the same media

Advertising platform: the aspect of the seller's product that is most persuasive and relevant to the target consumer

Advertising: any paid form of non-personal communication of ideas or products in the prime media, i.e. television, the press, posters, cinema and radio, the Internet and direct marketing

Agent: (1) generally, a representative of a company (2) an organization which acts for another usually in an intermediary role and paid on commission

AIDA: awareness, interest, desire, action - the stages through which a consumer is believed to pass before purchasing a product

Ambush marketing: originally referred to activities of companies who try to associate themselves with an event (e.g. the Olympics) without paying any fee to the event owner; meaning the sponsoring of the television coverage of a major event, national teams and the support of individual sportspeople

ATR: awareness, trial, reinforcement - the stages a consumer is said to pass through when buying a product in a low involvement situation

Attitude: the degree to which a customer or prospect likes or dislikes a product

Automatic vending: machines retailing products in convenient locations 24 hours a day

Banded pack offer: a free sample of one brand banded to another

Barter: payment for goods with goods with no direct use of money

Below-the-line advertising: point-of-purchase material, direct mail, exhibitions – i.e. non-mass media advertising

Benefits: the advantages which customers seek from buying a particular brand or product

Bonus pack: giving a customer extra quantity at no additional cost

Bonus: an additional amount paid to e.g. a salesperson on top of salary and commission in recognition of exceptional performance

Brand extension: the use of an established brand name on a new brand within the same broad market

Brand equity: the goodwill associated with a brand narme which adds tangible value to a company through the resulting higher profits and sales

Brand stretching: the use of an established brand name for brands in unrelated markets

Branding: the process by which companies distinguish their offerings from the competition

Brands: the distinctive identity of a product

Break-even analysis: the calculation of the quantity needed to be sold to cover total costs

Breaking bulk: usually an activity performed by a wholesaler by buying in bulk and breaking the quantities down into smaller quantities for further distribution

Broadcast sponsorship: a form of sponsorship where a television or radio programme is the Focus

Buffer stocks-. Safety stocks: stocks or inventory held to cover against uncertainty about re-supply lead-times

Build: a strategy of managing a product for sales and share growth

Bundled prices: the pricing of a number of separable products as one package, usually effectively lowering the price

Business format franchising: a franchising method whereby marketing approaches, quality control and operating procedures are offered to the franchise

Business mission: the organization's purpose, usually serting out its competitive domain

Buy class: a category of organizational purchase, generally of three kinds, namely, new task, straight re-buy or modified re-buy

Buy-back: where part of e.g. a sale of production plant is financed by buying back some of the final product

Buy-response method: a study of the value customers place on a product by asking them if they would be willing to buy it at varying price levels

Buyer behaviour: the reasons why customers buy, their choice criteria, when, how and where they buy

Buyer: an individual who purchases a product: or service

Buyer: those who have the authority to negotiate and execute the contractual arrangements

Buying centre: a group of persons usually within an organization which is responsible for the buying decision

Buying signal: a statement by a buyer which indicates she is interested in buying

Buying situation: extended problem solving, limited problem solving and habitual solving

Bypass attack: circumventing the defender's position, usually through technological leapfrogging or diversification

Call frequency: the frequency with which a salesperson calls on a customer

Campaign: usually refers to a planned marketing or advertising activity designed to achieve certain commercial objectives

Campaign objectives: goals set by an organization in terms of e.g. sales, profits, customers won or retained or awareness creation

Cannibalisation: a situation where a new brand gains sales at the expense of another of the company's brands

Cash cows-. high-hare products in low-growth markets

Catalogue stores, retail outlets promoting their products through catalogues which are either posted or are available in the store for customers to take home

Category killer: retail outlets with a narrow product focus but with an unusually wide breadth and depth to that product range, for example Toys '31' Us

Category management:the management of brands ina group, portfolio or category withspecific emphasis on the retail trade's requirements

Channel integration: the way in which the players in the channel are linked together

Channel intermediaries: organizations which facilitate the distribution of products to customers

Channel of distribution: the means by which products are moved from the producer to the ultimate consumer

Channel strategy: the selection of the most effective distribution channel, the most appropriate level of distribution intensity and the degree of channel integration

Coercive power: power inherent in the ability to punish

Commission: a method of payment based on the achievement of sales results and usually expressed as a percentage of the value sold

Communications mix: advertising, personal selling, sales promotions, public relations and direct marketing

Communications mix: advertising, personal selling, sales promotion and publicity and direct marketing

Compensation: a form of exchange where payment involves using both goods and cash

Competencies: the skills and resources which a company has

Competitive advantage: a clear performance differential over competition on factors that are important to target customers

Competitive scope: the breadth of a company's competitive challenge, e.g. broad or narrow

Competitive strategy: the strategy a firm adopts in relation to the competition

Competitor analysis: an examination of the nature of actual and competitor analysis and their objectives and strategies

Competitor audit: a precise analysis of competitor strengths and weaknesses, objectives and strategies

Competitor targets: organizations against which the company chooses to compete directly

Concession close: an attempt to convince an indecisive buyer to close a deal by offering a concession, e.g. a discount

Consultative selling: working with customers to discover their needs and work out an acceptable business solution

Consumer behaviour: the reasons why customers buy, their choice criteria, when, how and where they buy

Consumer decision-making process: the stages a consumer goes through when buying something, namely, problem awareness, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase and post-purchase evaluation

Consumer panel: household consumers which provide information on their purchases over time

Continuous research: repeated interviewing of the same sample of people

Contractual vertical marketing system: a franchise arrangement tying producers and resellers together

Control: the stage in the marketing planning process or cycle when the performance against plan is monitored and observed

Convenience stores: retail outlets offering customers the convenience of close location and long opening hours every day of the week

Core competencies: the principal distinctive capabilities possessed by a company - what ir is really good at.

Core strategy: the means of achieving marketing objectives, including target markets, competitor targets and competitive advantage.

Corporate goals: the overall objectives of an entire organization

Corporate identity: the ethos, aims and values of an organization, presenting a sense of its individuality which helps to differentiate it from its competitors

Corporate plan: a document which contains the strategy for the corporate entity usually for a one-year time horizon

Cost focus strategy: with this strategy a firm seeks a cost advantage with one or a small number of segments

Cost leadership: the achievement of the lowest cost position in an industry, serving many segments

Counterpurchase: the seller agrees to sell a product to a buyer and receives cash, subject to the seller buying goods from the buyer for all or part of the original amount

Countertrade: a method of exchange where not all transactions are concluded in cash.- goods may be included as part of the asking piece

Country of origin: the country in which a product is substantially manufactured

Credit scoring: a system used by financial service and mail order companies to help predict credit or loan default rates based on customer profiles

Credit terms: the basis (usually the number of days delay in payment) on which goods are released to the customer before payment is received

Critical success factors: those factors which an organization needs to control if it is to succeed

Cross-selling: persuading an existing customer 1~, buy another product from the company

Cultural distance: the degree to which norms and values or working methods between two companies differ because of their separate national characteristics

Custom targeting: treating each customer as a separate segment

Customer analysis: a survey of who the customers are, what choice criteria they use, how they rate competitive offerings and on what variables they can be segmented

Customer choice criteria: the criteria on the basis of which customers decide to buy or not to buy a product or service

Customer database: a system which records details about the organization's customers

Customer satisfaction measurement: a process through which customer satisfaction criteria are set, customers are surveyed and the results interpreted in order to establish the level of customer satisfaction with the organization's product

Enquirers: people who have contacted the organization and shown interest in one or more products but, as vet, have not bought

Entry barriers: barriers which act to prevent new firms from entering a market, e.g. the high level of investment required

Environmental scanning: the process of monitoring and analysing the marketing environment of a company

Event sponsorship: sponsorship of a sporting or other event

Everyday low prices: a retailers' policy of keeping prices low every day rather than through sales promotions

Exhibition: an event which bring buyers and sellers together in a commercial setting

Exit barrier: the barriers to leaving an industry, e.g. the cost of closing down plant

Experience curve: the combined effect of economies of scale and learning as cumulative output increases

Experimental research: research undertaken in order to establish cause and effect

Expert power: power which derives from an individual's expertise

Exploratory research: the preliminary exploration of a research area prior to the main data collection stage

Export merchant: an organization which takes tide to products and sells them abroad

Extended problem solving: a high degree of information search, close examination of alternative solutions using many choice criteria

Facelift: a minor product change with little or no change to the rest of the marketing mix or target market

Family brand name: a brand name used for all products in a range

Features: attributes of a product which may or may not confer a customer benefit

Fighter brands: low-cost manufacturers' brands introduced to combat own-label brands

Flanking attack: attacking geographical areas or market segments where the defender is poorly represented

Flanking defence: the defence of a hitherto, unprotected market segment

Focus group: a group of 6-8 consumers brought together for a discussion focusing on an aspect of a company's marketing

Focused targeting: Competing in one segment only (also known as niche targeting)

Folder techniques: a press advertising pre-testing

method in which proposed advertisements are placed in a folder of competing displays in order to test unaided reca11

Foreign direct investment (FDI): investment in a foreign-based assembly or manufacturing facility

FRAC: stands for frequency, recency, amount and category and forms the transactional information on a customer's purchases in a direct marketing database

Franchising: a form of licensing where a package of services (including product and trade name) is offered by the franchiser to the franchisee in return for payment

Freephone: a special. telephone number which customers can call without incurring any expense

Frontal attack: a competitive strategy where the challenger takes on the defender head-on

Full-cost pricing: pricing so as to include all costs and based on certain sales volurne assumptions

Full-service marketing departments: departments which show a high degree of integration of marketing functions, control or influence all marketing decisions

Gatekeeper: those who control the flow of information, e.g. secretaries who may allow or prevent access to a DMU member, or a buyer whose agreement must be sought before a supplier can contact other members of the DMU

Generic competitors: products which solve a customer's problem or eliminate it in a dissimilar way

Geodemographic segmentation: the segmentation of consumers on the combined basis of location and certain demographic and socio-economic data

Going-rate pricing: pricing at the rate generally applicable in the market, focusing on competitors offerings rather than on company costs

Guarantee: a promise by a manufacturer that if a product fails within a certain period it will make good the defect for free under certain conditions

Guerilla attack: making life uncomfortable for stronger rivals through e.g. unpredictable price discounts, sale promotions, or heavy advertising in a few selected regions

Habitual problem-solving: a consumer purchase which involves a repeat buy with little or no evaluation of alternatives

Hall test: bringing a sample of target consumers to a room that has been hired so that alternative marketing ideas can be tested

Halo customers: customers who are not directly targeted but may find the product attractive

Harvest: a strategy of managing a product for cash

High-involvement purchase: purchase decisions in which the customer becomes highly involved and seeks detailed information

Hold: a strategy of managing a product for profits and maintaining market share

House list: a company's list of its own customers

Image repositioning: keeping product and target market the same, but changing the image of the product

Implementation: the stage of the marketing planning process when the plan is put into operation

Impulse purchasing: a consumer's decision to buy which is taken on the spur of the moment

Individual brand name: a brand -name which does not identify a brand with. a particular company

Industrial market: companies which purchase inputs for further processing or their own use

Information: Combinations of data which provide decision-relevant knowledge

Innovation: the commercialisation of an invention by bringing it to market

Innovators: the first customers willing to buy a new product after launch

In-or-on-pack gifts: gifts which are given away free with brands

Inseparability: a characteristic of services, namely that their production cannot be separated from their consumption

Inside order-taker: usually a retail sales assistant whose task is simply to take payment and hand over the products

In-supplier: a competitor who is already supplying to a target account and therefore has the 'inside track'

Intangibility: a characteristic of services, namely that they cannot be touched, seen, tasted or smelled

Intangible repositioning: targeting a different market segment with. the same product

Interaction approach: an approach to buyer-seller relations which treats the relationships as taking place between two active parties

Intermediaries: distributors or resellers

Internet: a global web of thousands of computer networks permitting instantaneous world-wide communications

In-the-mail offer: a promotion involving the collection of packet tops, labels or ring-pulls which are sent in the mail as proof of purchase to claim a free gift ør money voucher

Invention: the discovery of new methods and ideas

joint venture: co-operation by two or more parties on a business project, which may or may not involve the creation of a separate company

Journey routing: the planning of a salesperson's route when calling on prospects or customers

junk mail: mail which is sent to a prospect who is not a suitable target

Just-in-time: The just-in-time concept aims to minimise stocks by organising a supply system which provides materials and components as they are required

Key account management: an approach to selling which focuses resources on major customers and uses a team selling approach

Ladder of support: the spectrum of the degree of support which can be expected when introducing change

Laggards: those who are the last to buy a new product

Lead time: the time gap between one event and another

Legitimate power: power based on legitimate authority, such as line management

Licensing: a contractual arrangement in which a licensor provides a licensee with certain rights, e.g. to technology access or production rights

Life cycle: the stage people have reached in their life, from single at home through young parents to solitary retired

Lifestyle: the patterns of living as expressed in a person's activities, interests and opinions

Lifetime value: the lifetime value of a customer is the profit made on a customer's purchase over the customer's lifetime

Limited problem-solving: information search which may be mainly internal through memory

List broker: an organization which acts as an intermediary in the supply of lists of names and addresses for direct mail purposes

List owner: an organization which own a list of customers or prospects

List price: the price quoted by a company before any discouts

Location gap: the geographic separation of producers from the customers they serve

Low involvement purchase: a purchase decision in which the customer does not become highly involved and does not seek detailed information

Loyalty card: usually a plastic card which is issued by a company to a customer and is used to record the frequency of the customer's purchases and calculate resulting discounts, rewards or allowances

Loyalty scheme: an arrangement whereby customers apply for a loyalty card which entitles them to discounts for continued purchases

Macroenvironment: a number of broader forces that affect not only the company but the other actors in the environment, e.g. social, political, technological and economic

Macrosegmentation: the segmentation of organizational markets by size, industry and location

Mail order catalogue: usually a colour catalogue featuring products and prices sent through the mail and from which customers can select and order

Mail order: a non-store form of retailing using catalogues or other media as a promotional vehicle

Manufacturer brands: brands which are created by producers and bear their chosen brand name

Marginal cost pricing: the calculation of only those costs which are likely to rise/fall as output increases/decreases

Market development: to take current products and sell them in new markets.

Marketing information system: a system in which marketing information is formally gathered, stored, analysed, and distributed to managers in accord with their informational needs on a regular, planned basis

Market intelligence: information on present and future customer needs

Market penetration: to continue to sell an existing product in an existing market

Market testing: the limited launch of a new product to test sales potential

Market: the people who represent the actual. or potential demand for a product

Marketing audit: a systematic examination of a business's marketing environment, objectives, strategies, and activities with a view to identifying key strategic issues, problem areas and opportunities

Marketing concept: the achievement of corporate goals through meeting and exceeding customer needs better than the competition

Marketing environment: the actors and forces that affect a company's capability to operate effectively in providing products and services to its customers

Marketing mix: a framework for the tactical management of the customer relationship, including product, place, price, promotion (4Ps). In the case of services three other elements to be taken into account are: process, people and physical evidence.

Marketing objectives: there are two types of marketing objectives - strategic thrust, which dictates which products should be sold in which markets, and strategic objectives, i.e. product-level objectives, such as build, hold, harvest and divest

Marketing orientation: companies with a marketing orientation focus on customer needs as the primary drivers of organizational performance.

Marketing planning: the process by which businesses analyse the environment, decide upon courses of marketing action and implement those decisions

Marketing research: the gathering of data and information on the market

Marketing strategy: the approach a firm takes to securing and retaining profitable relationships with its customers, generally involving segmentation, targeting and positioning choices as well as adaptation of a suitable marketing mix

Media coverage: mention of a particular event, product or organization in the media

Media relations: communications about a product or organization by placing news about it in the media without paying for the time or space directly

Mega-marketing: lobbying political. power and public opinion

Member-get-member: a programme of customer recruitment incentivising existing customers or members to recruit others

Merger: the amalgamation of two or more organizations

Microenvironment: the actors in the firms immediate environment that affect its capability to operate effectively in its chosen markets, namely, suppliers, distributors, customers and competitors

Microsegmentation: segmentation according to choice criteria, DMU structure, decision making process, buy class, purchasing structure and organizational innovativeness

Misconceptions barrier: a failure by marketers to understand what customers really value about their service

Missionary salespeople: order-creators whose task is not to close the sales but to persuade the customer, e.g. a medical practitioner, to specify the seller's products

Mobile defence: involves diversification or broadening the market by redefining the business

Modified re-buy: where a regular requirement for the type of product exists and the buying alternatives are known but sufficient (e.g. a delivery problem) has occurred to require some alteration to the normal supply procedure

Moments of truth. staff-customer contacts

Money-back guarantee: a promise by a retailer or manufacturer that if a customer is not happy with the purchase he or she may return the product in good condition and get a full refund

Money-off. a sales promotion that discounts the normal price

Nano-relationships: relations between internal customers, internal markets, divisions and business areas within organizations

National account: large and important customers who may have centralised purchasing departments that buy or co-ordinate buying for decentralised, geographically dispersed business units

New business salespeople: salespersons whose task is to win new business by identifying and selling to prospects

New task: refers to the first time purchase øf a product or input by an organization

Niche targeting: competing in one segment (niche) only

Niche: a small market segment

No-frills products: basic commodities such as bread, sugar and soft drinks sold in rudimentary packages at low prices

Non-profit organization: an organization which attempts to achieve an objective other than profit, for example relief of famine, animal rights, or public service

Omnibus survey: a regular survey usually operated by a market research specialist company which. asks questions of respondents

Opportunity cost: that which is foregone in the pursuit of a given strategy

Opportunity: a situation favourable to the achievement of the organization's objectives, usually characterised by unfulfilled custorner demand, the organization being in a position to meet that demand and the relative weakness or total absence of competition.

Order point: the level of inventory at which reordering is advisable to avoid stock-outs caused by the lead-time to resupply

Order-creators: salespeople who do not receive orders directly as they talk to specifiers rather than buyers

Order-getters: salespeople who attempt customers to place an order directly

Order-takers: salespeople who respond to already committed customers

Organizational salespeople: salespersons whose role is to maintain close long-term relationships with organizational customers, often involved in team selling

Own label: retailer's own brand

Own-label brands: brands created and owned by distributors or retailers

Parallel importing: when importers buy products from distributors in one country and sell thern in another to distributors who are not part of the manufacturer's normal distribution; caused by big price differences for the same product between different countries

Parent company: a company which owns another

Penetration strategy: a low-priced new product launch designed to achieve maximum market share

Perceptual mapping: a useful tool for determining the position of a brand as seen by customers

Perishability: a characteristic of services, namely that the capacity of a service business, such as a hotel room, is perishable - if it is not occupied, that is lost income which, cannot be recovered

Personal selling: oral communication with prospective purchasers with the intention of making a sale

Physical. distribution: a set of activities concerned with the physical flows of materials, components and finished goods from producer to channel intermediaries and consumers

Physical evidence: that part of the services marketing mix which refers to the environment in which the service is delivered and tangible goods which facilitate the communication and performance of the service

PIMS: Profit Impact of Marketing Strategy

Place: the distribution channels to be used, outlet locations, methods of transportation

Publicity: the communication of a product or business by placing information about it in the media without paying for time or space directly

Pull strategy: Direct communication by manufacturers or service providers with consumers to draw them into channel intermediaries, usually using advertising and consumer promotions

Push strategy: an attempt to sell into channel intermediaries using personal selling and sales promotions

Qualitative research: group discussions and depth interviews aimed at establishing respondents' attitudes, values, behaviour and beliefs

Reference group: a group of people that influences an individual's attitude or behaviour

Referent power: power derived by the reference source, e.g. when people identify with and respect the architect of change

Referrals: people who have been recommended to the organization as potential customers

Remerchandising: a modification of name, promotion, price, packaging and/or distribution while maintaining the basic product

Repositioning: Changing the target market or differential advantage or both

Research brief the client's explanation to a research agency of the research problem and objectives

Research proposal: a document defining what the marketing research agency promises to do for its client and how much it will cost

Reseller market: organizations which buy products to resell, e.g. mail order companies and supermarkets

Respondent: a person who answers questions in a marketing research exercise

Retail accordion: a theory of retail evolution which focuses on the cycle of retailers widening and then contracting product ranges

Retail audit: a type of continuous research tracking the sales of products through retail outlets

Retail life cycle: a theory of retailing evolution which is based. on the product life cycle stating that new types of retailing pass through birth, growth, maturity and decline

Retailing: the activity involved in selling products to the ultimate consumer

Reverse marketing: the process whereby the buyer attempts to persuade the supplier to provide exactly what the organization wants

Reward power: power derived from the ability to provide benefits

Safety stocks: stocks or inventory held to cover against uncertainty about re-supply lead-times

Sales lead: information on a potential purchaser

Sales promotion: incentives to customers or the trade that are designed to stimulate purchase

Sampling: a term used in research to denote the selection of a sub-set of the total population in order to interview them

Satellite conferencing: conferences by satellite transmitting of messages from one location to many sites

Secondary research: data which has already been collected by another researcher for another purpose

Segment: a group of customers or potential customers who share certain common characteristics

Segmentation: the identification of groups of individuals or organizations with characteristics in common that have significant implications for the development of marketing strategy

Segmentation: the process of dividing the total market into homogeneous groupings or segments

Self-liquidating offer: an offer where consumers are asked to pay to cover the promoter's costs of the promotional merchandise plus administration and postal charges

Sensitivity analysis: the running of alternative scenarios with changed input variables (price, cost, consumer acceptance) to see the impact on sales and profits

Service: any task carried out for the customer

Services marketing mix: product, place, price-, promotion, people, process and physical evidence

Simultaneous engineering: the involvement of manufacturing and product development engineers in the same development team in an effort to reduce development time

Skimming strategy: a high-priced new product launch designed to recover research and development expenditure

Skunkworks: a new product development team separated from other employees to work on a project free from bureaucratic interference

Social distance: the extent to which both the individuals and organizations in a relationship are unfamiliar with each other's way of working