Note : Answer all the questions and submit this assignment on or before 31 st October 2011, to the coordinator of your study center.

1 a) Discuss the elements of Marketing Mix. Explain the additional marketing mix elements essential in marketing of services, giving suitable examples.

• b) How would you reply to the marketers who say, “Marketing Research is too expensive, so the firm will just have to get by without it’?

2 a) What do you understand from Segmentation Targeting and Positioning strategies (STP) strategies? Discuss with suitable illustrations

• b) Why does the marketing mix change as the product moves through its life cycle? How would you foresee the mix to change for any innovative product of your choice as it moves through its life cycle? Specify the brand and clearly explain the phenomenon

3 a) When is personal selling more effective then other methods of promotion? Explain its importance with two examples of your choice.

b) What is a brand? What distinct advantages do firms get from branding? Pickup two brands one from FMCG and other from consumer durables to explain how the firms were benefited

4 a) What are the different types of costs associated with the physical distribution? Discuss each of them in detail.

b) Discuss the importance of packaging as a tool for market cultivation. Elaborate why “Packaging” is considered as the fifth element of marketing mix.