In the modern world, every individual indulges in marketing process in a variety of forms and at all places—be it buying of goods or services, dealing with customers, applying for a job, joining a club, drinking tea or offering coffee. In fact, marketing is an extensive social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating, offering and exchanging products of value with others. Keeping in view the increasing importance of marketing, the present book A Practical Approach to Marketing Management makes an in-depth study of Marketing Management and aims to provide for the ambitious students a comfortable, genuine and firm grasp of key concepts of the subject in a pleasantly lucid style with a minimum of jargon. The main attraction of the book is the manner in which the fundamentals of marketing have been explained so as to enable the students not only to acquire theoretical knowledge of the subject but also to apply them when needed in the real time marketing situations. The present book includes in its wide spectrum all the core concepts of marketing—relationship between exchange and marketing; dynamic marketing environment; strategies of marketing planning; marketing research and information systems; demand and sales forecasting; market segmentation, differentiation and positioning; branding and packaging; price determination; marketing channels; retailing and franchising; advertising, sales promotion and public relations; sales management; marketing in service sectors and international, industrial and rural marketing, to name but a few. The book explicitly explains the consumer behaviour and social responsibility of marketing and analyses the levels of competition involved in marketing. A practical approach to each topic, well-illustrated with rich examples from the Indian marketing environment, makes the book easily accessible to the average readers. In addition, practical case studies and analytical questions as well as marketing quiz provided at the end of each chapter would help the students of the Management in self-study and self-assessment. The book would be highly useful to the corporate executives and entrepreneurs besides the students and teachers of the subject.

Table of Contents:
1. Understanding Marketing Fundamentals 2. The Dynamic Marketing Environment 3. Strategic Planning 4. Marketing Information System and Marketing Research 5. Market Demand and Sales Forecasting 6. Consumer Behaviour 7. Market Segmentation 8. Differentiation and Positioning 9. Planning for New Products and Services 10. Product Life Cycle 11. Product Lines, Branding, Packaging and Other Product Features 12. Price 13. Marketing Channels 14. Retailing, Wholesaling and Franchising 15. Physical Distribution 16. Promotional Decisions 17. Advertising, Sales Promotion and Public Relations 18. Sales Management 19. Personal Selling 20. Competitor Analysis 21. Marketing in Services Sector 22. Industrial Marketing 23. International Marketing 24. Consumerism and Social Responsibility of Marketing 25. Rural Marketing 26. Marketing Organisation and Marketing Control 27. Real Time Marketing