Read the following case study and answer question.

Sumit and Rachit are running a company processing coffee powder with a unique name 'Mad over Coffee'. It has a widely established market because of its excellent quality and distinct flavours. They don't have too many competitors in the market. As a result, they are in a position to keep the price of their products high. But the company is not providing after sales service. It doesn't take feedback from its customers. They soon realised this and bounced back. They appointed Raghav, a young energetic, as marketing manager. Raghav suggested diversification and expansion of staff. They added new flavours to their existing product range. They also ventured into tea processing, cocoa powder, and protein mix.

For this, he estimated the additional manpower requirement and finally after completing the staffing process, he managed to get a good team of sales personnel. He modified their packaging, making it more attractive and reusable. They started providing more details about their products on their labels. To promote their sales they started offering extra quantity (20% extra) in each pack.

A variety of programmes were designed by him to promote or protect the company's image and its individual products in the eyes of public.

They started advertising their products on TV and Social media.

"Mad over coffee" has a widely established market because of its excellent quality and distinct flavours.

Which marketing management philosophy is being followed by the company?

Product Concept

The correct answer is option (2)- Product Concept.

The marketing management philosophy being followed by "Mad over Coffee," based on the description of its widely established market due to excellent quality and distinct flavors, is Product Concept.

Since "Mad over Coffee" is emphasizing excellent quality and distinct flavors, it aligns with the Product Concept, which centers on creating superior products that meet customer expectations.

Product Concept- As a result of emphasis on production capacity during the earlier days, the position of supply increased over period of time. Mere availability & low price of the product could not ensure increased sale and as such the survival and growth of the firm. Thus, with the increase in the supply of the products, customers started looking for products which were superior in quality, performance & features. Therefore, the emphasis of the firms shifted from quantity of production to quality of products. The focus of business activity changed to bringing continuous improvement in the quality, incorporating new features, etc.

OTHER OPTIONS

• Production Concept - During the earlier days of industrial revolution, the demand for industrial goods started picking up but the number of producers were limited. As a result, the demand exceeded the supply. Selling was no problem. Anybody who could produce the goods was able to sell. The focus of business activities was, therefore, on production of goods. It was believed that profits could be maximised by producing at large scale, thereby reducing the average cost of production. It was also assumed that consumers would favour those products which were widely available at an affordable price. Thus, production concept is related with the maximum production or quantity of goods produced by the company.

• Marketing Concept- Marketing orientation implies that focus on satisfaction of customer’s needs is the key to the success of any organisation in the market. It assumes that in the long run an organisation can achieve its objective of maximisation of profit by identifying the needs of its present and prospective buyers and satisfying them in an effective way. All the decisions in a firm are taken from the point of view of the customers. The basic role of a firm then is to ‘identify a need and fill it’. The concept implies that products ad-services are bought not merely because of their quality, packing or brand name, but because they satisfy a specific need of a customer. A prerequisite for the success of any organisation, therefore, is to understand and respond to customer needs.

• Societal Marketing Concept- The marketing concept cannot be considered as adequate if we look at the challenges posed by social problems like environmental pollution, deforestation, shortage of resources, population explosion and inflation. It is so because any activity which satisfies human needs but is detrimental to the interests of the society at large cannot be justified. The business orientation should, therefore, not be short-sighted to serve only consumers’ needs. It should also consider large issues of long-term social welfare. The societal marketing concept holds that the task of any organisation is to identify the needs and wants of the target market and deliver the desired satisfaction in an effective and efficient manner so that the long- term well-being of the consumers and the society is taken care of.