Though advertising is one of the most frequently used medium of promotion of goods and services, it attracts lot of criticism. In contrast to all the benefits of advertising, following are the criticisms on advertising.

1. Adds to Cost: Advertising unnecessarily adds to the cost of product, which is ultimately passed on to the buyers in the form of high prices. Giving advertisement is a very costly affair whether in visual or print medium. The money spent on advertisements add on to the cost of product and become an important factor while fixing the price of the product.

2. Undermines Social Values: Another important criticism of advertising is that it undermines social values and promotes materialism. It creates discontent among people when they come to know about a new product feel dissatisfied with their present state of affairs.

3 Confuses the Buyers: Another criticism against advertisement is that so many products are being advertised which makes similar claims that the buyer gets confused as to which one is true and which one should be relied upon. Thus it puts customers in a dilemma.

4. Encourages Sale of Inferior Products: Another criticism against advertisement is that it does not distinguish between superior and inferior products and persuade people to purchase even the inferior products.

1) Gathering and Analysing Market information: One of the important functions of a marketer is to gather and analyse market information. It is important to identify the needs and wants of the customers and thus to produce such products which makes the customers satisfied. An analysis of the market for the various opportunities and threats is also very important.

2) Marketing Planning: Another important activity or area of work of a marketer is to develop appropriate marketing plans so that the marketing objectives of the organisation can be achieved. He will have to develop a complete marketing plan covering various important aspects including the plan for increasing the level of production, promotion of the products, etc and specify the action programmes to achieve these objectives. Planning also includes various strategies to be adopted at critical stages.

3) Customer Support Services: It is a very important function of the marketing management which relates to developing customer support services such as after sales services, handling customer complaints and adjustments, procuring credit services, maintenance services, technical services and consumer information. All these services aim at providing maximum satisfaction to the customers, which is the key to marketing success in modern days. It helps the management to retain the customers and build customer loyalty and thus a long term relation.

4) Physical Distribution: Managing physical distribution is another very important function in the marketing of goods and services. The two major decision areas under this function include
(a) Decision regarding channels of distribution or the marketing intermediaries (like wholesalers, retailers) to be used and
(b) Physical movement of the product from where it is produced to a place where it is required by the customers for their consumption or use.
The important decision areas under physical distribution include managing inventory, storage and warehousing and transportation of goods from one place to the other.

i) The marketing philosophy adopted by Nisha is ‘product concept’.
ii) The main focus of business activity under this concept is continuous improvement in the quality of the product by adding new features, etc. Thus, under this philosophy, product improvement is the key to profit maximisation of a firm.
Here, means is improving the quality of product and ends, is profit maximisation.

Brand Name is a part of a brand consisting of words, letters and group of words or letters comprising a name which is intended to identify the goods or services of a seller or a group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors. Example, Promise tooth paste, Safola, Maggie, Lifebuoy, Dunlop, and Rexona are the brand names.

Advantages of branding to customers:
(i) Helps in Product Identification: Branding helps the customers to identify the product easily. Customers not always make a close watch of the features of product. If they get satisfaction from a single consumption, the brand gets identified and will get purchased repeatedly. The brand name, brand mark, etc helps the customer to identify the product easily.
(ii) Ensures Quality: If a product is a branded one the customers usually have an expectation of quality from the product. If the product didn’t satisfy their expectation they can easily approach the manufacturer and complain. Such facility builds confidence of consumers.
(iii) Status Symbol: Some brands become status symbols because of their quality. The consumers of those brands of products feel proud of using them and add to the level of satisfaction of the customers.

Price is one of the most important elements of marketing mix. Price is the amount of money expected, required, or given in payment for something. It represents the sum of values that consumers exchange for the benefit of having or using the product The marketers have not only to decide about the objectives of price setting but to analyse the factors determining the price and fix a price for the firm’s products.

Factors Affecting Price Determination

There are number of factors which affect the fixation of the price of a product and they are:

1. Product Cost: One of the most important factors affecting price of a product or service is its cost. This includes the cost of producing, distributing and selling the product. The cost sets the minimum rate at which the product may be sold. There are broadly three types of costs: viz., Fixed Costs, Variable Costs and Semi Variable Costs. A product’s price must at least cover the variable cost to get a marginal profit.

2. The Utility and Demand: While fixing price, the utility and demand for the product must be taken into consideration. While the product costs set the minimum limit of the price, a demand of the buyer sets the upper limit of price.

3. Extent of Competition in the Market: The pricing of a product also depends upon the competition for the product. If the product have close substitutes, it cannot fix high price as customers will leave the product and buy its substitute.

4. Government and Legal Regulations: In order to protect the interest of public against unfair practices in the field of price fixing, Government can intervene and regulate the price of commodities. Government can declare a product as essential product and regulate its price. They can also fix price limits within which only one can charge for a product.