Marketing of Financial Services - Stage-II
ISQ Examination (Summer-2007)


Q.1 State whether True or False. Also narrate reasons for your choice. (20)
i
A good marketing manager first designs an ideal product and then tries to find out who will buy it and makes efforts to sell the product.
ii
Marketing management means managing the sales and advertising effort properly.
iii
Mission statement explains the yearly goals and yardsticks for measuring performance.
iv
Market audit means auditing the accounts of the marketing department.
v
Post-purchase behavior means decision to again buy or not to buy the product.
vi
The three steps of target marketing are in the following order: Market positioning; market targeting and market segmentation
vii
Successful service companies focus their entire attention on their customers.
viii
Augmented product means a highly improved product that performs better than the previous model.
ix
Co-branding means developing company brands.
x
A fashion lasts longer than a style.
xi
Product positioning means the position the product occupies in the minds of the consumers in relation to the competitor’s products.
xii
New products include improvements in the present products.
xiii
In pure monopoly there is a single seller and a single buyer.
xiv
Value pricing means pricing that recovers the total cost of the product.
xv
Sales promotion should be used all round the year to increase sales.
xvi
A ‘PUSH STRATEGY’ means using a lot of advertising to push up the sales of a product.
xvii
Integrated Marketing Communication means coordinating the various advertising agencies that handle your advertising.
xviii
Team selling means selling a consumer product to a group of customers.
xix
Benchmarking means setting sales goals for the marketing people.
xx
The best way of building lasting customer relationships is to offer the lowest prices.

Q.2 Brief answers: (12)
i
 What are two main elements of the marketing environment?
ii
 The main sources of information needed by managers are:
iii
 What are the three main objectives that a market research project can have?
iv
 According to Maslow, what is the hierarchy of needs;
v
 List the different levels at which market segmentation can be carried out?
vi
 What are the different methods of setting the total promotion budget?

Q.3 Do you agree with the following? If not, explain why in three to four lines? (08)
i
 Face-to-face selling means sales of cosmetics.
ii
 Word-of- mouth influence applies mainly to tooth pastes.
iii
 Customer delivered value is the total value of the good purchased.
iv
 The best competitive marketing strategies and the one worst strategy are:
Best strategies:
Worst strategy:

Q.4
You have been employed by a foreign bank that has opened branches in some big cities of Pakistan. The bank had launched a number of products in the West and was very successful with them. Here their initial experience has not been so good. They have asked you to explain in your view what is different with the Pakistani customers. (10)
a
 First, list the various characteristics and factors that affect consumer behavior?
b
Then briefly explain the differences or similarities between the Pakistani and Western customers with the help of the above characteristics and factors. Do not go into excessive details.

Q.5
A large number of banks are offering car financing facilities. In your opinion, marketing strategy of which bank is the best? Identify the elements of a marketing strategy and give your comments on each element of the banks marketing strategy? Discuss both the positive and negative aspects of the strategy? (10)

Q.6
Discuss the steps in effective Communication? How are these applied when preparing advertisements for banking products? (10)

Q.7
Define marketing and discuss its core concepts? How do they apply to marketing in a financial institution? (10)

Q.8
Define customer value and satisfaction. Explain how banks can attract new customers and retain existing ones through relationship marketing? (10)

Q.9
Following is an extract from SBP Circular regarding disclosure of lending / deposit rates by banks / DFIs. (10)
 

“In order to create awareness and to facilitate the public in making informed decisions, it has been decided that henceforth banks/DFIs shall make complete disclosure of the lending and deposit rates of all consumer products offered by them by posting this information on their website as well as prominently displaying on entrance/ or window of their branches. In order to facilitate comparison, banks/DFIs would also disclose annualized percentage rates on all consumer products.

Discuss in detail its implications and comment on its usefulness or otherwise from marketing angle.