INTRODUCTION TO LIVESTOCK ECONOMICS AND MARKETING Lecture 8 AEC 506 INTRODUCTION TO LIVESTOCK ECONOMICS AND MARKETING TOPIC: WHAT IS MARKETING

What is Marketing Marketing are activities of a company associated with buying and selling a product or service. it includes advertising, selling and delivering products to people. people who work in marketing departments of companies try to get the attention of target audiences by using slogans, packaging design, celebrity endorsements and general media exposure. Breaking down 'marketing' Marketing is everything a company does to acquire customers and maintain a relationship with them. even the small tasks like writing thank-you letters, playing golf with a prospective client, returning calls promptly and meeting with a past client for coffee can be thought of as marketing. the ultimate goal of marketing is to match a company's products and services to the people who need and want them, thereby ensuring profitability

Marketing mix The four P's of marketing are product, place, price and promotion. Product refers to an item or items a business intends to sell. when examining a product, questions should be asked such as, what product is being sold? what differentiates the product from its competitors? can the product be marketed with a secondary product? and are there substitute products in the market. Price refers to how much the product is likely to cost. when establishing price, considerations needs to be given to cost the unit cost price, marketing costs and distribution expenses.

Continued Place refers to distribution of the product. key considerations include whether the product is going to be sold through a physical store front, online or made available through both distribution channels? Finally, Promotion refers to the integrated marketing communications campaign. promotional activities may include advertising, personal selling, sales promotions, public relations, direct marketing, sponsorship and guerrilla marketing. promotions are likely to vary being dependent on what stage of product life cycle the product is currently in. marketers must be aware that consumers associate a product’s price and distribution with its quality, and would be prudent to take this into account when devising the overall marketing strategy.

Physical functions of livestock marketing The main physical functions of livestock marketing are transport, assembling and storage. A. Transport - ??? B. Assembling -  assembling in an African livestock marketing context is a physical as well as an exchange function. the assembling of livestock may occur at various stages during the marketing process where exchange takes place (e.g. at primary, secondary and terminal markets), but other physical services (e.g. holding stock before transfer) also occur. thus, apart from data on buyers, sellers and throughput, data on any of the following costs may be needed:

Continued 1. Feeding - animals held at transit points need to be fed and handled, and charges for these services will normally be levied. grazing fees may be charged for the use of land at each assembly point. alternatively, it may be necessary to impute a value for the land utilized (e.g. based on its opportunity cost). 2. Handling - handling charges may include health care, watering as well as wage payments for those involved. the provision of holding yards at assembly points also a cost directly attributable to the marketing of livestock. annual costs such as repairs, maintenance and depreciation should, therefore, be apportioned equally to the livestock passing through each assembly point. 3. Levies and taxes - which are charged by local or government authorities for the use of land at each assembly point. 4. Hidden costs - costs such as death and loss of weight and grade which may occur at assembly points should also be accounted for if these have not been previously considered in the estimation of transport costs (see note above).

continued C. Storage - the storage of slaughtered animals at abattoirs and butcheries involves direct costs such as wages and salaries, insurance, repairs, maintenance and depreciation on equipment (in refrigeration plants, for instance). hidden costs such as the interest foregone on capital tied up in animals stored should also be included.