Market strategy:

Meaning & definition: marketing strategy of a firm is the complete and unbeatable plan or instrument designed specifically for attaining the marketing objectives of the firm. The marketing objectives will tell us where the firm wants to go; the marketing strategy will provide the design of getting there.

According to the Cundiff, Still and Govani, "basically a company's overall marketing strategy is its competitive posture in the market place. Formulating an overall marketing strategy requires integration of all dimentions of the marketing effort".

According to the Micheal E. Porter, "marketing strategy has mainly one aim - to cope with competition. There are five major and vital forces that decide the nature and intensity of the competition - the threat of new entrants, bargaining power of customers, bargaining power of suppliers, threat of substitute product and the jockeying among the existing contestants. The collective strength of these forces determines the ultimate profit potential of an industry. And the strategies goal is to find a position in the industry where his company can best defined itself against these forces or can influence them in his company's favour. Strategy can be viewed as building defences against the competitive forces.

According to the Prof. P. Kotler, "marketing strategy is the basic approach that the business unit will use to attain its goals and which comprises of elaborate decisions (strategies) or largest markets, market positioning and mix and marketing expenditure allocation. Moreover, the marketer should take care of the other two strategies aspects, expected environment and competitive conditions while determining the marketing strategy. Once deciding over the game plan, the next task of the marketer each element of the marketing strategy. The marketer's first talk is to choose a potential market and identify its needs and patterns, after which it formulates strategies for each controllable in terms of the non -controllable in such a way which can meet both the target market's needs and wants and helps tp attain the company's overall objectives. Now to perform these tasks managements streamlined product market, distribution, promotion and pricing strategies into an overall marketing strategy mainly take care in identifying opportunities to serve the target markets in such a way which frustrates (thwarts) other competitions efforts to take the business away on a profitablebasis. Finally, the needs and importance of an overall marketing strategy varies, with the competitive setting. A small change with respect to any controllable or non -controllable calls for the re -evaluation of the entire marketing strategy. For example, if the marketing objectives of a business unit stipulate that next year, it should achieve sales revenue of Rs. 1000 and a net profit of 15 per cent on the sales revenue, it is the job of marketing strategy to indicate how and whereform this sale and profit will come, which products lines or products brands will accomplish this task and how.