NGRBC Principles, Marketing Mix, and CRM: Key Business Concepts

Posted on Oct 12, 2026 in Business Administration and Management (BAM)

NGRBC Principles

The NGRBC are based on nine principles:

  1. Ethics and transparency – Businesses should conduct themselves with integrity, transparency, and accountability.
  2. Sustainable goods and services – Businesses should provide products and services that are safe, sustainable, and beneficial to society.
  3. Employee well-being – Businesses should respect employees’ rights and provide a safe, healthy, and supportive workplace.
  4. Stakeholder interests – Businesses should respect and respond to the interests of all stakeholders, especially vulnerable groups.
  5. Human rights – Businesses should respect and promote human rights throughout their operations.
  6. Environmental protection – Businesses should protect the environment and use natural resources responsibly.
  7. Responsible public policy – Businesses should engage responsibly in public policy and avoid practices that harm society.

The Marketing Mix

What Is the Marketing Mix?

The Marketing Mix is the combination of four controllable elements a company uses to influence buyers. The concept was coined by E. Jerome McCarthy.

Elements: The 4 Ps

  1. Product: Goods or services offered. Decisions on quality, design, brand, packaging, and warranty.
  2. Price: Amount charged. Decisions on pricing policy, discounts, and credit terms.
  3. Place (Distribution): How the product reaches the customer. Decisions on channels, transport, warehousing, and coverage.
  4. Promotion: Communication with customers, including advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, and publicity.

Functions of Marketing

The main functions of marketing are:

  1. Buying and Assembling: Buying raw materials and collecting goods.
  2. Selling: The main function, involving the transfer of ownership.
  3. Transportation: Moving goods from producer to consumer.
  4. Warehousing / Storage: Storing goods to meet future demand.
  5. Grading and Standardization: Dividing goods according to quality.
  6. Branding: Giving a name or symbol to a product.
  7. Packaging: Providing protection and attraction.
  8. Financing: Arranging money for marketing activities.
  9. Risk Bearing: Bearing the risks of market changes, price falls, and damage.
  10. Market Research: Collecting information about the market.
  11. Advertising and Promotion: Informing customers.

Timeline of Sustainable Development

1960s-1970s: Beginning

  • 1962: Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring sparks the start of environmental awareness.
  • 1972: UN Conference on the Human Environment, Stockholm.

1980s: Concept Born

  • 1987: Brundtland Commission Report gives the first definition: “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

1990s: Global Action

  • 1992: Earth Summit, Rio de Janeiro, produces Agenda 21.
  • 1997: Kyoto Protocol on climate change.

2000s: Business Involvement

  • 2000: UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), comprising 8 goals.
  • The concept of CSR emerges and GRI Reporting begins.

2015 to Present

  • 2015: UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 17 goals launched.
  • 2015: Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

Features of Marketing

  1. Customer-oriented: Marketing focuses on understanding and satisfying customer needs and wants.
  2. Exchange process: It involves the exchange of goods and services for money or other value.
  3. Continuous process: Marketing activities continue from product planning through to after-sales service.
  4. Creates utility: Marketing creates place, time, possession, and information utility.
  5. Profit-oriented: It aims to increase sales and earn profits while satisfying customers.
  6. Involves many activities: It includes product planning, pricing, promotion, distribution, selling, and market research.
  7. Dynamic in nature: Marketing changes according to customer preferences, technology, competition, and market conditions.
  8. Both social and managerial process: It helps businesses meet customer needs while contributing to society and economic development.

Types of Marketing Strategies

  1. Product Strategy: Focuses on developing and improving products according to customer needs.
  2. Pricing Strategy: Decides the price of a product to attract customers and earn profit.
  3. Promotion Strategy: Uses advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, and social media to communicate with customers.
  4. Distribution Strategy: Determines how and where products will be made available to customers.
  5. Market Penetration Strategy: Aims to increase sales of existing products in existing markets.
  6. Market Development Strategy: Introduces existing products into new markets or customer groups.
  7. Product Development Strategy: Develops new products for existing customers.
  8. Diversification Strategy: Introduces new products into new markets, often to reduce business risk.

Benefits of Data Analytics in Business

  1. Better decision-making: Helps businesses make decisions based on facts and patterns in data.
  2. Customer understanding: Identifies customer preferences, needs, and buying behaviour.
  3. Sales improvement: Identifies products likely to be purchased together and supports targeted marketing.
  4. Fraud detection: Detects unusual transactions and suspicious activities.
  5. Cost reduction: Identifies inefficiencies and helps organisations use resources more effectively.
  6. Market analysis: Helps businesses understand market trends and changing customer demands.
  7. Risk management: Identifies potential risks and predicts possible problems.
  8. Competitive advantage: Enables organisations to discover useful insights and respond more effectively to competitors.

Techniques of CRM

  1. Personalised Communication: Providing customers with offers, messages, and services based on their individual needs.
  2. Customer Feedback: Regularly collecting and analysing customer opinions to improve products and services.
  3. After-Sales Service: Providing support, warranties, assistance, and follow-ups after a purchase.
  4. Loyalty Programmes: Offering rewards, discounts, or special benefits to encourage repeat purchases.
  5. Complaint Handling: Resolving customer complaints quickly and effectively.
  6. Direct Communication: Staying connected with customers through email, phone calls, SMS, social media, and more.
  7. Customer Segmentation: Dividing customers into groups based on their needs, behaviour, or purchasing patterns.
  8. CRM Software: Using technology to track customer interactions, sales, and service history.