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What image comes to mind when you hear the word “marketing”? Some
people think of advertisements or brochures, while others think of
public relations (for instance, arranging for clients to appear on TV
talk shows). The truth is, all of these—and many more things—make up the
field of marketing. The Knowledge Exchange Business Encyclopedia defines
marketing as “planning and executing the strategy involved in moving a
good or service from producer to
consumer.”
With this definition in mind, it’s apparent that marketing and many
other business activities are related in some ways. In simplified terms,
marketers and others help move goods and services through the creation
and production process; at that point, marketers help move the goods and
services to consumers. But the connection goes even further: Marketing
can have a significant impact on all areas of the business and vice
versa.
Understanding Marketing:
Marketing: It is the process of creating consumer value in the form
of goods, services, or ideas that can improve the consumer’s life.
Marketing is the organizational function charged with defining customer
targets and the best way to satisfy needs and wants competitively and
profitably. Since consumers and business buyers face an abundance of
suppliers seeking to satisfy their everyday need,
companies and nonprofit organizations cannot survive today by simply
doing a good job. They must do an excellent job if they are to remain in
the increasingly competitive global marketplace. This is what we say
that survival of the fittest. Many studies have demonstrated that the
key to profitable performance is to
know and satisfy target customers with competitively superior offers.
This process takes place today in an increasingly global, technical, and
competitive environment.
What is Marketing?
Marketing is not only restricted to selling and advertising as is
perceived but is More than it advertising it identifies
and satisfies customers needs. It functions revolve
around wide variety and range of tasks and activities mostly termed as
functions related to 4ps i.e. Product, price, place and promotion.
Marketing is:
- Creating customer value and satisfaction are at the very heart
of modern marketing thinking and practice.
- A very simple definition of marketing is that it is the delivery
of customer satisfaction at a profit.
- Sound marketing is critical to the success of every
organization.
Marketing can also be defined as process of planning and executing
the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods,
and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and
organizational objectives.”
Simple Marketing System
The concept of Marketing System brings one full circle to the concept
of marketing. Simple marketing system comprises of different actors and
factors like producer/seller, product/service something valuable to
exchange in return of product/service (money), consumer/customer,
communication process to have two way communication like to provide
information about product or service to customer or consumer and to have
feedback in same regard from the customer. Marketing system has
following basic activities:
1) Sellers must search for buyers, identify their needs, design good
products and services, set prices for them, promote them, and store and
deliver them.
2) A modern marketing system includes all of the elements necessary to
bring buyers and sellers together. This might include such activities as
product development, research, communication, distribution, pricing, and
service..
3) Each of the major actors in a marketing system adds value for the
next level of the system. There is often critical interdependency among
network members.
To learn more about marketing fist we should learn about some basics
that are some time termed as 4ps(Product, price, place, promotion) and
some times even 6 or 7ps (Product, price, place promotion, position,
personal relations, people and profit) lets have some definitions in
this regard:
• Product—what are you selling? (It might be a
product or a service.)
• Price—what is your pricing strategy?
• Place or distribution—how are you distributing your
product to get it into the marketplace?
• Promotion—how are you telling consumers in your
target group about your product?
• Positioning—what place do you want your product to
hold in the consumer’s mind?
• Personal relationships—how are you building
relationships with your target consumers?
• People: public who can have impact on organization or
can be affected by organization.
• Profits: the basic objective of organization that to
have something valuable in return of product or service mostly it is in
form of money.
Marketing assumes that it will proceed in accordance with ethical
actives. It Identifies the marketing variables i.e. product, price,
promotion, and distribution it also states that the public, the
customer, and the client determine the marketing program. Marketing
mainly emphasizes on creating and maintaining relationships and applies
for both non- profit organizations and profitoriented businesses. Major
activities that are performed in marketing process include: Personal
selling Advertising, Making products available in stores and Maintaining
inventories. Any thing like goods, services, experiences, events,
persons, places, organizations, information and ideas can be marketed
to the customers in return of something of value.
How Does an Organization Create a Customer?
Organizations (producer/ seller) can create the customers by
Identifying customer needs, designing goods and services that meet those
needs than communicating information about those goods and services to
prospective buyers Making the goods or services available at times and
places that meet customers’ needs Pricing goods and services to reflect
costs, competition, and customers’ ability to buy and finally providing
for the necessary service and follow-up to ensure customer satisfaction
after the purchase
How is Marketing Done?
According to Peter F. Drucker If we want to know what a business is,
we have to start with its purpose. And its purpose must lie outside the
business itself. In fact, it must lie in society since a business
enterprise is an organ of society. There is one valid definition of
business purpose: to create a customer.
Reasons for Studying Marketing:
Marketing is part of all of our lives and touches us in some way every
day. To be successful each company that deals with customers on a daily
basis must not only be customer-driven, but customer-obsessed. The best
way to achieve this objective is to develop a sound marketing function
within the organization.
Major reason to study marketing is:
• Marketing plays an important role in society
• It is Vital to business
• Marketing offers outstanding career opportunities
• Marketing effects your life every day
What do Marketers think about?
To have clearer concept in this regard lets consider an example of
Opening a Book Shop on campus. To do so we have to answer different
questions like:
1. Is there a need? (Of having book shop)
2. What is my target market? (Who will be buying
products from your book shop)
3. What is my product?(Basic items to be sold)
4. How can I produce and deliver a “product” better than my competitors?
5. How shall I promote my product?
6. How can I insure customer loyalty?
Mostly before starting any activity of above-mentioned type marketer
performs an analysis termed as SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and
Threat). Marketing is a process of getting the right products to the
right people at the right price and at the right place and time with the
right promotion. But this requires solution to certain simple question:
like
Simple Questions, Hard Answers
1. Who are our customers? (Target Market)
2. What important & unique benefits do we provide? (Product/service)
3. Are these benefits sustainable? (Long-term competitive advantage)
These questions are apparently very simple but are very difficult to be
answered theses questions like it is really difficult to define basic
characteristics to be produced in product and services as per demands
and requirements pf the ustomers; and then to precisely define your
target market and to have long-term competitive advantage through
customer satisfaction
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