Introduction to marketing

Marketing is perceived as a mean of simply promotion and advertising. However, the term ‘marketing’ actually covers everything from company culture and positioning, through market research, new business/product development, advertising and promotion, PR (public/press relations), and arguably all of the sales functions as well.

There are many definitions of marketing. The better definitions are focused upon customer orientation and satisfaction of customer needs.

Marketing is the social process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others.

Kotler.

Marketing is the management process that identifies, anticipates and satisfies customer requirements profitably.

The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).

The CIM definition (in common with Barwell's definition of the marketing concept) looks not only at identifying customer needs, but also satisfying them (short-term) and anticipating them in the future (long-term retention).

The right product, in the right place, at the right time, at the right price

Adcock.

The Marketing Concept 

The marketing concept rests on the importance of customers to a firm and states that:

• All company policies and activities should be aimed at satisfying customer needs, and
• Profitable sales volume is a better company goal than maximum sales volume.

To use the marketing concept, businesses should:

• Determine the needs of their customers (Market Research);
• Analyze their competitive advantages (Market Strategy);
• Select specific markets to serve (Target Marketing), and;
• Determine how to satisfy those needs (Market Mix).

Principle of marketing 

Marketing is used to identify the customer, satisfy the customer, and keep the customer. With the customer as the focus of its activities, it can be concluded that marketing management is one of the major components of business management. Marketing evolved to meet the stasis in developing new markets caused by mature market  and over-capacities in the last 2-3 centuries.The adoption of marketing strategies requires businesses to shift their focus from production to the perceived needs and wants of their customers as the means of staying profitable.

The term marketing concept holds that achieving organizational goals depends on knowing the needs and wants of target market and delivering the desired satisfactions.It proposes that in order to satisfy its organizational objectives, an organization should anticipate the needs and wants of consumers and satisfy these more effectively than competitors.