What is Marketing ?

**Mobiframe** · #1 (**permalink**) 09-09-2005, 07:42 PM

What is Marketing?

Marketing includes sales, but encompasses much more. It is fundamental to the successful creation, distribution, promotion, and pricing of goods, services and ideas in all business and non-profit organizations.

As business has evolved, marketing has changed from a selling orientation to a broader customer orientation. Today, marketing is more and more focused on the development and implementation of competitive strategies ("game plans"). It is the marketer's responsibility to understand changes in customer needs and to get the right products to the market at the right time. The survival of companies depends on it.

How Important is Marketing?

Marketing is very important. Almost a third of all Americans work in marketing-related activities. According to the U.S. Government Occupational Outlook Handbook, employment in marketing should increase faster than the average of all occupations through the year 2005. Increasing globalization, technical improvements, and higher living standards bring consumers a growing choice of products and services, each of which has to be marketed.

**Mobiframe** · #2 (**permalink**) 09-09-2005, 07:44 PM

What is marketing?

There are many different definitions of marketing. Consider some of the following alternative definitions:

“The all-embracing function that links the business with customer needs and wants in order to get the right product to the right place at the right time”

“The achievement of corporate goals through meeting and exceeding customer needs better than the competition”

“The management process that identifies, anticipates and supplies customer requirements efficiently and profitably”

“Marketing may be defined as a set of human activities directed at facilitating and consummating exchanges”

Which definition is right? In short, they all are. They all try to embody the essence of marketing:

• Marketing is about meeting the needs and wants of customers;
• Marketing is a business-wide function – it is not something that operates alone from other business activities;
• Marketing is about understanding customers and finding ways to provide products or services which customers demand

To help put things into context, you may find it helpful to often refer to the following diagram which summarises the key elements of marketing and their relationships: