11 Minutes
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Concept
Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchange that satisfy individual and organizational goals.
Marketing includes selling, advertising, making products available in stores, arranging displays, maintaining inventories and much more.
Marketing is a philosophy or a management orientation that stresses the importance of customer satisfaction, as well as the set of activities used to implement this philosophy.
The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or services fits in and sells itself. Ideally marketing should result in a customer who is ready to buy. The marketing concept involves:
• Customer orientation
• Competition orientation
• The ability to respond to environmental changes.
How does marketing differ from selling
The selling approach is more transaction based and aims at maximizing in the short-term. It undermines research. It is more intuitive. It works well in the markets that are less complex i.e where competition is low and customers have very little choice. It works on mass marketing approach wherein customers needs are aggregated..
To summarize: Selling focuses on product, its means are aggressive selling and sales promotion with emphasis on price variations to close the sale which results in maximize profits through sales maximization.
The marketing approach emphasizes customer management, customized approach to winning and retaining the customer, hence focuses on building profits over a long term. It is based on the basic premise that each customer is different and hence needs to be approached differently.
To summarize: Marketing focuses on customers, its means are integrated marketing plan encompassing product, price, promotion and distribution, customer research and opportunity analysis with emphasis on service which results into maximize profits...
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