Marketing from a business perspective. (Brief overview and introduction to the business function)

Marketing is managing profitable customer relations. Marketing is the process by which companies create value for customers and build strong customer relationships in order to capture value from customers in return.

So.... what exactly is marketing?
Lots of people think that marketing is only about selling and advertising. Hence the reason why we are subjected to such a vast amount of visual and audio bashing from companies across media like TV, direct mail, email, cold calling, internet ads and so on... Selling and advertising is only the tip of the iceberg.

Now days companies need to understand that marketing is not about the old school ways of making a sale. New school marketing is about satisfying a customer’s needs. If a marketer understands a consumers needs, it can then develop products better structured to the consumer, thus providing superior customer value and increased customer capture.
Quote from Peter Drucker, a management Guru in his field, “The aim of marketing is to make selling unnecessary”

There is always a method to the madness, Marketing has a simple 5 step model process, the process needs to transition from one to the next , a leap frog approach would not work in anyones favor. (the below 5 points can further be expanded)

Firstly , we have to understand the marketplace and the customers needs and wants.

Then, we need to design a customer driven marketing strategy.

Then, we need to construct an integrated marketing program that delivers superior value to the targeted customer segment. Within this step we would see the 4P’s of marketing develop. The 4 P’s are : Product . Price . Promotion. Place.

Then, we need to build profitable relationships and create customer satisfaction.

Then we capture value from customers in return AKA – Get that cheddar.


Hope that helps with a very brief introduction into marketing?
It really is a massive function that one can spend years studying, I think knowing some basics to it would be good, and understanding some of the more specialized functions related to what we will be doing in the assignment will be good... Once we have more direction in the assignment, we can start going into those fields.. There is some stuff I have left out of here, but we explore that stuff over the next weeks. Like a little more depth to the 4P's, then the 4C's of marketing, SWOT analysis, the macro environment, parts of the psychology like Maslows Hierarchy of needs.... and so on...

Rob