MARKETING ENVIRONMENT

Marketing Environment

Marketing Environment

Marketing Environment

One of the major responsibilities of marketing executives is to monitor and search the environment which is constantly spinning out new opportunities. The marketing environment also spins out new threats such as financial, economic political and energy crisis and firms find their markets collapsing.

Company marketers need to constantly monitor the changing environment more closely so that they will be able to alter their marketing strategies to meet new challenges and opportunities in the environment (Gareis 2003, p. 49).

The marketing environment comprises the 'non controllable' actors and forces in response to which organizations design their marketing strategies specifically,

'A company's marketing environment consists of the actors and forces external to the marketing management function of the firm that impinge on the marketing management's ability to develop and maintain successful transactions with its target customers'.

Non Marketing Factors

Suppliers

Suppliers are business firms who render the required resource to the firm and its competitors to develop the particular goods and services. Labor, equipment, fuel electricity and other factors of production are also to be obtained. Now the company must decide whether to purchase or make its own. When the company decides to buy some of the inputs, it must make certain specification call for tender etc. and then it segregates the list of suppliers. Usually company chooses the suppliers who offer the best mix of quality, delivery schedule credit, guarantee and low cost. (Granovetter 2005, pp. 481)

Any sudden change in the 'suppliers' environment will have a substance impact on the company's marketing operations. Sometimes some of the inputs to the company might cost more and hence managers have continuously monitored the fluctuations in the supplier's side. Marketing manager is equally concerned with supply availability. Sudden supply shortage labor strikes and other events can interfere with the fulfillment of delivery promise customers and lose sales in the short run and damage customer goodwill in long run. Hence many companies prefer to buy from multiple sources to avoid overdependence on any one supplier. Sometimes even for the appendage services to marketing like marketing research, advertising, sales training etc. the company use service from outside. This dependency may also create some bottlenecks, at times, due to the behaviour of these agencies and consequently affect the marketing operations of the company (Ackoff 2005).

Company

While formulating marketing management at any organization plans have to take into consideration other groups in the company, such as top management, finance, R&D, purchasing, manufacturing and accounting. Finance department has to be consulted for the funds available for carrying out the marketing plan apart from others. R&D has to be continuously doing new product development. Manufacturing has to be coordinated based on the market demand and supply of the products. According has to measure revenues and costs to help marketing in achieving its objectives. Usually marketing department has to face the bottlenecks put up by the sister departments while designing and implementing their marketing plans.

Marketing Intermediaries

Channel members are the vanguard of the marketing implementation ...