MARKETING

Marketing

Marketing

Introduction

Marketing is defined as the “identification, anticipating, and satisfying consumer needs and wants profitably.” On many occasions marketing is made synonymous to advertising. This is not true. Advertising is one of the components of marketing, whereas marketing is an extremely broad concept. The need for effective marketing has grown significantly over the years, since mankind has adopted trade. The very purpose of conducting a business activity is to provide goods and services to consumers, with the aim of earning profit. Therefore, as the definition of marketing states, it is extremely pertinent to have an effective marketing strategy in place. For only then the business can be deem as relevant and purposeful.

Discussion

Marketing is a mandatory requirement for a business to thrive. A non-marketing entrepreneur needs to understand the significance of marketing for successful operation of his business. Every business has the objective of selling its goods and services, and increasing its sales. There are three approaches to selling strategies: sales oriented, product oriented and marketing oriented. Sales oriented approach is where the entire focus of the business is to have maximum possible sales, without any regard to consumer's demand and preferences (Kotler & Keller, 2012, p. 23). This strategy may involve aggressive selling tactics, where sometimes customers are imposed with the products and they are left with little choice but to buy them. This is an inappropriate selling strategy as it will reduce and drive away the customers, consequently endangering the survival and existence of the business.

The second selling strategy is the product oriented approach. In this approach, the entire focus is on the product and development and designing of its various features. The product is attempted to be designed in the best possible manner. This is a slightly better approach as the customers may well be satisfied with the diverse details the product has to offer. However, in this strategy the entire focus is on the product and the preferences and demands of the customers are sidelined. Therefore, it is highly likely that the product may not even appeal to the customer as it fails to meet his specifications and preferences. As a result, the business is expected to lose on sales revenues and may not be even to survive in the long run.

The other approach is known as marketing oriented. In this approach, the focus on the selling is to firstly identify and anticipate the needs and wants of customers and then to satisfy them profitably. The advantage of this approach is that it is aimed at fulfilling the needs and wants of the customers. Therefore, the customers find the product aptly meeting their demands and preferences. Hence, the business is anticipated to have increasing sales revenues and face prosperity in the long run. Therefore, it is extremely necessary to understand the concept of marketing (McLean, 2002, 13).

Marketing Mix

Marketing mix is the combination of different marketing strategies employed with the aim to make the product more marketable and effective. The marketing mix consists of five ...