Defining Marketing
In the world of business, marketing is one term that is very common. This drew my attention to wanting to come to the detailed understanding of what marketing is. From a personal perspective, marketing denotes the primary acts of carrying out promotional activities as well as advertisements of goods and/or services to the customers of a certain specific company. Having worked with the marketing department of a company, I am well aware of the various promotional and advertising activities targeting specific audience. On this foundation therefore, marketing can be understood to entail all the activities involving the coming up with a desired product or service for a prospective group of individuals, referred to as the customers. There is a need to create a long lasting rapport with these customers since they are in a position of affecting the success of the business, either directly or indirectly. Among the key aspects of marketing is recruiting new customers and at the same time maintaining the old ones through expanded customer relations.
According to Kotler and Keller (2006), marketing entails the identification and the subsequent meeting of human as well as social needs in a manner that is satisfactory. These authors go a step further to state that the definition of marketing to be the act of meeting needs profitably. On the other hand, the American Marketing Association formally defines marketing as an organizational function and a set of activities and processes geared towards creating, communicating and subsequently delivering value to end users (customers), and at the same time managing relationships with customers in certain ways that will be beneficial to the organization and its stakeholders (AMA, 2008).
From the above definitions, it is notable that marketing remains to be an integral part of any organization, the reason being that its contribution is enormous. Both production and distribution are a function of marketing. It is also imperative to differentiate marketing from sales since it has been the assumption of many individuals that the two can be used synonymously. The organizational department concerned with marketing also has to adopt such tactical ideas as print advertising, direct mails and making good use of the various search engines in communicating messages about its products and services to customers (Kotler & Keller, 2006). Being a vital component within any organization, marketing strategies ought to be crafted in such a manner that they will draw new clients, foster the company’s branding and positively influence the behavior of the targeted customers.
Depending on the type of merchandise, marketing is undertaken to meet the needs of specific populations. For instance, while Gerber Products are infant specific, targeting new mothers and caregivers, Coca-Cola (being a global beverages company) targets the global society regardless of age. Nevertheless, whether the target consumers are large or small in numbers, what is necessary is having a clear understanding of who an organization’s buyers are so as to be sure of winning some market for the product (Kotler & Keller, 2006). Among the interesting aspects of marketing is that all goods and services bought have a definite impact on the individual consuming them. The reason behind this is that the costs are incorporated in the merchandise’s price.
The products or services a company is offering have to be known to the potential buyer if the business has a dream of being successful. It is imperative embracing the various marketing strategies so as to create both product and service awareness (Kotler & Keller, 2006). In the absence of marketing, the customers to an organization will always remain in the dark as pertains to the business offering available for them and this will mean that the business will not be presented with the chance of making further progressions. Through marketing, an organization gets to have its products and service and the company itself promoted thus positioning it better for identification by prospective customers (AMA, 2008). In a nutshell, marketing gets the company’s word out.
It is only after the company and its products and services have been captured on the prospects radar that that particular company can record higher sales. With the maturity of the reality of the company, new customers start broadcasting about the company’s a mazing products and services they discover. This steadily promotes the company’s sales without the company having to necessary employ the earlier-mentioned marketing strategies. Otherwise, the same sales might not have ever been recorded and this may have meant sending the company to its knees. The success of a company is also tied to its solid reputation (AMA, 2008). What marketing does is either building brand name recognition or product. In the event that a company reaches the public’s highest expectation, its reputation becomes stronger. With a progressively growing reputation, there is measurable business expansion and increase in sales. The only way the reputation of a company gets to grow is through effective communication, active participation in community activities and offering products and services of quality. All these areas are either created or supported by marketing (Kotler & Keller, 2006).
Notwithstanding the above discussed importance of marketing to an organization, the same can prove to be very demanding to the company in terms of money. Therefore, it is advisable for any organization to adopt a marketing strategy that will present a company with the best opportunity. This is obtained through a mix of various marketing strategies (Kotler & Keller, 2006).
