What is marketing?
By Brian Norris What is marketing? If you’ve attended my workshops or surfed the web, you may have come across the increasingly popular 4A definition of marketing I coined a few years ago: “Marketing is a four step process that begins with analyzing and defining a qualified universe of potential users or buyers. After this first phase in the marketing process, a true marketing effort succeeds in capturing the attention of the intended buyers within the targeted universe. Third, systematic effort must be put into getting the prospects to accept the concepts or propositions offered via the marketing effort. Finally, with all three of the previous steps achieved, the marketer must convert the prospective buyer into an actual buyer by getting them to take the desired action (purchase, rent, call, download, subscribe, refer, sell, follow the law, become a member, etc.).” But if we step back even further, I can offer you another marketing definition I’ve created, perhaps simpler and universa
” An organization must properly define the function of strategic product marketing before it can be effective. For example, one common mistake is thinking that marketing is advertising, another is that marketing is gathering information or finding new prospects. While these objectives are certainly key parts of marketing, the successful strategic marketer will seek additional objectives.
General Definition In plain and simple terms, marketing activities and strategies result in making products available that satisfy customers while making profits for the companies that offer those products. That’s it in a nutshell! Marketing produces a win-win situation because: • Customers have a product that meets their needs and • Healthy profits are achieved for the company. (These profits allow the company to continue to do business in order to meet the needs of future customers.) Stated another way, focus on what the customer wants is essential to successful marketing efforts. This customer-orientation must also be balanced with the company’s objective of maintaining a profitable volume of sales in order for the company to continue to do business. Marketing is a creative, ever-changing orchestration of all the activities needed to accomplish both these objectives. How Are The Customer And Business Objectives Met? The American Marketing Association’s definition of marketing is: th
Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution (4 Ps) of ideas, goods and services to create exchanges (with customers) that satisfy individual and organizational objectives. Satisfying customer needs (creating utility) through the exchange process.
