Managing the Environment - What is marketing?

Marketing as defined by Kotler (2006) “deals with identifying and meeting human and social needs” (p. 5). Wikipedia (2006) define marketing as “a social and managerial function associated with the process of researching, developing, promoting, selling and distributing a product or service” (ibid). Norris (2006) describes marketing as an “ongoing process of motivating people closer to making a decision to purchase, use, follow, refer, upload, download, obey, reject, confirm, become complacent to someone else’s products, services or values” (ibid). Norris (ibid) goes on to say that “if it doesn’t facilitate a “sale” then it’s not marketing” (ibid).

So what is marketing for? According to Kotler (2006) marketing is the management of the exchange between someone offering something in exchange for something of the same value (ibid). The process which aids this core concept of “exchange” is marketing (ibid). The resource responsible for facilitating this exchange is the marketer who’s prime objective is to “analyse what each party expects from the transaction” (Kotler 2006: 7) of the exchange. This exchange may involve any or all of these ten types of entities; “goods, services, experience, events, persons, properties, organisations, information and ideas” (Kotler 2006:8).

As pointed out by advocates of the marketing fraternity, “marketing is a special blend of art and science”. (Silbiger 2005: 2). There are five core concepts to marketing according to Kotler (2006); “the production concept” (Kotler 2006: 15), “the product concept” (ibid), “the selling concept” (ibid), “the marketing concept” (ibid) and the “holistic marketing concepts” (ibid). The production concept stipulates that the consumer prefers products which are cheap and readily available (ibid). The product concept emphasises the superiority of a product making it more appealing. The selling concept takes the view of ‘out of site out of mind’, so the consumer needs to be approached often. The marketing concept focus on the customers needs before responding with the required goods. The holistic concept has evolved from the marketing concept and its focus on starting with the market to determine its needs and how to best serve them (versus the other three concepts that take the product as a given and focus on how to create a market for it), and seeks to correct some of its limitations by emphasising relationships, internal and social responsibility marketing along with integration of all marketing strategies.

Example of how it can be used
Kin Media Ltd is an organisation which manufactures large format digital printers and provider of digital solutions. Its brand is very well known in the industry for its innovations and superior performance and reliability. Historically, marketing was a function under the remit of the Senior Product manager. It made very good sense as product knowledge was crucial as consumer demands required that superior performance and features lists key to their decision making. The organisation’s marketing campaigns therefore consisted of case studies and adverts pointing out user satisfaction with the performance of Kin Media Ltd’s machines compared to those of the competitors. Features and performance benefits were core to the organisations marketing strategy of selling its products based on “the product concept” (Kotler 2006: 15). In addition, the organisation also provides an after sales support service to its customers. As the industry changes, technology advancements improve rapidly and consumer requirements change; a competitive advantage which further separates the organisation from its competitors was required. Therefore, “the marketing concept” (ibid) “sense-and response” (ibid) was utilised by the organisation to identify the needs of the market and to respond according. As competitor products improved in performance and reliability, the organisation saw the opportunity to provide an after sales service to exceeded customer expectation and add another unique selling point in the hope of swaying the prospect. Therefore a direct after sales support function was expended to provide a further competitive advantage.

Re-think the marketing mix
The 21st century has presented new ideas and new challenges. Consumers now demand more value for their money due to globalisation and competition from countries such as China and India where the average salary is about one fifth of their UK equivalent (The Weekly Gripe 2006). The consumer’s requirements have also changed to what Norris (2006) refers to as an addiction to Hope, Escape, Love or Lust and Power (HELP) (ibid); suggesting a more humanistic approach to marketing in required. In response, the Kin Media Ltd organisation has employed the services of a specialist marketing strategist to help in this area by moving this function away from the product team. In a bid to further integrate all the functions of the business and devise a mutual marketing plan, allowing the organisation to speak directly to the customer (Silbiger 2006: 2), by meeting their humanistic requirements (Norris 2006). With the introduction of this new individual to head up the function of marketing, he has brought with him some very good ideas. One of which is a marketing strategy referred to by Radical Marketing as cited by Kotler (2006) as “surgical strike advertising” (p. 13) using the core concept of “holistic marketing” (p. 16). Of course a very big part of this strategy can be attributed to the existing management group for identifying a potential weakness which needed to be rectified. As one writes this paper, a “short targeted ad campaign” (Kotler 2006: 13) is being implemented where a selected target group will receive direct mail notifying them of events approaching, and inviting them to attend. A few days later they will receive an email pointing them to a website where they can enter a competition to win a Kin Media solution worth thousands of pounds if they register and turn up at one of its events, which is also attended by valued partners forming the Kin Media “marketing network” (Kotler 2006: 18). A few days after this, the target group will receive a phone call from the customer service team confirming receipt of both communication pieces and pending attendance.
By carrying out such an exercise, Kin Media has ensured that the relationship between the customer, its marketing partners and the organisation is viewed in a favourable light by providing a personal approach. Furthermore, by creating an environment which adds value to the customer experience, such as showcasing Kin Media machines as well as introducing customers to partners such as software vendors, material suppliers and Kin Media’s own financial and technology function representatives, the customer is able to gain an appreciation for professionalism intertwined with a humanistic approach by utilising the “integrated marketing concept” (Kotler 2006: 19). In addition to this, the organisation has assured that its marketing strategy and business objectives have been communicated to staff members. This is the most important aspect of the organisation’s marketing strategy; a notion Kotler (2006: 20) concurs with, hence the involvement of all functions during the planning stages. As Kotler (ibid) simply puts it, “it makes no sense to promise excellent service before the staff is ready to provide it” (ibid). Finally, by communicating new products which are environmentally friendly, the organisation continues to work towards “social responsibility marketing”.

Conclusion
There are many marketing theories and concepts available to organisations for the marketing of its products, services and so forth. Whichever method or concept is chosen, it is clear that the organisation and all of its functions must come to a mutual understanding and agree a concept to use. It is not always the message that is important, but is the manner in which it is delivered that makes an impact.

References

Kotler, P,. Keller, L. (2006) Marketing Management. 12th ed. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall

Norris B. (2006) What is marketing? [Online] Available from: http://www.briannorris.com/whatismarketing.html (Accessed 07 Sep 2006)

Silbiger, S. (2005) 10 Day MBA: A Step-by-Step Guide to Mastering the Skills Taught in Top Business Schools. 2nd ed. London: Paitkus Books Ltd

The Weekly Gripe (2006) Call centre outsourced to India [Online] Available from: http://www.weeklygripe.co.uk/a114.asp (Accessed 07 Sep 2006

Wikipedia (2006) Marketing [Online] Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing (Accessed 07 Sep 2006)