If marketing is the distinguishing function of the business, then what is marketing and how is it achieved?
1. "...an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders."[3]
2. Human activity directed at satisfying needs and wants through exchange processes".Philip Kotler
3. "...the ongoing process of moving people closer to making a decision to purchase, use, follow, refer, upload, download, obey, reject, conform, become complacent to someone else's products, services or values. Simply, if it doesn't facilitate a "sale" then it's not marketing."[4]
4. "...the thing process of anticipating, identifying and satisfying customer requirements profitably" Chartered Institute of Marketing
Take these definitions collectively and a
comprehensive definition of marketing, applicable to
both business and non-business environments,
emerges:
Processes, functions, exchanges or activities – that create perceived value by satisfying needs of those involved in the transaction. These processes succeed in moving people closer to making a decision to purchase and facilitate a "sale." Afterwards, these processes anticipate, identify and satisfy customer requirements profitably and successfully manage existing relationships.
Marketing, as suggested by the American Marketing Association, is "an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders".[1] Another definition, perhaps simpler and more universal, is this: "Marketing is the ongoing process of moving people closer to making a decision to purchase, use, follow...or conform to someone else's products, services or values. Simply, if it doesn't facilitate a "sale" then it's not marketing."[2] Philip Kotler in his earlier books defines as: "Marketing is human activity directed at satisfying needs and wants through exchange processes". Add to Kotler's and Norris' definitions, a response from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) [3]. The association's definition claims marketing to be the "management process of anticipating, identifying and satisfying customer requirements profitably". Thus, operative marketing involves the processes of market research, new product development, product life cycle management, pricing, channel management as well as promotion. Marketing-"taking actions to define, create, grow, develop, maintain, defend and own markets". An approach to business that seeks to identify, anticipate and satisfy customers needs. Al Ries and Jack Trout defined marketing as simply "war" between competitors, however this is clearly absurd - 'Ali v Frazier' is not marketing...however the publicity and hyping of the event for commercial purposes is.
"this is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services to satisfy customers." Nick Jones, The Concepts of Business
