Marketing

Defining Marketing Paper Running Head: Defining Marketing Defining Marketing Thomas C.Macfoy University of Phoenix The purpose for this paper is to personally define marketing and to include two more definitions from other sources. In addition to this the paper will seek to explain the importance of marketing in organizational success and three examples from the business world to support the explanation. Personally, I will define marketing as the process in which producers and consumers come together on a common ground for the purpose of exchanging goods and services for what will satisfy their individual or collective needs and having profitability in mind. In their article ‘Marketing’ Eliashberg, Jehoshua, and Gary L. Lilien define marketing as” the process by which sellers and buyers find each other and by which goods and services move from producers to consumers.”( World Book Student. 2009). In his blog “Defining Marketing” John Crickett defined marketing as “the process of identifying the customers wants and needs, refining the businesses offering to meet them and then communicating to the customer how the businesses product or service satisfies those wants and needs”(marketing, October 3rd,2007) Organizations wanting to be successful in achieving their goals must have a thorough knowledge of the important role that marketing plays in organizational success. An organization cannot neglect marketing and expects to succeed in the world of business. Moreover, take away marketing from an organization and the result will almost be immediate. Without marketing, an organization is destined for failure and consequently disaster. Based on the above definitions of marketing, the role it plays in an organization can be summarized under the following points: Firstly, marketing enables an organization to identify the needs and wants of its potential customers. Any successful organization must be customer –oriented. The organization must first of all identify the needs and wants of the customers it wants to present his product. One big mistake some organizations make that results in failure is that they first make their products and then try to convince the customer to buy the product. This usually does not work. A typical example in the world of business is when the Coco-Cola company decided to change their formula in 1985 and introduced it as ‘New Coke’. The result was a disaster. They began receiving letters and calls from angry customers and the sale of this new formula was very low. Two months later, the old formula was reintroduced in the market with the new coke. The result was that customers bought the old formula twice more than the new formula. The customers were satisfied with the old formula. This is where marketing comes in. Secondly, marketing maintains a level of customer satisfaction and at the same time creates profitability for the organization. Before a customer accepts an organization’s product, he must me satisfied that the product will satisfy his needs. While an organization focuses on customer satisfaction, their goal is to recognize profit for the organization. Marketing creates the avenue for an organization’s revenue. If the customer is not satisfied with the product, there will be no sales and when there is no sales, there will be no revenue and no revenue results in the closure of the organization. An example to support this in the business world is the car industry. Because of the rising cost of gas and the shattering economy of the U.S., many customers are now turning towards getting a smaller car with a four cylinder which is economical. Many businesses with six cylinders are closing because customers are not buying their cars. These car industries are unable to cope with the demands of the customers. Finally, marketing helps create a long lasting relationship between the producers and the customers. When an organization satisfies the need of its customers, a business relationship is establishes. When another need arises, the first place he will go is to his producer to inquire. On the other hand, when an organization has a new product, that organization will be able to promote such product to the customer with the anticipation that it will satisfy his needs. An example to support this statement in the business world is that some customers do not shop at any store except Target regardless of the distance he will have to cover. This is because the customers feel that Target has satisfied their needs more than any other store and that a relationship has been established between Target and the customer. The price of certain product may be relatively cheaper at Wal-Mart. However the customer will still prefer to shop at Target regardless of the price difference. This is because the customer places more value on the products of Target over that of Wal-mart. Sources of information "Marketing." World Book Student. 2009. Retrieved on May 27, 2009 from http://www.worldbookonline.com http:// www.msu.edu/course