Defining Marketing

Marketing can be defined in many different ways. It has generally been thought of as a way to sell or advertise a product. But marketing is so much more. Anyone can just sell a product but they must know who needs this product, where the product is needed, how much of it is needed, how much to charge as a reasonable price for it, and many other questions, otherwise marketing will not be successful. The goal of marketing is to satisfy customers so that they are happy with their goods and are willing to buy more, which in turn makes the company profit. Any company can produce a good product, but it must be researched and marketed to the right demographic. The marketing concept, a term that has been around for a long time, is a way an organization focuses on making its customers satisfied while also turning a profit (Perreault, & McCarthy, 2004, p.

Market Street

[Fish market, Bergen, Norway] (LOC)

English: A business ideally is continually seeking...

17). This is done by first analyzing what the consumer wants and needs then developing the product to satisfy those needs in the long run, not vice versa.

Taking a look back to the American Marketing Association’s original definition of marketing in 1948, they define marketing as “the performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods and services from producers to consumers” (See, 2007, ¶5). It appears that the focus was just on moving products, not on what the customer’s wants and needs were. In 2004, the American Marketing Association redefined the definition of marketing to adapt to the changing times. They defined it as “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” (Gundlach, 2007, p. 243). The key concepts are...