Defining Marketing Paper

Defining Marketing Paper

Alicia Hill

University of Phoenix

MKT 421 - Marketing

Shannon Peterson

February 2, 2009

Marketing

Marketing is a very important to the success of any organization. Marketing concentrates primarily on the buyers or consumers. In most organizations principal marketing functions precede the manufacture of a product. Marketing has many definitions. The best definitions for marketing are focused primarily customer relationships and customer satisfaction.

What is Marketing?

The American Marketing Association defines marketing as 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 (American Marketing Association, 2007). The Encarta Online Encyclopedia defines marketing as the process by which a product or service originates and is then priced, promoted, and distributed to consumers (Encarta Encyclopedia, 2008).

My personal definition of marketing is simply customer satisfaction.

Market Street

Asian Family Customers Shopping in The Super Marke...

[Fish market, Bergen, Norway] (LOC)

The marketing process involves the planning, advertising, distributing and selling of products and services to customers for the customers' current and future needs and wants.

The Importance of Marketing

Marketing is one of the most important aspects of growing a business and is an investment that will pay for itself over again. Marketing is the center of the business and is often misunderstood, or neglected due to a lack of time, resources or knowledge of its potential. Marketing is often mistaken for selling or advertising, it involves much more.

Marketing in an organization covers company culture and employer branding, reputation, communication and ethics, market research, pricing, distribution, new business and product development as well as advertising and promotion. This makes it clear that the absence of marketing would mean there would be no exchange of goods and services and without marketing there would be no businesses.

Planning, organizing, directing and controlling the decision-making regarding product lines, pricing, promotion and servicing are all part of the marketing department. Most marketing departments have the responsibility to physically distribute and determine the distribution means in addition to supervising the profit flow of goods (Encarta, 2008).

Marketing Plan

A marketing plan is the key to successful marketing. A marketing plan is a written document that details the actions necessary to achieve marketing objectives. The key components of any marketing plan are products and services, promotion, distribution and pricing (Ward, 2009). The marketing plan covers between one and five years. The marketing plan should always be clear, quantified, focused, and realistic and agreed. The most important part of the plan is the details of the programs and individual activities that will have to take place over the period of the plan.

Marketing Examples

Television commercials, sale advertisement flyers and sampling are examples of marketing products and services. An example of a company that uses television commercials for a marketing tool is Empire Today has been a leading provider of installed Home Furnishings and Home Improvements for more than 45 years with over one million satisfied customers. The commercial features the Empire Man character that has come to represent value, world-class customer care, and next day installation to generations of home furnishing and home improvement consumers. The Empire Today jingle - "800-588-two-three-hundred, Empire Today" - has made the company's phone number one of the most recognized numbers in the entire country (Empire Today, 2009).

An example of a company that uses sale advertisement flyers as a marketing tool is Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart's reflects what happens in their stored. The ads project at home images and the company uses real employees and customers instead of actors. The direct mail monthly ads that show real employees rather than models and celebrities are what the reason Wal-Mart maintains the lowest ad costs in the business. Wal-Mart's marketing program is simplicity. Wal-Mart has gained the trust of the customers that by guaranteeing that they will always find the products in stock with lowest price (Find Articles, 1999).

An example of a company that uses sampling as a marketing tool is Costco. All Costco stores have a WDS (Warehouse Demo Services) supervisor on site just to coordinate demos. Sampling helps create the kind of product differentiation that regular retailers achieve through product placement and point-of-sales displays (The Seattle Times, 2006). In-store sampling not only enhances shopping for the customers but it also adds excitement. The effect on the sales is immediate and easier to measure than the effect of an ad because sampling can offer feedback. All one day sales are important but the best part of sampling is the chance that this customer will continue to buy the product more than once.

Conclusion

The importance of marketing plays a major role in the success of all businesses. A business must focus their marketing planning and strategies on customer value and relationships. Customers have many options available, if they do not appreciate how they are being, or not being treated, there will be another business ready to give the customer what they need or want.

References

American Marketing Association (2007) Marketing Definition. Retrieved on January 30,

2009 from http://www.ask.com/bar?q=American+marketing+association&page=1&qsrc=2106&ab=0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.marketingpower.com%2F

Empire Carpet LLC (2009) Empire Today History. Retrieved on February 1, 2009 from

http://www.ask.com/bar?q=empire+carpeting&page=1&qsrc=2352&ab=0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.empiretoday.com%2F

Encarta Online Encyclopedia (2008) Marketing. Retrieved on January 30, 2009 from

http://encarta.msn.com/text_761575204___0/Marketing.html

Fine Articles (2008) Simple marketing hits the mark - Wal-Mart. Discount Store News,

October, 1999. Retrieved on February 2, 2009 from

http://www.ask.com/bar?q=Wal+Mart+Advertising&page=1&qsrc=6&ab=0&u=http%3A%2F%2Ffindarticles.com%2Fp%2Farticles%2Fmi_m3092%2Fis_1999_Oct%2Fai_57578935

The Seattle Times (2006) Mmm…Samples! Retrieved on February 2, 2009 from

http://www.ask.com/bar?q=Costco+store+sampling+marketing&page=1&qsrc=2417&ab=4&u=http%3A%2F%2Fcommunity.seattletimes.nwsource.com%2Farchive%2F%3Fdate%3D20060111%26slug%3Dsamplers11