Defining Marketing

Introduction

Marketing an important strategic function within each and every business organization and takes a significant amount of planning to promote and ultimately sell a product or service. The intent of this paper is to define marketing from at least two different sources and include my definition of marketing as well. Based on these definitions, the importance of marketing in organizational success will also be explained. Three examples from the business world of the importance of marketing to the organizational success will also demonstrate the importance.

Definition of Marketing

My personal definition of marketing is the process that is involved to successfully promote and sell a product or service. There are many different forms of marketing and can vary based on the product or service that is being promoted or sold. Marketing is defined by The American Marketing Association (AMA) as "an organizational function and 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" (Carpenter, 2004).

The Nokia 6102i from Cingular Wireless opened up.

The Nokia 6102i from Cingular Wireless.

Diversification (marketing strategy)

The Center for Media Literacy defines marketing as "The way in which a product or media text is sold to a target audience".

Importance of Marketing in Organizational Success

Often times, companies have an outstanding product or service they feel will sell to consumers, yet the company may not have a strong marketing strategy to promote these products or service and the sales are disappointing. It is vitally important that the company understand the needs of the customer and then proceed forward to implement a clear, concise marketing strategy.

"A marketing strategy identifies customer groups which a particular business can better serve than its target competitors, and tailors product offerings, prices, distribution, promotional efforts, and services toward those market segments. Ideally, the strategy should address unmet customer needs...