Defining Marketing Paper

"Marketing plays a big part in economic growth and development. One key reason is that marketing encourages research and innovation, the development and spread of new ideas, goods, and services" (Perreault et al, 2004, pg. 7). Most people think marketing is sales and advertising. True, sales and advertising are activities that are incorporated into the marketing process. However, the words sales and advertising do not adequately convey the definition of marketing. This paper will cover a personal definition of marketing along with definitions of marketing from two additional sources. In relations to the definitions provided, the importance of marketing and how the functions correspond in an organization will also be discussed. Finally, three examples from the business world will be provided in order to support explanations of the functions of marketing.

Definitions of MarketingMarketing is the process of making a product or service appealing to customers or potential customers for the success of an organization.

Market Street

English: A schematic illustrating the evolving rel...

English: prof. Philip Kotler at Warsaw

Many processes of marketing can involve promoting, researching, selling, and distributing an organizations products and services. Three basic ideas are included in the definition of the marketing concept: customer satisfaction, a total company effort, and profit, not just sales, as an objective (Perreault et al, 2004, pg. 17).

According to the American Marketing Association, marketing is defined 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" (American Marketing Association, n.d.). The American Heritage Dictionary defines marketing as "the commercial functions involved in transferring goods from producer to consumer" (marketing, n.d.).

Although American Marketing Association's definition of marketing is more detailed, both definitions use the key word function. The terminology of function and the processes involved ultimately define the word and the foundation of...