The Future of Business: The Essentials - Research Paper Example

Marketing Introduction Every company needs to move its products from the manufacturing plant to the end user, whois the customer. The ultimate goal of manufacturing is sales, which gives business to a company. For a company to realize any revenues, it has to sell its products to the people. The higher the sales of a company, the higher the revenue accrued. The process of moving the goods from the production to the hands of the customer is called marketing. However, marketing does not apply to the sale of goods alone. Services offering firm s and individuals also need to create an awareness of the type of services that they offer, which is referred to as marketing. This paper will look at marketing in general, as a process of moving products or services from the manufacturers or providers to the hands of their customers. Marketing Definition Marketing is a large process as Pride and Ferrell (3) defines it, encompassing quite a lot of processes. According to Pride and Ferrell (3) “marketing is the process of creating, distributing, promoting and pricing goods, services, and ideas to facilitate satisfying exchange relationships with customers to develop and maintain favourable relationships with stakeholders in the dynamic world.” According to this definition, marketing is includes more than just movement of goods from the plant to the customers. Marketing Process Sandhusen (2) defines the marketing process as the manner in which a firm seeks to identify the unfulfilled needs of the customers and coming up with various strategies to meet these needs. It does not involve just the process of moving products from the manufacturing plant to the customers. It involves the various processes that a marketing department goes through in order to come up with a marketing plan. Marketing process involves a number of steps, which include situation analysis in the market to identify the needs of the customers. A situation analysis include the past, present and future aspects of the markets (Cant 158). Once the best opportunity has been identified, marketing strategy helps the firm to find the best market segment, targeting the customers, positioning the product within the target market and value proposition to the target market. Marketing mix decisions helps the firm to identify how to best get their products to the markets. Implementing the plan is the last step of the planning process where the firm ensures the laid down plans are followed by the teams supposed to implement the plan (Pride and Ferrell 195). Pride and Ferrell (3) state that “the essence of marketing is to develop satisfying exchanges from which both customers and marketers benefit.” This means that proper marketing is of benefit to both the firm and the customers. Marketing Mix When marketing a product, a firm need to develop an effective marketing mix which involves offering the right product, sold at the right price, in the right place and should offered using the most suitable promotion (Burrow and Jim 440-445). A number of conditions have to be met by a company seeking to create a successful marketing mix for its products. The features of the product that the company seeks to offer to the people must possess the right features which are desirable to the people. 4P’s of Marketing Price Gitman and Carl (295) points out that price is the most important integral of the marketing mix, since it is creates revenue for the firm. According to “pricing strategy is based on demand for the product and the cost for the producing it.” Thus, the price set should cater for all the expenses incurred by the product. Price is the only factor of the marketing mix which is not a cost, when compared with the others. The price of a product largely determines the value of sales made by a particular company. Price of a product or a service is largely affected by what the customers believe is the most appropriate value of the item on sale. If a company sets very high prices for its products so as to gain more profits, it risks lack of sales from its customers who perceive the product to be too expensive. Setting low sales in order to increase on the level of sales dangerous as the company may end up making losses or losing customers who may perceive its products to be of poor quality. The best way to set a price by any company would be by conducting a market research to know the customer’s opinions about the about pricing. By this, the company understands what the customers want and the price that they are willing to pay for this. Pricing policies of different companies are affected by time and circumstances. Pricing strategy for a company could involve the use of a combination of different pricing strategies or a single strategy such as skimming or penetration strategy. Suggested retail price determines the revenues for the company. There should be no price discrimination while pricing flexibility ensures the company stays ahead of its competitors in the market. Cash discounts and volume discounts are likely to win more customers for the company. Place Most of a company’s costs go to getting a product from the manufacturing plant to the customers. Place, according to the marketing mix is concerned with transportation and storage of a product, commonly known as warehousing, and getting that product into the hands of the customers. According to Burrow and Jim (326), a distribution system is whereby a company aims at getting the right product at the right time in the right place, whose major focus is the customer. A successful distribution system ensures that the right products are distributed at the right place and at the right time. Some manufacturers find it easier to choose to sell their products to wholesalers, who subsequently sell to retailers, from whom customers can reach the products. Others find it important to have a direct link with the customers and thus opt to sell to them directly. Gitman and Carl (295) notes that the placement strategy for a company should include, the various distribution channels to be explored, market coverage where the company could consider using selective coverage or exclusive distribution, inventory management, warehousing, distribution centres available for the company, transportation to the destination, order of processing the commodities and the reverse logistics. Promotion Communication is simply how the company communicates with the customers. Promotion provide customers with information that assists them in making a decision before choosing to either buy a product or a service. Advertising and promotion costs of goods and services create a huge proportion of the overall costs of producing an item. Regardless of the costs incurred by the company in the promotion of its products, the successful promotion increases sales of a company, ensuring that the costs are spread over a larger output (Burrow and Jim 443). A company can opt for a number of promotional strategies which include either pushing or pulling. Advertising is an avenue through which a company can use to create awareness of its products to its desired customers. A sales promotion where a company targets to increase its sales and attract more customers is another way of promoting its products. Personal selling and the use of a sales force could increase the company’s brand awareness. Gitman and Carl (296) note that “public relations play a special role in promotion.” This, a firm should consider putting it as a priority in its promotion strategy to wi more customers. Communicating with the customers is a form of direct promotion that a company could consider using (Burrow and Jim 427). Product A product is a good that has been manufactured by a firm of an organization with the end user in mind. The tangibility of a product is the differentiating factor between goods and services (Sandhusen 5). Products which are tangible are called goods while those which are intangible are called services. Tangible products can be toughed, seen and felt by the customer, while intangible products cannot. A company should aim at providing products that are of high quality to the customers, with the right quantity in order to give them a value for their money. Satisfied customers will be loyal to the company’s products, while unhappy customers will leave. A company should develop its products in line with the needs of the customers in mind. The purpose of production is to satisfy the needs of the customers with the aim of making profits. When a company is deciding on the product to offer to its customers, it should consider the brand name of the product, stylishness of the product, safety of the product, functionality of the product, packaging for beautification, warranty of the product and repairs and support services for the commodity such as spare parts and expertise. Currently, three more P’s have been added in the marketing mix to make it more elaborate and to fully define the market and its players. People are the individuals who are involved in the process of sale and purchase of products. Process includes the various mechanisms and procedures which help in conveying the product from the warehouse to the target market. Physical evidence helps a marketer in communicating the benefits of a product to its end users (Gitman and Carl 295). Conclusion The marketing department of any organization is the most crucial part of the organization since it determines the success of the business. Any organization that hopes to successfully carry its business should substantially invest in the marketing department. This is the only department that generates revenue to the organization. Thus, more resources should be invested in strengthening them to ensure that they operate at full capacity. Successful marketing departments translate into increased revenue to the organization. Without a functional marketing department, the organization cannot make any sales, which would end up being a failure to the firm. This is only possible by ensuring that the organization spends enough time and resources when drawing its marketing strategy and marketing plan. The marketing process involves much more than just shipping products from the production plant to the hands of the customers. All issues related to the customers are communicated to the organization through its marketing department since it is the only department that has direct contact with the customers. Concerns by customers, feedbacks, issues and suggestions are all channelled to the organization through its marketing department. This is why an organization should come up with a strong marketing mix, which also gives the company a competitive advantage over other organizations in the same business. Thus, as any organization draws up its strategic plan and budget, it should allocate more money to this department to make it stronger and more efficient. Works Cited Burrow, Jim, and Jim Bosiljevac. Marketing. Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2012. Print. Cant, M C. Marketing Management. Cape Town, South Africa: Juta, 2006. Print. Ferrell, O C, and Michael D. Hartline. Marketing Strategy. Australia: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2011. Print. Gitman, Lawrence J, and Carl D. McDaniel. The Future of Business: The Essentials. Mason, OH: South-Western Cenage Learning, 2009. Print. Pride, William and Ferrell O. C. Foundations of Marketing. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co, 2007. Print. Sandhusen, Richard. Marketing. Hauppauge, N.Y: Barron's Educational Series, 2008. Print. Read More