Defining Marketing Paper - Essay Example

Marketing, when broadly defined, means the process of making a product sell by attracting customers. However, this definition would be incomplete. I define marketing as – Any activity that leads to the delivery of a product to the right people, which is done keeping market needs in mind. The aim is to be able to connect with consumers, to make a social impact and in turn, cultivate a long term association between a company and its consumers through the products, ultimately to make profits and run the business.

Perreault, Cannon and McCarthy define marketing as – .the performance of activities that seek to accomplish an organization's objectives by anticipating customer or client needs and directing a flow of need-satisfying goods and services from producer to customer or client” (2011, p.7). From this definition, it is apparent that the aim of marketing is to assess the needs of the customers and satisfy those needs through goods and services. As per the American Marketing Association's definition of marketing, it is – .

the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large (Kotler and Keller, 2012, p. 4). By and large, these two definitions of marketing mean the same. However, in the second definition, a social aspect is added (“society at large”). For the success of any business, the selling of a product or service is vital. The entire purpose is to sell something. While the right kind of marketing results in an upsurge of product sales, bad marketing may result in negative publicity.

The wrong kind of marketing may also lead to an irreversible damage to the image of the company and its relationship with customers. An example of good marketing or a good marketing strategy is that of Herbal Essences. The hair care products marketed by the company are targeted at a specific age group – young women. The product names as well as the bright colors of the packages are attention grabbing. The packaging and naming itself explains the purpose of the product. For instance, the aqua blue colored “Hello Hydration” product (Perreault, Cannon and McCarthy, 2011).

Customers are encouraged to buy shampoo and conditioner bottles together through the clever use of matching and curvy packaging. The company also seeks eye level placement in retail stores. The online, television and print advertising purports a “mythical quality” to highlight the organic origin of the product. With the help of a Facebook Fan page and a customer review page on its website, the company has also been successful in connecting with its customers. The marketing mix strategized by the company has been successful in increasing the sales of the company (Perreault, Cannon and McCarthy, 2011).

The company's marketing strategy led to the delivery of the product to the right people. Another example that can be used to illustrate the definition of marketing is that of Dove. The social aspect of marketing can be exemplified here. While Dove earlier used models whom the mainstream considered “beautiful”, it moved on to a new approach in which it projected that every woman is beautiful. This was a result of a moral problem that Dove's Marketing Director underwent when her daughter suffered