The five marketing orientation - Essay Example

The business world is composed of millions of organizations which have different purposes and business strategies. Despite the differences among business in the global landscape the marketing profession is able to categorized firms into five categories. These categories provide a conceptual idea of what the company is dedicated too and what is its market orientation. The five categories are production concept, product concept, marketing concept, selling concept and the holistic marketing concept.

The categories provide a marketing framework the company should follow in order to succeed. This paper discusses the five marketing orientation and it describes the marketing orientation and operation of my current employer, Deloitte. The production concept is one of the oldest system in the world which in the United States began to proliferate itself after the industrial revolution. The typical production company is dedicated to some form of manufacturing activity. Based on the production concept customer react based on the law of supply and demand in which price is a determining factor of the desire of a customer to acquire an item (Varian, 2003).

As lower prices the demand of a product increases, thus the production of the company increases in accordance. The management teams in company following the production concept emphasis on improving the operating efficiency of the firm to lower costs and streamline the operation in all aspects of its supply chain. The supply chain of a company is the network of distributors, transporters, storage facilities, and suppliers that participate in the sale, delivery, and production of a product. The production concept can be applied to service companies.

A second strategic marketing orientation is the product concept. The product concept stipulates that consumers will favor those products that offer the most quality, performance, or innovative features (Kotler, 2002). A company adds value to its business by make improvement and enhancements to its featured products. An example of this application be can be seen in the company Sony. One of the most popular products of the company is its portable playstation system (PSP). The PSP were redesign during the last year to include other added features such as the ability to connect the device to wireless internet connections (WI-FI) and the capability of making VOIP phone calls.

A product’s quality, features, and performance are key variables of extreme importance for companies oriented towards the product concept. A third company orientation that is commonly used in the industry is the marketing concept. The marketing concept which was initiated in the 1950’s says that the key to achieving the company’s goals consists of the firm being more effective than its competitors in creating, delivering, and communicating superior customer value to its chosen target markets (Kotler, 2002).

The cumulative marketing efforts over the years that create a brand image are important for this strategy to succeed. Coca-Cola is good example of a company that has become the top soft-drink producer in the world due to its implacable brand image. A fourth strategy or concept that firms choose is the holistic marketing concept. A holistic marketing approach also referred to as a societal marketing approach runs an operation taking into consideration the impact the company has on its surroundings, community and environment.

A company that has utilized this concept to its advantage is Starbucks Café. Starbucks Café only purchases Fair Trade Coffee which is coffee quality coffee produced in developing nations with the assurance that the buyer will pay the farmers at least $1.26 a pound which represents twice the going rate of regular coffee. The final marketing strategic approach is the selling concept. This concept focuses on the value of individual clients in order to build up a customer database or portfolio of clients.

This strategy provides the higher customer retention rate. My employer, Deloitte, utilizes the selling concept as its strategic marketing focus. Deloitte is a company composed of 165,000 professionals in independent firms around the world which collaborate to provide audit, consulting, financial advisory, risk management and tax services (Deloitte, 2009). Each customer represents a unique challenge and meeting the customer needs is the company top priority. The selling concept is the best strategy for Deloitte because it provides a framework that allows the company to offer great customized customer service.

An audit client of a public company pays upwards of one million dollars a year in fees its annual independent auditor’s report. Retaining such clients is extremely important in order to achieve long-term company growth. As an employee of the company I know that Deloitte provides excellent customer service and that more business is achieved from singular customer as long as the staff ensures the client is satisfied with our services. References Deloitte.com (2009). About Deloitte. Available from [Accessed 4 March 2009> Globalexchange.org (2007).

Fair Trade Coffee. Available from < http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/coffee/> [Accessed 4 March 2009]. Investorwords.com (2009). Supply Chain. Available from [Accessed 4 March 2009]. Kotler, P. (2002). Marketing Management (12th ed.). New Yersey: Prentice Hall. Varian, H. (2003). Intermediate Economics: A Modern Approach (6th ed.). New York: W.W. Norton & Company.