The Marketing Concept and Marketing Orientation - Essay Example

The Marketing Concept and Marketing Orientation The Marketing Concept and Marketing Orientation The Marketing Concept The marketingconcept contends that for an organisation to realize its goals, it has to rely on the needs and wants of its customers, as well as providing the wanted fulfilment better than rival organisations (Taghian, 2010). Marketing orientation evolved to strengthen the marketing concept where an organisation fulfils consumer needs and wants through value. What Marketing Orientation Means for an Organisation For an organisation to have a marketing orientation, it means it has concentrate on delivering goods that meet the needs and wants of the target market (Almquist, 2014). This is pivotal for a market-oriented organisation since it has to focus less on building complicated, persuasive sales strategies. Marketing orientation centres on the target market. Marketing orientation also means organisations will most likely practice globalisation since flexibility is paramount in a more and more competitive environment. With marketing orientation, an organisation can sway customer demand by making goods and services that are appealing, affordable, and easily accessible. Essentially, marketing orientation means an organisation has to adopt the marketing concept. Marketing orientation means an organisation has competitive edge over rival firms (Almquist, 2014). Rival organisations always find it hard to emulate marketing orientation when used as an internal strong point. This is because organisations always find marketing orientation hard to maintain. Maintaining marketing orientation means an organisation will have to stop being transparent about its promotion and communication strategies. The lack of transparency creates competitive advantage for an organisation and makes marketing orientation non-transferable. Market-oriented organisations view these characteristics of marketing orientation as a resource for competitive advantage. To acquire this advantage, the organisation will also have to pour more resources into research, promotion, retailing, and sales. Target markets always follow certain trends that a market-oriented organisation has to know and abide by to gain the sector’s competitive edge. Abiding by these trends means the organisation has to come up with commodity strategies that address customer needs and wants. The four Ps of marketing, market plans, behaviour, and research are factors an organisation can consider when seeking market orientation. A stipulated example is GrameenPhone, Bangladesh’s top telecoms firm. In 2012, GrameenPhone had a market share of 62%, which represents 8.5 million subscribers. This market share seems impressive but is actually poor for a large corporation in a country with a high market growth. Bangladesh’s per capita income was $421 as of the fourth quarter of FY2013. Currently, the organisation’s business model is working towards market orientation by using subscribers whose mean monthly expenditure on cell phone services is $2 (Ahmed, 2013). GrameenPhone regularly carries out market research works, especially in the provision of customer service. Through these studies, GrameenPhone hopes to know its target market better and build inventive methods for selling its services. Clearly, GrameenPhone knows market research means marketing orientation is a pivotal for achieving the marketing concept. On top of market research, GrameenPhone started a procedure for removing the gap between the firm and its market. This strategy entails consistent events with subscribers in an atmosphere that is both social and formal. The purpose of this strategy is to get direct communication with subscribers both as a means of improving the reputation of GrameenPhone’s brand and acquiring new knowledge about them (Ahmed, 2013). This strategy constitutes of market plans necessary for achieving competitive advantage through market orientation. Market plans through proper market communication can help GrameenPhone improve its market share in an economy with an increasing market growth. During these events, subscribers gave input about their experiences with GrameenPhone’s services (Ind and Bjerke, 2007). GrameenPhone knows the P of product in marketing means marketing orientation is accomplished through consumer input on the abilities of the product to their needs and wants. An organisation can consider customers and the fulfilment of their needs and wants through pricing to show orientation (Taghian, 2010). For an organisation to determine how much they will charge for an offer, it should know its competition. Knowing about competitive prices is pivotal when building the marketing concept for a specific commodity or service (Cihovská, 2013). For instance, two different organisations X and Y can be selling identical coffee mugs at the same cost. However, if organisation X communicates better with its target market and persuades them that its product is the better option, then they will most probably sell more mugs than Y. For organisation X to sell more of its brands than Y, it has to devote to promoting its mugs’ distinct selling proposition. This is because it is only these unique features that will make customers choose one brand from two similarly priced products. Considering the customer and his or her needs and wants requires the communication of the benefits of the product. This communication is especially crucial when product pricing is very competitive. In the recent example, organisation X’s mugs can have a wider rim than Y’s brands, which allows more coffee pours. This product is now distinct since customers no longer have to be concerned about refiling their mugs as much and can commit to guests or work. To raise the validity of this benefit, organisation X can add a true customer account of the coffee mug’s packaging. At this point, the mug’s price is no longer an issue for organisation X because its customers already know about its distinct features. When an organisation like X meets the needs and wants of its customers through proper communication, marketing orientation is achieved in a competitively priced market. Supply and demand are another element of market orientation that advances the marketing concept while in application by an organisation. Marketing orientation models contend that the incomes of low-wage workers encourage more people to acquire more skills, eventually lowering the pool of low-wage workers. For example, physicians earn high incomes since people and organisations broadly require their services. Physicians also need extensive education, research, and training that few organisations and individuals have. In comparison, employers pay low-wage workers poorly since the demand for their manual skills is low while their supply is high. An organisation can also use price elasticity to find what market orientation means to its activities. Price elasticity is the measure of the awareness of consumers to adjustments in price. For example, an organisation can legitimately report a decrease in the cost of a gallon of crude oil from $100 to $90 as a 10% decrease. To avoid confusion and irregularity in determining elasticity, the organisation can use the mean of the original and last price or amount demanded as the basis for determining the level of price elasticity of demand. Lastly, brand image is an aspect of marketing that contributes to marketing orientation. For example, organisation X can strengthen its brand image by researching shapes of coffee mugs that customers prefer and need. Research is a strategy for orientation that can assist organisations X and Y to obtain a stronghold on its market. References Ahmed, S. (2013). Measuring the Effectiveness of GrameenPhone’s CSR Programs in Creating the Brand Awareness. School of Business, Independent University Bangladesh. Retrieved from http://www.sb.iub.edu.bd/internship/Autumn2013/1020710.pdf Almquist, A. J. (2014). The Innovative Academic Library: Implementing a Marketing Orientation to Better Address User Needs and Improve Communication. Journal of Library Innovation, 5(1), 43. Cihovská, V. (2013). Social Orientation Of Marketing Concept. Journal of Positive Management4(1), 52-62. Ind, N. and Bjerke, R. (2007). The concept of participatory market orientation: An organisation- wide approach to enhancing brand equity. Journal of Brand Management, 15 (Special Issue Paper), 135–145. Taghian, M. (2010). Marketing planning: Operationalising the market orientation strategy. Journal of Marketing Management, 26(9/10), 825-841. Read More