Marketing Orientation Concepts - Essay Example

Marketing Orientation Concepts Introduction Marketing is one of the most widely explored business disciplines. Traditionally,marketing has been perceived as a transactional activity involving at least two people or groups of people. Every party gives up something valuable in exchange for another item of value. Since marketing activities result in exchanges, it constitutes a vital element in any economic system. The essential economic facets of marketing and increasing consumer awareness are some of the aspects that have led to the radical revolution of the concept. These changes have led to development of market orientation as a key business consideration. Market orientation is perhaps best defined as a corporate philosophy or organisational culture that prioritises customer preferences and satisfaction, while accounting for the roles of other market players (Kaur and Gupta, 2010). The popularization and consequent dominance of market orientation gained impetus owing to several interlinked environmental factors. The first factor that led to the market-oriented strategy was the increasing sophistication and diversity of consumers, who also had greater disposable income than before. Secondly, corporations could not overlook the effect of globalisation and subsequent competition. In addition, there was declining product differentiation, making it necessary for companies to seek new ways of appealing to consumers. Finally, the emergence of new technologies created potential innovation strategies that companies could exploit for their advantage (Burgess and Steenkamp, 2006). Market orientation essentially considers consumers’ needs as the foundation of business strategy, with the perception of marketing as a tool capable of creating and retaining customers for profitability. This paper explores various forms of market orientation, while providing insight into the applicability of each type within practical business contexts. Overview of Types of Market Orientation A company’s focus on the market revolves around the concepts that it may apply when targeting that particular market. Although there are different variations of market orientations, there are four principal categories that have been significantly explored. These classes include: Production Orientation In the production concept, a company mostly attempts to increase its production without taking customer demands into account. The primary focus of a business that adopts this approach is to minimize costs through large scale production (Morgan, Vorhies and Mason, 2009). This model is based on a company’s belief that economies of scale resulting from production in large amounts would make it possible to reduce operational costs, while maximising profits. Production orientation is virtually extinct or completely assimilated into other approaches, since product quality is currently vital to enhancing the appeal of a commodity. Sales/Selling Orientation The focus of a sales oriented corporation is clear cut, since it involves producing commodities and then selling them to target markets. This model entails companies manufacturing products or creating services that they forecast customers would need, without carrying out comprehensive research. The model overlooks the fact that selling goes beyond availing products to the market and must involve intensive research, before venturing into product development and eventually putting an appropriate promotion strategy into place. Nonetheless, the sales concept upholds the notion that customers are unlikely to make a purchase unless they are adequately persuaded; an idea that holds true even in the contemporary environs (Morgan et al., 2009). Product Orientation A company that adopts product orientation believes that the exceptional functionality and high quality of its commodities make them superior to competitors. As a result, there is the thought that the distinctive superiority automatically attracts and makes it possible for the company to retain customers. The main idea, therefore, is that consumers are most likely to purchase products that are better than others in regard to features, quality, and performance, irrespective of the relatively high price (Ozkaya et al., 2015). Marketing Orientation This final concept suggests that a company’s success is dependent upon its marketing efforts in delivering the promoted product/service value. As a result, a company that follows this approach builds all its activities around the customer. This involves making concerted efforts to establish and understand consumers’ needs and preferences, and later implementing a marketing strategy founded upon market research from development of a product to its sale (Morgan et al., 2009). Business Examples and Applicability of Market Orientations Production Orientation Although almost non-existent as a sole market-oriented approach, product development is an unavoidable result of mass production. This stage in marketing development is characterised by constant focus on the product. Producers work on the basis of the assumption that commodities, once manufactured in adequate amounts and at the appropriate price, they generate customer demand. In the incidence of sales falling, the natural response simply involves lowering prices through increased production (Gruber-Muecke and Hofer, 2015). An excellent example of a company that adopts this concept is America-based Ford Motor Company. Before World War 2, prevailing economic conditions facilitated mass production of cars. Production costs were high and demand exceeded supply. After developing the assembly line that allowed for mass production, the company was able to significantly reduce production costs. However, new care manufacturers venturing into the market, such as General Motors, easily replicated the mass production techniques. With consumers’ increasing disposable income, supply exceeding demand, and other companies offering broader options in terms of colour and models, Ford found it increasingly difficult to compete. Ford’s problems clearly illustrate the risks linked to product orientation, such as replication of techniques by competitors, failure to link prevailing market requirements with product development, and lack of the necessary fit between a consumer and company products. Sales Orientation The sales concept, to a great degree can be perceived as an adaptive response to the problematic issues identified in the production-oriented stage of marketing. This is because of its tendency to revolve around promoting commodities, after developing and manufacturing commodities meant for the market. It points to a company’s reaction of attempting to persuade consumers to purchase products, after demand is shown to decline significantly. There is usage of aggressive product promotion, without accounting for customer-product suitability. It is this form of market orientation that leads to the traditional perception of marketing as simply selling. The principal concern with this approach is that it primarily focuses on products as manufactured. As a result, the company chiefly focuses on sales, instead of customer satisfaction. This means that the respective corporation is intent on clearing stock of already produced commodities, yet it did not take consumers’ requirements into consideration prior to developing the products. Although this approach is acceptable in a situation where an establishment’s market does not afford many chances for repeat transactions, a company might end up spending excessive amounts of money on sales. Sales orientation also upholds the assumption that each person is a potential customer, which is not sustainable in the long-term (Gruber-Muecke and Hofer, 2015). There are numerous examples of sales-oriented businesses including door to door sales jobs and home improvement enterprises like window and door fitters. These businesses have the features mentioned in the preceding section in common, such as creating products and services with the notion that there will be customers and using aggressive promotion tactics to convince customers to make purchases. For higher specificity, an example of a sales-oriented enterprise is Internet Marketing Inc. The latter, just as the name suggests, is a company that deals with internet marketing services. The company offers advanced social media and content marketing, email marketing, consultation services, and software. When creating these services and products, the company does not usually have a guarantee that there are specific clients. Rather, they hope that the services/products will satisfy the needs of individuals or other businesses. They also use various promotion strategies to increase potential clients’ awareness of the commodities and entice them to buy. Product Orientation The product orientation concept suggests that customers prefer better quality products. This mean that the products should have superior features and performance compared to the convectional products (Kaur and Gupta, 2010). However, the concept can only be applied in a few niches like handsets and electronics. Example of Product Orientation An example of an organization that has adopted the product concept is Apple.Inc. The company has proved to stand out from its competitors and made this concept a reality. In order to achieve this, the institution has actualised the model by developing products that are rich in features, diverse, as well as, innovation oriented products. Therefore, people have come to respects and love their brand because it offers the best products in the industry However, the company’s products have a tendency of being expensive compared to the generic products. Therefore, there is a price segmentation associated with the product.  In addition to the price aspect, the organization creates products that are more intuitive in terms of the operating systems (Kaur and Gupta, 2010). This means that the OS is able to cater for most aspects that are more helpful to people.  The organization therefore gained a well known reputation of excellence in their products. However, the organization also makes sure to have a well trained customer service department in order for their customers to have better knowledge on how to use their product (Gruber-Muecke, and Hofer, 2015).  This is an area that numerous people appreciate about the company’s products and services. In order to maintain their competitive niche, Apple’s products are primarily available from few dedicated stores. This way, the organization is able to make sure that all their consumers understand their products. At the same time, their customer service members also gather appropriate information from their clients about their products as well as how they imprve them. Apple also has the capability to control the staff’s attitude in order to improve their interactions with their clients (Guo et al, 2009). This has made it possible for the organization to gain more consumers by investing in media and applications. This has ensured that the organization’s customers buy both the hardware as well as software. Therefore, there is an ability by the company to have better products compared to other organizations, thus, making substantial profits (Lin, Peng and Kao, 2008). There are numerous advantages that are brought about by adopting the product oriented structure. For instance, if an organization adopts this approach, it is able to focus more internal aspects that will enhance quality. Additionally, organizations are able to focus on producing products that are more technologically oriented. Technology and innovation are aspects that have been taken into consideration when producing the products. Organizations also have the capability of outsourcing in order to make more products, but at the same time maintain their level of quality (Gruber-Muecke, and Hofer, 2015). By applying product oriented aspects, an organization essentially becomes a design and innovation hotspot. Nevertheless, there are disadvantages that are associated with the product orientation model. For instance, change in the market might not have the response that is needed. This will lead to numerous losses in the products produced since most of them will be expensive. Additionally, the fashion taste is not accounted in the products. This is because the main essence of product orientation is to make sure that the products are of high quality. Due to rapid technological advancement, the technology can get outdated. This is a huge issue that affects the product oriented approach (Lin, Peng and Kao, 2008). Marketing Orientation The marketing orientation model proposes that a firm’s success is dependent on an organization’s effort to market and deliver enhanced proposition compared to other industry rivals (Lin, Peng and Kao, 2008). Example of Marketing Orientation concept The best example to show how marketing orientation concept works can be shown by two organizations in the same industry. The most appropriate example is base Pepsi and Coke which are major rivals in the beverage industry. There are similarities in the two organizations’ products. Nevertheless, there are different values of proposition that are presented by these two organizations. The companies only thrive by ensuring that they are point with their marketing concepts. The approach utilized by Pepsi focuses more on the young generation. This concept uses adverts that are appealing to the young people thus, making them feel more appreciated thus buying their products. On the other hand, Coke’s approach is holistic and this means that it focuses on all age groups. This form of marketing is more appealing thus it thrives better compared to Pepsi. Therefore, it is apparent that Coke has a better proposition value compared to Pepsi as its main industry rival. The marketing oriented concept also focuses on making strategic decisions while keeping the client in mind. This means that before the organization produces their products, they take into consideration the demands, needs and wants of the consumer. Clients experiences are made better because all the products made are geared towards making them satisfied. Therefore, applying this concept means that companies carry out appropriate research on the market factors to be considered in production (Lin, Peng and Kao, 2008). According to (Lin, Peng and Kao, 2008)Most of the top organizations follow the marketing orientation concept. This is due to the fact that most customers have gained a lot of knowledge on goods and services offered thus becoming choosy on their purchase patterns. Due to the rise on the economy, people’s purchasing power has been affected tremendously. Therefore, it is appropriate for organizations to be extremely keen on the marketing concepts they adopt. Organizations utilizing this concept should make sure that they integrate their departments to offer value to their consumers. This is because the main focus of the concept is to satisfy the clients thus having the same objective is an imperative aspect to be considered. Implementation of the marketing Orientation Concept In order to properly implement marketing orientation, there are three basic factors to consider. The Target Market  There is needed to make sure that a target market is established. This will therefore assist in determining which demography will give the best returns (Gruber-Muecke, and Hofer, 2015). Needs, Wants and Demands The target market identified has preferences. Preference is an important aspect of the concept because it assists in needs, wants, and demands. This further assist in making appropriate market strategies (Gruber-Muecke, and Hofer, 2015). Ways of delivering proposition value  It is imperative for an organization that has adopted the marketing orientation concept to make proper decisions on what strategies should be used. Decisions on the mode of value that should be created are also an imperative art of the concept. All these aspects are geared towards making the clients’ experience better. Despite the fact that the marketing concept mainly relies on past research, organizations are able to better determine their needs and preferences (Gruber-Muecke, and Hofer, 2015). Conclusion Triumphant organizations identify the imperativeness of all marketing approaches. When producing, there is need to identify the consumers’ wants and needs. However, there is need to ensure that the products are of high quality, effective and most of all profitable. Therefore, organizations should ensure enough research is done to make sure that they are well equipped and informed. Consumers always have ideas of how a product can be improved and this should be a major boost for all organizations dealing with marketing concepts. In general, marketing oriented concepts rely mostly on comprehending the consumers’ needs. This clearly shows that organizations should spend more time collecting appropriate information that can help towards building a better marketing concept. The marketing concepts are the backbone of any thriving business. However, it is imperative to remember that clients wants and needs should be the heart of any marketing endeavor. Bibliography Burgess, S. and Steenkamp, J. 2006. Marketing Renaissance: How Research in Emerging Markets Advances Marketing Science and Practice. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 23(4), pp. 337-356. Gruber-Muecke, T. and Hofer, K. 2015. Market Orientation, Entrepreneurial Orientation and Performance in Emerging Markets. International Journal of Emerging Markets, 10(3), pp.560-571. Kaur, G. and Gupta, M. 2010. A Perusal Of Extant Literature On Market Orientation – Concern For its Implementation. The Marketing Review, 10(1), pp. 97-105. Lin, C., Peng, C., and Kao, D. 2008. The Innovativeness Effect of Market Orientation and Learning Orientation on Business Performance. International Journal of Manpower, 29(8), pp. 752-772. Morgan, N., Vorhies, D., and Mason, C. 2009. Market orientation, Marketing Capabilities, and Firm Performance. Strategic Management Journal, 30(8), pp. 909-920. Ozkaya, E., Droge, C., Hult, T., Calantone, R., and Ozkaya, E. (2015). Market Orientation, Knowledge Competence, and Innovation. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 32(3), pp. 309-318. Read More