The Marketing Era - Assignment Example

Introduction to Marketing Table of Contents Table of Contents Introduction 2 Marketing Defined 2 Marketing Concept 3 Target Audience 4 Marketing Mix 5 The 4 Ps 6 Needs, Wants and Demands 7 The SWOT Analysis 8 Strengths 8 Weaknesses 8 Opportunities 9 Threats 9 The Marketing Environment (PEST Analysis) 9 Political Analysis 10 Economic Analysis 10 Social Analysis 10 Technological Analysis 11 Conclusion 11 Bibliography 12 Introduction Marketing is a field that is related with the propagation of a message for a particular brand – product and/or service. Marketing looks to solve the issues which the field of sales does not. However sales and marketing are two separate fields and therefore must not be confused with each other. Selling gets differentiated from marketing in the fact that selling is only done when a product is made available on the shelf within a retail outlet while marketing starts even when there is an idea or concept of the related product and thus the whole game starts as a result of this hype within the relevant audiences. (Varey, 2001) This paper will take a close look at the pertinent topics which come under the domain of marketing. These include the target audience, the 4 Ps, marketing itself and its manifestation, the core concepts within marketing, the marketing concept, the difference amongst needs, wants and demands, the SWOT analysis, the PEST analysis and lastly the marketing mix. Marketing Defined Marketing is defined as the art of selling products and/or services through the effective usage of persuasion, psychology and repetition. Marketing employs a number of practices which are regarded as its sub-fields namely advertising, sales promotion activities, personal selling, public relations (or publicity) and direct mailing to name a few. Service marketing within any organization or industry has attained the highest level of significance in the world of present times. People factor has been at the core essence of any organization mainly due to the fact that it is the ultimate resource which brings about completion of work and duties. Product marketing is indeed of paramount importance when the comparison is drawn between the two but it is service marketing which takes the lead over its product counterpart due to a host of reasons, all of which are mentioned below. (Lazer, 1971) Marketing is selling a product before it has actually entered the market. By market we mean those sets of people or target audiences who will be catered this product so that they could satisfy one or more of their respective needs. With these we fathom that marketing aims not only to sell the product before it is even produced at the manufacturer’s end but also make sure that there are repeated purchases on the part of the customer who is a part of the target audience so to speak. Marketing in essence is a game plan for the strategic and tactical basis of the products that are sold through the help and facilitation of distribution channels, word of mouth approaches and formation of brand personalities and so on and so forth. Marketing Concept Thus the present day marketing concept has taken its basis from the selling concept – true for small, medium-sized and large businesses, which is simply producing a product and then selling it for a nominal return. However marketing looks at defying the odds and aims at conquering the mind, heart and soul of the customers. The terms like share of heart and share of mind come into the equation and not to forget the share of trial which looks at the customer trying a product for the first time in order to seek purchase back and forth. Share of heart means that when a customer is asked about naming a certain brand out of the selected list of brands in the related category, the first one or two brand names that he comes up with are pretty close to his heart. Similar meaning lies with respect to the mind when we speak of the share of mind. (Bradley, 2003) Share of trial is the moment when he actually uses that product and thus it comes under his play and eventual judgment whether or not the product lived up to his or her expectations. Marketing aims to show the customers what they need and then telling them what is best for them. It is not only there to solve their problem. Rather its usage is much more varied. It pinpoints the exact places where the product might be justifiably used, executed or tried for. Marketing is thus a battle which is going on in the minds of the consumer and the seller rather than something else. It needs to be understood in the proper scheme of things. (Meziou, 1991) Target Audience Marketing aims to pinpoint the needs of the target consumers and addresses the same whilst meeting their very needs through the purchase of the product/service and its ultimate usage. If there is no selling of the product, there would be no association of the need with the target audience and hence marketing might not be needed at all. Thus marketing looks to solve the problems in which the consumers are tied up and even when there is no problem at all – just to satisfy one’s desires – they are asked to purchase a product/service so as to have a better standing within a particular social circle or society. In other words, this encompasses the basis of self-esteem needs if not anything else. (Greco, 2003) Thus the target audience is comprised of those sets of people for whom the product is being brought to the market and for whom the marketing and advertising message is being drafted, refined and later on propagated through the various media forms. Marketing Mix The elements of the marketing mix are also known as the marketing tactics which basically bring forward the issue of marketing ideology in the real sense. The marketing mix is composed of 4 Ps which are known as the Product, Price, Place and Promotion. The concept of the marketing mix is pretty simple to comprehend since it makes use of the four basis facets related with the marketing aspect of a brand or in simple terms, a product. The marketing mix is the mix that a company offers to its target consumers. It is for the audiences to pick and choose and thus be attentive towards. The basic purpose however is to make a sale during all this while on the part of the marketing team coming under the organization’s umbrella. The elements of the marketing mix might not be applicable to every organization or product since there are discrepancies in the understanding of each and every product. However on the condition that all of these 4 Ps create value for the end user is something to understand from. The 4 Ps basically outline the exact basis for the know-how related with the product as the product itself is discussed which includes the brand mark or the house mark as well as the symbol. The aspect of price includes whether or not this product is sold in line with the industry’s other competitors or it is skimmed to a high price right at the very beginning of its induction in the market. (Lewis, 2000) At times, this product could be penetrated at a low price so as to ignite more sales but then again it could backfire since the product can have bad reputation and be considered of low value and hence a negligible brand image is conveyed nonetheless. Place is the distribution aspect related with that product where the product is made available for the right target audiences. This includes the retail outlets, stores, mobile vans, corner shops and just about any place where it could be purchased from. It can even include the Internet since a lot of online sale is being done through it and hence could rightly be termed as a point of sale for the eventual end consumers. The promotional aspect, the last P amongst the 4 Ps is related with marketing communications, which not only takes advertising, sales promotions and personal selling into its fold but also the aspect of word of mouth communication, with or without the creation of the opinion leaders and quite rightly so the public relations tenet. The 4 Ps If there is no product, there would be no need for the remaining P’s of the mix. Hence we fathom that product is indeed needed for the remaining P’s to function in a cohesive and strong manner. The price plays an important part since it signifies what the brand’s final image in the eyes of the consumers and channel members will be. If it is targeted in a manner which will be high at price then obviously the image that it transmits is high and one of class and strong rapport is built. The low price signifies, on the other hand, a low brand image and even to the extent that it could be taken amongst the industrial competitors. The place or the distribution point is significant since it brings to light the issue as to where the product would be made available and if the product is not present within the domains of the right target audience at the right time and in the right capacity, then there is strong enough chance that the product would be a miss. For this not to happen, the marketers need to pull their socks and aim at having the best use of the aperture opportunity and thus the related concept must be taken care of, in all fairness. Lastly the promotion bullet discusses quite a few imperative notions, one such being the strong marketing communications that has to take place while the brand (product) is being made available to the right target audience. If the advertising and public relations aspect is not there, then it is 99% guarantee that the product might just miss the eyes of the right people. However strong word of mouth plays a significant role during this while but then again for it to happen, the public relations has to play its decisive role all this while. (Peterson, 1989) Needs, Wants and Demands There is a very basic different amongst these three elements within marketing. Needs are the most important, since lack of these would mean that the consumers could have serious problems. Wants are the desired emotions and one could live without the product if it becomes his want. Demand is a very laidback approach towards obtaining a product and more on the lines of a subtle threat that the consumer gives to a product’s makers – the organization itself. Thus the needs are singled out as the most essential in understanding the sales and marketing concepts. (Kermally, 2003) Wants can take the number 2 spot and would be catered to consumers who would actually go for an alternative product in the market. Similarly, demands are usually different from the other two and based more on the aggressiveness of the consumer in relation with the product at hand. The SWOT Analysis The SWOT analysis is carried out to understand a product’s viability within the relevant market domains and as to how this product would fare in the short term as well as in the long run scheme of things. The SWOT analysis is comprised of four different elements – strengths, weaknesses opportunities and threats. (Davidson, 1967) All these pertinent aspects are studied in line with the product and its gauge is set in a clear cut fashion beforehand. The strengths and the weaknesses are usually internal to the organizational philosophy and look to solve the intrinsic issues which this product might have. On the other hand, opportunities and threats are external – mostly coming from the outer reigns of the organization thus impacting the related product. Strengths The strengths look at the strong points which the product offers. These aspects are usually backed up with organizational input and are considered internal to the company’s domains. Strengths can be the major source of earning in a number of instances for the organization. Weaknesses These are the grey areas within the product and it is best advisable to turn them into strengths with the help of organizational input. Similar to strengths, weaknesses are also intrinsic and are taken care of within the organizational holds. Weaknesses pose as internal points of trouble for the product and must be kept a check upon at all times. (Preston, 1970) Opportunities The opportunities for a product are the external possibilities which could arise, though in a positive fashion. These could make the product successful if implemented within due course of time. Opportunities remain important for the survival of the product within the relevant business industry. Threats Threats are also externally posed and form as the negative forces which could ruin the basis of the product. An organization needs to keep a check on such forces so that the product’s basis within the relevant market domains does not get marred. Threats could range from small entrants to even the most apt industrial player in the market. (Ruskin-Brown, 1999) The Marketing Environment (PEST Analysis) The marketing environment is the environment under which a product is being manufactured, brought to distribution ranks and ultimately sold at the outlets. It is understood in the light of the political, economic, social and technological analyses – PEST analysis; all of which are significant towards making out whether a product can make it big within a particular market domain or not. PEST analysis is basically in line with the presentation of a framework for macroenvironmental factors which have got a very legitimate say in the strategic marketing regimes. (Applbaum, 2004) Political Analysis The political factors include certain pointers which aim to understand the tax policies, the regulations which happen in an environmental territory, the political stability aspects, the employment legislations and the trade and commerce restrictions and barriers, etc. Economic Analysis The economic factors are concerned primarily with the areas of exchange rates, the inflation curve, interest rates and economic growth modules. Social Analysis Social factors have got direct relation with the cultural and social undertakings. These are linked with the health consciousness aspects, age distribution studies, career development and safety mechanisms to name a few. Technological Analysis The technological factors look to explore the dependence on the usage of technology, the ecological and environmental factors, the production levels, outsourcing talks and so on. Conclusion The benefits of marketing in our society are manifolds since it looks at a number of different issues like the understanding related with the psychology. The needs, wishes and desires of the target audience in fact the whole society is touched upon and with that there is a general consensus as to what exactly the definitive segment of the society actually needs for fulfilling its desires and utmost requirements. This could be in the form of different marketing strategies brought together by product offerings and service packs delivered to all consumers day in day out through the retail outlet of the marketing ground. Lastly, it is imperative to understand that in the world much like today, marketing holds the ground for understanding a lot of issues which are close to life that not only discusses the most simple of facts but also pinpoints the areas where weaknesses lie within the human domain. All said and done, marketing is indeed a science if not an art in the real sense of the word. Students must make sure that they get proper marketing lessons before they decide to join the bandwagon which is set on the path of understanding brands and different strategies associated with them. Bibliography APPLBAUM, Kalman. (2004). The Marketing Era: From Professional Practice to Global Provisioning. Routledge BRADLEY, Frank. (2003). Strategic Marketing: In the Customer Driven Organization. Wiley DAVIDSON, William. (1967). Marketing. Ronald Press Co. GRECO, Alan. (2003). Lifestyle Marketing: Reaching the New American Consumer. Praeger KERMALLY, Sultan. (2003). Gurus on Marketing. Thorogood LAZER, William. (1971). Marketing Management: A Systems Perspective. John Wiley & Sons LEWIS, Barbara. (2000). Internal Marketing: Directions of Management. Routledge MEZIOU, Fekri. (1991). Areas of Strength and Weakness in the Adoption of the Marketing Concept by Small Manufacturing Firms. 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