Implementing the Marketing Concept - Essay Example

Implementing the Marketing Concept Introduction Marketing is the entire process through which companies develop and capitalize on customer interest in services and products. It builds the strategy, which underlies business communication, sales techniques, and business development. It is a process integrated together, through which companies develops strong customer relationships and generate value for their customers as well as for themselves (Lawrence and McDaniel 2005, p.134). Marketing is in commonly in use in the identification of the customer, keeping the customer, and satisfying the customer (Chris, Edward and Terri 1997, p. 151-170). The marketing concept is generally a philosophy. It makes the ideal customer, and the overall satisfaction of his needs, the main focus of all activities of respective businesses. It is well driven by managers in the senior positions, passionate on matters of delighting their customers. The marketing concept is based purely on the Consumer behaviour Theory. Johnson and Anders (2001, p. 217–245) reflect that consumer behaviour is the vast study of how, when, why, and where people do or do not purchase a product. It incorporated elements from social anthropology, economics, psychology, and sociology. It attempts to establish an understanding of the buyer decision making process, both in groups and individually. The overall aim of the marketing concept is to study characteristics of consumers in individual terms for instance behavioural and demographics variables in an attempt to comprehend and understand people's wants. It is the general way of trying to assess consumer influences from groups for instance reference groups, family, friends, and society generally. This paper looks into the marketing concept with details on the why and how it can be implemented. How to implement marketing concept Looking at a brief history, it was evident that shortly after World War II, the numerous of products was on the increase and hard selling was no longer reliable as a means of generating sales (Marketing Blog 2009). This is where the marketing concept started chipping in. With increased flexible income, customers of respective products could afford to be selective and develop a behavior of buying only the products, which precisely met their needs, and the respective needs were not obvious immediately (Chris, Edward and Terri 1997, p. 151-170). The key questions developed into understanding what the customers genuinely wanted, whether it was possible to develop it while they still wanted the same and how it was possible to keep customers satisfied (Lawrence and McDaniel 2005, p.134). In response to the discerning customers, many companies began adopting the marketing concept (Marketing Blog 2009). On the how of implementing the same they involved a focus on customer needs well before they developed the product, aligning all company functions to focus on the respective consumer needs and realizing a profit through successful satisfaction of customer needs particularly over the long-term. On the first adoption of the marketing concept by the firms, they characteristically set up separate departments in marketing whose objective was to strategize on satisfying customer needs (Chris, Edward and Terri 1997, p. 151-170). This is the best way to implement the marketing concept. Often the departments involved should mainly be sales departments and holding expanded responsibilities. While this expanded department of sales structure can be evident in some companies today, numerous firms have designed and structured themselves into organizations of marketing that have a company-wide focus on customers. Since the organization should exists on satisfying customer needs, nobody should neglect a customer issue through declaring it as a "marketing problem (Marketing Blog 2009)." In the implementation, everyone must be concerned ideally putting the principal focus on customer satisfaction. The marketing concept in any firm relies upon research in marketing in defining market segments, their needs and their size (Christian, Jan and Torstein 2006, p.167-189). Therefore, in implementing the marketing concept, it should be that a firm conducts research to develop a better understanding of its market. To satisfy the respective needs, the marketing of the firm should then make decisions regarding the controllable parameters precisely those of the marketing mix. In the implementation of the marketing concept, all decision as well as the firm’s activities should be supported by the senior management in that organization (Christian, Jan and Torstein 2006, p.167-189). If the same does not receive adequate support, the likelihood is that the implementation would not work out well. Convening all the department s within the firm to implement the marketing concept is what the senior management should play as their roles and responsibilities (Marketing Blog 2009). All levels of management within the firm should support the marketing concept. Top management should also provide the financial support required to adopt the marketing concept with ease in an organization. The marketing department is what should be provided with authority and facilities for a successful implementation of the marketing concept. In the same process of implementation, it is noteworthy that a valuable marketing information system be established in a firm in order to determine customer satisfaction and need. The process can involve the external system producer to collect some customer comments about the service or product (Cheryl 2001, p. 255-275). Conversely, the internal information system of the given firm including the communication between other departments and marketing should be effective in the full implementation of the marketing concept. On the same note, in the full implementation of the new marketing concept within an organization, there is need to change the organization structure. This is because of consistent re-restructuring marketing personal within the firm involving them adequately in the top level management. Same case should be the involvement of the marketing planning (Christian, Jan and Torstein 2006, p.167-189). This is the ideal way in which the implementation of the concept would involve forging a plan for a company’s marketing activities. A marketing plan in this case pertains to particular products of the company derived from it’s the business strategy. Therefore, the top management should device a plan providing and outlining the intended activities in marketing and incorporating the marketing concept in the same. In the implementation of the marketing concept, it is appropriate for the firm to be product or service specific (Cheryl 2001, p. 255-275). A given firm might be holding numerous products within the marketplace, spanning many and sometimes unrelated industries. Accordingly, there is need for a strategic plan to help in the management of effective marketing of such products. Evidently, a company should have a way to weigh up as well as ascertain the way forward of utilizing effectively its resources. Being service or product specific is a plus in the implementation of the concept to avoid conflict of interests on the same. Why implement the marketing concept Marketing concept as explained is the heart of any business development. As discussed, the term marketing concept pertains that which achieving organizational objectives and goals depends on, when intending to know the needs and wants of target markets as well as in delivering the satisfactions (Dev and Don 2005, p. 928). Therefore, without a proper implementation of the marketing concept, the firm cannot satisfy or gratify what the customers need and it is disastrous (Lawrence and McDaniel 2005, p.134). For any given organization to attain its organizational objectives and goals, which of course sales improvement is part of that, there is no shortcut other than implementing the marketing concept (Cheryl 2001, p. 255-275). The organization gains magically from anticipating the needs and wants of respective consumers because it can generate a better satisfaction that that produced by other competitors (Joshi 2005, p.79). In other words, the organization can derive competitive advantage from proper implementation of the marketing concept. Customer behaviour theory asserts that consumer buying behaviour is what an organization should use in their production of goods or even services (Dev and Don 2005, p. 928). In this case without marketing concept, it is difficult to understand consumer behavior (Nigel 1990, p.24-42). More reason as to why implementation of the marketing concept is decisive is in the establishment of the relationship marketing (Joshi 2005, p.79). The later is an influential asset generally for customer behaviour analysis because it has a keen interest in the ideal re-discovery of the true of marketing via the re-affirmation of the relevance of the customer (Nigel 1990, p.24-42). Additionally, implementing the marketing concept draws more advantages and benefits to a firm because it is a terrific tool when it comes to consumer retention, personalization, customization, customer relationship management and one-to-one marketing (Christian, Jan and Torstein 2006, p.167-189). Therefore, this makes marketing concept implementation the background of any firm’s operations. Conclusion The marketing concept is generally a philosophy that operates within any given firm. It makes the ideal customer, and the overall satisfaction of his needs, the main focus of all activities of respective businesses. In its implementation, the marketing concept is well driven by managers in the senior positions, passionate on matters of delighting their customers. Additionally, the marketing concept is purely based on the Consumer behaviour Theory which asserts that consumer satisfaction is the root cause or source of a successful business. Generally, implementation of the marketing concept draws as the strategy used by all firms in its successful development and growth. References Cheryl, N 2001, instituting the marketing concept in a multinational setting: The role of national culture, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Volume 29, Number 3, 255-275 Chris, T., Edward, F and Terri, F 1997, Implementing the Marketing Concept One Employee at a Time: Pinpointing Beliefs about Customer Focus as a Lever for Organizational Renewal, Journal of Market-Focused Management, Volume 3, Number 2, 151-170 Christian, H., Jan, W., and Torstein, B 2006, Implementing the Marketing Concept at the Employee–Customer Interface: The Role of Customer Need Knowledge, Journal of Marketing, Volume 73, Number 4, 167-189 Dev, C., and Don, E 2005, In the Mix: A Customer-Focused Approach Can Bring the Current Marketing Mix into the 21st Century, Marketing Management 14 (1) 928 Johnson, M and Anders, G 2001, The evolution and future of national customer satisfaction index models, Journal of Economic Psychology 22 (2): 217–245 Joshi, M 2005, International Marketing, Oxford University Press, New Delhi and New York, p.79 Lawrence, J and McDaniel, D 2005, The Future of Business: the Essentials, Mason, Ohio: South-Western, p.134 Marketing Blog 2009, Implementation of the Marketing Concept, retrieved on 10 Aug 2010, from, http://our-marketing.blogspot.com/2009/11/implementation-of-marketing-concept.html Nigel, P 1990, Marketing Concepts and Actions: Implementing Marketing-led Strategic Change, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 24(2) p.24-42 Read More