Essentials of Marketing - Essay Example

Marketing Concepts Marketing has existed since man first began to exchange goods and sell services to fill s needs. It evolved through the belief that a good product can sell itself and weathered the traditional sales oriented philosophies. In todays global economy, intense competition has made marketing ever more important and can be the difference between a companys success or failure. Information technologies have brought about new ways of selling products. Modern marketing is a complex science that demands knowledge of sociology, psychology, anthropology, and economics.

Enlightened customers no longer buy into the old strategy that believes a good product sells itself. Marketing has become a well-balanced mix of concepts and techniques, research and sales, promotion and production.Marketing has been described as "[.] the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives" (Lancaster & Reynolds, 1999, p. 1). It is not so much a single task as it is a concept of visualizing your customer through their eyes, and creating a profit by understanding and satisfying their needs by providing something of value (Forsyth, 1999, p.124). Marketing is the companys interface between the customer and other key elements of the organization such as finance, production, and design.

This concept remains constant and is unaffected by the product type or market sector. It is a continual process of scanning the environment to glean information about the customer in terms of age, politics, economics, culture, and technology. Todays customer driven company relies less on market manipulation and more on researching the customers desires and buying habits. In the end, it does not matter what you market, where you market it, whether it is a tangible good or a service, domestic or global, the basic marketing processes remain the same (Sandhusen, 2000, p.15). Thomas Eberling, CEO of pharmaceutical giant Novartis, insists that selling medicine is no different than selling soft drinks, and in his words, "[.

] both require an in-depth knowledge of consumer behavior" (as cited in Capell, 2001). Understanding customer and market segment behavior is one of the most important elements of marketing. It requires understanding the segment as well as how they react as individuals. Behavior impacts profits and marketers employ extensive research to predict customer reaction to a product. Products that fail are often doomed because of a misunderstanding of customer behavior that resulted in a product that was unacceptable to the customer.

High technology products that are targeted to early adopters can be impacted by a failure to understand the expectations of the customer.The ages old practice of marketing has grown from the simple act of selling and manipulating to a sophisticated process of research and delivery. Marketing is a specialized function that brings together buyers and sellers for the mutual benefit of all involved. Todays marketplace is a customers market where they set the needs and boundaries and the marketer works with the producer to satisfy these requirements.

The multi-faceted characteristics of customers and market segments demand that todays marketer be skilled in a wide variety of disciplines. Works CitedCapell, K. (2001). Novartis marketing doctor [Electronic version]. Business Week, 1. from Ebsco Host.Forsyth, P. (1999). Marketing professional services : Practical approaches to practice development . London: Kogan Page. Lancaster, G., & Reynolds, P. (1999). Introduction to marketing : A step-by-step guide to all the tools of marketing. London: Kogan Page.

Sandhusen, R. (2000). Marketing: Barrons business review series . Hauppauge, NY: Barrons.