DEFINING MARKETING FOR THE NEW REALITIES
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The Scope of Marketing
To be a marketer, you need to understand what marketing is, how it works, who does it, and what is marketed.
What Is MarketInG?
Marketing is about identifying and meeting human and social needs. One of the shortest good definitions of
marketing is “meeting needs profitably.” When Google recognized that people needed to more effectively and
efficiently access information on the Internet, it created a powerful search engine that organized and prioritized
queries. When IKEA noticed that people wanted good furnishings at substantially lower prices, it created knockdown furniture. These two firms demonstrated marketing savvy and turned a private or social need into a profitable business opportunity.
The American Marketing Association offers the following formal definition: Marketing is the activity, set of
institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for
customers, clients, partners, and society at large.8 Coping with these exchange processes calls for a considerable
amount of work and skill. Marketing management takes place when at least one party to a potential exchange
thinks about the means of achieving desired responses from other parties. Thus, we see marketing management
as the art and science of choosing target markets and getting, keeping, and growing customers through creating,
delivering, and communicating superior customer value.
We can distinguish between a social and a managerial definition of marketing. A social definition shows the
role marketing plays in society; for example, one marketer has said that marketing’s role is to “deliver a higher
standard of living.” Here is a social definition that serves our purpose: Marketing is a societal process by which
individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating, offering, and freely exchanging products
and services of value with others. Cocreation of value among consumers and with businesses and the importance
of value creation and sharing have become important themes in the development of modern marketing thought.9
Managers sometimes think of marketing as “the art of selling products,” but many people are surprised
when they hear that selling is not the most important part of marketing! Selling is only the tip of the marketing
iceberg. Peter Drucker, famed management theorist, put it this way:10
There will always, one can assume, be need for some selling. But the aim of marketing is to make selling
superfluous. The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or
service fits him and sells itself. Ideally, marketing should result in a customer who is ready to buy. All that
should be needed then is to make the product or service available.
When Nintendo designed its Wii game system, when Apple launched its iPad tablet computer, and when Toyota
introduced its Prius hybrid automobile, these manufacturers were swamped with orders because they had designed
the right product, based on careful marketing homework about consumers, competition, and all the external factors that affect cost and demand.
What Is MarketeD?
Marketers market 10 main types of entities: goods, services, events, experiences, persons, places, properties, organizations, information, and ideas. Let’s take a quick look at these categories.
GOODS Physical goods constitute the bulk of most countries’ production and marketing efforts. Each year, U.S.
companies market billions of fresh, canned, bagged, and frozen food products and millions of cars, refrigerators,
televisions, machines, and other mainstays of a modern economy.
SERVICES As economies advance, a growing proportion of their activities focuses on the production of
services. The U.S. economy today produces a services-to-goods mix of roughly two-thirds to one-third.11 Services
include the work of airlines, hotels, car rental firms, barbers and beauticians, maintenance and repair people, and
accountants, bankers, lawyers, engineers, doctors, software programmers, and management consultants. Many
market offerings mix goods and services, such as a fast-food meal.
EVENTS Marketers promote time-based events, such as major trade shows, artistic performances, and company
anniversaries. Global sporting events such as the Olympics and the World Cup are promoted aggressively to
companies and fans. Local events include craft fairs, bookstore readings, and farmer’s markets.
EXPERIENCES By orchestrating several services and goods, a firm can create, stage, and market experiences.
Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom lets customers visit a fairy kingdom, a pirate ship, or a haunted house.
CHAPTER 1
5
PART 1
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UNDERSTANDING MARKETING MANAGEMENT
The pageantry of the Olympics,
shown here in Sochi, Russia,
adds to its marketability.
Source: © McClatchy-Tribune Information Services /Alamy
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Customized experiences include a week at a baseball camp with retired baseball greats, a four-day rock and roll
fantasy camp, and a climb up Mount Everest.
PERSONS Artists, musicians, CEOs, physicians, high-profile lawyers and financiers, and other professionals
often get help from marketers.12 Many athletes and entertainers have done a masterful job of marketing
themselves—NFL quarterback Peyton Manning, talk show veteran Oprah Winfrey, and rock and roll legends The
Rolling Stones. Management consultant Tom Peters, himself a master at self-branding, has advised each person to
become a “brand.”
PLACES Cities, states, regions, and whole nations compete to attract tourists, residents, factories, and company
headquarters.13 Place marketers include economic development specialists, real estate agents, commercial banks,
local business associations, and advertising and public relations agencies. The Las Vegas Convention & Visitors
Authority has met with much success with its provocative ad campaign “What Happens Here, Stays Here,”
portraying Las Vegas as “an adult playground.”
PROPERTIES Properties are intangible rights of ownership to either real property (real estate) or financial
property (stocks and bonds). They are bought and sold, and these exchanges require marketing. Real estate
agents work for property owners or sellers, or they buy and sell residential or commercial real estate. Investment
companies and banks market securities to both institutional and individual investors.
ORGANIZATIONS Museums, performing arts organizations, corporations, and nonprofits all use marketing
to boost their public images and compete for audiences and funds. Some universities have created chief marketing
officer (CMO) positions to better manage their school identity and image, via everything from admission
brochures and Twitter feeds to brand strategy.14
Source: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
Oprah Winfrey has built a
personal brand worth billions
which she has used across
many lines of business.
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