Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Comparing alternative definitions of marketing
Comparing alternative definitions of marketing
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Comparing alternative definitions of marketing
The War of Words over the Definition of Marketing in the 21st Century
The definition of marketing has been a strongly debated topic in the new Millenium. For more than 70 years the American Marketer Association’s (AMA) definition has been the guideline for academics and scholars alike. A number of academics have been unsatisfied with the AMA’s 2004 marketing definition , and it has stirred many debates (Grönroos, 2006, Dann 2008). Christian Grönroos in particular focuses on four elements of the AMA 2004 definition he does not approve of. Firstly on the creation of customer value, secondly on managing customer relationships, thirdly on marketing as an organizational function and finally on how marketing is done. The key focus of this paper is to to analyse the problems Grönroos encountered and show that his critique is mostly adequate.
Grönroos believes that ‘Customers should get value from the actions and activities of marketing’ (Grönroos 2006, p. 398). The AMA 2004 definition states that value is delivered to customers, which implies that value creation must take place in the production process. It is more commonly believed that the value of a product is created by the customers themselves and not by the organization producing the good (Vandermerwe 1996, cited in Grönroos 2006, p. 399). Marketing is always centred around the consumers and the producers are in a constant struggle to improve their products to cater for the consumers’ needs by learning more about them (Vargo & Lusch 2004, p. 6). Value creation is part of the marketing process; it is not being delivered (Grönroos 2006, pp. 400-1).
“… It is not advisable […] to include the phrase managing customer relationships in a generic marketing definition” (Grönroos, 2006, p. 402) since there is no widely recognised definition of what a relationship is (Harker 1999 cited in Grönroos, 2006, p. 401). Although the terminology of the word is not clear, it is fair to say that in the definition every non-relational marketing process is being disregarded. Trying to force customers into a relationship (no matter what a relationship is being interpreted as to be) could lead to a marketing form that is not efficient because of not targeting all potential customers (Grönroos 2006, p. 403). The word “relationship” should be removed entirely from a generic marketing definition.
Another idea that should not be implemented in a marketing definition as done by the AMA (2004) is marketing being one organizational function (Grönroos, 2006, p.
Armstrong, Gary, and Philip Kotler. Marketing: an introduction. 11th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2013. Print.
Churchill, Jr., Gilbert A., and J. Paul Peter. Marketing: Creating Value for Customers. Burr Ridge: Austen Press, 1995.
Sheth, J., & Sisodia, R. (2012). The 4 A's of Marketing: Creating Value for Customer, Company and Society. Routledge.
For organisations to be truly marketed-orientated they must exceed the value offered by their competitors; and at the same time, the overall goals of the organisation must be achieved. Additionally, for marketing to be carried out effectively and efficiently throughout the organisation, then it must involve analysing, planning, implementation, and control (Kottler and Armstrong, 2012). According to Kottler and Armstrong (2012, p. 5), the modern marketing concept can be expressed as “the process by which companies create value for customers and build strong customer relationships in order to capture value from customers in return”. Tesco’s, it appears, may have managed to successfully achieve this.
Grönroos, C. (2004). The relationship marketing process: communication, interaction, dialogue, value. Journal of Business & Industrial marketing, Vol 19, Issue: 2, 99-113.
Marketing is a core pillar of an organization and contribute significantly in its prosperity through attaining the laid down targets as well as scope of development. The position of an organization is hugely based on its competitiveness and capacity to capture a significant portion of the market in relation to the prevailing needs of consumers. Interaction of the organization with the consumers and the potential consumer in the market arena is attained through the marketing wing of the organization (Ferrell& Hartline, 2012). The preferences of the consumer and avenues of satisfaction are aligned to the established marketing frameworks. However, the success of organization marketing is highly inclined to the marketing strategies formulated and adapted towards coping with competition and eventually enhancing firm competitiveness.
It discusses broadening the concept of marketing and new approach to marketing, which emphasises on social and relationship marketing. Then, the government/public sector has been introduced and it proceeds with whether traditional marketing principles can be applied to the marketing of organisations in this sector. It concentrates on issues of relevance-how marketing mix fits to it, what are the benefits and constraints. 1.1 The Marketing Concept and the Marketing Mix: Before proceeding further, it is essential to define what marketing is: Kotler (1991) defines marketing as “a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they want and need through creating, offering, and exchanging products of value with others.
American marketing association defines marketing as the performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods and services from producer to consumer. Gundlach and Wilkie (2009) defined marketing as the activity, a set of institutions and processes for creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, marketers, and society at large. Longest & Darr (2008) stated that marketing is the performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods and services from producer to the consumer.
The text states that marketing is both an art and a science where constant tension exists between the formulated and creative sides. At its essence, marketing is about "identifying and meeting human and social needs". It encompasses both a set of actions which seek to identify customers' needs as well as a social process of establishing a relationship with the customer to buy their products; this relationship is vital to the long term success for a company and a critical part of the marketing equation (Kotler & Keller, 2006).
Marketing professionals create, manage and/or enhance brands in order to create or bolster demand for the product. A successful marketing plan will help assure that consumers look beyond just the price or function of a product when making a purchasing decision, in part, a well planned marketing effort will create a “feel good” association about the product the consumer is about to purchase (Petty) A key part of a career in marketing is to understand the needs, preferences, and constraints that define the target group of consumers or the market niche corresponding to the brand. This is done by market research. This is accomplished through market research, essentially using survey techniques, statistics, psychology and social understanding to help gather information on what consumers want and/or need, and then designing products, or services, to hopefully meet ...
Value is an integral part of marketing (Newman, 2015). If consumers are provided with goods and ideas of greater value by a business compared to its competitors, that have shown the businesses in depth market research taken in order to fulfill its consumer’s particular needs then it can create longer affiliations with the consumers due to the level of satisfaction and quality provided. Based on the concept of “Demand Chain Management” (Madhani, 2015).
As shown in Figure 1 there are many different definitions for Marketing. The key is that they all share a common theme, marketing is: “Meeting the needs and wants and providing benefits for customers.”
Both from the customer and the company point of view, each customer interaction is part of an iterative learning process (Ballantyne, 2004). Further, Yau et al. (2000) advocated that the relationships between business firms and its customers have been constantly encouraged as successful business practices worldwide. The strategy of relationship marketing is of high relevance particularly in the service industries because of the intangible nature of service and their high level of customer interaction (Al-Hersh, Aburoub, & Saaty, 2014). Relationship marketing is defined as the process of engaging in proactively creating, developing and maintaining committed, interactive and profitable exchanges with targeted customers (Haker, 1999). Furthermore, Gronroos (1990) asserted that relationship marketing is to establish, maintain, enhance and commercialise customer relationship so that the objectives of the parties involved are met which can be done by a mutual exchange and fulfillment of promises. Moreover, the implementation of the relationship marketing concept at the operational level refers to relationship marketing orientation (Hau & Ngo, 2012). Relationship marketing orientation indicates the firms’ philosophy of doing business concerning relationship building by propagating developing trust, empathy, bonding, and reciprocity between a firm and its customers (Sin et al., 2005a, b; Tse et al., 2004). Trust is an important element for a successful relationship between the firm and its customers (Berry, 1995). First, trust is an essential component for a successful relationship between the firm and its customers (Berry, 1995). Trust It refers to a willingness to rely on an exchange partner in whom one has confidence (Morgan & Hunt, 1994). Empathy, as a dimension of business relationship, enables the two parties to see the situation from
It is not secret that marketing plays one of the key roles of a successful business. As Phillip Kotler said: “Marketing is the science and art of exploring, creating, and delivering value to satisfy the needs of a target market at a profit. Marketing identifies unfulfilled needs and desires. It defines, measures and quantifies the size of the identified market and the profit potential”. Simply stated, marketing is everything you do to place your product or service in the hands of a potential customer.
Marketing concept is built on four pillars namely; target market, customer needs, integrated marketing, and profitability. Marketing concept relies upon marketing research to define market segments, their size, and their needs. The needs of the marketing segments are satisfied through marketing mix decisions made by the marketing team.