MARKETING: 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
EVOLUTION OF MARKETING
The evolution of marketing in the U.S. involved 4 eras:
1) Production era- produce what you can because market is limitless
2) Selling Era- after mass production, the focus turned from production to persuasion
3) Marketing Concept Era- after WW2 a consumer spending boom developed, companies needed to be responsive to customers to gain their business
4) Customer Relationship Era- learn as much as you can about customers and do what you can to satisfy/exceed their expectations
The MARKETING CONCEPT had 3-parts: a customer orientation (meeting customer needs) a service orientation (same objective- customer satisfaction) a profit orientation (focus on goods and which will earn most)
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT: Organizations seek to enhance customer satisfaction by building long-term relationships
- customer-managed relationships gives the customer the power to build relationships
MARKETING MIX: the ingredients that go into a marketing program: product, place, price, & promotion
ELEMENTS IN THE MARKETING MIX: THE 4 P’S
1) Product
2) Place
3) Price
4) Promotion
PRODUCT: a good/service/idea that satisfies a consumer’s want/need
TEST MARKETING: testing product concepts among potential product users
BRAND NAME: a word or group of letters that differentiates one seller’s goods from a competitor’s
PRICE AND PLACE
Pricing depends on many factors: competitor’s prices production costs distribution high or low price strategy
Place: middlemen are important in place strategies because getting a product to consumers is critical
PROMOTION: all techniques sellers use to inform people about their products and motivate them to purchase products
Includes:
advertising personal selling public relations viral marketing sales promotions
MARKETING RESEARCH: the analysis of markets to determine opportunities and challenges, and to find the info needed to make good decisions research is used to identify products consumers may want in future research uncovers market trends and attitudes held by company insiders and stakeholders
STEPS IN MARKETING RESEARCH PROCESS:
1) define problem/opportunity
2) collecting research data
3) analyzing the data
4) choosing the best solution and implementing it
KEY BENEFITS: analyze customer needs & satisfaction analyze current markets & opportunities analyze effectiveness of marketing strategies analyze marketing process & tactics currently used analyze reasons for goal achievement or failure
DEFINING THE PROBLEM/OPPORTUNITY: what is the present situation?
What are alternatives?
What info is needed?
How should the info be gathered?
COLLECTING RESEARCH DATA:
SECONDARY DATA: existing data that has previously been collected by other sources government & commercial publications, magazines/newspapers, internet incurs no/low expenses and usually easily accessible doesn’t always provide all the needed info for marketers
PRIMARY DATA: in-depth info gathered by marketers from their own research telephone, online & mail surveys, observations, interviews, & focus groups
FOCUS GROUP: a small group of people who meet under the direction of a discussion leader to communicate their opinions about an organization, its products, or other given issues
CONSUMER MARKET: all the individuals or households that want goods/services for personal use and have the resources to buy them
MARKETING TO CONSUMERS:
The size and