What is marketing?
The overall financial success of the company and its profits depend on marketing. If the company does not have its own market or does not have sufficient demand for the products or services of the company, then production, finance, accounting and other business functions will not contribute to the success of the company. When they face marketing concepts, people with little or no business experience will subconsciously associate them only with concepts such as sales and advertising. It is true that marketing includes both sales and advertising, but it should be noted that marketing means and includes many key activities. Marketing is more than just advertising.
HOW DO WE DEFINE MARKETING?
“We can basically define marketing as a social process by which, through the creation and exchange of products and values with others, individuals and groups get what they need or what they want.” (Kotler, 1988)
Marketing is the process of creating products or services according to the wishes and needs of customers.
“Marketing is a social and governance process by which individuals and groups get what they need and what they want through the creation and exchange of products and values with others” (Kotler, Wong, Saunders, Armstrong, 2006)
“Marketing is actually about identifying and finding societal needs” (Kotler, Keller, 2006)
“Marketing is a process by which organizations create value for customers and create strong customer relationships to get value from customers in return.” (Boiler, Armstrong, 2006)
Marketing begins with people’s needs and desires. Only when companies, banks, theatres, cities, states and entrepreneurs assume that consumers do not buy any products or services, but only buy products or services that meet their needs, will there be a real market positioning and application of marketing concepts. Every good salesman has to work hard to understand needs, desires and demands. Needs make up basic human needs.
The main goal of marketing is to achieve exchange through two or more sides that provide each other with valuable processes. The basic meaning of marketing is to strive to identify the needs and expectations of consumers and provide products that meet their needs.
The market and all the factors that affect the market are numerous and will often experience major changes. In order to adapt to new trends, and most importantly, the desire of consumers to sell products and services, marketing in some cases has been forced to suffer many modifications or fundamental changes.
Keeping pace with the competition or gaining an advantage in the competition are some of the most important factors. Throughout history, these factors have encouraged people’s creativity. They have devised new methods to attract the attention of potential buyers. Technology development has directly influenced changes in different marketing concepts, and has often been a key driving force for thorough conceptual and concrete functions of marketing and its ways of working.
External influences and causes of marketing development
In general, the marketing orientation period arises at the moment when production forces grow to a degree that allows them to offer more products and services than they are required, or at least equate supply with market demand. In this way, a customer-oriented market is created and in such a market the marketing function becomes dominant.
The reason for this is the aspiration to discover and ultimately satisfy the customer’s needs and desires. The consumer is influenced on the market-oriented market by means of elements and factors controlled by the company.
Controlled company factors in marketing are:
- Product
- Channels
- Distribution
- price and
- Promotion.
These factors, all together in a particular combination, are called the marketing mix.
What would we do without marketing?
If there was no marketing and consumer understanding, consumers would be forced to buy products that they do not like, that will not adequately meet their needs and desires, because there would be no real products, because companies would produce what suits them and not what consumers want.
I’ll explain this better through the old Ford T-model car. Ford didn’t understand consumers and if consumers hadn’t insisted and rebelled against black, we’d still all be driving cars today that we don’t want, because Ford insisted on that black. If there was no marketing and understanding of consumers, they would buy products at the highest possible prices, because of course they suit the manufacturers because of the profits they will make, and we would again receive substandard products or products whose production and design were not paid much attention because manufacturers would know that consumers have to buy it as it is because they have to meet their needs.
