The American Marketing Association defines marketing as follows:
“Marketing is the performance of business activities that directs the flow of goods and services from producer to consumer or user”.
Later on the American Marketing Association revised its definition of marketing as
“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.” This definition attempted to highlight the importance of exchange processes that occur between the seller and the buyer. As we move on to discuss about the subject matter of marketing, we would understand the meaning of this definition better
Exchange Process: Let’s first look into the meaning and importance in marketing management.
Primarily the term exchange means “giving or receiving something in return for something else” i.e. in marketing parlance an individual or a customer will simply obtain the firms product or service offering to satisfy his need or want in exchange of money thus leading to exchange process between two entities. For example if a person hires a Uber service for his travel from destination x to y and the money paid as fare in lieu of the trip is an exchange process. This exchange process can extend into strong relationship marketing and we enter into exchange relationships all the time. Through relationship marketing we build a long-term association with the customer. In the above example of Uber, if the customer is satisfied by the service then we may plan to use the same services in future as well and intend to become a loyal customer with Uber. While Uber by way of delivering value to customers, a relationship with customers is developed. Thus marketing is earning profit by building relationship with 8 customer through satisfying their needs and wants. The same explanation is applicable for a product as well.
We can see that marketing, as per this definition, starts with a ‘Product’. This is very common idea among many people, for example, in advertising agencies, as they normally are required to advertise to sell a product, which already exists. Similarly, salesmen are also given ‘products’ and asked to sell them. Therefore, to them marketing often, starts with a product. However, this is only a narrow view of the concept of marketing.
On the contrary knowingly or unknowingly we as individuals and organisations involve in a variety of activities which we call them as marketing.
• A TV anchor would try to impress upon the audience by ‘marketing’ her show.
• In college campus placements, the final semester students of a postgraduate programme in business administration would try to be successful in ‘marketing’ their candidature to prospective employers.
• Matrimonial firms trying to get a better response for the grooms ‘marketed’ by them from potential brides is also considered an example of marketing.
• An officer of the Health and Family welfare department is trying to create awareness in a remote district about the need for immunization.
Now let’s look at the definition of Marketing in the words of Philip Kotler. According to him, marketing management is:
The art and science of choosing target markets and getting, keeping, and growing customers through creating, delivering, and communicating superior customer value.
The definition focuses “superior customer value.” Customer Value primarily is the incremental benefit which a customer derives from consuming a product after paying in return. The term value signifies the benefit that a customer gets from a product. It is the difference between the benefits (sum of tangible and intangible benefits) and the cost. Customer value is dependent on the three factors – Quality, Service and Price. The value of a product increases with its quality and service, as the benefits increase. On the other hand, the value decreases with increase in price because of the increase in costs increase in this case.
As “superior customer value” is the created when customers are willing to pay more for your product or service than competitor or when they prefer your version of a product or service to all others because it meets their needs better and maybe even exceeds their expectations.
As a marketer you should view marketing both from social and managerial dimensions. The social aspect of marketing was put forth by Paul Mazur. He defined marketing as the creation and delivery of a standard of living to society. The standard of living suggests the level of wealth, comfort, material goods, and necessities available to a certain socio-economic class or geographical region. Thus the products and services offered by organisations (both commercial, and non-commercial) have a direct or indirect bearing on people’s standard of living. We are also aware of the fact how products/services such as sanitary napkins, electric bulbs, telephone, cars, tractors, aero planes, cinema, antibiotics, anesthesia, and birth control pill enriched human life over the period of time in terms of improved standard of living.
Let us discuss about Jaipur Foot as a brief case study and how it has been transforming the lives of hundred thousands of amputees all over the world by providing them with mobility and dignity.
Jaipur Foot was hailed by the Times magazine as among the greatest inventions of the 20th century. C.K. Prahalad rated BMVSS (a non-profit organisation located in Jaipur, Rajasthan) in his classical book, Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid as the world’s largest organisation for artificial limbs.
The Jaipur Center was founded by Devendra Raj Mehta in 1975. Since its inception, the organisation has outfitted more than 1.50 million amputees (by 2016) around the world with a prosthetic that has become known as the JaipurFoot. BMVSS held more than 50 on-the-spot, limb-fitment camps in 27 countries across the globe. The organisation has become so successful that it has forged agreements for continuing R&D with Stanford University, the MIT, the ISRO, and the IIT, among others.
Now each year about 65,000 people all over the world benefit from the Jaipur Foot. It rehabilitated amputee’s quality of life economically as well as socially.
Philip Kotler whose seminal text Marketing Management was first published in 1967 beautifully described the meaning of marketing in three words as “meeting needs profitably.”
Thus the most fundamental concept, which must be realised as being the basis of all marketing activities, is the existence of human needs. It is these human needs which form the starting point for all marketing activities.
Today, if you look around, Start-ups are the order of the day. The young and progressive entrepreneurs are jumping on to this bandwagon by every passing day. You must remember that if you are an entrepreneur who wants to start a new business, you should have a product or an idea in your mind. In fact you have to decide what product/service you should manufacture and sell. How do you decide this? The answer to this question lies with you i.e. the entrepreneur has to first decide what product he should select. This is possible only if one can identify the needs, and wants which require satisfaction among human beings. Once he has identified the need of a group of human beings (called market segment), he can determine the product, which can help to satisfy that need. This is a part of the modern philosophy of marketing or the marketing concept.
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