What is Marketing ?Introduction

Managers sometimes think that the 'Art of Selling a product' is called marketing- But selling is not the most important part of marketing, it is only the tip of marketing.

Marketing aims to make selling automatic-This means that the focus should be to understand the customer so well and making the product fit for the consumer in a way that it gets sold itself.

Social Definition of Marketing

It is a process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want by creating, offering and freely exchanging products and services for value with others.

There are generally four types of markets which includes the following-

• Consumer Market- This is nothing else but the retail market.

• Business Market- This includes two different markets which are B2B( Business to Business) and B2C( Business to Consumers).

• Global Market- This means the market where the business is not restricted to any single market and is connected online to the world as a whole. Such as Facebook, Google.

• NPO and Government Market- NPO means Non-Profit Organization and these type of market includes of churches, universities, charitable organization, government organization or agencies

How is Business Market different from the consumer market ?

The business market means the market where an organization sells either the product or the services or both to another organization, that further resells the same or utilizes the same to support their systems or offerings.

Where as, the consumer market, on the other hand, refers to the transactions of goods or services or both between the organization and the potential consumers, who are the end-users of the product or receivers of services.

There are also some concepts that we should look upon.

Production Concept- This is a widely available and inexpensive products of the company are made available to the consumers.

Assumption- Everyone has likes and dislikes, Economies of scale will lead to increased demand and in result the company will go for mass production.

Example- Nirma Washing Powder, Bajaj Chetak Scooter, Ford T Model, Government Hospitals.

Product Concept- Under this concepts assumption is made that consumer will favour products that offer quality, performance and innovative features and companies strive constantly to improve the quality of the product and add new features, if they are technically feasible whether the consumers really want these or not.

Assumption-Better features and facilities will be better for the consumers and company will invest in R&D(Research and Development) and continuous enhancement. This will lead the companies to make superior products and focus on the Marketing Mix.

Selling Concept- Under this concept assumption is made that left alone customers ordinarily doesn't buy the product therefore aggressive selling and promotional efforts must be taken to sell the products

Example- Mobile Phones and Digital Technologies.

Therefore Advertising, discount and personnel selling are the areas where the company will focus and invest.

Marketing Concept- It says that the essence of marketing consists of satisfying consumers' needs, creating value for them and retaining the consumers, and mentions that the companies should produce only those goods that they have already determined that consumers would buy.

Product Orientation and Marketing Myopia

As more and more companies studied customers' and offered product that offered them well with more and more versions, models and features.

The companies are drive themselves by the product concept which leads to product orientation(focusing on the product alone) which often leads to Marketing Myopia- that is to focus on the product rather than on the needs it presumes to satisfy.