Definition of Marketing
The management process through which goods and services move
from concept to the customer. It includes the coordination of four elements
called the 4 P's of marketing:
(1) identification, selection and development of a product,
(2) determination of its price,
(3) selection of a distribution channel to reach the
customer's place, and
(4) development and implementation of a promotional
strategy.
For example, new Apple products are developed to include
improved applications and systems, are set at different prices depending on how
much capability the customer desires, and are sold in places where other Apple
products are sold. In order to promote the device, the company featured its
debut at tech events and is highly advertised on the web and on television.
Marketing is based on thinking about the business in terms
of customer needs and their satisfaction. Marketing differs from selling
because (in the words of Harvard Business School's retired professor of
marketing Theodore C. Levitt) "Selling concerns itself with the tricks and
techniques of getting people to exchange their cash for your product. It is not
concerned with the values that the exchange is all about. And it does not, as
marketing invariable does, view the entire business process as consisting of a
tightly integrated effort to discover, create, arouse and satisfy customer
needs." In other words, marketing has less to do with getting customers to
pay for your product as it does developing a demand for that product and
fulfilling the customer's needs.
Usage Example
Successful marketing methods will turn a customer's needs
into a desire for your product or service.