Marketing Definition Paper

The American Marketing Association (2008) defines marketing as an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders. Perreault & McCarthy, Jr. (2004) expand upon this definition calling it “micro-marketing” and defining it as the performance of activities that seek to accomplish an organization’s objectives by anticipating customer or client needs and directing a flow of need-satisfying goods and services from producer to customer or client. To simplify these definitions further marketing could be defined as the process used to get customers to purchase products or services. However marketing is defined it is one most important aspects of building and maintaining a successful organization.

Effective marketing can help guide businesses in making strategic decisions by identifying growth opportunities and developing creative ways to approach those opportunities. In order for a marketing campaign to be successful a business will conduct extensive research, strategize and plan how to brand their product or services using the four �Ps’ of marketing: product, place, price and promotion. Unless a business is satisfying its customer’s needs it cannot be successful. It is not enough to produce a quality product or service for a business. Although the idea is to create a product or service that “sells itself,” the product or service must create some customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction can only be achieved if economic utility can be taken from the product or service. An effective marketing campaign will form the backbone of any successful business or organization.

In the business world one example of successful marketing is the organic industry. According to the Agricultural Marketing Research Center (2006) organics have grown at a rate of nearly 20 percent per year for the last seven years and industry experts are forecasting continued growth. Farmers and distributors have taken advantage of consumers’ desire for products grown without the use of potentially harmful pesticides and toxins as well as products from animals treated humanely. By responding to this “demand” of consumers organic suppliers and producers have capitalized on meeting the needs of their customers. The market has exploded with various organic products, from milk to candy bars, appearing on the shelves of most local grocery stores and the industry has benefited immensely.

Another business example of successful marketing is the cosmetics industry. Anti-aging and celebrity endorsements are continuing to fuel a significant rise in sales of prestige beauty products in the US, with the make-up segment providing the main driving force in a market now valued at $8.2 billion. (AgeTimes, 2006). It seems consumers; especially women are willing to pay top dollar for cosmetics promising to deliver the proverbial “fountain of youth.” Anti-aging cosmetics on average cost twice as much as products that do not have the ability reduce lines and wrinkles. In a society where “image is everything” cosmetic manufacturers have identified a needy target group and developed products to meet their needs.

An old standby