Nature and Scope of Marketing:
Marketing is an ancient art & is everywhere. Formally or informally, people & organizations engage in a vast number of activities that could be called marketing. Good marketing has become an increasingly vital ingredient for business success. It is embedded in everything we do- from the clothes we wear, to the web sites we click on, to the ads we see.
Marketing deals with identifying & meeting human & social needs or it can be defined as ―meeting needs profitably.
The American Marketing Association has defined marketing as an organizational function and set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to the customers and for managing customer’s relations in ways that benefit the organization and the stake holders.
Or
Marketing management is an art and science of choosing target markets and getting, keeping and growing customers through creating, delivering and communicating superior customer value. Or ― Delivering a higher standard of living.
For a managerial definition, marketing has been defined as ―the art of selling products‖ but people are surprised when they hear that the most important part of marketing is not selling. Selling is only the tip of marketing iceberg.
Peter Drucker declares it this way that the aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or service fits him and sells itself. All that should be needed is to make the product or the service available.
E.g. The success of Indica, the first indigenously designed car by Tata Motors. Backed by strong customers’ delight, the company designed a vehicle with luggage space & legroom & offered it a price easily available & affordable to middle class.
(2) Gillette launched its March III razor.
Marketing persons are involved in marketing 10 types of entities: goods services, events, experiences, places, persons, organizations, properties, information and ideas. Therefore, ideal marketing should result in a customer who is ready to buy.
Importance of Marketing:
Financial success or achievement of any organization depends upon marketing ability of that organization. There should be adequate demand for products and services so the company can make profit. Therefore, many companies created chief marketing officer (CMO) position to put marketing on a more equal footing with other level executives.
Marketing is tricky & large well known business such as Levi ‘s, Kodak, Xerox etc. had to rethink their business models, Even Microsoft, Wal-Mart, Nike who are market leaders cannot relax.
Thus, we can say that making the right decision is not easy & marketing managers must take major decisions about the features of the product prices & design of the product, where to sell products and expenditure on sales and advertising. Good marketing is no accident but a result of careful planning & execution. Marketing practices are continuously being advanced to increase the chances of success. But marketing excellence is rare & difficult to achieve & is a never-ending task.
E.g. NIRMA – The brand icon of young girl has adorned the package of Nirma washing powder. The jingle has become one of the enduring times in Indian advertising.
January 08, 2018