Defined Marketing

Many people incorrectly believe that marketing and advertising are the same. From an organizational point of view, marketing is the process of determining the needs and wants of consumers, as well as profitable providing consumers with goods and services they are looking for, or even overcome their expectations. Marketing activity needs to ensure that the products are provided to users in places where they want them, and at the price they are willing to pay, and that information is provided directly by users.

This paper will provide several definitions of marketing and explain its importance in organizational success, supported by examples from the business world. Dr. Philip Kotler defines marketing as “the science and art of exploring, creating, and delivering value to satisfy the needs of a target market at a profit. Marketing identifies unfulfilled needs and desires. It defines, measures and quantifies the size of the identified market and the profit potential. It pinpoints which segments the company is capable of serving best and it designs and promotes the appropriate products and services (Kotler, 2012)”.

According to Kotler, marketing is also a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups – through creating, offering and exchanging products of value with others, are getting what they need or what they want. Peter Drucker wrote the following: “Because the purpose of business is to create and keep a customer, the business enterprise has two, and only two, basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business (Drucker, 1973). Marketing plays a central role in achieving organizational success, because it talks about creating and retaining customers. For this reason, companies are focused on marketing, recognizing the importance of building relationships with customers by providing customer satisfaction, and the importance of attracting new customers by creating additional value.

Gronroos, in his definition of marketing, emphasizes the importance of building relationships, in which he said that the goal of marketing is to stablish, develop and commercialize long-term relationships with our customers, so that the objectives of stakeholders are met (1999, Gronroos). Since the majority of the market is characterized by fierce competition, this statement indicates a need to monitor and understand the competition, as rivals are those that will turn customers when their needs are not being met. In the exciting world of business, successes and failures are common. Marketing is the essence of all the changes, and it is often the decisive factor in their outcome.

This is because the focus is on the customers and their changing needs. Successful organizations are those that are able, not only to get new customers, but also to retain them, by always meeting their changing needs. The company’s activities are both reflected and shaped the world in which we live. Almost every year there is a new product or service that fully occupies the attention of the market and makes a great success. Companies are responding to customer needs by proposing that value by providing number of benefits that are offered to customers to meet their needs.

Value of the intangible becomes physical, the proposal that may be a combination of products, services, information, and experiences. Brand represents an offer from a known source. Name brand, like McDonald’s raises many associations with people: hamburgers, fun, children, fast food, coziness, and so on. These associations make up the brand image. All the companies are struggling to build a powerful brand – to be strong, popular and unique. The essence of the brand is to emotionally connect with consumers and achieve lasting impressions.

It should be summed up in a few words, a simple statement that defines the quality, character and uniqueness of the brand. For example, Hallmark sums up the essence of their brand through two words “enriching lives,” and those two words are the basis for everything in Hallmark, the greeting card design, product development through customer service, merchandising, in-store communications and advertising, and to create a positive working environment for their employment.

Hallmark brand essence permeates every aspect of the company and its operations. If we ask marketing and advertising experts around the world, what is the secret of Apple’s success, the answer would always be the same: It’s all about the brand. Apple’s success owes little to innovative products such as the iPhone, iPad or iPod. The key to their success is the brand that they created. It is no coincidence that during the ’80s and ’90s, executive marketing director and CEO of Apple, was the former CEO of Pepsi, John Sculley.

It is he who, with the vision and energy of Steve Jobs, is responsible for the tectonic shift in the perception of marketing personal computers, which was created using the marketing strategy that was used in the war with Coca-Cola. That strategy has turned Apple into the largest computer company today. “People talk about technology, but Apple was a marketing company,” Sculley told the Guardian newspaper in 1997. “It was the marketing company of the decade (Kahney, 2002)”. The company that is aware of the barely noticeable changes that are taking place every day in the market has an advantage over a company that ignores those changes.

The ability to anticipate future needs and to respond appropriately is a challenge that is always present in the marketing strategy of any organization. Despite the long tradition, there are no guarantees that all organizations will adopt marketing orientation. Companies that are marketing oriented, primarily focus on customer needs. The changes are seen as a common occurrence, and the ability to adapt is seen as a necessity for survival. The aim of marketing is a long-term customer satisfaction, rather than short-term deceptions and tricks.