CHAPTER ONE
1.8 INTRODUCTION
All business organizations perform two basic functions we are production and marketing of goods and services ideas, events organizations, places and personalities for the satisfaction of consumer/clients wants and needs. Marketing has developed in importance and complexity. It is perhaps the most dynamic complicated and challenging function of business. Marketing develops as a society and its economy develops. Indeed more and more businessmen and organizations are recognizing that marketing is a pivotal determinant of corporate success.
Marketing considerations, acting in linkage, with the considerations of all the organic business functions play very significant roles in designing and establishing the framework for the information of corporate objectives and strategies once this has been done, marketing remains the vehicle through which corporate objectives are achieved.
Marketing is made up of all activities by which a firm adapts itself to it environment. It is one of organic functions which is vital for survival of every organization. The attention given to the theory and practice of marketing has increased in recent times. Academics, students and organizational managers have sought relentlessly for ways or approaches that will enable them understand explain and control marketing phenomena. As a result marketing has witnessed many theories, perspectives philosophies and definitions.
There are many definitions of marketing as there are textbooks on the subjects matter. Some of these definitions are as follows:
Kotler (1997) defined marketing as: “a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating offering and exchanging products of values with others”.
Starton W.J. (917) viewed marketing “as a system of business activities designed to plan, place promote and distribute other of value, wants-satisfying goods and services to the benefits of the market”.
Appleman (1973) viewed marketing as “a set of human activities directed at facilitating and consummating exchange”.
Morden (1987) viewed marketing as: “an activity directed at satisfying customer needs and wants through exchange transactions in the market.
Once an organization has applied the marketing concept to its operations, it has to find the most effective way of marketing its product. To do this, it has to find the most effective marketing mix for the product. Scheme and Smith (1980) viewed marketing mix as an organization’s bundle of utility. It is the unique combination of controllable variables that a given marketer offers to customers.
McCarthy viewed marketing mix elements by classifying them into four-product, price, promotion and place. Once the appropriate marketing mix is developed, the market has to take into consideration the environment in which the organization is operating because it cannot operate in isolation. Also, it has to think of strategies ways of marketing its products because of the dynamic nature of the environment.
MARKETING STRATEGY
How will an organization survive the challenges ahead; he has the tool in his marketing strategy whose very nature is to communicate the brands benefits and interpretation which is unique and relevant to customer needs and in so doing establish and maintain a preference in customer minds for the particular brands. To achieve this objective is fundamentally instrumental in the brands relating their overall marketing objectives.
Marketing strategy contains the mixture of marketing variables that exploit the forms most profitable and sustainable differential advantages.
Simultaneously a contingent strategy is formulated on the event the forms advantage is erased through a change in success requirements and/or competitive activities. It concerns recognition of the intensity and directions of the forces of the external environment and to adjust and adopt marketing strategies to them.
In developing marketing strategies usually in collaboration with the and agencies, cognizance must be taken care of:
(a) The market: Size, value, region, consumption patterns, distribution patterns and competitive brands.
(b) Competition: brand and market shares comparative advantages (if any) over company’s brand and consumer benefit.
(c) Brand information: Using intended price segmentation performance against completion.
(d) Marketing objectives
(e) Brand positioning statement: this is a concise definition of what make the brand more desirable than its leading competitors.
A definition of the potential market for any product or service must be grounded upon a clear view of basic customer needs the particular product to meet or intended to meet.
Customers can be categorized in many dimensions but only those criteria which relate inn some way to purchasing behavior and which are themselves actionable use to the marketing strategist.
Behavior learning process can offer insightful direction to marketers. The key to successful marketing I tied to repeated purchase behavior. Desired behavior is ultimately reinforced by the product itself.
