Business, Marketing, and Management Principles for IT and Engineering

8

Marketing

8.1    MARKETING FUNCTIONS

The first and foremost goal in marketing is to position our firm against market forces. To do so, we must look beyond day-to-day commitments and face the broader responsibilities for markets and sales. With globalization, deregulation, and rapid innovation, these responsibilities have tremendously increased, particularly so as survival cannot be taken for granted.

To position themselves in the market’s eye, firms need to gain recognition both by developing products that their competitors in the industry do not have (see Chapter 11) and by being masters in public relations. Other things equal, advertising, promotions but also word of mouth (in reference to quality, functionality, affordable price) ...