Marketing Plans, 9th Edition

CHAPTER 1UNDERSTANDING THE MARKETING PROCESS

SUMMARY

• What marketing is
• What digital marketing is, and how it has changed marketing
• The role of marketing in getting the best out of the firm's asset base
• The link between the external environment, customers and the marketing mix
• Clearing up the confusion surrounding marketing's role
• Clarification of what customers look for in their suppliers
• The differences and similarities between consumer, service and industrial marketing
• Whether a marketing department is essential
• Exercises to turn the theory into actionable propositions
• Readers who are already wholly familiar with the role of marketing in organizations may wish to go straight to Chapter 2, which begins to explain the marketing planning process

THE MARKETING CONCEPT*

In 1776, when Adam Smith said that consumption is the sole end and purpose of production, he was in fact describing what in recent decades has become known as the marketing concept.

The central idea of marketing is of a matching between a company's capabilities and the wants of customers in order to achieve the objectives of both parties.

It is important at this stage to understand the difference between the marketing concept (often referred to as ‘market orientation’) and the marketing function, which is concerned with the management of the marketing mix. The management of the marketing mix involves using the various tools and techniques available to managers in order to implement the marketing ...