Marketing Principles, Goals & Approaches

Marketing is the creation and communication of value to customers. It involves the customer’s
maintenance of relationships that should last for lifetime. It is the link between society’s
material requirements for its needs and wants. Marketing must satisfy human needs and wants
through the exchange process and the building of long-term relationships.

Over the years, marketing has evolved various definition and its meaning changes according to
the views of the different marketing gurus. Many view marketing as process or dynamic
business activity that is designed to plan and promote the delivery or satisfy needs and wants of
the potential and present market. In the definition of marketing given by the American
Marketing Association or AMA, “Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes
for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer
relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.” The definition views as
an exchange process or discipline that involves strategies, activities, positions, and institutions.

The definition of Marketing according to Dr. Philip Kotler, “A social and managerial process
whereby individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and
exchanging products and value with others.” It is also defined as the meeting of the minds
between the seller and the buyer to satisfy human needs and wants with profit on the part of the
marketer and the satisfaction of the buyer for the money he spent. On the bases of this view,
marketing is an organization intervention and functions that set the process of creating,
communicating and delivering value to customers.

Goal: Attract new customer by promising superior value and keep and grow current customers
by delivering satisfaction.

The company and its market are equally important. It is marketing that gives fulfillment to both
components. Marketing people should balance between the company’s requirements for profit
and desired market share.

This is composed of two other interacting components: the customer and competition. The
overriding objective of the company is not just to satisfy the needs and want of its customer. It
must profitable and better than its competitor. Otherwise, the competitor could win the
customers because it is able to satisfy them.
Customer Needs and Wants

Need is one important component in the marketing of products. It is the consumer’s desire for a
product or service. The product or service must have specific benefits that satisfy the functional
or emotional needs. On the other hand, basic needs are food, clothing, and shelter. We cannot
live without them and marketers must be able to provide them to human population.

Food can be processed in different tastes; styles and menus that shall meet the human craving
and satisfaction. Clothing could be designed into different styles depending on people’s taste and
social values. Shelters are constructed differently depending on the capacity of the buyer to
finance his home. These needs are the marketer’s point of interest for profit.

Wants are higher-level human needs as they appeal more to the emotions. These are the social
needs for recognition and the development of higher social satisfaction is limitless. The
development of technology and different electronic gadgets are more of human wants. The
marketers must continuously improve technological inventions to sustain customer wants.

Concepts of Marketing
According to Garovillas (2004), he stated that the marketing concept is a business philosophy,
which holds that the key to achieving organizational goals consists of determining the needs and
wants of target markets and delivering the satisfaction more effectively and efficiently than
competitors do.

The philosophy of doing business is developed as people realized that marketing is vital to the
success of any marketing organization. The marketing concept emphasizes customer orientation
and coordination of marketing activities to achieve the marketing goals and objectives. The
philosophy that “The customer is the boss”, rings over the minds of the marketing people that
customer satisfaction which is of paramount consideration. While it is important to satisfy
customer wants and needs, this could only be achieved under the following marketing concepts:

1. Marketing must be Customer Oriented.

The planning and operation must be directed towards customer orientation. The whole
marketing organization and its operating staff must be focused on determining what will
satisfy the needs and wants of the target customers, the important link in the business
operation.
2. Marketing must be Coordinated Activities.
Coordination activities must start in the product planning process, the process. The
product is the key element that the customer wants to buy that is worth his money. Price
is another important component as customers would like to get his money’s worth. The
place of distribution must be within his reach and the promotional activities must be
appealing for him to decide which product to purchase.
3. Marketing must be able to achieve the Performance Target Goals and Objectives.
Customer-oriented and coordinated marketing aims to achieve its profit, objectives and goals.
These goals and objectives hinge on the increase in sales volume and customer’s patronage.
When product planning, price, promotion and distribution and properly coordinated, it will
result in the most effective way of satisfying the customer’s needs and wants. The sales
volume and profit objective will be realized.

Factors for Developing Marketing Concepts

1. Capturing Marketing Insights

The overall direction must focus on its vision and mission. The organizational goals and
objectives must be directed towards the creation of value to its customers. These must be
the inherent philosophy of the marketing organization. The functional areas in the
marketing organization must be focused towards its ultimate set of tasks in the building of
long-lasting relationship with its target market.

2. Effective Financial Management System

This system in the procurement of quality and affordable materials for processing of the
product is a vital component in effective operation of the marketing system. The
competition in the market is based on affordable quality products where labor and
materials interplay in their production. Financing the marketing program will develop
effective sales program that will bring in sustainable profitability.

3. The Value of Human Resources

All business activities need human resources in their operation. The employees must be
committed in the production of quality products and the delivery of quality service. They
must develop work ethics and strong commitment to the marketing efforts of the
organization. Sustainable development and progress rest with people who are willing to
put all efforts towards the organizational objective of quality products and service.

4. The Production Process

The process must conform to standards in terms of product quality. The race to economic
profitability is the production of products that shall satisfy the customer’s wants and
needs. The role of marketing is to sell more products, but it must conform to customer
demand. Production may produce so many products, yet they are useless inventory when
they fail to reach their target market. Marketing efforts will turn them into profitable
inventory.

5. The Presence of Competitors

The marketing of products becomes interesting with the presence of competitors.
Marketing outfit must develop strategies in capturing their target market and develop and
sustained patronage. These marketing strategies must develop customer loyalty to the
brand or the product. Product improvement and pricing strategies with sustained
promotional and advertising program are important components in the competitive
market.

Traditional concept marketing is a marketing strategy a company uses to determine if it

can produce a viable product consumer want or need, whether the company can produce
enough products to fill the need, and the marketing method by which the need can be
filled.

Several Distinct Traditional Approaches:

1. Production concept focuses on the internal potentials of the company and not based
on the desires and needs of the market.
2. Marketing concept a philosophy which states that organization must try hard to find
out and satisfy the needs and wants of consumers while at the same time accomplishing
the organizational goals.
3. Sales concept refers to the idea that people will buy more goods and services through
personal selling and advertising done aggressively to push them in the market.
4. Relationship concept/marketing an approach that centers on maintaining and
improving value-added long-term relationships with current customers, distributors,
dealers and suppliers.
5. Societal Marketing Concept views that organizations must satisfy the needs of
consumers in a manner that gives for society’s benefit.

The Goals of Marketing and their Social Effects

1. Maximize the Consumption of Goods - The Aggressive marketing strategies and
policies had increased the consumption of goods and services. The demand of the
market is tremendous. Sellers face many challenges on what products to offer. Buyers
want quality products at reasonable price and t the most convenient location.

The marketing job is to stimulate greater product consumption. Greater production

requires consumption of material inputs and more goods in the market that create
more employment. More jobs are created, and more people enjoy economic wealth.
Maximum consumptions generate economic development for the nation.

2. Maximize Consumer Satisfaction - The market demand is varied, and customer

satisfaction is the challenge of the marketing organization. Measurement of customer
satisfaction is difficult. It embraces careful analysis of the market demand which
varies with the time and the social development of society.

The customer may be satisfied with the product the marketing people produce but it
may create pollution to the environment. Plastics are good packaging materials for
consumer goods but they create flood and environmental pollution. Cars and other
vehicles using gas serve the convenience of the riding public, but they create global
warming that result to environmental imbalance.

3. Maximize Choice of Goods or Service - Some marketers believe that the goal of
marketing is to maximize the variety of the product in the market and provide
consumers a wide assortment of choices. The main objective is for customers to find
the goods that will satisfy their biological needs as well as their emotional and social
wants.

Development of new products needs research but that will mean time and costs.
Maximizing consumer choice entails cost as the economies of scale do not operate in
production of goods. The consumers must spend time studying the benefits of the
production of goods.

4. Maximize the Quality of Life - The improvement of the quality of life is the target of
marketing people. New hand phones are created to communicate with various sectors
of society, friends and families. Easy communications access satisfies not only social
needs but also business requirements. Computers and others electronic gadgets bring
pleasures to homes and enjoyment of the comfort of living.

The quality of life is difficult to measure. Life satisfaction is more than the physical
comfort. The impact of electronic radiation has created health problems among the
many users of modern gadgets. People in the previous generations lived longer
because they lived a simple life. They ate unadulterated food and lived free from
pollution and radiation.

Goals of Marketing
1. Focusing on customer wants and needs to distinguish products from competition
2. Integrating all the organization’s activities to satisfy customer wants and needs
3. Achieving the organization’s long-term goals by satisfying customer wants and needs
Key Performance Indicators
Key performance indicators (KPIs) are used to check that the marketing activities of a
company are on track. KPIs are specific metrics which are used to track performance to
make sure the firm is on track to meet specific objectives. They are sometimes known as
performance drivers or critical success factors for this reason.
Examples of noteworthy marketing goals:
1. Identifying the target market
2. Increasing sales and profits
3. Increasing brand awareness
4. Increasing market share
5. Countering competitive strategies
6. Reputation
7. Increasing distribution channels

What is Traditional Marketing?

Traditional marketing is an umbrella term that covers the wide array of advertising
channels we see daily. These may include print media, billboard and TV advertising; flyer
and poster campaigns and radio broadcast advertising.
These traditional marketing messages are not necessarily outdated; however, research has
shown those companies that have abandoned simply using these channels, and adopted
contemporary marketing channels proposed in this article, have remained prosperous and
in fact seen an increase in leads, a higher quality of leads, sales and traffic to web content.

Ansoff's Matrix Theory

Traditional marketing theories include Ansoff's Matrix, a theory that proposes
products/services fall into one of four categories depending on the market and the
product released. New Product- New Market is considered as diversification. This theory
recommends that businesses should try to diversify their product portfolio to spread risk
amongst their product range. An example of this would be when Apple created the first
iPhone released in 2007. This product was new and introduced into a new market. Apple
soon reaped the benefits of introducing this hugely popular phone. Their product range
grew from accommodating for designers on the Apple Mac, to mobile devices, tablet
devices, watches and beyond.

The Marketing Mix

Another marketing theory that's considered to be traditional is the marketing mix made
up of the 7 P's. These include product, place, promotion, price, people, process and
physical evidence. All these components, when combined, create a solid marketing
proposal. However, this theory as well as Ansoff's, can be drastically improved with the
use of contemporary marketing strategies.

Traditional Marketing seeks to pull customers to a product, whatever the cost. It is, for
this reason, considered to be outdated as it does not consider the customer they are
selling to, more the market that the company operates within. There are however channels
that have developed from traditional marketing, including digital, that aim for the same
goal, however, use more subtle and approachable mediums so as to capture their target
audience. This may include Pay-Per-Click campaigns, social media posts, search engine
optimization and email marketing.

Definition of Contemporary Marketing

Simply defined, contemporary marketing refers to marketing strategies that are consumer
focused. Contemporary marketing strategy offers products and services based on what the
target market desires rather than what the company wants them to have, thereby, offering
greater support for their customers and becoming able to take advantage of more
advanced marketing funnels to track progress.

Difference between Contemporary Marketing Orientation and Traditional Marketing

Orientation
The main difference between the contemporary marketing orientation and traditional
marketing orientation is that while the former is consumer-focused, the latter is company-
focused. Traditional marketing is concerned with pulling customers and does not really
consider the customer's diverse needs. Rather it is concerned with the market or industry
in which the company operates in.

Contemporary marketing aims for customers’ satisfaction in order to build a relationship

with them. Therefore, the types of marketing strategies under contemporary marketing are
concerned with the needs of customers.

Since it first emerged as a distinct business and management phenomenon, marketing

has evolved significantly with new types of marketing to address changing trends in the
market. This is probably because most successful businesses use a combination of
different types of marketing whether they’re contemporary or traditional marketing
strategies to get great results. Business owners now see more reasons to get the best out
of the functions of marketing by enhancing their target marketing plan example to deliver
more developmental benefits. The diversity and improvement in marketing nowadays
could sometimes prompt one to wonder what marketing is meant to look like. Our
contemporary marketing world now features advanced marketing skills and improved
marketing mix.
Here are some of types of marketing:
1. Business to Business - B2B Marketing
2. Business to Consumer - B2C Marketing
3. Brand Marketing
4. Cloud Marketing
5. Telemarketing
6. Guerrilla Marketing
7. Push Marketing
8. Influencer Marketing

Emerging Types of Marketing and their Applications:

Based on a 2017 report by Kleiner Perkins Caulfield and Byers, an internet trend
investment firm, 3.4 billion people use the internet. Therefore, the internet has become an
easy and quick way to research, reach and engage customers.

1. Search engine optimization is majorly concerned with increasing a business’ visibility

and rankings on search engine result pages. It is a simple way of attracting organic
traffic of potential customers to a website. SEO can be maximized with paid adverts
(Google AdWords), strategic content marketing and social media networks.

2. Pay per Click advertising: This is advertising presented on search engine result pages
or web pages where the advertiser is only charged based on the number of times someone
clicks on the ads to go to the advertiser's targeted website.

3. Email marketing is a type of marketing based on the distribution of messages through

emails. Email marketing provides direct contact with customers and allows businesses to
create relationships with their customers. Updates, exciting news, and call to actions can
be sent directly to customers.
4. Referral marketing: is a type of marketing where an individual or customer pleased
with the results gotten from a product refers the product to another person. It's a very
subtle form of marketing that can provide great results especially when the person
referring is an Influencer in that industry.

5. Affiliate marketing: is a prominent type of internet marketing where a third party

promotes a product and earns commission, or a piece of the profit gotten from every sale
made through that referral.

6. Video marketing: Videos act as one of the most interactive types of online marketing
and can prove to be a great way to raise awareness about a business or product. In fact,
according to Mushroom networks, YouTube is the second biggest search engine.
Therefore, video marketing can prove to be a great way to pass messages to target
customers.

7. Inbound marketing is a very powerful contemporary marketing strategy that focuses

on different tactics to draw consumers in and convince them to buy goods. It is one the
result-oriented types of marketing that uses content to drive results. A key subset of
Inbound marketing is Content marketing which the Content Marketing Institute refers to
as "a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant,
and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience.

Green Marketing refers to the process of selling products and/or services based on their
environmental benefits. Companies are selling products and/or services by first promoting
its benefit that is environmentally friendly or produced in an environmentally friendly way.

For green marketing to be effective, there are three things that needs to be done:
1. Being genuine
a. The company is doing what it claims to be doing in its green marketing campaign and;
b. The rest of the business policies are consistent with whatever the firm is doing
that’s environmentally friendly.
2. Educating the customers isn’t just a matter of letting people know that the company is
doing whatever it doing to protect the environment, but also a matter of letting them know
why it matters.
3. Giving customers an opportunity to participate means personalizing the benefits of the
company’s environmentally friendly actions, normally through letting the customer take
part in positive environmental action.