Marketing: Definition and Process

Marketing Definition

• Marketing: The process by which companies create customer value and build strong customer relationships in order to capture value back from customers.
• Marketing exists everywhere in traditional and new forms, i.e., websites, mobile apps, social media.

The Marketing Process (5 Steps)

• Understand the marketplace and customer needs/wants.
• Design a customer value-driven marketing strategy.
• Construct an integrated marketing program that delivers superior value.
• Engage customers, build profitable relationships, and create customer delight.
• Capture value from customers to create profits and customer equity.

Core Marketplace Concepts

• Needs: States of felt deprivation
• Wants: The form human needs take, shaped by culture and individual personality
• Demands: Human wants backed by buying power
• Market offerings: Combination of products, services, information or experiences to satisfy a need or want.
• Marketing myopia: Paying more attention to specific products than to the benefits and experiences produced.
• Customers form expectations about value from market offerings.
• Satisfied customers buy again, while dissatisfied customers may switch to competitors.
• Exchange occurs when obtaining a desired object from someone by offering something in return.
• Marketing actions aim to create, maintain, and grow desirable exchange relationships.
• A market encompasses actual and potential buyers.
• Consumers participate in the market by searching for products, interacting with companies, and making purchases.

Customer Value-Driven Marketing Strategy

• Marketing management is the process of choosing target markets and building profitable customer relationships.
• Considerations include identifying which customers to serve (target market) and how to best serve them (value proposition).
• Value proposition: The set of benefits or values a brand promises to deliver to satisfy customer needs.

Marketing Management Orientations

• Production concept
• Product concept
• Selling concept
• Marketing concept
• Societal marketing concept
• Marketing mix includes tools known as the four Ps: Product, Price, Promotion, Place
• Integrated marketing program: A plan that communicates and delivers intended value.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

• CRM: The process of building/maintaining profitable customer relationships by delivering customer value and satisfaction.
• Customer-perceived value: The difference between total customer perceived benefits and customer cost
• Customer satisfaction: The extent to which perceived performance matches a buyer's expectations.

Customer Engagement

• Direct and continuous customer involvement is fostered in shaping brand conversations, experiences, and community.
• Consumer-Generated Marketing: Brand exchanges created by consumers.
• Partner Relationship Management: Works closely with partners in other company departments and outside the company to jointly bring greater value to customers.
• Customer lifetime value: The value of the entire steam of purchases that a customer would make over a lifetime of patronage.
• Share of customer: The portion of the customer's purchasing that a company gets in its product categories.
• Customer equity: The total combined customer lifetime values of all of the company's customers

The Changing Marketing Landscape

• Digital Age: The age of the Internet of Things.
• Digital and social media marketing uses digital marketing tools like websites, social media, mobile ads, online videos, email, and blogs, engaging consumers anytime/anywhere via digital devices.
• Social media provides exciting opportunities to expand customer engagement .
• Mobile marketing: Using mobile to stimulate buying & enriching brand experience.
• Big Data & AI: Brands use big data for deep customer insight, personalize marketing offers, improve customer engagement.
• Growth of Not-for-Profit marketing: Sound marketing efforts can attract support to organizations.
• Rapid Globalization: Managers take both local and global views of the business, industry, competitors, and opportunities.
• Sustainable Marketing: Corporate ethics and social responsibility are important for companies.