Learn Marketing with Me

I had my first formal introduction to marketing today. I realized that I had a very narrow view of marketing. Most people erroneously equate marketing to sales. Sales is one of the outcomes of effective marketing strategy.

Marketing can be defined as “meeting needs profitably”. Peter Drucker noted that the aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous. The two goals of marketing are:

1. Attract new customers by promising superior value.
2. Keep and grow current customers by delivering value and satisfaction.

David Jobber and Fiona Ellis-Chadwick defined the concept of marketing.  To them, marketing is about staying ahead of the competition, and it is focused on achieving corporate goals through meeting and exceeding expectations better than the competition.

Competition is what compels companies to have a marketing philosophy. Without competition, marketing may get the central attention it is getting in recent times.  Competition is getting fierce, and companies respond by being proactive about their marketing objectives.  

The most common marketing objectives are:

1. Brand recognition
2. Product awareness
3. Mind share

Here are some helpful tips to adopt in setting your marketing strategy.  

1. Analyze the current situation
2. Analyze the competition
3. Define your objectives
4. Deploy your marketing mix
5. Monitor your marketing metrics

Marketers face brand, industry, form, and generic competition in the marketing environment. The marketing environment is divided into two parts: the task environment (the people who are directly involved in producing, distributing, and promoting the product offering) and the broad environment (forces in the demographic, economic, natural, technological, political-legal, and social-cultural environment).

Marketers use the marketing mix—the set of marketing tools used to pursue marketing objectives in the target market—in these environments. The four Ps of marketing are product, price, place, and promotion.

Marketing managers must make fundamental decisions on marketing expenditures, marketing mix, and marketing allocation in order to translate marketing strategy into marketing programs. The first decision concerns the amount of marketing spending required to meet the firm’s marketing objectives. The second decision is how to allocate the total marketing budget among the marketing mix’s various tools: product, price, place, and promotion. The third decision involves allocating the marketing budget to various products, channels, promotion media, and sales areas.

During my research, I found a Harvard Business Review’s 1988 article on managing people titled: what-the-hell-is-market-oriented. This article emphasized the need for an integrated approach to marketing, as a business executive with finance background, I found the article instructive. Read below my key takeaways.

Information on all important buying influences must permeate every corporate function. 

A company can be market-oriented only if it completely understands its markets and the people who decide whether to buy its products or services.

Strategic and tactical decisions must be made inter-functionally and inter-divisionally. 

Organizational functions and divisions will inevitably have conflicting objectives that mirror distinctions in cultures and in modes of operation. The market-oriented company possesses mechanisms to get these differences out on the table for candid discussion and to make trade-offs that reconcile the various points of view. Each function and division must have the ear of the others and must be encouraged to lay out its ideas and requirements honestly and vigorously.

Divisions and functions must make well-coordinated decisions and execute them with a sense of commitment. 

An open dialogue on strategic and tactical trade-offs is the best way to engender commitment to meet goals. When the implementers also do the planning, the commitment will be strong and clear.

#MMBA11 #Marketing