Marketing Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Marketing Process - Essay Example Marketing is a continuing ongoing process; its environment is always dynamic. This means that the market tends to change-what customers want today is not necessarily what they want tomorrow (Background, n.d.). Marketing issues are important in all areas of the organisation. In business organisations, marketing efforts (including such services as promotion and distribution) often account for more than half of the price of a product (Background, n.d.). From the time of the industrial revolution until the early 1920's, production concept was the idea that an organistion should focus on those products that it could produce most efficiently and that the creation of a supply of low-cost products would in and of itself create the demand for the products. The key questions that a firm would ask before producing a product were: can we produce the product can we produce enough of it During those times, the production concept worked well due to the fact that the goods that were produced were mo stly those of basic necessity and there was a relatively high level of unfulfilled demand. Virtually everything that could be produced was sold easily by a sales team whose job it was simply to execute transactions at a price determined by the cost of production. The production concept prevailed until the late 1920's before mass production become a norm (The marketing concept, 2005). During the early 1930's however, mass production had become commonplace, competition had increased, and there was little unfulfilled demand. During this time, business organisations began to practice the sales concept (or selling concept), under which companies not only would produce the products, but also would try to convince customers to buy them through advertising and personal selling. Before producing a product, the key questions were: Can we sell the product Can we charge enough for it The sales concept paid little attention to whether the product actually was needed; the goal simply was to beat the competition to the sale without paying attention to consumer needs and desire. Marketing was a function that was performed after the product was developed and produced, therefore, many people came to associate marketing with hard selling. Until today, most people use the word "marketing" when they really mean sales (The marketing concept, 2005). The Marketing Concept However, after World War II, the variety of products increased and hard selling no longer could be relied upon to generate sales. With increased flexible income, customers could afford to be selective and buy only those products that will exactly met their fast changing needs, and these needs were not right away known. The key questions became: What do customers want Can we develop it while they still want it, How can we keep our customers satisfied (The marketing concept, 2005) In reaction to these sensitive customers, firms began to adopt the marketing concept, which involves: Focusing on customer needs before developing the product, Aligning all functions of the company to focus on those needs, realising a profit by successfully satisfying customer needs over the long-term