Introduction to Marketing Dr.

Pushpalata Trimukhe

PROGRAM: B.COM. I
COURSE: MARKETING MANAGEMENT

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UNIT: INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING
1.1 Marketing: Meaning and Definition
1.2 Basic characteristics of marketing
1.3 Functions of Marketing
1.4 Evolution of Marketing concept
1.5 Modern Marketing Concept
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1.1 MARKETING: MEANING AND DEFINITION
Marketing refers to activities a company undertakes to promote the buying or selling
of a product or service. Marketing includes advertising, selling, and delivering products to
consumers or other businesses. Some marketing is done by affiliates on behalf of a company.
Marketing encompasses every part of a plan to turn a prospective consumer into a
happy and satisfied customer. It includes everything from market research to advertising.
The goal of marketing is to convince a person that your product is worth investing in,
establish brand loyalty and increase overall sales.
Marketing focuses on the fundamental practices that every company has to carry out
- identifying customers, researching their needs and preferences, analyzing factors that
influence their purchasing decisions and persuading them to buy products and services from
you rather than a competitor.

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Introduction to Marketing Dr. Pushpalata Trimukhe

The key purpose of marketing is to get people interested in the products or services
of a company. This happens through market analysis, research and contemplating the
interest of a business's ideal customers and attracting them through messaging which would
be educational and helpful to a business's target group.
The marketing concept come out in the mid- 1950s and challenged the proceeding
concepts. For understanding the meaning of marketing, firstly understand the meaning
of market. The word Market is derived from the Latin word MARCATUS which means
merchandise or trade or a place where business is conducted. Marketing is not only a place
of exchange but an arrangement that provides an opportunity of exchanging goods and
services for money.
Marketing is a broader concept which includes all human activities in relation to
the market .it includes product planning and development, buying and assembling, pricing
distribution and selling, branding and packaging, standardization
and grading, transportation and warehousing, promotion and advertising, financing, risk
bearing, analysis of market in terms of its present and potential customers.
Philip Kotler is known around the world as the “father of modern marketing.” For
over 50 years he has taught at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern
University. Kotler's book Marketing Management is the most widely used textbook in
marketing around the world.

DEFINITIONS OF MARKETING
1. Dr. Philip Kotler (Father of Modern Marketing)
“Marketing is the science and art of exploring, creating, and delivering value to satisfy
the needs of a target market at a profit. Marketing identifies unfulfilled needs and
desires.”
2. American Marketing Association (AMA)
“Marketing is an activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating,
communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers,
clients, partners, and society at large".
3. Wikipedia
“Marketing is the act of satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary
components of business management and commerce.”
4. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary
“Marketing is the process or technique of promoting, selling, and distributing a
product or service.”
5. "Marketing is the performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods,
and services from producers to consumers."

According to studies, nearly 90% of small businesses invest in marketing. Marketing

is an excellent tool for increasing awareness of your products as well as establishing yourself
as a reliable and reputable brand in your chosen niche.
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Introduction to Marketing Dr. Pushpalata Trimukhe

According to E. J. McCarthy, the 4 Ps of Marketing serve as a fundamental formula

for identifying and working with essential elements in your marketing strategy. These
include:
1. Product - What are you offering? It can be a physical product, digital item, service, event
or experience. Curate the key features of your product and define what makes it unique in
your market.
2. Price - What are you charging for your product? Calculate this by determining your net
cost of goods and then adding on an additional amount to meet your desired profit margin.
3. Place - Where do you sell your goods? For example, you may have a brick-and-mortar
store or an e-commerce platform. Where you sell determines where and how you market
your product.
4. Promotion - How do you get the word out about your products? This is usually a mix of
various marketing strategies, including paid advertising, content marketing, social media
marketing and more.

1.2 BASIC CHARACTERISTICS OF MARKETING

The marketing concept is based on the following pillars: (i) Identification of the
prospective customers or the target market. (ii) Understanding the needs and wants of the
customers or the target market by connecting with them. (iii) Development of products or
services for satisfying the needs of the target market. (iv) Satisfying the needs of target
market better than the competitors. (v) Ensuring profitable sales for the business.
Characteristics/ Features of marketing refers to the tactic in which a company adds
a new feature to a product and markets it extensively to attract new customers. Feature
marketing not only offers prospects a reason to become your customers, it gives your
existing customers an additional incentive to stay with you.
1. Customer focus
The marketing function of a business is customer-centered. It makes an attempt to
study the customer needs, and goods are produced accordingly. The business existence
depends on human needs. In a competitive market, the goods that are best suited to the
customer are the ones that are well-accepted. Hence, every activity of a business is customer-
oriented.
2. Customer satisfaction
A customer expects some services or benefits from the product for which payment is
made. If this benefit is more than the amount paid, then the customer is satisfied. In the long
run, customer satisfaction helps to retain market demand. It helps achieve organizational
objectives. Customer satisfaction can be enhanced by providing value-added services, which
includes providing additional facilities at little or no extra cost.
3. Objective-oriented
All marketing activities are objective-oriented. Different objectives are fixed at
different levels, but the main objective is to earn profit from business along with the satisfac-
tion of human wants. Marketing activities undertaken by sellers make an attempt to find out
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the weaknesses in the existing system, and measures are taken to improve the shortfalls so
that the objectives are achieved.
4. Marketing is both art and science
Art refers to a specific skill that is required in marketing activities of any type of
business. Science refers to a systematic body of knowledge, based on facts and principles.
The concept of marketing includes a bunch of social sciences such as economics, sociology,
psychology and law. It indicates market operations based on some principles. Hence,
marketing is an art as well as a science.
5. Continuous and regular activity
Marketing is an activity designed to plan, price, promote and distribute products. At
the same time, it also addresses both the current and future consumers. Thus, it is a
continuous process. A marketer has to consistently monitor environment. This helps in
coming up with new products.
6. Exchange process
Marketing involves exchange of goods, services and ideas with the medium of money.
Exchange takes place between sellers and buyers. Most of marketing activities are concerned
with the exchange of goods. Functions such as distribution, after-sale services and packaging
help in the exchange process. Channels of distribution and physical distribution play an
important role in the exchange process by creating place utility.
7. Marketing environment
Economic policies, market conditions, and environmental factors, such as political,
technological, demographic and international, influence marketing activities. Marketing
activities are inseparable from such environmental factors. A successful marketer needs to
adapt to these changing factors and adjust marketing strategies to suit new market
developments.
8. Marketing mix
A combination of four inputs constitutes the core of a company’s marketing system—
product, price, place, and promotion. Marketing mix is a flexible combination of variables.
They are influenced by consumer behaviour, trade factors, competition and government
regulatory measures.
9. Integrated approach
The marketing activities must be coordinated with other functional areas of an
organization. Functions such as production, finance, research, purchasing, storekeeping and
public relations (PR) are to be integrated with marketing. This will help in achieving
organizational objectives. Otherwise, it will result in organizational conflicts.
10. Commercial and non-commercial organizations
With the societal marketing concept gaining importance, social marketers are finding
useful new ways of applying marketing principles. Commercial organizations are also
adopting cause-related marketing to strike long-term relations with consumers.

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Business organizations such as educational institutions, hospitals, religious institutions and

charitable trusts have also found meaningful applications of marketing. Thus, marketing is
applicable to both business and non-business organizations.
11. Precedes and follows production
Identifying consumer needs and wants is the primary task of a marketing manager.
Production activities are adapted to these consumer needs. Thus, marketing precedes
production. Marketing helps in the distribution of the goods which follows production.
Hence, production and marketing activities are closely related to each other.

1.3 FUNCTIONS OF MARKETING

Marketing is a very broad term and cannot be explained in a few words. Marketing is
an essential business function that helps in making the customers aware of the products or
services that are offered by a business.
The definition of marketing as defined by the American Marketing Association is as follows.
“Marketing is the process of planning and executing conception, pricing, promotion,
and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and
organizational objectives.”

Functions of marketing are those aspects that define the practice of marketing and
are being discussed in detail in this article.
The following are the functions of marketing:

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1. Identify needs of the consumer

The first steps in marketing function is to identify the needs and wants of the
consumer that are present in the market. Companies or businesses must therefore gather
information on the customer and perform analysis on the collected information.
By doing this they can present the product or service that matches closely with the customer
needs and wants.
2. Planning
The next step in marketing function is planning. It is considered very important for a
business to have a plan. The management should be very clear about the company objectives
and what it wishes to achieve from the created plan.
The company should then chalk out a timeline that is essential for achieving the objectives.
3. Product Development
After the details are received from the consumer research, the product is developed
for use by the consumers. There are many factors that are essential for a product to be
accepted by the customer, a few factors among the many are product design, durability and
cost.
4. Standardization and Grading
Standardization refers to the process of ensuring uniformity in the product which
means that a product developed by a business shall be standard for every consumer with the
same quality and design and this is one of the key aspects that needs to be maintained by the
business.
Grading is referred to as the process of classifying products that are similar in quality
and characteristics. Grading helps in making the customer know about the quality of the
product offered. It helps in making customers understand that the products conform to
highest quality standards.
5. Packing and Labelling
The first impressions of a product are its packaging and the label attached to it.
Therefore, packaging and labelling should be looked after very well. It is a well-known fact
that a great packaging and labelling goes a long way in ensuring product success.
6. Branding
Branding is referred to as the process of identifying the name of the producer with
the product. Certain brands are there in the market which have a lot of goodwill and any
product coming from the same brand will be accepted more warmly by the consumers.
Although, having a separate identity for the product can be helpful.
7. Customer Service
A company has to set-up various kinds of customer service based on their product. It
can be pre-sales, technical support, customer support, maintenance services, etc.
8. Pricing
It can be regarded as one of the most important parts of marketing function. It is the
price of a product that determines whether it will be successful or a failure. Some other
factors are market demand, competition, price of competitors.
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The company or business should understand clearly that bringing about frequent
changes in the price of a product can lead to confusion in the minds of consumers.
9. Promotion
Promotion is the process of making the customers aware of the product by presenting
it to customers across various channels of promotion and entice them to buy the product.
The major channels of promotion are: advertising, media, personal selling and promotion
(publicity). An ideal promotion mix will be a combination of all or some methods.
10. Distribution
Distribution refers to the movement of consumer goods to the point of consumption.
A company must ensure that the correct channel of distribution is selected for the product.
The mode of distribution is dependent on the factors such as shelf life, market concentration
and capital requirements. Proper management of inventory is also essential.
11. Transportation
Transportation is defined as the physical movement of goods from one place to
another. In other words, it is the movement of goods from the place of production to the
place of consumption.
Also, the correct mode of transportation can be selected based on the geographical
boundaries of the market.
12. Warehousing
Warehousing of products creates time utility. It is often seen that there is a gap
between the time a product is produced and the time when it is consumed. Companies like
to maintain the smooth flow of goods even when the products are of seasonal nature.
Warehousing and storing provides the opportunity to provide goods during off season also.
This concludes the article on the topic of Functions of Marketing, which is an important topic
for Commerce students. For more such interesting articles, stay tuned to BYJU’S.

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1.4 EVOLUTION OF MARKETING CONCEPT

The term “marketing evolution” describes the various stages that businesses have
gone through as they looked for fresh and creative ways to generate, maintain, and grow
income through customer sales and relationships.
In mid 1950s most firms were production oriented i.e. the manufacture emphasized
only on production of quality products and then looked for people to purchase them. With
the passage of time and technological advancement, the focus shifted to an effective sales
force to find that customers for their increasing output. After 1950s the marketing shifted to
impressive concern that the manufacturer first looks into consideration the
customers wants and then manufactured their goods according to their interest.

Peter Drucker, a leading management theorist, puts it this way –

“There will always one can assume, be need for some selling. But the aim of
marketing is to make selling super fulvous. The aim of marketing is to know and
understand the customer so well that the product or services fits him and sells it.
Ideally, marketing should result in a customer who is ready to buy. All that should be
needed then is to make the product or services available.”
Good marketing makes the company look smart. Great marketing makes the customer
feel smart. The marketing idea is a way of life in which all of an organization’s resources are
mobilized to generate, stimulate, and please the customer for a profit. It reflects a distinct
corporate perspective that views marketing as more than physical activity. Marketing
evolution refers to the slow and steady growth of marketing over time.

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Science and technology advancements, particularly the advancement of information

technology, have profoundly transformed the way people live, do business, and sell and
purchase. The following is a brief overview of the different stages of marketing evolution.
1. Production Stage
Addressing marketing from this concept entails concentrating effort on increasing
manufacturing efficiency and guaranteeing the company’s goods and services everywhere
possible via its distribution system. Customers believe low prices and product availability
are the main factors for them to perceive goods and services as having higher value.
At this point, the demand for products typically outstripped the supply, and
businesses had little trouble finding consumers. As a result, they concentrated primarily on
increasing production and distribution efficiency.

2. Product Stage
The primary focus at this phase is on product quality. It implies that customer value
is inextricably connected to the availability of high-quality, high-performance goods. As a
result, the marketing function was to deliver goods that the firm thought was of the “best
value” to the consumer.
This method focuses on product research and development, as well as continual
change throughout their life cycles, in order to keep potential consumers’ attention. Under
the product concept, management concentrates on developing high-quality goods that can
be sold at a reasonable price while paying low attention to what customers truly need and
desire.

3. Selling Stage
Firms that use the selling concept believe that the organization’s success is a result of
different strong promotional methods intended at influencing consumers to choose the
firm’s product or brand over rivals’ products. As a result, no matter how wonderful a product
is, consumers will not be able to contemplate purchasing it if they are not made aware of it.
When examined closely, it is obvious that this strategy is not about achieving
customer pleasure or developing a positive and long-term connection with the client. It is
about allowing the company to earn as many sales as possible from the transactions. This is
the main disadvantage of this concept.

4. Marketing Stage
A marketing concept is a business approach that focuses on producing goods that are
designed to meet the wants, needs, and expectations of customers, as well as product
functionality and production efficiency.
Logically, in order to satisfy target consumers, the firm must first determine their
requirements and desires and then build the marketing mix elements to suit those needs and
desires more efficiently and effectively than rivals. Businesses research and analyze their

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market to understand their customers. Thereby gathering information that will be handy in
their marketing strategy.

5. Societal Marketing Stage

Much as the marketing idea appears to be beneficial to both customers and the firm,
it falls short of perfection if it fails to address social issues. The primary determinant of value
in this marketing strategy is sustainability.
This ideology is concerned not just with customer happiness, but also with consumer
welfare or societal welfare. Such social welfare speaks of a clean environment and a high
quality of life.
As a result, a company producing a pack of cigarettes for consumers must provide not
just the greatest cigarettes but also pollution-free smokes; a car must be not only fuel-
efficient but also less polluting.
As a result, it is not surprising that, in addition to providing products or services in
the exact form that customers will appreciate, using appropriate pricing, distribution, and
promotion strategies, most businesses now emphasize their level of environmental
friendliness in order to attract customers.

6. Holistic Marketing Stage

Holistic marketing is described as a marketing approach that examines the entire
organization rather than an interconnected entity, and in which all other corporate divisions
collaborate to generate a positive and cohesive business image in the eyes of customers.
Other marketing concepts such as production, product, selling, and marketing
concept mingled and found a new concept known as holistic marketing.
Holistic marketing connects the market around shared goals and visions, resulting in
a strategy that is inclusive, relationship-oriented, and socially responsible. Relationship
marketing, integrated marketing, internal marketing, and socially responsible marketing are
all examples of this.

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1.4 MODERN MARKETING CONCEPT

Modern Marketing refers to an ability to establish, build and strengthen
relationships between a brand and its target audience with the human touch blended with
technology. Modern Marketing is used to improve your brand visibility and makes your
strategies more effective and quantifiable since it is designed to offer businesses the right
touch points with the customers.

Modern marketing concept focuses on customer’s need and wants and it aims in
meeting the customer’s satisfaction. Modern marketing is customer oriented. It is based on
new marketing concept and refers to a broader concept. Modern marketing concept is
based on pull marketing. It is multidimensional as along with selling product and getting
profit it also gives emphasis on customer satisfaction, planning, after sales service and
many other variables. Most commonly used modern marketing strategies are:

 Internet ads
 E-mail marketing
 E-commerce website
 Use of social media
 Marketing automation

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BENEFITS OF MODERN MARKETING CONCEPTS

Modern marketing is a holistic, agile, data-driven methodology that connects
brands with their ideal customers to drive targeted business results. Though the
elements can be assembled in an infinite number of ways, a modern marketing approach
always blends creative thinking and execution with research, strategy, technology, and
analysis to achieve organizational goals.
1. Customer-Centric Approach
Modern marketing places the customer at the center of all strategies and actions. It’s
about understanding customer needs, preferences, and behaviors, and creating products or
services that satisfy these requirements. Customer feedback and data analytics play a crucial
role in enabling businesses to tailor their offerings.
2. Digital Presence
The digital landscape is a critical component of modern marketing. A strong online
presence through websites, social media platforms, and e-commerce portals is vital. Digital
marketing channels such as email, content marketing, and search engine optimization (SEO)
are commonly used to reach a broader audience.
3.Integrated Marketing Communications
Modern marketing emphasizes the integration of various communication channels.
Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) ensures that all the messages and
communications are consistent across all channels, whether it be social media, traditional
advertising, or public relations.
4.Data-Driven Decision Making
Data and analytics have become the foundation of marketing decisions. By analyzing
customer data, market trends, and competitors, businesses can make informed decisions
that align with their goals and the market demand.
5. Brand Storytelling
Modern marketing involves creating compelling brand stories. These stories, built
around the brand’s values and vision, help to connect with customers on an emotional level,
thus building brand loyalty.
6. Focus on Value Creation
Rather than just selling products or services, modern marketing focuses on creating
value for customers. This includes not just the functional value but also emotional and social
value, ensuring that customers perceive the product or service as adding something positive
to their lives.
7. Enhanced Customer Relationships
By focusing on the needs and preferences of the customer, businesses can establish
stronger relationships with them. This often results in increased customer loyalty and
retention.

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8.Increased Market Reach

The digital aspect of modern marketing enables businesses to reach a global audience.
Even small businesses can now tap into markets that would have been inaccessible in the
past.
9. Improved ROI
Data-driven decision-making and targeted marketing efforts often lead to more
efficient use of resources, ultimately resulting in a better return on investment (ROI).
10.Competitive Advantage
Utilizing modern marketing concepts helps businesses to stand out in the crowded
market. By offering unique value and effectively communicating this to the customers,
companies can gain a competitive edge.
11.Better Adaptation to Market Changes
Modern marketing concepts make businesses more agile and adaptable to market
changes. With a finger on the pulse of customer needs and market trends, companies can
quickly alter strategies and remain relevant.

Modern marketing concepts represent a paradigm shift from traditional marketing

tactics. By adopting a customer-centric approach, leveraging digital platforms, integrating
communications, making data-driven decisions, engaging in brand storytelling, and focusing
on value creation, businesses can reap significant benefits. In the fast-paced and ever-
evolving marketplace, these modern marketing concepts are essential for success and
sustainability.

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