Let us start by saying that nowadays in our highly-developed society with immense flow of information there exist several hundreds of definitions of the term “marketing”. Some scholars define this notion as process, others say that it is a structure; someone asserts that it is an aim and the fourth group believes that it is an ideology. Maybe it is impossible to make up the one universally accepted definition of the term “marketing”, but it is evident that companies that are deprived of a marketing mindset are at a disadvantage in business world nowadays. Those companies and firms that are concentrated on their products and services, rather than their customers, are doomed to failure. An old saying states that ‘‘nothing happens until a sale is made,’’ and marketing is the thing that makes a sale possible.
First of all, we would like to refer to two sources that give us the definition of “marketing” that we find credible. According to Hisrich (2000), “Marketing is the process by which decisions are made in a totally interrelated changing business environment on all the activities that facilitate exchange in order that the targeted group of customers is satisfied and the defined objectives accomplished” (p. 3).
According to Jim Blythe (2006), “Marketing is a process of developing products and services so that they provide benefits for consumers, then offering them in exchange for money” (p. 4). This definition is brief and less detailed than the previous one.
Taking these to definitions and our own experience into account, we can try to formulate our own definition of the notion under consideration. In our opinion, marketing is the process of creation and realization of a scheme, planning of the price, the creation of a brand image, the advancement and successful sale of ideas, goods and services on the basis of exchange that guarantees receiving of profit by the seller and the customer.
Many people who know nothing about marketing think that marketing staff of a firm is an unnecessary waste of budget and space in the office, but in fact they do not understand that a dollar spent on marketing is sure to bring you a thousand or even a million back. The only important thing is that you should employ a highly qualified and efficient team that will create and put into execution a creative marketing strategy. It is a very difficult task and it involves a lot of patience, constant and consistent work, but it is sure to bring dividends.
Now let us consider an example of a successful marketing strategy that has brought some significant positive result. We should mention that there are specialists whose task is not to promote goods and services; they promote cities and even countries. These people do not work in marketing departments of firms; they work in city administration, consulate or embassy. To show the importance of the work of these people, it is enough to mention that they are responsible for huge sums of money and their actions are controlled by international laws. A very picturesque example to be given here is the example of the development of French city Lille that used to be a town with several mines in 1980s. The state of things changed as soon as Lille joined the project of building of The English Channel that became the part of their marketing strategy. As the result of this strategy, Lille turned into one of the most important commercial and business centers of Europe.
One more example of the importance of marketing in organizational success is, we believe, classical. Coca-Cola is a United States based soda beverage company. Their target community is the global society, which means that their choice of consumer is rather wise. This is dynamic and prosperous company with huge investments. Every year they spend billions on various advertising campaigns. It should be stressed that we should not underestimate the importance of advertising for marketing. Some people who are not knowledgeable in marketing even think that marketing and advertising are absolute synonyms. And we remember that advertising is an essential constituent of marketing. Probably, this is why Coca-Cola is one of the most prosperous companies in the USA.
We would like to continue with the description of the third example of the novice among the most expensive brands of the world. The matter concerns Lexus. The marketing team of this company is very creative and intelligent, they are real professionals. For example, now they are going to change their target group from fifty-year-olds to the active youth. It will be accomplished with the help of a new car “IS-F C”. Also, they are planning to produce HS250h – the first “elite” hybrid in the world and Lexus is planning new, compact, economical but certainly fashionable automobiles. So, we can see that Lexus follows the laws of marketing and though his target group is not as vast as, for instance, Coca-Cola’s target group, still they have managed to become one of the most expensive brands in the world.
The list of companies with successful marketing strategies is very long. We just want to mention some of them: Motorola, Microsoft, Intel, Burberry etc. Other companies and firms should follow their example and pay special attention to marketing and its potential.
Works Cited
Blythe, J. (2006). Marketing. London: SAGE.
Hisrich, R.D. (2000). Marketing. Hauppauge: Barron’s Educational Series.