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Companies cannot survive today by simply doing a good job. They must do an excellent job if they are to succeed in the increasingly competitive global marketplace.
In the middle of marketing stands the customer.
A company can choose four alternatives to make sales politics.
Ø The production concept holds that consumers will favour products that are affordable and available, and therefore management's major task is to improve production and distribution efficiency and bring down prices.
Ø The product concept holds that consumers favour quality products that have reasonable prices, and therefore little promotional effort is required.
Ø The selling concept holds that consumers will not buy enough of the company's products unless they are stimulated through a substantial selling and promotion effort.
Ø The marketing concept holds that the main task of the company is to determine the needs, wants, and preferences of a target group of customers and to deliver the desired satisfactions.
In the middle of marketing stands the customer.
It is a fundamental idea of marketing that organisations survive and prosper through meeting the needs and wants of customers. This important perspective is commonly known as the marketing concept.
Businesses do not undertake marketing activities alone. They face threats from competitors, and changes in the political, economic, social and technological environment.
An organisation that adopts the marketing concept accepts the needs of potential customers as the basis for its operations. Success is dependent on satisfying customer needs.
Production
The customer as the controlling
Marketing function.
Personnel Finance
Customer
The key questions of marketing concepts are:
What do customers need or want? (examples)
Can we develop it while they still want it?
How can we keep our customers satisfied?
A need is a basic requirement that an individual wishes to satisfy.
A want is a desire for a specific product or service to satisfy the underlying need.
àConsumers need to eat when they are hungry; what they want to eat and in what kind of environment will vary enormously.
For some, eating at McDonalds satisfies the need to meet hunger. For others a micro waved ready-meal meets the need.
However, business does try to influence demand by designing products and services that are:
attractive
affordable
available
and that work well
The marketing concept relies upon marketing research to define market segments, their size, and their needs.
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