Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Anthony G. Bennett has worked as amarketing and sales executive at several Fortune 100 companies.He teaches marketing at Georgetown University.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

THE BIG BOOK OF MARKETING

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Contents

Chapter One

INTRODUCTION

Why does anyone choose to buy one product instead of another? Why does one product succeed (making billions of dollars) and another languish (losing money)? Product providers of goods and service are constantly in search of new tools to make their product the successful product, the one that sells. These tools are collectively called marketing. A dynamic marketing effort can make the difference for a product and propel a company into the billion-dollar category.

Why did customers around the world, who typically watch action films, flock to see Paramount Picture's The First Wives Club, a romantic comedy? Why did customers who were happy using steel tennis rackets buy Wilson's new carbon fiber racket? Why did customers who were buying regular paper by the ton start buying International Paper's new more expensive paper? How, after customers had been using green money in the United States for decades, did Burson-Marsteller help remove skepticism for using the new money with the purple ink? Why are customers who love bananas, America's favorite fruit, drawn to Safeway?

The answer is that each of these companies understood the needs and wants of their customers and supplied a product (goods or services) that met those needs. Understanding this demand and supply through the eyes of the customer is a process called marketing.

• Demand is the desire to possess something (goods, services, ideas, information) combined with the ability to purchase/accept it.

• Supply is the thing (goods, services, ideas, information) available to meet the demand.

Marketing is a process that starts with identifying and understanding the needs and wants of the customer (demand) and then fulfilling those needs and wants (supply). An effective marketing plan offers a solution to fulfill the needs and wants of society (individuals and organizations), while achieving the goals of the organization. In addition, marketing can create new needs or reformat existing needs.

MARKETING DEFINITIONS

Multifaceted and evolving, marketing encompasses a wide array of activities. As such, defining marketing has always been difficult. The following definitions can serve as a starting point.

• "Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large."

• "Marketing is a process of facilitating exchanges in which buyers exchange something of value (typically money) for something of equal value to them (goods or services)." (common usage)

• "Marketing is all activities after manufacturing that promote and deliver the good or service to the customer." (common usage)

• "Marketing is the process by which resources are brought to bear against opportunities and threats."

MARKETING—CHANGING PERSPECTIVES

Yesterday

In the Pre-Industrial Age, products were custom-made, and while they could be custom- tailored to each individual, they were expensive on a per-unit basis and varied in quality.

In the Industrial Age, mass production and specialization could make a higher-quality, more uniform, and less expensive product. Unfortunately, individual consumer needs were often a secondary consideration to the manufacturing processes. Sell what was made was the order of the day. The "one size fits all" concept was exemplified by Henry Ford who said in 1909, "Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants, so long as it is black."

Starting in the 1960s and 1970s, customers realized that they did not want to be "sold to." They wanted to be listened to as individuals (or as groups known as market segments), and they wanted their wants and needs to be met. Marketers had to compete with other companies and convince the potential consumer that their company's goods or services were worth the customer's consideration. A true marketing orientation was coming of age.

Today

Today, in 2009, Henry Ford would be proud to know that his company offers customers 60 different colors of paint for their cars. The field of marketing has become extremely important and is applicable to every individual and organizational endeavor. Globally, consumers desire to be free to choose what they want, when and where they want it, and how much they are willing to pay. Marketing helps these consumers make the best and most informed choices.

Tomorrow

In the future, it will be incumbent upon marketers to understand that life will be more complex and increasingly global. There will be more sophisticated customers, more sophisticated competitors, and fewer natural resources. As more countries' economies become increasingly sophisticated and more trading opportunities emerge, marketing will be key in reaching customers globally. As the world matures, so will marketing. In addition, marketing will increasingly lead organizations toward ethical, social, and environmental responsibility.

MARKETING GOALS

Both customers (demand) and organizations (supply) have objectives. Customers' goals are to satisfy their needs and wants. Organizations' goals are to supply a good or service that provides value or is useful to customers and to provide employment for employees and profit to shareholders. In the case of nonprofit organizations, marketing success may be measured by the public's response rather than by profitability. In each instance, marketing management must ensure that these goals are met. Idealistically, value is provided to the customer, and the organization benefits.

Marketing provides the customer with choices, and, hopefully, the superior product stands out and succeeds. However, just as important as what marketing can do is what it cannot do. It cannot overcome an inferior product or offset a noncompetitive marketing situation. If competitors provide important benefits that are not matched by the inferior product, no amount of promotion will be able to maintain sales for the inferior product for long. If a product is overpriced versus the competition, consumers will eventually notice and switch brands. If consumers cannot find a product in stores, then the product cannot be purchased. If consumers are not aware of a product or its benefits, special promotional offers will not motivate purchases. And, if a product does not live up to its claims, promotion can actually accelerate the decline of a brand because it will make customers notice the deficiencies faster.

PROVIDING VALUE TO THE CUSTOMER

Customers feel they must receive some value or utility from a good or service that satisfies their needs or demand objectives, and thus have a reason to make the purchase or act in accord with the marketer's persuasive suggestions. In order to be successful, marketers must understand customer values. Customer value or utility has four aspects:

• Form is what the customer needs or wants, as either a good or a service.

• Place is the availability of this good or service where the customer needs it.

• Time is the availability of this good or service when the customer needs it.

• Ownership is the...