Walk into a Sudbury bakery on a cold Saturday morning and almost everything you notice was a marketing decision: which breads are on the shelf, how much they cost, the chalkboard sign out front, the loyalty card by the till, even the fact that the shop opens at 7 a.m. because that is when commuters want coffee. Most people think marketing just means advertising, but advertising is only the part you can see. Marketing is the whole job of figuring out what customers need and want, creating something that satisfies them, and making sure the exchange is worth it for both the customer and the business.
The Marketing Concept
Marketing is the process of planning and carrying out the development, pricing, promotion, and distribution of goods, services, events, and ideas to create exchanges that satisfy customers and meet the organization's goals. Behind that definition sits a way of thinking called the marketing concept: an organization should first find out what customers need and want, and then satisfy those needs better than its competitors do, while still reaching its own goals, such as earning a profit. The key word is first. A marketing-oriented business starts with the customer and works backward to the product — not the other way around.
- Basic requirements a person must have to survive or function
- Examples: food, water, shelter, warmth, safety, belonging
- Exist on their own — marketers do not create them
- Hunger is a need
- A specific way of satisfying a need
- Shaped by culture, personality, income, and experience
- Strongly influenced by marketing
- A warm butter croissant from the Sudbury bakery is a want
Marketing only works when an exchange happens. An exchange is a trade in which two parties each give up something of value to get something they value more. For an exchange to take place there must be at least two parties, each must have something the other values, each must be able to communicate and deliver, and each must be free to accept or reject the offer. What makes a customer say yes is value: the customer's judgment of the benefits they receive compared with everything they give up — not only the price, but also time, effort, and risk. A $9 lunch delivered to your desk in ten minutes can be better value than a $6 lunch that costs you a 30-minute trip.
The Marketing Process
- Understand the marketplace and customer needs and wants — research who the customers are and what problems they want solved.
- Design a customer-driven marketing strategy — decide whom to serve (the target market) and how to stand out from competitors (positioning).
- Build an integrated marketing program — the marketing mix, or 4 Ps: product, price, place (distribution), and promotion, all working together.
- Build profitable customer relationships — deliver value and satisfaction so customers come back and tell others.
- Capture value in return — sales, profit, loyalty, and word of mouth, which give the business new information to start the cycle again.
How Marketing Evolved
| Era | Roughly when | Main belief | What businesses focused on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Production era | Before the 1920s | If we can make it, it will sell. | Making goods efficiently and cheaply; demand was greater than supply |
| Sales era | 1920s to 1950s | Push hard to sell what we make. | Aggressive selling and advertising, because supply had caught up with demand |
| Marketing era | 1950s onward | Find out what customers want, then make it. | Researching customer needs before designing products |
| Relationship era | 1990s onward | Keep customers for life. | Loyalty programs, customer service, and long-term customer value |
| Digital and social era | 2000s onward | Talk with customers, not at them. | Online data, social media, two-way conversations, and personalized offers |
This course looks at marketing for three kinds of offerings. Goods are tangible products you can touch and own, like a hockey stick. Services are intangible activities performed for you, like a haircut or a phone plan. Events are experiences that happen at a specific time and place, like a music festival or a charity run. All three follow the same marketing concept: understand the customer, then build the product, price, place, and promotion around what that customer values.