Marketing Explained

What is marketing? The term itself is widely misused and misunderstood. It is often used loosely and means different things to different people.

Many people interchange marketing with advertising. To others, marketing is interpreted as door-to-door selling or 'cold canvassing'. Others think of promotions, market research, direct marketing, merchandising or any one of a multitude of other functions associated with the term 'marketing'. In fact marketing is not any one of these sales generating activities but all of them (and many more) coming together as part of a broader process that make a business function better. 'Marketing is the total process in which goods and services are sold in the marketplace' This includes all aspects of the planning, strategy development and implementation processes. It is the determination of consumers' (or businesses') needs and wants with the satisfaction of these at a profitable outcome.

'Marketing strategy is a series of integrated actions leading to sustainable competitive advantage'. John Scully

Marketing minded people have many tools at their disposal and a vast collection of options to work with when putting all the pieces of a structured marketing plan together. Quintessentially, marketing oriented businesses are customer - not production driven. It is not about what the factory can produce but what the customer wants. This is the difference between marketing and production orientation businesses.

The first law of marketing is: THE CUSTOMER IS PARAMOUNT

The customer is pivotal to the entire process.Maintaining a customer focus is the essence of marketing. It is a cultivated mindsetand a commitment to delivering value to customers and the development of a sustainable competitive advantage. This advantage may be created in many different ways. A better product, lower prices, better value, higher quality, wider availability, better service, superior packaging or a more desirable image are just a few. The creation of a competitive advantage stems from a thorough understanding of customers, competitors, technology and your own organisation's capabilities. This is the cornerstone of every successful business's corporate credo. You need to be in touch with how your customers think and what they want.

'Marketing is so basic it cannot be considered a separate function. It is the whole business seen from the point of view of its final result, that is, from the customer's point of view'
Peter Drucker

Marketing is an attitude that becomes part of the corporate culture from the CEO down. Not just in the marketing or sales functions but throughout the entire organisation. Marketing is a discipline that dictates the need to keep ahead of competitors through ongoing market research, keeping abreast of local and overseas trends and listening to the messages the sales force, the retail trade and your customers are giving you. Marketing recognises that people buy solutions to problems. Consumers don't buy products or services per se unless those products or services provide solutions - even solutions as simple as satisfying basic human needs as food, clothing and shelter. Marketing is neither an art nor a science although it has elements of both. Marketing oriented people combine tried and tested principles with creative ideas, entrepreneurship and controlled intuition. The function requires analytical skills combined with creative flair and a strategic mindset.

The Military Analogy

Marketing is merely a civilised form of warfare in which most battles are won with words, ideas and disciplined thinking'.

Albert Emery. US advertising executive

The above is an apt analogy. Marketing is concerned with strategies, tactics and creative thinking. Marketing involves gathering intelligence (market research) on the enemy (competitors), developing strategies and tactics, marshalling resources (financial and human), identifying prime targets, mounting attacks and counter attacks (marketing programs), and occupying territories (markets). In military terms there are just four broad strategiesand offensive, defensive, guerrilla and retreat. The parallels with marketing are striking. Just as a general plans strategies and tactics and marshals his forces, a marketing executive coordinates the direction and thrust for his or her business.

Military campaigns are won through having superior planning to your enemy. Equally market leadership is achieved through having a more clearly defined strategic direction than your competitor. Marketing was once like real warfare in that it used mass communications just as cannons and bombs were used. Today in this digital electronic age savvy marketers use more targeted digital communications that are the equivalent of modern warfare's smart bombs.

Why Use a Marketing Plan?

What can a marketing plan do for your business?

You would not dream of building a house, office, factory or any other structure without a building plan. Nor would a football team at the elite level go into a match without a game plan or would an army launch an offensive without a battle plan? Most sensible people would not do anything significant in life without a plan of some kind. Yet, countless small and medium size enterprises around the world run their businesses without a marketing or business plan of any kind.

Without a written cohesive marketing plan, you and your business could be spinning around in ever diminishing circles. Without one, your business is not reaching its full potential. It is not something you can do effectively 'in your head' or 'on the run'. It does not have to be a complicated process. It simply gives you the tools to build your business systematically and methodically and to allow you to concentrate on the skills in which you and your business excel. It provides you with an edge over others who are competing for the same customers. A marketing plan is a concise detailed document that lays out the steps your company will take to achieve your sales and marketing goals.

Without a marketing plan, you are merely busily processing random activity.

With one, you are taking a disciplined approach to thinking through your products and services, your customers and prospects and to developing effective strategies that achieve realistic marketing goals. A marketing plan enables you to focus on your strengths and reduces wasted time and effort. It will help you to concentrate on the most profitable outcome for the least amount of investment. It implements the adage:

'Do not fritter money or effort'.

Involving your key people in 'work shopping' the plan is a good way to gain their thinking, commitment and 'ownership' of the plan. The time spent in planning and analysis that goes into a marketing plan is every bit as important as the plan itself.

'Everyone can profit from working on your business – not just in your business.

But to do so you need to make the time to analyze what you are doing and to take an overview of the business as a whole. You should try to approach it as objectively and dispassionately as someone external to the company. Finally, keep in mind the maxim: Failing to plan is planning to fail.

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