Defining Marketing

Defining Marketing

According the Wikipedia free encyclopedia (2007), the AMA defines marketing to read:

ÐŽ§Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.ЎЁ Marketing is analysis, and a sound marketing strategy is based on the analysis of customers. Having a solid understanding of customersÐŽ¦ means having a solid understanding about how customers behave their motivations, their perceptions, and preferences. It means segmenting the market correctly. Marketing is also about understanding competition thinking about the competitorsÐŽ¦ reactions, their objectives, and capabilities, in addition to understanding competitive forces in an industry. (What is Marketing?, 2002)

There are four elements of marketing, which E. Jerome McCarthy divided. The elements are referred to as the marketing mix and or the Four Ps. The four Ps are:

„X Product: The product management and product marketing aspects of marketing deal with the specifications of the actual good or service, and how it relates to the userÐŽ¦s needs and wants.

„X Pricing: This refers to the process of setting a price for a product, including discounts. The price does not have to be monetary it can be what is exchanged for the product or service.

„X Promotion: this includes advertising, sales promotion, publicity, and personal selling, and refers to the various methods of promoting the product, brand, or company.

„X Place (distribution): This refers to the channel by which a product or service is sold, which region or industry. (Wikipedia, 2007)

Marketing is an investment that pays for itself if it is done wisely and it allows a business to grow. When proper