MARKETING MANAGEMENT: INTRODUCTION

Marketing Management: Introduction

               Marketing is a very creative, dynamic, challenging and exciting subject. Its meaning has been changed from time to time and new dimensions have been included in it. These dimensions are: goods, service, experience, events, persons, places, properties, organisations, information and ideas. Simply, it is meant that from exchange of goods and service to sale of ideas are included in marketing.

                To understand marketing in a better way it will be appropriate here to discuss some important definitions of marketing. American Marketing Association define marketing as “The performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods and service from producer to consumer or user.” This definition is distribution oriented and focuses on a set of activities necessary to direct and facilities the flow of goods and services from producer to consumer in the process of distribution. It does not clarify the business activities to be included in marketing. This committee has redefined marketing in the following words: ‘Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotions and distributions of ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organisational goals.

            H. L. Hansen opines that “Marketing is the process of discovering, and translating consumer needs and wants into product and service specification, creating demands for those products and services and then in turn expanding this demand” This definition explains that marketing is not only a distribution process but more who discover and satisfy consumer needs and wants.

Philip Kotler defines marketing as the set of humans activities directed at facilitating and consummating exchanges. The essence of marketing is exchanges of products and the transaction is to satisfy human needs and wants. All business activities helping and promoting the exchange function are included in marketing. He feels that the most important part of marketing is not selling but delivering a higher standard of living. In this context Kotler has given social definitions of marketing in the following words: “Marketing is a societal process by which individual and groups what they need and want through creating, offering, and freely exchanging products and services of value with others.