Marketing

Marketing is the craft of linking the producers of a product or service with customers, both existing and potential. It is an inevitable and necessary consequence of capitalism. Marketing methods are informed by many of the social sciences, particularly psychology, sociology, and economics. Marketing research underpins these activities. Through advertising, it is also related to many of the creative arts.

What marketing involves

Contrary to the popular conception, marketing is not just about promotion -- it can be divided into four sections, often called the "four Ps". They are:

The Product management aspect of marketing relates to the specifications of the actual good or service, and how it relates to the end-user's needs and wants.
Pricing refers to the process of setting a price for a product.
Promotion, such as advertising, refers to the methods of promoting the product, brand, or company.
Place or distribution refers to how the product gets to the customer; for example, point of sale placement or retailing.

These four elements are often referred to as the marketing mix. A marketer will use these variables to craft a marketing plan. For a marketing plan to be successful, the mix of the four "p's" must reflect the wants and desires of the consumers in the target market. Trying to convince a market segment to buy something they don't want is extremely expensive and seldom successful. Marketers depend on marketing research to determine what consumers want and what they are willing to pay for. Marketers hope that this process will give them a sustainable competitive advantage. Marketing management is the practical application of this process.

The Evolution of Marketing

Marketing as we know it today began in the 1970's with the birth of the "marketing orientation". During the first stage of capitalism business had a production orientation. Business was concerned with production, manufacturing, and efficiency issues. By the mid 1950's a second stage emerged, the sales orientation stage. Business's prime concern was to sell what it produced. By the early 1970's a third stage, the marketing orientation stage emerged as businesses came to realize that consumer needs and wants drove the whole process. Marketing research became important. Businesses realized it was futile putting a lot of production and sales effort into products that people did not want. Some commentators claim that we are now on the verge of a fourth stage, one of a personal marketing orientation. They believe that the technology is available today to market to people on an individual basis (see personalized marketing, permission marketing, and mass customization). They feel it is no longer necessary to think in broad aggregated terms like market segments or target markets.

Marketing has become an academic discipline in itself, with tertiary degrees in the field now routinely awarded. Masters and Doctrinal degrees can be obtained in numerous subcategories of marketing including: Marketing Research, Consumer Behaviour, International Marketing, Industrial Marketing (also called b-to-b marketing), Consumer Marketing (also called b-to-c marketing), Product Management, and e-Marketing.

Criticism of marketing

Marketing has many legitimate uses including discovering what products people want, informing people about valuable products and services, and generating revenue for charitable organizations. On the other hand however, its techniques have often been used for morally dubious purposes by businesses, governments, and criminals.

Many people feel that marketing, like any other technology, is essentially amoral : it can be used for good or evil, but the technique itself is not ameniable to ethical analysis. But there are many critics of modern marketing and management techniques that see a systemic social evil inherent in the discipline (see No Logo or Marxism). Marketing is accused of creating ruthless exploitation of both consumers and workers. It is claimed that it turns people into commodities, objects whose purpose is to consume (see consumer).