Marketing definitions

Marketing

Definitions Review and analysis

A review and analysis of different marketing definitions.

2010

By Mohamed Khalifa Ibrahim

ESLSCA - MBA - Marketing Management Assignment # 1

IM05 - 7/28/2010

Marketing Definitions

Marketing Definitions Review and analysis

Introduction

efinitions applied to academic

disciplines have important practical

and symbolic implications. For

future and current practitioners, a

definition indicates certain training,

qualifications, and competencies.

A definition also serves to promote the

legitimacy of a scholarly community in the

eyes of other academics. At the societal

level, formal definitions may subtly

influence longer-term trends in commerce,

public perception, and policy making. (1)

A number of attempts have been made to

categorize definitions of “marketing”

Crosier (1988) for example reviewed over

than 50 definitions, placing them in to three

broad categories, which are:

a) Definitions that conceived of marketing

as a process connecting the producer with

its market via a marketing channel.

b) Definitions that viewed marketing as a

concept or philosophy of business.

c) Definitions that viewed marketing as an

orientation present to some degree in both

consumer and producer the phenomenon

which makes the process and the concept

possible.(2)

Marketing could be defined as an

academic discipline with recognizable

body of theory in relation to the issues study

and processes.(2)

Each part of the marketing definition defines

what marketing is and how it is practiced. To

explain the marketing definitions, we need to

examine the following important terms:

needs, wants and demands; products and

services; value, satisfaction and quality;

exchange, transactions and relationships;

and finally markets as shown in figure 1. (3)

Figure 1: shows that these core marketing concepts

are linked, with each concept building on the one

before it. †

We can distinguish between a social and a

managerial definition of marketing, the

social definition shows the role marketing

plays in society, defined as “It is a societal

process by which individuals and groups

obtain what they need and want through

creating, offering and freely exchanging

products and services of value with others”.

For managerial definition, marketing have

been mainly described as “the art of selling

products”. (4)

In this essay, I review & analyze some

marketing & marketing management

definitions based on the 4 Ps, segmentation,

targeting and positioning (STP) presented in

a chronological manner, in addition to

D

† Adapted from P. Kotler, et al; Principles of Marketing; 4th European edition 2005.


providing a new definition of marketing

management.

Definitions and Review

The marketing definition has been

developed over time, nowadays

marketing is based around providing

continual benefits to the customer, these

benefits will be provided and a

transactional exchange will take place.

There are many definitions of marketing.

The better definitions are focused upon

customer orientation and satisfaction of

customer needs.

Fred E. Clark – 1925* defined marketing as:

“those efforts which effects transfer in the

ownership of goods.”

This definition illustrates the concept of

marketing at that time, not involving

customers needs, value or satisfaction, in

addition the term goods and not

mentioning services, illustrates the concept

of this era “production concept”, the

phrase “transfer the ownership” focuses on

distribution excluding the rest of the 4 Ps

and the segmentation, targeting or

positioning.

AMA** – 1948 defined marketing as

“Marketing is the performance of business

activities that direct the flow of goods and services

from producers to consumers or user”

This definition focuses on the distribution

part of marketing and excluded the rest of

the four P’s, here also there is no

mentioning of the segmentation, neither

targeting nor positioning, reflecting the era

of selling concept, but in this definition the

term consumer appeared for the first time.

Levitt – 1960* defined marketing as “Selling

is preoccupied with the seller’s need to convert his

product into cash; marketing with the idea of

satisfying the needs of the consumer by means of

the product and the whole cluster of things

associated with creating, delivering and finally

consuming it”

This definition shows the evolution in this era

where the marketing concept starts, as it

talks about satisfying consumer needs

instead of the producer needs,

segmentation, targeting and positioning

presented by the word “creating”, also

product, price and place were presented

by the word “delivering”.

Rodger – 1971* defined marketing as

“Marketing is the primary management function

which organizes and directs the aggregate of

business activities involved in converting customer

purchase power for a specific product or service

into effective demand for specific product or

service and in moving the product or service to

final consumer or user so as to achieve company

set profit or other objectives”

This definition illustrates the management

part of the definition as shown in words

“management, organizing, and directs”, but the

planning and controlling part of

management are missing here, needs and

demands of customers are presented in this

definition but from the organization

prospective, the segmentation, targeting

and positioning are mentioned in a general

way under the word “aggregate of business

Definitions are like belts. The shorter they are, the more elastic they need to be.

—Stephen Toulmin (1961, p. 18)

* The Blackwell encyclopedic dictionary of marketing; Volume 4 September 1997.

** AMA = American Marketing Association


activities”, the McCarthy's 4 Ps not

presented except for the distribution part.

R. Bartles – 1970’s* defined marketing as

“Marketing is the process whereby society, to

supply its consumption needs, evolves distributive

systems composed of participants, who, interacting

under constraints - technical (economic) and

ethical (social) - create the transactions or flows

which resolve market separations and result in

exchange and consumption.”

This definition reckons the economic and

social prospective of marketing. The part of

needs is presented as a whole in “society, to

supply its consumption needs” assuming that

needs cannot vary from group of people to

another, resulting in excluding the

segmentation part and as a sequent

targeting and positioning. Transaction and

exchange are presented in a different way

that they should be, excluding the 4 P’s, in

my opinion this is the worst and most

difficult to understand definition of

marketing I’ve seen till now.

Kotler – 1980 **defined marketing as

“Marketing is the human activity directed at

satisfying human needs and wants through an

exchange process”

In this definition Kotler generalized

marketing from management or

organizational activity to cover all man

kind, satisfaction of needs and want is the

core focus of this definition, the

segmentation, targeting and positioning in

addition of the McCarthy's 4’Ps are

generalized under the word “human activity”,

this definition is short easy to understand

but too general.

AMA – 1985 defined marketing as

”Marketing is the process of planning and

executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and

distribution of ideas, goods and services to create

exchanges that satisfy individual and

organizational objectives”.

In this definition, we can see the

management part of marketing present in

the words “planning and executing”, but the

controlling, leading and organizing parts of

management are missing from this

definition, McCarthy's Four Ps are

presented in a smooth sequence, the

concept of satisfaction customers &

organizational needs is introduced here for

the first time together (Win-Win concept),

the exchange process is also presented.

Dennis Adcock –1993 **defined marketing

as “The right product, in the right place, at the

right time, at the right price”

In this definition Adcock focused only on

McCarthy's Four Ps in general but when

digging deep inside it is also considering

segmentation, targeting and positioning in

addition to satisfaction of needs in the

phrase “right product & right time”, also

creating demand through adding the word

“the right price”, there is no mentioning to

the promotion part from the 4 Ps. Here the

management part of the definition is also

absent.

Kotler et al – 1994 **defined marketing as

"a social and managerial process by which

individuals and groups obtain what they need and

want through creating and exchanging products

and value with others”

This definition included both social and

managerial aspects of marketing in

addition to the core concepts of: Needs,

* The Blackwell encyclopedic dictionary of marketing; Volume 4 September 1997.

** Definitions adapted from www.marketingteacher.com


wants and demands with product, value

and satisfaction, plus exchange and

transaction, and finally market and

marketing, within this exchange and

transaction, customers will only exchange

what they value, although the 4P’s and the

STP are covered by the word “process”, but

it still needs to be more clear.

Roger Palmer – 2000* defined marketing as

“Marketing is essentially about marshalling the

resources of an organization so that they meet the

changing needs of the customer on whom the

organization depends”

In this definition Palmer stated that the

needs of customers are changing, focusing

on the satisfaction of these needs but he

omitted the 4 Ps and the STP, the

management component of the definition

is also absent.

Kotler – 2002** defined marketing as

“Marketing management as the art and science of

applying core marketing concepts to choose target

markets and get, keep, and grow customers

through creating, delivering, and communicating

superior customer value.”

Here in this definition, the term “art and

science” is too general, STP is presented

clearly, while the idea of CRM is presented

for the first time by the term “get, keep, and

grow customers” alarming marketers that

marketing is a continuous process not a

single transaction, also the 4 Ps are

presented under the words “delivering, and

communicating”.


“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.”

Here in this definition STP is presented

clearly under the term “creating”, while the

idea of CRM is presented clearly by the

name, also the 4 Ps are presented under

the words “delivering, and communicating”.

The management part of the definition is

presented and not only focused on the

marketing department but also it includes

the whole organization but it excluded how

to? As this definition is missing the

(planning, organizing, leading and

controlling) parts of the management

concept. The phrase “set of processes” is

good in that it covers the idea that

marketing is not a single event but rather a

combination of many activities. The

“stakeholder” approach versus the previous

focus on individuals and organizations is

tricky because it enables the definition to

incorporate a broad number of people or

firms that interact with marketers or their

offerings.


“Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and

processes for creating, communicating, delivering,

and exchanging offerings that have value for

customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”

In this definition the marketing is defined as

an activity, where it surpasses the

organizational frame, including the role

marketing plays within society at large, or

as a broader activity than the previous one

did, in addition to the phrase “set of

institutions, and processes” , where it includes

the managerial part of the definition.

This new the term “offering” refers that

marketing is not just a commercial activity

* Definitions adapted from www.marketingteacher.com

** Kotler & Keller; Marketing management


used for products or services, it is also used

by governments or NGOs to raise

awareness or calling for a cause where

they are not necessarily selling anything.

The STP and the 4Ps are presented under

the term “creating, communicating and

delivering”, finally as the previous two

definitions discussed here satisfaction of

customers needs is not presented at all

neither mentioning that these needs are

dynamic and changing constantly.

And here are some common definitions

that are focused on just one specific area:

Profitability:

Barwell*defined marketing as

“This customer focused philosophy is known as the

'marketing concept'. The marketing concept is a

philosophy, not a system of marketing or an

organizational structure. It is founded on the belief

that profitable sales and satisfactory returns on

investment can only be achieved by identifying,

anticipating and satisfying customer needs and

desires.”

CIM** defined marketing as “Marketing is the

management process that identifies, anticipates

and satisfies customer requirements profitably”

In this definition (as with Barwell's definition)

it addresses not only identifying customer

needs, but also satisfying them and

anticipating them in the future. Also both

definitions has an emphasis on profitability,

ignoring that in the 21st century there are a

lot of NGOs and governments that uses

marketing not aiming to profit from it. The 4

Ps and the STP are all not represented in this

definition.

Customer at the center of business:

P. Drucker* defined marketing as

“Marketing is not only much broader than selling,

it is not a specialized activity at all It encompasses

the entire business. It is the whole business seen

from the point of view of the final result, that is,

from the customer's point of view. Concern and

responsibility for marketing must therefore

permeate all areas of the enterprise.”

In this definition Peter Drucker focuses

mainly on the customer as the center of

business, it is too general not covering the

STP or the 4Ps, or the managerial

component of the definition.

Competitors surpassing:

Jobber* defined marketing as

“The achievement of corporate goals through

meeting and exceeding customer needs better than

the competition.”

What is interesting in this definition is that

Jobber is the only one addressed the issue

of competitors while defining marketing.

The 4 Ps and the STP also are not

represented in this definition.

My definition

“Marketing is a social and managerial set of

institutions, and processes for creating,

communicating, delivering, and exchanging

offerings that have value for customers, leading to

have the right product, in the right place, at the

right time, at the right price, from the customers

point of view, through identifying, anticipating,

satisfying and exceeding customers’ dynamic

needs and wants continuously better than the

competition.”

* Definitions adapted from www.marketingteacher.com

** CIM = Chartered Institute of marketing.


In my opinion a successful marketer is the

one who gain more customers more than

competitors, through exceeding

customers’ satisfaction, and anticipating

future changing needs of those customers.

In this definition STP is presented clearly

under the term “creating”, while the 4 Ps are

presented under the words “delivering, and

communicating” , in addition to the phrase

“set of institutions, and processes”, where it

includes the managerial part of the

definition. The term “offering” refers that

marketing is not just a commercial activity

used for products or services; it is also used

by governments or NGOs, the term

”continuously” refers to the building up of

CRM.

References

1- George M. Zinkhan & Brian C. Williams; The New American Marketing Association Definition of Marketing: An Alternative Assessment; Journal of Public Policy & Marketing; Vol. 26 (2) Fall 2007, 284–288.

2- Barbra R. Lewis & Dale littler; The Blackwell encyclopedic dictionary of marketing; Volume 4 September 1997.

3- P. Kotler, V. Wong, J. Saunders & G. Armstrong; Principles of Marketing; 4

th European edition

2005. 4- P. Kotler & K.L. Keller; Marketing management:

12th edition 2007

Marketing definitions

Business

Transcript of Marketing definitions