Finance and Business

The Marketing Concept

Various authorities have defined the marketing concept in different ways, but they all come down to the fact that a business, if it is to grow profitably, must be oriented towards fulfilling the needs and wants of its potential customers more efficiency than do its competitors. Several statements illustrate the basic idea:

If we want to know what a business is we have to start with its purpose. And its purpose must lie outside of the business itself. In fact, it must lie in society, since a business enterprise is an organ of society. There is only one valid definition of business purpose: to create customer.

The new image of marketing implies that management must start with costumer`s needs and desires, in so far as they can be ascertained in advance of production, and follow through to activities which aid the consumer in getting utility from products which he has purchased.

Accordingly, the consumer and his wants become the fulcrum around which a business moves. Concern and responsibility for marketing concept, although centered in one department for operational purposes, must permeate all areas of the business enterprise.

One thing we know for sure about society and consumers is that they are constantly changing in ways that are extremely important to every business. The trick is to anticipate and act on these changes before the competition does, and to do it at the right time and in the right way.