Marketing 

refers to activities a company undertakes to promote the buying or

selling of a product or service. [1] In 2017, The New York Times described it as
"the art of telling stories so enthralling that people lose track of their wallets.[2]

It is one of the primary components of business management and commerce.

[3] Marketers can direct their product to other businesses (B2B marketing) or
directly to consumers (B2C marketing).[4] Regardless of who is being marketed to,
several factors apply, including the perspective the marketers will use. Known as
market orientations, they determine how marketers will approach the planning
stage of marketing.[5]

The marketing mix, which outlines the specifics of the product and how it will be
sold,[6][7] is affected by the environment surrounding the product,[8] the results
of marketing research and market research,[9][10] and the characteristics of the
product's target market.[11] Once these factors are determined, marketers must
then decide what methods will be used to promote the product,[4] including use
of coupons and other price inducements.[12]

The term marketing, what is commonly known as attracting customers,

incorporates knowledge gained by studying
the management of exchange relationships[13][14] and is the business process of
identifying, anticipating and satisfying customers' needs and wants.

Marketing is defined by the American Marketing Association as "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".[15] The term developed from the original meaning which referred
literally to going to market with goods for sale. From a sales process
engineering perspective, marketing is "a set of processes that are interconnected
and interdependent with other functions of a business aimed at achieving
customer interest and satisfaction".[16]

Philip Kotler defined marketing as "Satisfying needs and wants through an

exchange process".[17] and a decade later defines it as "a social and managerial
process by which individuals and groups obtain what they want and need through
creating, offering and exchanging products of value with others".[17]

The Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing as "the management

process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer
requirements profitably".[18] A similar concept is the value-based
marketing which states the role of marketing to contribute to
increasing shareholder value.[19] In this context, marketing can be defined as
"the management process that seeks to maximise returns to shareholders by
developing relationships with valued customers and creating a competitive
advantage".[19]

In the past, marketing practice tended to be seen as a creative industry, which

included advertising, distribution and selling. However, because the academic
study of marketing makes extensive use of social
sciences, psychology, sociology, mathematics, economics, anthropology and neur
oscience, the profession is now widely recognized as a science,[20] allowing
numerous universities to offer Master-of-Science (MSc) programs.[21]

The process of marketing is that of bringing a product to market, which includes

these steps: broad market research; market targeting and market segmentation;
determining distribution, pricing and promotion strategies; developing a
communications strategy; budgeting; and strategizing regarding long-term market
development goals.[22] Many parts of the marketing process (e.g. product
design, art director, brand management, advertising, inbound
marketing, copywriting etc.) involve use of the creative arts.[citation needed][23]