Marketing Notes

Gabriella Azzopardi Lautier

Mob No. 79279000

CHAPTER 1

MARKETING – DEFINITION AND

PROCESS
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MARKETING DEFINITION

What is marketing?
Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating,
delivering and exchanging offering that have value for customers, clients, partners and
society (American Marketing Association, last approved July 2013)
Marketing is a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what
they need and want through creating, offering and exchanging products of value with other
[Kotler, Philip, 2013)

Marketing is the management process for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer
requirements profitably. (The official academic definition from The Chartered Institute of
Marketing (CIM))

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MARKETING PROCESS DEFINITON

Principles of Marketing, 6th Edition, Page 5

 Marketing Notes
Gabriella Azzopardi Lautier
Mob No. 79279000

In order to be able to study customer needs, a company must know itself inside out. It must
have a proper mission statement, a value proposition and must also conduct a SWOT
analysis.
Mission Statement

What business are you in? The best-run companies have mission statements. They are used to
establish a direction. A mission statement is a concise statement of the company's purpose
and the reason for existence. It defines what business the company is in and gives direction
and vision to the business. The mission statement should also be based on a distinctive
competence - the distinctive competence of McDonald's is providing fast service to large
groups of customers.
“Kellogg is a Global Company Committed to Building Long-Term Growth in Volume and
Profit and to Enhancing its Worldwide Leadership Position by Providing Nutritious Food
Products of Superior Value”

Value proposition
In the text, Principles of Marketing (15th Edition), value proposition is defined by Philip
Kotler and Gary Armstrong (2012), as “the set of benefits or values [that a brand] promises to
deliver to consumers to satisfy their needs”

SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is a basic, straightforward model that provides direction and serves as a basis
for the development of marketing plans. It accomplishes this by assessing an organization’s
strengths (what an organization can do) and weaknesses (what an organization cannot do) in
addition to opportunities (potential favourable conditions for an organization) and threats
(potential unfavourable conditions for an organization). SWOT analysis determines if the
information indicates something that will assist the firm in accomplishing its objectives (a
strength or opportunity), or if it indicates an obstacle that must be overcome or minimized to
achieve desired results (weakness or threat) (Marketing Strategy, 1998).

It is not simply enough to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of a
company. In applying the SWOT analysis, it is necessary to work towards minimising
weaknesses. It is imperative to note that management has full control over strengths and
weaknesses. The job of a good marketer is to offset weaknesses and make the strengths even
stronger. The advantage in doing so is that once the company is internally strong it will be
able to get hold of opportunities and fight threats.

The Role of a Marketing Manager

 monitoring and analysing market trends
 studying competitors' products and services
 exploring ways of improving existing products and services, and increasing profitability
 Marketing Notes
Gabriella Azzopardi Lautier
Mob No. 79279000

 identifying target markets and developing strategies to communicate with them

 preparing and managing marketing plans and budgets
 managing the production of promotional material
 liaising with other internal departments such as sales and distribution
 producing reports to monitor results
 presenting findings and suggestions to company directors or other senior managers
 travelling to trade shows, conferences and sales meetings
 supporting and managing a marketing team.

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CUSTOMERS NEEDS, WANTS AND DEMANDS
Main Source: www.marketing91.com

Needs, wants and demands are a part of basic marketing principles. Though they are 3 simple
words, they hold a very complex meaning behind them along with a
huge differentiation factor. In fact, a product can be differentiated on the basis of whether it
satisfies a customers’ need, want or demand.

Needs -Human needs are the basic requirements and include food clothing and shelter.
Without these humans cannot survive. An extended part of needs today has become education
and healthcare. Generally, the products which fall under the needs category of products do
not require a push. Instead the customer buys it themselves. But in todays’ tough and
competitive world, so many brands have come up with the same offering satisfying the needs
of the customer that nowadays even the “needs category product” has to be pushed in the
customers’ mind.

Wants – Wants are a step ahead of needs and are largely dependent on the needs of humans
themselves. Wants are not mandatory part of life.

Demands – A step ahead of wants is demands. When an individual want something which is
premium, but he also has the ability to buy it, then these wants are converted to demands. The
basic difference between wants and demands is desire. A customer may desire something but
he may not be able to fulfil his desire.
 Marketing Notes
Gabriella Azzopardi Lautier
Mob No. 79279000

www.inevitablesteps.com
1.4 MATSEC SYLLABUS OUTCOME 4
MARKET OFFERINGS – GOODS, SERVICES, EXPERIENCE
Goods, ideas, services, events, experiences, persons, places, properties, organisations and
information are all things that are offered to the marketplace. The most important thing that
companies need to keep in mind is that they cannot simply focus on the product they are
offering. Although the product offering is an important factor in marketing, companies need
to focus also on the benefit and experience that such a product will give to the customer.
Missing to recognize such an important point is known as MARKETING MYOPIA.
Philip Kotler recognizes that Market Offerings are “some combination of products, services,
information, or experiences offered to a market to satisfy a need or want”

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EXCHANGES AND RELATIONSHIPS
An exchange is something that is offered with the intention of getting something in return.
The most common type of exchange is buying a pen and giving money in return. However,
 Marketing Notes
Gabriella Azzopardi Lautier
Mob No. 79279000

Marketing is much more than that!! The idea is not simply to trade things. Marketers want
to exchange relationships. Therefore, back to the pen example – a good marketer in this
instance wouldn’t simply sell the pen and that is it. The marketer will try and build a
relationship with the customer. In return the customer trusts the company and will buy again.

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MARKETS
A market is a place where buyers and sellers meet. It is a place where goods are offered for
sale and were transfer of ownership takes place. A market for a marketer means also that it is
the place where he can find his customers and also potential customers. To have a healthy
position in this market, the marketer needs to work very hard. The marketer needs to create
the right products to the right people, communicate with these people, deliver to them and
provide them with the right prices.

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MARKETING MIX, A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
1. PRODUCT
2. PRICE
3. PLACE
4. PROMOTION
5. PEOPLE
6. PROCESS
7. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE

People

An essential ingredient to any service provision is the use of appropriate staff and people.
One can say that human resources are the lifeblood of any organisation. Recruiting the right
staff and training them appropriately in the delivery of their service is essential if the
organisation wants to obtain a form of competitive advantage. Consumers make judgments
and deliver perceptions of the service based on the employees with whom they interact. Staff
should have the appropriate interpersonal skills, attitude and service knowledge to provide
the service that consumers are paying for.

Process

Process refers to the systems used to assist the organisation in delivering the service.

Example: Banks that send out Credit Cards automatically when their customers’ credit card
expires require an efficient process to identify expiry dates and renewal. An efficient service
that replaces old credit cards may foster consumer loyalty and confidence in the company.
 Marketing Notes
Gabriella Azzopardi Lautier
Mob No. 79279000

Physical Evidence

Physical Evidence is the element which allows the consumer again to make judgments on the
organisation. Consumers will make perceptions based on their sight of the service provision
which will have an impact on the organisations perceptual plan of the service. Physical
evidence has been defined as the environment in which the service is delivered, when the
firm and customer interact and any tangible components that facilitates performance of the
service (Zeithaml and Bitner, 2003). Physical environment includes the appearance of
physical structure landscaping, vehicles, interior furnishing, equipment, uniforms, signs,
printed materials and other visible cues that provide evidence of service quality. Physical
evidence is thus, an element of services marketing mix which enables the consumer to
evaluate a firm.