Marketing management is the organizational discipline which focuses on the practical application

of marketing orientation, techniques and methods inside enterprises and organizations and on the
management of a firm's marketing resources and activities.
What is Marketing Concept?
Marketing concept is a set of strategies that the firms adopt where they analyse the needs of their
customers and implement strategies to fulfil those needs which will result in an increase in sales,
profit maximisation and also beat the existing competition.

The marketing concept has been widely used by companies all over the world in the present age, but
the situation was not the same earlier. As per this concept, it is said that for an organisation to
satisfy the objectives of the organisation, the needs and wants of the customer should be satisfied.
This theory was first mentioned in Adam Smith’s book “The Wealth of Nations” in 1776 but came
into widespread use only 200 years later.

Therefore, marketing can be said as a process of acquiring customers and maintaining relations with
them and at the same time matching needs and wants with the services or product offered by the
organisation, which ensures that the organisation will become profitable.

What are Needs, Wants and Demand

Marketing concept focuses on the needs, wants and demands of customers. Let us understand them
in brief.
1. Needs:
Needs are basic requirements that enable a healthy and active life. If needs are not fulfilled, it will
result in the dysfunction of the system, which can result in disability or death. It can be objective as
well as physical as in need of food, water and shelter.
2. Wants:
Wants are something that is desired by the person. These are not required for day to day
functioning. Wants are not necessary for basic survival and are mostly moulded by cultural
influence.
3. Demands:
When the needs and wants are supported by an ability to pay, it becomes a demand
Types of Marketing Concept
Five types of marketing concepts are as follows:
1. Production Concept
2. Product Concept
3. Selling concept
4. Marketing concept
5. Societal marketing concept
The Production Concept. This concept is the oldest of the concepts in business. It holds that
consumers will prefer products that are widely available and inexpensive. Managers focusing on
this concept concentrate on achieving high production efficiency, low costs, and mass distribution.
They assume that consumers are primarily interested in product availability and low prices. This
orientation makes sense in developing countries, where consumers are more interested in obtaining
the product than in its features.
The Product Concept. This orientation holds that consumers will favor those products that
offer the most quality, performance, or innovative features. Managers focusing on this concept
concentrate on making superior products and improving them over time. They assume that buyers
admire well-made products and can appraise quality and performance. However, these managers
are sometimes caught up in a love affair with their product and do not realize what the market
needs. Management might commit the “better-mousetrap” fallacy, believing that a better mousetrap
will lead people to beat a path to its door.
 The Selling Concept. This is another common business orientation. It holds that consumers
and businesses, if left alone, will ordinarily not buy enough of the selling company’s products. The
organization must, therefore, undertake an aggressive selling and promotion effort. This concept
assumes that consumers typically sho9w buyi8ng inertia or resistance and must be coaxed into
buying. It also assumes that the company has a whole battery of effective selling and promotional
tools to stimulate more buying. Most firms practice the selling concept when they have
overcapacity. Their aim is to sell what they make rather than make what the market wants.
The Marketing Concept. This is a business philosophy that challenges the above three
business orientations. Its central tenets crystallized in the 1950s. It holds that the key to achieving
its organizational goals (goals of the selling company) consists of the company being more effective
than competitors in creating, delivering, and communicating customer value to its selected target
customers. The marketing concept rests on four pillars: target market, customer needs, integrated
marketing and profitability.
Distinctions between the Sales Concept and the Marketing Concept:
1. The Sales Concept focuses on the needs of the seller. The Marketing Concept focuses on the
needs of the buyer.
2. The Sales Concept is preoccupied with the seller’s need to convert his/her product into cash.
The Marketing Concept is preoccupied with the idea of satisfying the needs of the customer by
means of the product as a solution to the customer’s problem (needs).
The Marketing Concept represents the major change in today’s company orientation that
provides the foundation to achieve competitive advantage. This philosophy is the foundation of
consultative selling.
The Marketing Concept has evolved into a fifth and more refined company orientation: The
Societal Marketing Concept. This concept is more theoretical and will undoubtedly influence future
forms of marketing and selling approaches.
The Societal Marketing Concept. This concept holds that the organization’s task is to
determine the needs, wants, and interests of target markets and to deliver the desired satisfactions
more effectively and efficiently than competitors (this is the original Marketing Concept).
Additionally, it holds that this all must be done in a way that preserves or enhances the consumer’s
and the society’s well-being.

The Product Development Process – Developing New Market Offerings

When it comes to marketing, the process is clear. Companies start by deciding on the market they
want to use, then they focus on the segment, and lastly, they focus on customers. From there, they
can begin developing new products. Those products can be evolutions of older ones or entirely new
offerings.

The variety of product offerings is increasing with each passing year. The main reason for that is the
fact that consumers are developing their tastes at an increasing rate. So companies have to be able to
churn out new products to meet the demand. If they fail to do so, they might start failing in the
profit department.

Unlike in the previous decades, nowadays, the competition is not the only threat to a company. The
increasing consumer needs and short product life cycles can be incredibly hazardous as well. The
constant demand for new products is leading to an incredible failure rate. Namely, 19 out of 20
products launched in the USA fail rather quickly. And in Europe, the situation is just slightly better
with 2 new products out of 20 making it.

The setup of the organisation has to support the development of new products. The companies at the
forefront of the game have to allocate resources for the needs of their research and development
teams. One of the most popular ways to do so is by allocating a percentage of sales revenue. That
way, the company’s development efficiency grows with the company.
Some companies also offer their employees to use a certain amount of time during their workdays
on a new product development strategy. But simply encouraging development might not be enough.
Companies have to organise their development processes.

Most companies tend to utilise these 8 stages of new product development process:
1. Idea Generation
The inception of every new product starts with an idea. And to generate the ideas, companies can
focus on customer demands and needs. Alternatively, they can also focus on analysing the choices
of their competitors. Understanding why the products of the competitors are selling well can
increase the odds of success for any new products that a company launches. Lastly, some companies
turn to creative minds in the upper management for ideas. One of the most famous new product
development examples would be the products developed by the late Steve Jobs of Apple. Steve Jobs
was famous for steering his company through new product developments (i.e. iPod, Macbook,
iPhone, etc.) with incredible success.
2. Idea Screening
Not every idea is suitable to become a product. For that reason, companies have to screen the ideas.
Companies can label an idea as promising and act on it, marginal and try to improve it, or simply
poor and reject it. It is also very important for companies to avoid any bias related to the source of
the idea. So even if someone like Steve Jobs pitches an idea, the company should still be very
careful with it.
3. Product Development Process
During the third stage of product development, the product idea grows into multiple concepts.
Companies will repeat the screening process to choose the best of them and pit them against each
other. Most companies will introduce their concepts to focus groups and analyse their reactions. The
products that do the best in front of the focus groups or test consumers go into development.
4. Marketing Strategy
Once a company decides on the product, they will have to spend time developing a marketing
strategy for it. Experts will evaluate the size of the market, demand for the product, and revenue
estimates. The marketing team will get a budget for their efforts and they can select distribution
channels.
5. Business Model
The development of a business model works very similarly to the development of a marketing
strategy. The experts in the company will estimate the costs and profits and manage the potential of
the product. Also, they will estimate the economic feasibility of the new product.
6. Manufacture
One of the last stages of product development is where production finally begins. The company will
make multiple prototypes and choose on which designs get to go to the next stage. Also, the
company will, once again, perform a cost analysis to see if it matches the estimates. And if the costs
go above the higher-end estimates, the company might abandon the project.
7. Branding
Once the company finally has a physical product in their hands, the marketing team can get to work.
For starters, they can develop the brand name, packaging, and the marketing message behind the
product. They will also determine the price of the product.
8. Product Launch
The last stage of new product development is the commercialisation phase. The product is launched,
and it is followed by a developed marketing strategy in order to maximise its earning potential.