Defining marketing and its importance for organizational success

¶ … Marketing

Defining Marketing

Having progressed from the foundational four elements of product, price, promotion and place or distribution, marketing today is more multifaceted in its dependence on other departments, functions and stakeholders to succeed. These dependencies have been made more complex by the immediate, instantly visible aspects of every marketing campaign in social media (Bernoff, Li, 2008). No longer can a marketing strategy be executed in a vacuum; today every aspects of a campaign is immediately visible to the public, often immediately communicated through social media on a global scale. The challenge for marketers is to move beyond the four foundational elements of what marketing had been in the 20th century into what it has become today. The intent of this analysis is to compare two definitions of marketing, in addition to a personal definition as well. The importance of marketing to organizational success is also discussed, in addition to three examples from the business world being used to support the explanation provided.

Defining Marketing In The 21st Century

The multifaceted nature of marketing and the high level of dependency it has as a function in any organization is becoming more evident in the definitions written in the last twenty five years. According to Dr. Christian Gronroos, noted theorist and researcher in the areas of customer satisfaction research, marketing is the core set of strategies in any business that establishes, develops, maintains and commercializes long-term customer relationships so the goals and needs of each party are met (Gronroos, 1989). His view of marketing is one of a mutual exchange of commitments to deliver value, a reciprocity of giving and taking time and results through met commitments (Gronroos, 1989). This definition has a decidedly economic perspective to it, with a lack of focus on the actual customer experience. It also lacks the concept of trust, and while it implies this very critical aspect of customer relationships is created, Dr. Gronroos doesn't specifically define trust as a key factor for customer relationships to succeed.

The second definition of marketing centers on the longevity of customer relationships and the need for creating a base of knowledge regarding their needs, preferences and wants. Dr. Frederick Webster has defined marketing as the long-term creation of value for customers, based on having exceptional insight and intelligence into their needs, preferences and wants (Webster, 1994). This definition includes the foundational elements of what an effective Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system can accomplish when designed effectively.

Based on insights gained from this course and also from continually studying this area of business, another marketing definition has also been created. My definition is as follows: Marketing exists to unify an entire organization together with the goal of attracting, selling and serving customers at or beyond their expectations, delivering excellent customer experiences in the process. This often involves tight orchestration of all areas of a business, as each department and function must contribute to the customer experience for it to be consistently high quality. This definition is meant to galvanize an entire organization together around a common goal or objective of being customer-centric, leading to the ability to be more agile and responsive to customer requirements. The future of marketing is increasingly being defined by the customer experience first and the product often secondary or even last (Lusch, 2007).

Importance Of Marketing To Organizational Success

Marketing is the foundation of any successful business in that it solidifies its vision, mission and values as being customer-driven first, not product, technology or worse, entirely internally driven. For meaning to permeate any business there must be a strong focus on those being served; the converse of this is when a business becomes myopic and inward-centered it fails to deliver value to anyone. Marketing galvanizes a company to deliver value by always striving to serve the customer more efficiently and at a level that will continually exceed their expectations as well. The world's most successful businesses are so customer-centric they will regularly completely re-align internal processes to make them more efficient from a customers' standpoint first.

Three Examples of Excellent Marketing In Business