Companies are under huge pressure to grow volumes and profits; there is an ever-growing population of average companies and an ever-diminishing population of truly great performers. The development of the marketing ideas that will lead to competitive advantage on the market is today’s rallying cry.
Effective marketing is one of the most significant and major factors in ensuring the success of an organization. According to Lancaster and Massingham (2011): «The marketing-oriented company, planning and decision making centre on customer needs having due regard to competitors and distributors. It is vital to satisfy customer needs through a co-ordinated set of activities including the actions and functions of all employees of the organization, irrespective of the area of the business in which they work» (p. 9). In this age of a globalized economy and technological advancement the consumers are spoilt with an array of choices in view of the products and services they use. Thus it is imperative for organizations to help their products and services standout through effective use of marketing techniques and be able to communicate the special features of their products/services clearly in the clutter of the competitive products/services.
The gurus of marketing Philip Kotler and Gary Armstrong in their book Principles of Marketing (2012) define it ‘as a process from a social and managerial perspective through which the organizations create value for customers and in process build strong customer relationships in order to capture value from customers in return’.
Another definition according to American Marketing Association as stated in Edward Russell’s book The Fundamentals of Marketing (2010) is «An organizational function and a set of processes creating communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders» (p. 12). The definition of the marketing according to the World Marketing Association is as follows: «Marketing is a core business philosophy that directs the precesses of identifying and fulfilling the needs of individuals and organizations through exchanges which create superior value for all parties» (Russel, 2010, p. 12).
The tool with which the marketing communication is promoted to the customers is through Above the Line and Below the Line techniques. These include communication through TV, Print, Media, Brand Activation and Outdoor’s (Billboards etc). In essence the above mentioned includes Advertising, Consumer Promotions, Sampling, Public Relations, Outdoor visibility, Trade activities and also new age media such as Facebook, Twitter are also getting marketing mileage for organizations. According to the book Social media playbook for business reaching your online community with Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and more: «Dell Computer has tracked more than $3 million in sales from its Twitter posts, and products from Mentos to Blendtec blenders have soared thanks to viral videos on Youtube. [] The best use of your voice in social media is to extend your brand in more personal, direct, and connective ways than is possible in advertising» (Funk, 2011, p. 2).
In every definition of marketing the one common factor is building and managing relationships with the customers, and many marketing campaigns are directed towards customers and creating value for the organizations and the brands.
NASCAR (National Association for Stock Auto Car Racing) is a great example of marketing elaborated by Kotler and Armstrong (2012) at its best. Seen in 150 countries in 23 languages the consumers are young, affluent and most importantly family oriented. The success is based on NASCAR’s effort in creating an image of an environment in which the consumers (Family Oriented) feel an emotional connection. From event promotions and activities, fans and drivers interaction to websites with news and pictures, it is important to keep a connection with the fans and the most important aspect of NASCAR as a product is that anybody can be a NASCAR driver, which creates an association in terms of accessibility for the common customer. Besides selling $2 billion merchandise, the effect of NASCAR activities, as shown in studies, is that the fans are the most loyal to sponsors that are affiliated with the sport.
Another example of an organization which focuses on customer’s satisfaction is the Walt Disney Company. The goal of the organization is not to create theme parks, but to make people happy. The idea is to treat the customers as guests, the crowd as the audience and the employees as the cast members (Pride, & Ferrell, 2011, p. 5). Thus the essence of Walt Disney marketing techniques is to create relationships with a win-win situation from which both the organization and the customers benefit.
It is very important for organizations to understand the marketing concept which is to develop a product which satisfies a demand and is in tune with the global changes and the fast changing technological pace of the environment, rather than developing a product and then create a demand.
Organizations such as Toyota and Apple are case in point as Apple developed iPod in view of MP3 technology and satisfied the demand as stated by Pride and Ferrell (2011, p. 331), also as detailed by Kotler and Armstrong (2012, p. 13) the case of Toyota is important in view of the launch of Prius which focused on a niche of environmentally friendly consumers. For such products the features are in itself a marketing feature as they already have a set audience who needs an avenue to satisfy their needs and in both Toyota and Apple case this happened.
The marketing technique be it Above the line (ATL) or Below the line (BTL) or the latest trend of utilizing social media to create noise by companies the most important element of the campaign should be to create an emotional connection with the target market. The emotional connection once created will boost the repeating purchases and most importantly help get new customers. The most successful companies nowadays are customer focused and thus define one of their main goals as satisfying the needs and wants of their intended target markets.
References
Ferrell, O. C., & Pride, W. M. (2011). Marketing (16th ed.). Mason, Ohio: South-Western.Retrieved from
http://books.google.com/books?id=cOKMr4Fpqc0C&dq=Marketing.+Chapter+1:+An+overview+of+Strategic+Marketing&source=gbs_navlinks_s
Funk, T. (2011). Social media playbook for business reaching your online
community with Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and more. Santa Barbara,
Calif.: Praeger.Retrieved from
http://www.google.com/books?id=W9GDYs11EFsC&dq=marketing+twitter +Facebook+outdoor&lr=&source=gbs_navlinks_s
Kotler P., & Armstrong G. (2009). Principles of Marketing 12th Edition. Chapter 1: Marketing: Managing Profitable Customer Relationships. Pearson Education, Inc. Retrieved from
http://www.prenhall.com/behindthebook/0132390027/pdf/Kotler_CH01.pdf
Lancaster G. and Massingham L. (2011). Essentials of Marketing Management. Chapter 1: A strategic approach to marketing. Routledge. Retrieved from
http://books.google.com/books?id=sULd00aYYxEC&pg=PA1&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false
Russell, E. (2010). Chapter 1. The business of marketing. The Fundamentals of Marketing (p. 12). Lausanne: AVA Academia.Retrieved from
http://books.google.com/books?id=luYMd38Yl4AC&dq=fundamentals+of+marketing+edward+russell&source=gbs_navlinks_s
