A Reflection
Marketing is Everybody’s Business by George Gresham
In the article Marketing is Everybody’s Business by George Gresham (2010), Gresham points out that marketing isn’t a function only of an organization’s Marketing department but is a responsibility of the entire organization. He also points out that marketing does not involve only advertising and promotion but actually begins with the conception of a new product and includes product development, continued market research, and the monitoring of market changes and trends.
This article is intended for people who work in organizations. It aims to help them understand that all of them play a role in the marketing of their organization’s products and in ensuring their organization’s success. By knowing how they contribute to their organization’s marketing initiatives, they will be able to better appreciate the importance of their contributions, which will hopefully encourage them to be more conscientious and diligent with their work.
Although the information in this article is not based on any formal study, the author used the current practices and business processes employed by most organizations in describing and demonstrating how the organization’s marketing initiatives involve everyone in the organization.
In conclusion, the author reiterates that an organization’s marketing initiatives involve all members of the organization – marketing, engineering, research and development, finance, and others -- and thus, also involve various skills. He reiterates that product development efforts can take years and use a significant amount of resources to implement. In addition, there’s the risk that a competitor will enter the market with the same product first or that they will come out with a better product, thereby reducing the organization’s expected profits from their new product. However, despite the complexity involved in marketing new products, Gresham asserts that if implemented properly, marketing can provide an organization with a great competitive advantage.
Although this article is brief, I think that the author is able to convey his message in a concise and succinct manner that is still simple enough to be easily understood by the readers. He also describes the involvement of organizational members in the organization’s marketing efforts in a manner that enables the readers to easily relate to the situations being described. As such, I think that the author is able to effectively evoke a realization within the reader that their contributions are important and that despite the difficulties encountered in implementing these marketing initiatives, all the work will be worthwhile in the end.
References
Gresham, G. (2010, October 8). Marketing is everybody’s business. Jacksonville Business
Journal.
