Marketing concepts and objectives
Marketing Concepts
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Needs, Wants and Demand: Understanding the difference is essential. A need is a basic requirement, a want is a specific preference, and demand is when people are willing to pay for their wants.
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Product, Price, Place and Promotion (4P's): The marketing mix essential for any marketing strategy. Product is what is being sold, price is how much it’s sold for, place is where it’s sold, and promotion is how consumers learn about the product.
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Market Orientation vs. Product Orientation: Market orientation is a strategy that focuses on meeting customer needs, whereas product orientation focuses on the product itself.
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Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP): Segmentation involves dividing the market into segments based on customer characteristics. Targeting involves choosing which segments to focus on. Positioning involves deciding how to present the product to those segments.
Marketing Objectives
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Increase market share: Companies aim to sell more units of their product or service, or increase the number of customers for their product or service, compared to their competitors.
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Maximise sales or profits: Marketing efforts can aim to increase sales numbers, or to maximise profits either by increasing prices or reducing costs.
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Improving product awareness: This could be launching a new product, or increasing awareness of existing products.
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Enhancing customer relationships: This could involve improving customer service, or developing loyalty programs.
Factors Affecting Marketing Objectives
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External factors: Competitive actions, market trends, and changes in consumer behaviour can all affect the objectives of a marketing strategy.
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Internal factors: A firm's resources and capabilities, along with corporate objectives and marketing mix decisions, can also affect the marketing objectives.
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Cultural factors: The cultural context in which a firm operates can significantly impact its marketing strategy. Cultural factors include values, beliefs, norms, customs, and behaviours that are common among the people of a given society.
Understanding these concepts and objectives and how they're interrelated is key to developing a strong marketing strategy.