Marketing is such a broad word that covers a wide variety of topics and to answer the question, what is marketing? It is necessary to examine different and diverse cases that call such terms, Umbrella terms.
For this reason, in the case of such words, a suitable and comprehensible definition becomes more important.
Marketing concept
Perhaps as much as we have witnessed changes in the history of marketing, the definition and concept of marketing has also undergone continuous transformation.
The first definition of marketing was officially presented by the American Association of Marketing Professors, who presented this concept of marketing in 1935:
Marketing is the implementation of activities in the business environment that directs the flow of goods and services from the producer to the consumer.
As you might guess, this definition is influenced by the market for goods and services in the early 20th century. A market where the major part of it was made up of factories and after the product was taken off the production line, marketing had to direct it towards the consumer market, which if we want to say in our own language: so-called Push and tried to get the goods and products to consumption as soon as possible. reach
Definition of marketing
For about half a century, the definition of the American Association of Marketing Professors was quoted in books and articles and was accepted as the standard definition of marketing, but the American Marketing Association presented a new definition of marketing in 1985:
Marketing is one of the organizational tasks and a set of processes related to creating value , informing about that value and delivering it to customers.
Marketing also includes managing relationships with customers in a way that serves the interests of the organization and its stakeholders.
Fifty years passed until at the end of the 20th century, the concept of value and value creation found its place in the field of management and marketing. The term “customer” took the place of “consumer” and the relationship with the customer gained meaning, and this caused the competition to gradually gain meaning in those years.
Marketing is the process of planning and implementing activities related to the formation, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services; In the way that was done in the exchanges, individual and organizational goals are also provided.
Again, it is not difficult to recognize that the development of the digital world made the word idea enter the marketing space along with the words goods and services.
But finally, it can be said that after revision and re-examination, the latest definition of marketing, which is still the subject of consensus, is as follows:
Marketing is a set of institutions, activities and processes that are related to the creation, communication, information, acquisition of information, delivery and exchange of offers. Exchanges that are valuable to customers, employers, partners and, on a larger scale, society.
This definition, which is still mentioned and cited, includes two key points:
The first point is the use of the term offering.
After the word “service” was added to the word “product”, the term “product” was born. But today, it seems that after the development of the digital world and the supply of new facilities that cannot simply be called goods or services, the marketing world prefers the term offering.
Let’s think of an example. Do you use the phrase “I use Instagram services” in your daily conversations? You probably don’t even have such an image of Instagram in your mind.
We usually say: Do you have Instagram?
Or we say: Are you on Instagram?
This type of value creation is different from what we used to know traditionally as goods and services that were equal to products. For this reason, it seems that the great marketing experts of the world have come to the conclusion that the term offering is more comprehensive than the previous terms.
The second point that you must have noticed is the role of businesses at the macro level of society. This point refers to issues such as corporate social responsibility and, in a more general way, systemic thinking and attitude .
But it can be said that marketing is the knowledge and art of discovering, creating and presenting value, with the aim of meeting the needs of a target market , at the same time as earning profit.
Marketing recognizes unmet needs and wants; It defines their market, measures the size of this market and estimates its potential profit.
Marketing determines which part of the market it can best serve; And then designs and promotes appropriate products and services.
Branding and advertising in marketing
For those who have a special interest and prejudice on branding and types of advertising , the question may arise, why these two important areas are not mentioned in the definition of marketing.
In response, it should be said: There is no doubt that branding and advertising is a subset of marketing management . But these two concepts are placed under the heading of Communicating. In other words, advertising and branding is about communicating with the customer or the target market and sending messages about the features of the business, its products, and of course valuable offers for the customer.
Sales in marketing
Sometimes, the term marketing is used so generically that it includes sales. But if we want to be precise, it is better to consider selling separately from marketing.
In marketing books, usually if there is a brief mention of sales, it is mostly about the sales system and not sales.
Therefore, it seems that it is better to consider sales as a subset of negotiation rather than marketing management .
Types of marketing
In general, marketing can be divided into many different types, some of which are discussed below.
- Direct marketing
- Telemarketing
- Search engine marketing
- Database marketing
- Digital marketing
- Mobile marketing
- Content marketing
- network marketing
Result
As a result, it can be said that the term marketing has a wide range, but by reading the following article, which reviews the history of the definition of marketing from the beginning of the 20th century until the last definition in 2007, you can have the right attitude. Get the concept of marketing, which you can download and review by clicking on the text below:
The American Marketing Association Definition of Marketing (PDF)
