MARKETING:DEFINITIONANDJUSTIFICATION 3
towarddoingbusinessthatwillbecomemoreandmorenecessaryasthe 21 st centurycon-
tinues.Innovativethinkinghasbecomea prerequisiteforsuccessintoday'sglobalenvi-
ronment,whichis saturatedwithnearcloneproductsbeingsoldbymillionsofcomparable
competitors.Thestatusquowillnolongersuffice.Theneedforconstantchangepairedwith
clearstrategiesisnowessential.
Marketingconstitutesjustoneofthefunctionsavailabletoeverybusiness.Alongwith
research,production,finance,accounting,anda myriadofotherfunctions,marketingcon-
tributestotheabilityofa businesstosucceed.Inmanybusinesses,marketingmaybedeemed
ofhighestimportance;inothers,it mayberelegatedtoa lesserrole.Theveryexistenceof
businessdependsuponsuccessfulproductsandservices,whichinturnrelyonsuccessful
marketing.Forthisreason,everybusines~personwillbenefitfromevenbasicmarketing
knowledge.Moreover,marketingprincipleshavebeeneffective~yappliedtoseveralnon-
businessinstitutionsformorethan 30 years.Bankers,physicians,accountingfirms,invest-
mentanalysts,politicians,churches,architecturalfirms, universities,andtheUnitedWay
haveallcometoappreciatethebenefitsofmarketing.
A wordofwarning:thereisa long-standingmyththatmarketingis easy. Aftergoing
throughthisbookyoumayconcludethatmarketingisinteresting,fun,challenging--even
vague-butit isnoteasy.Whetheryoulikenumbersorhatenumbers,likepeopleorhate
people,likedoingthesamethingeverydayorlikeconstantchange thereareopportuni-
tiesforyouinmarketing.
Marketing:DefinitionandJustification
DefiningMarketing
NotedHarvardProfessorofBusinessTheodoreLevitt, statesthatthepurposeofallbusi-
nessISto"findandkeepcustomers."Furthermore,theonlywayyoucanachievethisobjec-
tiveistocreateacompetitiveadvantage.Thatis,youmustconvincebuyers(potential
customers)thatwhatyouhavetoofferthemcomesclosesttomeetingtheirparticularneed
orwantatthatpointintime.Hopefully,youwillbeabletoprovidethisadvantageconsis-
tently,sothateventuallythecustomerwillnolongerconsiderotheralternativesandwill
purchaseyourproductoutofhabit.Thisloyalbehavioris exhibitedbypeoplewhodrive
onlyFords,brushtheirteethonlywithCrest,buyonlyDellcomputers,andhavetheirplumb-
ingfixedonlyby"SamsonPlumbing-OnCall 24 hours,7 daysa week."Creatingthis
blindcommitment-withoutconsiderationofalternatives-toa particularbrand, store,per-
son,orideais thedreamofallbusinesses.Itis unlikelytooccur, however,withoutthesup-
portofaneffectivemarketingprogram.Infact,thespecificroleofmarketingistoprovide
assistanceinidentifying,satisfying,andretainingcustomers.
Whilethegeneraltasksofmarketingaresomewhatstraightforward,attachinganaccept-
abledefinitiontotheconcepthasbeendifficu't.A textbookwriteroncenoted,"Marketing
isnoteasytodefine.Noonehasyetbeenabletoformulatea clear,concisedefinitionthat
findsuniversalacceptance."Yeta definitionofsomesortisnecessaryifwearetolayout
theboundariesofwhatisproperlytobeconsidered"marketing."Howdomarketingactiv-
itiesdifferfromnonmarketingactivities?Whatactivitiesshouldonerefertoasmarketing
activities?Whatinstitutionsshouldonerefertoa~marketinginstitutions?
Marketingisadvertisingtoadvertisingagencies,eventstoeventmarketers,knock-
ingondoorstosalespeople,directmailtodirectmailers.Inotherwords,toa personwith
a hammer,everythinglookslikea nail.~nreality,marketingisa wayofthinkingaboutbusi-
ness,ratherthana bundleoftechniques.It's;nuchmorethanjustsellingstuffandcollect-
ingmoney.It'stheconnectionbetweenpeopleandproducts,customersandcompanies.Like
