Core Concepts of Marketing

MARKETING:DEFINITIONANDJUSTIFICATION 5

Prt

Our

AD 1 .1 ThewebsiteforL.L.Beanrepresentsthenewestformofmarketingcommunication,

tisesthroughitsdirect-mailcatalogueandthroughprintadsinprestigiousmagazines(e.g.,
NationalGeographic).Italsohasoneofthemosthighlyregardedwebsites(Ad1.1).Prod-
uctselec:ionanddesignarebaseduponextensiveresearchindicatingthepreferencesof
theircustomers Sinceproductdeliveryandpossibleproductreturniscritical,marketing
mustbeabsolutelysurethatboththesetasks areperformedinaccordance withcustomers'
wishes(Proposition5).Whileonemightarguethatthemarketingfunctionmustbethemost
importantfunctionatL.L.Bean,thisisr.otthecase.L.L.Beanis justaslikelytolosea
customerbecauseofincorrectbilling(anaccountingfunction)ora flawedhuntingboot(a
productfunction)asit is froma misleadingad(amarketingfunction).
Admitted:y,marketingis oftena criticalpartofa firm'ssuccess.Nevertheless, the
importanceofmarketingmust bekeptin perspective. Formanylarge manufacturerssuch
asProctor&Gamble,Microsoft,Toyota,andSanyo,marketingrepresentsa majorexpen-
diture,andthesebusinessesdependontheeffectivenessoftheirmarketingeffort.Conversely,
forregulatedindustries(suchasutilities,socialservices,ormedicalcareorsmallbusinesses
providinga one-of-a-kindproduct)marketingmaybelittlemorethanafewinformative

brochures.Thereareliterallythousandsofexamplesofbusinesses-manyquitesmall-

thathaveneithertheresourcesnortheinclinationtosupportanelaboratemarketingorgan-

izationandstrategy.Thesebusinessesrelylessonresearchthanoncommonsense. Inall

these~ases.themarketingprogramis worththecostsonlyifit fitstheorganizationand

facilitatesits abilitytoreachitsgoals.