Core Concepts of Marketing

18 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCINGMARKETING

thesocietallevel andeverydayconsumptionbythegeneralpublic.Althoughtherearemany

variationsofthemarketingprocess,theoneshowninFigure1.1willbeemployedinthis

book.Ourprocessbeginswithcorporate-levelconsiderations,whichdictatethedirection

theentireorganizationwilltake.Thethreecorporate-levelcon~iderationslistedhere(mis-

sion,objectives,andstrategy)aremorepreciselybasicmanagementtopics,butareaddressed

inpassinginthefollowingsections.

Funcnona~LevelConsideranons

Ifa marketingfirmistoadoptthecustomer-centeredorientationdiscussedearlier, it must

alsoextendthisphilosophytotheotherfunctions/institutionswithwhichit mustinteract.

Thesefunctions, andtheinstitutionsthatperformthefunctions canbecategorizedasnon-

marketinginstitutionsandmarketing institutions.

Nonmarketinginstitutionscanexistwithintheorganizationoroutsidetheorganiza-

tion.Theformerinciudeaccounting,financialplanning,humanresources,engineering,man-

ufacturing,researchanddevelopment,andsoon.Marketingmustbefamilia;withthe

capabilitiesofeachof~hesefunctionsandplanaccordingly.Establishingandmaintaining

rapportwithleadersintheseotherfunctionalareasisa challengeforeverymarketer.Non-

marketinginstitutionsoutsidethefirmfacilitatedthemarketingprocessbyprovidingexperl-

iseinareasnot directlyrelatedtomarketing.Examplesincludefinancialinstitutionsthat

lendmarketersnecessaryfunds; regulatoryinstitutionsthatpasslawstoallowmarketers

to performanactivity;andthepress,whichtells thepublicabouttheactivitiesofthemarketer.

The M arketingPlan

Toa greatextent,thesamesequenceofactivitiesperformedat thecorporatelevelis repeated

atthemarketinglevel.Theprimarydifferenceisthatthemarketingplanisdirectlyinflu-

encedbythecorporateplanaswellastneroleoftheotherfunctionswithintheorganiza-

tion.Consequently,themarketingplanmustalwaysinvolvemonitoringandreactingto

changesinthecorporateplan.

Apartfromthis needtobeflexibletoaccommodatethecorporateplan,themarket-

ingplanfollowsa fairlystandardizedsequence. Themarketingplanbeginswitha mission.

A missionreflectsthegeneralvaluesoftheorganization. Whatdoesit standfor?Howdoes

itdefineintegrity?Howdoesit viewthepeopleit serves?Everyorganizationhasanexplicit

MARKETING CAPSULE •

Thecharacteristicsofa marketingorganizationinclude:

1.Maintenanceofcontactwithconsumers

2.Objectivecomparisonofexisting capabilitieswithability

tomeetpresentandfutureconsumerneeds

3.Maintenanceofa consistentmessagefromallmarketing

elementstoallconsumergroups

4.Thoroughunderstandingofstrenglhsandweaknessesof

competitors

5.Understandingofthecapabilitiesofothernonmarketing

functions

6.Attemptsatfamiliaritywiththecommunity

Thetypesofmarketing:

1.Macromarketingandrnicromarketing

2.Servicemarketingandgoodsmarketing

3.For-profitmarketingandnonprofitmarketing

4.Massmarketing,directmarketing,andInternetmarketing

5.Local.regional, national,andinternationalmarketing

6.Consumer goods marketing and business-to-business

marketing