Marketing

Marketing, the process by which a product or service originates and is then priced, promoted, and distributed to consumers. In large corporations the principal marketing functions precede the manufacture of a product. They involve market research and product development, design, and testing.

Marketing concentrates primarily on the buyers, or consumers. After determining the customers’ needs and desires, marketers develop strategies that are designed to educate customers about a product’s most important features, persuade them to buy it, and then to enhance their satisfaction with the purchase. Where marketing once stopped with the sale, today businesses believe that it is more profitable to sell to existing customers than to new ones. As a result, marketing now also involves finding ways to turn one-time purchasers into lifelong customers.

Marketing includes planning, organizing, directing, and controlling the decision-making regarding product lines, pricing, promotion, and servicing. In most of these areas marketing has overall authority; in others, as in product-line development, its function is primarily advisory. In addition, the marketing department of a business firm is responsible for the physical distribution of the products, determining the channels of distribution that will be used, and supervising the profitable flow of goods from the factory or warehouse.

		I.	TAILORING THE PRODUCT

Merchandise that is generally similar in style or design, but may vary in such elements as size, price, and quality is collectively known as a product line. Most marketers believe that product lines must be closely correlated with consumer needs and wants.

Firms tend to change product items and lines after a period of time to gain a competitive advantage, to respond to changes in the economic climate, or to increase sales by encouraging consumers to buy a new model. For example, if the economy weakens, a manufacturer might use cheaper parts to make a product more affordable. Sometimes, however, manufacturers will alter the style rather than the quality of the item. Hemlines on dresses, for example, might go up or down, or the appearance or functionality of an automobile might be altered. The practice of changing the appearance of goods or introducing inferior parts or poor workmanship in order to motivate consumers to replace products is known as planned obsolescence. Some people object that this practice leads to waste or can be unethical. Manufacturers reply that consumers are conditioned to expect such changes and welcome the variety they offer, or they deny that poor quality was intentional.

The popularity of all products eventually wanes. In fact, successful products go through what is called a product life cycle, which describes the course of a product’s sales from its introduction and growth through maturity and decline. Some fad products such as Beanie Babies go through all four stages in a very short period. For others, such as phonograph records, the stages extend over decades.

Because products are always aging and sales of even the most successful products eventually decline, firms must continually develop and introduce new items. One study found that over 13,000 new products are introduced each year. But despite the millions of dollars that United States and Canadian companies invest in product research and consumer testing, it is estimated that more than 30 percent of new products fail at launch and 60 percent are never fully accepted by consumers and disappear after a few years. The high failure rate influences the pricing of successful products because profits from these products must help cover the development costs of products that fail.

II.

PRICING THE PRODUCT

The two basic components that affect product pricing are costs of manufacture and competition in selling. It is unprofitable to sell a product below the manufacturer’s production costs and unfeasible to sell it at a price higher than that at which comparable merchandise is being offered. Other variables also affect pricing. Company policy may require a minimum profit on new product lines or a specified return on investments, or discounts may be offered on purchases in quantity.

Attempts to maintain resale prices were facilitated for many years in the United States under federal and state fair trade laws. Since 1975, however, these laws have been nullified, thereby prohibiting manufacturers from controlling the prices set by wholesalers and retailers. Such control can still be maintained if the manufacturers wish to market directly through their own outlets, but this is seldom feasible except for the largest manufacturers.

Attempts have also been made, generally at government insistence, to maintain product-price competition in order to minimize the danger of injuring small businesses. Therefore, the legal department of a marketing organization reviews pricing decisions.

III.	PROMOTING THE PRODUCT

	Marketing and the Internet The Internet enables marketers to promote products and services to millions of potential customers through the World Wide Web. This Web site provides information about a product designed to keep vegetables fresh. Encarta Encyclopedia Courtesy of Dennis Green, Ltd.
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Advertising, personal (face-to-face) or direct selling, sales promotion, and relationship building are the primary methods companies use to promote their products.

IV.	ADVERTISING

	Point-of-Purchase Display A bookstand highlights some of the many books available for sale in a bookstore. Point-of-purchase displays such as these enable marketers to showcase a product or products and help finalize a sale by calling attention to the product in a store, the actual point where the purchase is made. Encarta Encyclopedia Gary Morrison
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Advertising is often used to make consumers aware of a product’s special low price or its benefits. But an even more important function of advertising is to create an image that consumers associate with a product, known as the brand image. The brand image goes far beyond the functional characteristics of the product. For example, a soft drink may have a particular taste that is one of its benefits. But when consumers think of it, they not only think of its taste, but they may also associate it with high energy, extreme action, unconventional behavior, and youth. All of those meanings have been added to the product by advertising. Consumers frequently buy the product not only for its functional characteristics but also because they want to be identified with the image associated with the brand.

By adding meaning to a product, advertising also adds value. For example, when Philip Morris Companies Inc. purchased Kraft Foods, Inc. in 1988 for nearly $13 billion, Philip Morris paid 600 percent more than Kraft’s factories and inventory were worth. Over 80 percent of the purchase price was for the current and future value of the Kraft brand, a value that was created in large part by advertising. Advertising plays such an important role in promoting products and adding value to brands that most companies spend considerable sums on their advertising and hire specialized firms, known as advertising agencies, to develop their advertising campaigns.

Advertising is most frequently done on television, radio, and billboards; in newspapers, magazines, and catalogs; and through direct mail to the consumers. In recent years, numerous advertising agencies have joined forces to become giant agencies, making it possible for them to offer their clients a comprehensive range of worldwide promotion services.

V.	DIRECT SELLING

Where advertising reaches a mass audience, personal or direct selling focuses on one customer at a time. That kind of individual attention makes direct selling expensive, but it also makes it effective. As the costs of personal selling have risen, the utilization of salespeople has changed. Simple transactions are completed by clerks. Salespeople are now used primarily where the products are complex and require detailed explanation, customized application, or careful negotiation over price and payment plan. But whether the sale involves an automobile or a customized computer network, personal selling involves much more than convincing the customer of the product’s benefits. The salesperson helps the customer identify problems, works out a variety of solutions, assists the buyer in making decisions, and provides arrangements for long-term service. Persuasion is only part of the job. A much more important part is problem solving.

Because the selling process has become much more complicated, most companies now provide extensive training for the sales force. The average length of the initial training program is four months. A training program for new members of the sales force teaches them about such matters as company history, selling and presentation techniques, listening skills, the manufacture and use of the company’s products, and the characteristics of both the industry and its customers. Moreover, because the sales force plays such a critical role in the marketing process, most companies provide on-going training for all members of the sales force to help them deepen their product knowledge and improve their interpersonal and negotiating skills.

With the increasing complexity of business problems and products, effective sales solutions often require more knowledge than any one person can master. As a result many companies now use sales teams to service their largest and most complicated accounts. Such teams might include personnel from sales, marketing, manufacturing, finance, and technical support.

VI.	SALES PROMOTION

The purpose of sales promotion is to supplement and coordinate advertising and personal selling; this has become increasingly important in marketing. While advertising helps build brand image and long-term value, sales promotion builds sales volume. Sales promotions are designed to persuade consumers to purchase immediately by providing special incentives such as cash rebates, prizes, extra product, or gifts. Promotions are an effective way to spur sales, but because they involve discount coupons and contests with valuable prizes, they are also expensive and so reduce profits.