Chapter 1 Marketing Is Dynamic!
17
n displaying the new jeans in the store
window
n deciding the price to charge for the jeans
Marketing includes these activities and many
others. Marketing is essential to business
success.
How many marketing activities have you seen
this week? Give five specific examples.
3
Reality Check
Marketing Defined
How would you define marketing? Take
a few minutes to jot down your definition
of marketing. Then read these current
definitions:
n The job of marketing is “to sell lots of
stuff and make lots of money.” (Sergio
Zyman, former chief marketing officer at
the Coca-Cola Company)
n Marketing is “to find out what your
customers want and then give it to
them.” (Tim Cohn, marketing consultant)
n The purpose of marketing is “to reach
customers and compel them to purchase,
use, and repurchase your product.”
(Alexander Hiam, marketing consultant)
n “Marketing is an organizational function
and a set of processes for creating,
communicating, and delivering value to
customers and for managing customer
relationships in ways that benefit the
organization and its stakeholders.”
(American Marketing Association,
official definition of marketing, adopted
in 2004, used by permission)
If marketing could be easily defined in
one sentence, there would be no need for
a whole textbook! However, here is a basic
definition to keep in mind, as you proceed
through the book and learn the details.
Marketing consists of dynamic activities
that focus on the customer to generate a
profitable exchange. The goal of marketing
is to meet customers’ needs and wants with
products that customers can and will buy.
The rest of the book will explore and clarify
these ideas.
Marketing Is Dynamic
What makes marketing dynamic? The
word dynamic describes something that is
constantly changing. The needs and wants of
customers are constantly changing. The goal
of marketing is to meet customers’ needs and
wants with products they will buy. Therefore,
marketing must constantly change to meet
those needs and wants.
Why do customers’ needs and wants
change? One reason is that customers
change. As customers get older, their
needs and wants change, 1-2. Think of
the things you wanted and needed in
kindergarten. Do you want and need the
same things now?
1-1
Selling and advertising are the most visible forms
of marketing.