6
Chapter 1 Marketing and You
What Is Marketing?
Marketing was around before the
Internet, retail stores, cars, and computers
existed. In fact, the word market is derived
from the Latin word mercaris, which means
“to trade.” Sometime in 12th century Europe,
market came to mean the meeting of buyers
and sellers of livestock or other goods. Today,
a market is anywhere a buyer and a seller
convene to buy and sell goods.
How would you define marketing?
Experts define marketing in many different
ways, all with similar themes. Some exam-
ples of marketing definitions follow.
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customers want and then give it to
them,” from Tim Cohn, marketing
consultant.
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customers and compel them to purchase,
use, and repurchase your product,” from
Alexander Hiam, marketing consultant.
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stuff and make lots of money,” from
Sergio Zyman, former chief marketing
officer of Coca-Cola.
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a need to know, like, and trust you,” from
John Jantsch, author of Duct Tape
Marketing.
If marketing could be defined in one
sentence, there would be no need for an entire
textbook. Marketing consists of dynamic activi-
ties that identify, anticipate, and satisfy customer
demand while making a profit. The function of
marketing is to meet customer needs and wants
with products they can and will buy.
Critical
Thinking
Key
Terms
Objectives
Web
Connect
Section 1.1 Marketing
After completing this section, you will be
able to
¶ define the function of marketing.
¶ explain the importance of marketing.
¶ describe why it is important to study
marketing.
market
marketing
need
want
business
function
functions of
business
consumer
Do an Internet search for a definition of mar-
keting. After reading a number of definitions,
write your own definition of marketing.
Do you know of any businesses that have
been successful without marketing? Write
five reasons a business might fail if it does
not market its products or services.