The Marketing Concept

The marketing concept, according to Mandell and Rosenberg, is made up of three points that have been in play since the mid-twentieth century:

1. A business has to appeal to its customers

2. All of its activities has to be coordinated.

3. Profits come from satisfied customers

This is a philosophy that is applicable to large and small organizations, whether they are a non-profit or not. Although, the practical applications would be different according to things like size, product, target markets, and management.

The first idea in the marketing concept is that the consumer’s desires are the primary focus of the business. Many businesses say they are customer oriented. This means that their top priority is to make products designed to be exceedingly useful to a particular target market. However, there are actually more than a few businesses today that claim that the customer is the most important, even though all their actions are geared toward maximizing profit.

What makes customer orientation a little tricky is that you cannot assume people know what they want. Because most actually do not. If you’re observant, you’ll notice that few people buy not for the products or services in themselves, but for the things that they think the products will do for them. Why does a man buy an expensive sportscar? He’s not buying a car, he’s buying the power it implies, the prestige that comes with it, the envy that follows it, etc. Why rent furnished apartments in San Francisco when it’s cheaper unfurnished and not in the city? It offers the chance not to have to think about ordering heavy items and lugging them up stairs, decorating, or an hour of commute to get to work. People pay good money for convenience.

When a business has a firm vision of its customers, the second step is creating the product or service. A successful requires that all departments and divisions connected to marketing be in perfect coordination and synchronization. The efficiency of the process in which it makes and brings products to the market is also a significant determinant of success.

An inefficient process would only waste time and effort, as well as money and other resources. This makes your return on investment smaller than you would have wanted. Profit is determined by deducting costs from sales. There are many business technologies these days that can help you reduce your costs without significant damage to your coffers. If your sales are high enough that they exceed your costs by a significant margin, then you can say your marketing efforts have been a success.