Marketing Principles

Welcome to Principles of Marketing, a recommended prerequisite for many business majors.

Marketing as defined as "the total of activities involved in the transfer of goods from the producer or seller to the consumer or buyer, including advertising, shipping, storing, and selling."

An alternate definition paraphrased from memory of an introductory business text is: Marketing is all activities conducted to prepare for sales. Sales is all activities required to close the deal. Shipping and customer satisfaction would be included in sales to avoid the customer from reversing or unclosing the deal.

Thus Marketing can be categorized as a branch of business as well as a social science. We buy goods (thus becoming the buyer/consumer) from a vendor (or producer/seller), creating a transaction. In the past, marketing involved traveling salesmen, while in modern times, marketing is more likely to involve television, the internet, and other forms of media bombardment.

As we progress in this age of technology it is vital for us to understand marketing and its place in the world. Understanding and applying the principles will be beneficial to the businessperson and the layperson.

hat is marketing?[edit]

Marketing seeks to satisfy the needs of people (customers or the market) (creating a sense of usefulness or utility) through the exchange process. Marketing refers to channeling the gap between service and product providers to service and product seekers.

The Marketing Mix or the "4 P's" are:

Product

Price

Promotion

Place

The concept of "4 p' s" is replaced by the concept of "7 p's" they are

product

price

place

promotion

people

positioning

packaging

These are employed to satisfy a target market' or target demographic (the pool of potential customers).

Example:

Product: Procter and Gamble introduces a new toothpaste designed to taste good and fight cavities. Logo and packaging designed in bright colors to appeal to kids of elementary school age to...