What Is Marketing?

What is Marketing?

Introduction

Marketing has evolved a lot over the past few decades. It has adapted through the time's changing. With the recognition of the 'Ad Age' and 'Generation Y', marketing has become more interactive with the use of colour, image and sound. Marketing isn't only all about bringing the fun out of a product and service, but also a management strategy to improve profitability, through the transfer of goods and services for money and vice versa.

'Marketing' Definitions

The definitions of marketing may all have different meanings, but they all have one purpose. The definitions below may either contradict with one another or mean similar things.

Kotler (2009) defined marketing as:

An activity, set of institutions and processes for creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners and society at large (Kotler 2009. p.7).

Here, marketing is seen as an 'activity', in which an exchange of products and services are made between organisations and consumers. In the 21st century, it is agreeably a process of communication. The 21st century technology has advanced, where society relies on forms of communication to be attracted.

Varey (2002) saw marketing as a way of satisfying a customer. Hence:

Marketing is concerned with creating and sustaining mutually satisfying exchanges of value between producer/servers and their customers. It has both a managerial orientation and an organisational/social function. (Varey 2002. p. 4).

Marketing does play a major role in an organisation. It increases profitability for an organisation, yet satisfies the 'consumer'. When both stakeholders' are happy with profit and product, a valid exchange is made.

Kurzbard and Soldows (1987, p. 42) went as far as to connect Marketing to the international world:

Marketing is a mediated activity occurring within the economic sphere that employs

strategies intentionally rendered and...