Marketing is defined by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) as “the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating, and satisfying customer requirements profitably.” Modern companies and organisations are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of marketing in order to achieve both growth and profitability, with a large emphasis being placed on satisfying customer needs and wants.
It is human nature to have needs and wants. For example, when we are hungry there is a need to buy food, and there may be a want to buy a particular type of food, e.g. a cheeseburger. Companies are able to address these needs and wants by providing a marketing offer – a product or service which is offered in order to satisfy a customers needs. Following this offer, a process of exchange may occur between a company and a customer. This is a situation whereby the customer obtains a product or service to fulfil their needs by offering something in return (usually money).
It is the function of marketing to develop and facilitate the exchange process by both creating and satisfying customer needs and wants. This is achieved via a number of marketing practises. For example, sellers must discover who their key customers are, find out their needs, then design products or services to match these needs. This requires processes such as market research, product development, promotion, pricing, and distribution. These processes are controlled by marketing management, with the overall aim of marketing effort to identify the customer, entice the customer, satisfy the customer, and retain the customer.
The mktg101.co.uk definition of marketing is “identifying, encouraging, and satisfying customer needs and wants through an exchange process which offers value to both the seller and the customer.”
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