Defining Marketing for the New Realities - Kotler - Keller - 15th Edition

 

Defining Marketing for the New Realities - Important Points

Skillful marketing is a never-ending pursuit.

What Is Marketing?

Marketing is about identifying and meeting human and social needs.

The American Marketing Association offers the following formal definition: Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.

Marketing management "The art and science of choosing target markets and getting, keeping, and growing customers through creating, delivering, and communicating superior customer value."

Social definition: Marketing is a societal process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating, offering, and freely exchanging products and services of value with others.

The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or service fits him and sells itself. Ideally, marketing should result in a customer who is ready to buy. All that should be needed then is to make the product or service available. - Peter Drucker.

Marketers market 10 main types of entities: goods, services, events, experiences, persons, places, properties, organizations, information, and ideas. 

A marketer is someone who seeks a response—attention, a purchase, a vote, a donation—from another party, called the prospect. If two parties are seeking to sell something to each other, we call them both marketers.

Needs, Wants, and Demands

Needs are the basic human requirements such as for air, food, water, clothing, and shelter. Humans also have strong needs for recreation, education, and entertainment. These needs become wants when directed to specific objects that might satisfy the need. Demands are wants for specific products backed by an ability to pay. Many people want a Mercedes; only a few can buy one.

A value proposition is a set of benefits that satisfy needs. The value proposition is made physical by an offering, which can be a combination of products, services, information, and experiences. A brand is an offering from a known source.

The buyer chooses the offerings he or she perceives to deliver the most value, the sum of the tangible and intangible benefits and costs. Value is an important and central marketing concept. It is primarily a combination of quality, service, and price.  Value perceptions increase with quality and service but decrease with price.