Defining Marketing Paper

Defining Marketing

Many management thinkers consider marketing to be most critical function of a business. In a business organization, the marketing division generates the revenues essential for the survival and growth of the firm, the finance department manages these revenues and the department like R&D, production or manufacturing uses them to create products and services (Kotler, 2002). But the real challenge to the markets lies in generating those revenues profitably, by satisfying customers in a socially responsible manner (Esslemont & Lewis, 1991, p. 1).

In my point of view, marketing is an activity of producing, promoting, and providing goods and services to customers and businesses. It is a process of creating and directing an organization to sell goods or services that people are willing to buy. Marketing builds and maintains a preference for a particular product and company within the target market. It involves acquisition of new customers and retention of existing customers.

American Marketing Association was proposed definition of marketing in 1985, which is as follows: "Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas; goods and services to create exchange that satisfy individual and organizational objectives" (Wilson & Gilligan, 2005, p. 3).

According to the E. Jerome McCarthy Professor of Michigan State University "Marketing is the performance of those activities, which seek to accomplish an organization's objective by anticipating customers or clients need and directing a flow of need-satisfying good and services from producer to customers or clients (Ries & Trout, 2005, p.2)."

Importance of Marketing in the Success of Organization

Marketing is the most important tool in the success of organization. This helps the organizations to target the appropriate customer group products of the organization. It is the combination of various concepts. Marketing starts with identifying customers need and wants and ends with satisfying them through a coordinated set of activities that also allows a firm to achieve its own goals. Awareness of this fact gave rise to the marketing concept. The marketing concept embraces all the activities of a firm. It aims at matching the companies offering with customer needs, to achieve the desired level of customer satisfaction in generating profits for the company (Rapacz & Reilly, 2008). Application of marketing concept in the organization is important to become a part of highly competitive market.

For example, Cherry Mash, a famous candy bar company of America produces its products (Candy Bar) according to taste and preference of the children. Marketing of these candy bars is also based upon the needs and demands of the people (Rapacz & Reilly, 2008). A marketing transition is