Marketing can be seen as the development of a targeted approach for getting consumers to buy a product, based on what is known of their preferences. For example, electronics companies find out what types of features consumers tend to want, what price they are willing to pay, the types of promotion that appeal to electronics consumers, and where consumers feel most comfortable buying electronics items. The electronics companies can then tailor their selling and promotions approach to those tastes. Dictionary.com offers many definitions of the term ômarketing,ö the most a propos of which is ôthe commercial processes involved in promoting and selling and distributing a product or serviceö (ôMarketingö). Randall Chapman cites the World Marketing AssociationÆs definition of marketing but follows with his own pithy six-word definition:
Marketing is the core business philosophy which directs the processes of identifying and fulfilling the needs of individuals and organizations through exchanges which create superior value for all partiesà Marketing means solving customersÆ problems profitably (2003).
The importance of marketing in organizational success can be explained by last word in Randall ChapmanÆs definitionùôprofitablyö (2003). Marketing produces profits by solving customersÆ problems at a profit to the organization marketing the product. The extent to which an organization markets its products and the measure of competence employed in that marketing effort determine the degree to which the organization derives profit from the marketing of its products. An analysis of companies that market their products skillfully bears this out.
Organizations That Market Their Products Successfully
Food giants such as Kraft foods have enjoyed great profits by skillfully marketing their products to the public. Kraft has developed products that have universal appeal
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