Defining Marketing (Part 1)

Note: This was originally posted in a discussion as part of a Boston University Metropolitan College graduate-level course in Innovative Marketing with Professor Jennifer Lee.

My initial understanding of marketing was focused on lead generation, sales enablement and approach to the market. These pillars directly connect with the four P’s of marketing, and they can encompass a broad array of marketing activities, such as content development, product marketing, brand marketing and customer segmentation.

However, this lense is not wide enough to fully capture all of what marketing should be. The American Marketing Association’s defines marketing as “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, capturing, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large” (AMA, 2013).

AMA’s definition evolved over the last century, originally focusing on goods and now focusing on value for not only customers, but also stakeholders. This evolution reflects changes in the market. From 1980 to the present, customer preferences changed at an accelerating rate, and there was a dramatic increase in new products and companies. This change provides an unprecedented level of market uncertainty (Dyer & Furr, 2014).

Business guru Peter Drucker stated that there are only two functions in business - innovation and marketing. Innovation helps companies stay competitive during periods of great uncertainty (Dyer & Furr, 2014), and marketing helps businesses deliver value to customers and stakeholders.

Marketing is about “getting closer to your customers and understanding them better” “ (Chaffey, 2017).

Marketing connects to the core values of a company. It defines a brand and its value, not based upon the newest product offerings, but based upon the company’s identity. As Scott (2013) writes, “You are what you publish.”

References

Chaffey, D., Smith, P. (2017). Digital Marketing Excellence: Planning, Optimizing and Integrating Online Marketing. New York City: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group. 5th Edition.

Dyer, J. and Furr, N. (2014). The Innovator’s Method. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press.

Scott, D. (2013). The New Rules of Marketing & PR. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. Fourth Edition.