In this article we will consider in detail the goals and functions of marketing, describe its essence. Today, these topics are very relevant, as a market economy is actively developing, satisfying all the new needs of people. The market does not stand still, and marketing develops with it.
Marketing principles are the fundamental circumstances, provisions, requirements underlying it. They reveal the purpose and essence of this type of activity. The main objective of marketing is to ensure that the production of services and goods is focused on demand, on the consumer, on coordination with the requirements of the market of production capabilities.
The need and objectives of marketing
Undisputed is the need for a marketing approach for any enterprise. Negative demand will be observed in the market if the majority of consumers are not satisfied with the quality of services or goods and even agree to some costs, if only not to buy it. The purpose of marketing is to analyze the current situation, and try to understand whether marketing tools can change the negative consumer attitude to a given product by lowering prices and stimulating sales. With hidden demand, consumers may feel the need for services and goods that are currently not on the market. In this case, the goals and principles of marketing are aimed at assessing the volume of this potential market segment in order to create services and products that satisfy demand.
The situation of a complete lack or decrease in demand
An example of a complete absence or decrease in demand is a situation in which target consumers are not interested in a product. In this case, the task of the marketer is to provide its benefits, based on the interests and needs of the person. Sooner or later, any enterprise will have to face a problem when a certain product ceases to be in sufficient demand. The goal of marketing is to maintain the current level of market demand, despite the increasing competition and consumer preferences that are so volatile today.
The main principles of marketing based on its essence
The following main principles of marketing are distinguished in accordance with its essence.
1. Careful consideration of the dynamics and state of demand, needs and market conditions. Often consumers do not know what exactly they want. They only want to solve their problems as best as possible. Therefore, one of the main objectives of marketing is to understand what consumers really want.
2. Conditions should be created for maximum adaptation to the demand structure and the requirements of the production market in the enterprise, based on a long-term perspective, and not on momentary benefits. The modern concept of marketing is that the activities of the company (production, scientific and technical, marketing, etc.) should be based on knowledge of demand, as well as its changes in the future. One of his goals, in addition, is to identify unsatisfied requests and orient production towards them.
Marketing is the development, production and then marketing of what consumer demand actually is. The system of its production of certain goods makes it functional dependent, primarily on requests. It requires releasing them in the volume and assortment that the consumer needs. The decision-making center for the implementation of this concept is shifted from production links to those who sense the pulse of the market.The think tank, the source of recommendations and information is the marketing service, not only the market, but also the financial, scientific, technical and industrial policies of enterprises. Based on an in-depth analysis of the dynamics and state of demand and the business environment, the issue of profitability, prospects and the need for the production of a certain product is solved here.
3. Impact on the buyer, on the market through advertising and all other available means. Gunter von Brieskorn, a marketer from western Germany, describing the principles and content of marketing in one of his lectures, argues something like this. In his eyes, the market is the sea, on the waves of which there are consumers. Their behavior is characterized mainly by the vector of their needs, which undergoes frequent changes. At the same time, the market is our boss, and going to the reception should be well prepared. Consumer is our king, and we must comply with any of his requirements.
General marketing concept
You can characterize the general concept of marketing as follows: the total cash flow necessary for the functioning of the enterprise and the satisfaction of future needs is directed to the manufacturer from the consumer. The task of marketing is to ensure that one and the other, meeting on the market, are able to fully realize their needs and goals. In other words, marketing is the process of reconciling customer needs and company capabilities. Its result is the provision of benefits to consumers that satisfy the needs of people, and profit-making by the company that it needs to exist, as well as better satisfaction of consumer needs in the future.
What should be the goals of marketing activities?
Marketing objectives are the basis of marketing activities. However, they do not have to be commercial. Marketing objectives should be formulated in such a way as to be able to express them quantitatively. For example, you should increase the share of goods in the local market by the end of the year from 10 to 15% or get 30% of the profit. The more clearly the marketing goals and objectives are formulated and communicated to each employee, the greater will be the marketing service.
Goal Groups
In 5 groups combine his goals.
- Market (market conquest, market share, identifying promising markets) marketing goals and objectives.
- The goals can be actually marketing (the formation of public opinion, creating the image of the company, competition, profit, sales).
- There are also structural and managerial goals aimed at improving the management structure of the company.
- It is also possible to distinguish supporting goals and functions of marketing (sales promotion, price policy, parameters of goods distribution, consumer properties product).
- Another goal is to control the activities of the company.
Recommendations in the formation of the goal
The following guidelines should guide your marketing objectives. It should be as simple as possible, measurable, achievable, mobilizing, controlled, concentrating, approved by the organization, ranked. Marketing goals should provide certain incentives for those who have succeeded in achieving them, have those responsible for their achievement, and include precise timelines.
Types of marketing depending on the purpose
The following types of marketing vary depending on the purpose:
- consumer (consumer goods);
- industrial marketing (industrial goods);
- international;
- consumer oriented;
- oriented to the service, product or product;
- non-profit (the activities of organizations and enterprises that do not set the goal of profit for themselves);
- social (a set of different methods of implementation of social programs by public organizations and the state);
- micromarketing (activities of individual firms);
- marketing as a government activity carried out in the market.
What marketing principle can be considered fundamental?
The essence of the marketing philosophy lies in its principles. The fundamental one of them focuses not on the ambitions and needs of the producer of services and goods, but on the needs and demands of the consumer. This is the main goal of marketing. However, this declaration, very nice, could not be realized if all other marketing principles that determine its technology and management of its activities were not aimed at its implementation. Thus, thanks to them, the main goal of the marketing concept is realized.
Key Marketing Principles
We note some of them that are the most established.
- The concentration of enterprise resources on the manufacture of such services and goods that consumers really need in the market segments selected by the enterprise.
- Understanding the quality of services and goods as a measure in which they satisfy their needs. Therefore, unnecessary services (goods) cannot be considered high-quality. In addition, any difference in the quality of a service from another is not significant in itself, but depending on how significant the need is, which the service’s characteristic seeks to satisfy, a measured property.
- Consideration in a wide, and not in a narrow sense, of needs, including beyond the framework of well-known, traditional ways of satisfying them.
- Focus on reducing the total costs of the consumer, as well as taking them into account in pricing, in other words, dominating the selling price of the consumer’s price.
- Preference for a method that actively forms demand and predicts it, rather than reactive.
- The prevalence of long-term orientation.
- Continuous collection of information on market reactions and market conditions and analysis of the data obtained.
The specifics of open and closed marketing systems
Describing the essence and goals of marketing, we indicate their specificity in open and closed systems. In open marketing systems, every new contract, contract, exchange act that has been committed in the mainstream of marketing should bring income and / or other additional benefits to the society as a whole, and not only to the direct participants (if not to the whole society, then at least significantly wider groups and strata than the participants in a particular transaction). Thus, an external effect is included in the marketing goal-setting, socially significant - externalities. In closed systems, the self-development of systems and the stability of their existence depend on the presence of internal competition, as well as isolation from external competitors.
We hope that now the concept of marketing has become closer to you. The goals of marketing, as you can see, are quite broad, and their implementation is important for each enterprise.