The basics
Several attempts have been made to define
the elusive notion of marketing. A definition has to state what something is
and what it is not. Now I have tried to be further concise stating the characteristics
of the concept by three key aspects only.
The transaction
The starting point has to be the transaction
when the commodity and/or service – the product – is exchanged for money. The
industrialised economy needs communication, distribution, and information on
markets and users. Differentiating products is mandatory for adding more than
pure utility value – the metavalue. A number of functions combining for
differentiation, value adding and accessibility of branded products are joined
under the concept of marketing.
Transactions are triggered – there and then –
when the buyer finds that the value of an offer corresponds to the price asked.
Consequently, value is a key notion in marketing.
Value
The exchange value in commercial transactions
is defined:
The amount of any utility against which any given thing can be
exchanged
– or the amount of goods, services, or money that can be accepted in exchange.
In deliberate transactions the value is always
decided by the buyer and is relative and hypothetical until it is proved by the
realization of the transaction.
In the case of differentiated (branded)
products, the value is influenced by rational as well as subjectively
experienced valuing factors such as:
·
Practical utility
·
Accessibility
·
Pleasure
·
Supplier relation
·
Social identity
Accessibility/availability
Marketing has as its overall task to ensure
that the same differentiated product (ware and/or service) can be sold to the
same value on widely differing places. This demands distribution of the
physical offer as well as knowledge of it.
Branded products
Differentiated products – goods and/or services
– demand identifying names or trademarks to connect with value, influencing
associations to the producer/supplier as well as between owners/users and
buyers.
SUGGESTED DEFINITION
The above offers a scope for this concise
definition of marketing
Marketing comprises
the efforts of the supplying chain to add value and accessibility to branded
offers.
Read more on Value Marketing!