Kotler.

Marketing is the management process that identifies, anticipates and satisfies customer requirements profitably.

The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).

The right product, in the right place, at the right time, at the right price.

Adcock.

Marketing is essentially about marshalling the resources of an organization so that they meet the changing needs of the customer on whom the organization depends -

Palmer.

Marketing is the process whereby society, to supply its consumption needs, evolves distributive systems composed of participants, who, interacting under constraints – technical (economic) and ethical (social) – create the transactions or flows which resolve market separations and result in exchange and consumption.

Bartles.

Marketing is not only much broader than selling, it is not a specialized activity at all It encompasses the entire business. It is the whole business seen from the point of view of the final result, that is, from the customer’s point of view. Concern and responsibility for marketing must therefore permeate all areas of the enterprise.

Drucker.

This customer focused philosophy is known as the ‘marketing concept’. The marketing concept is a philosophy, not a system of marketing or an organizational structure. It is founded on the belief that profitable sales and satisfactory returns on investment can only be achieved by identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer needs and desires.

Barwell.

The achievement of corporate goals through meeting and exceeding customer needs better than the competition.

Jobber.

Implementation of the marketing concept [in the 1990's] requires attention to three basic elements of the marketing concept. These are: Customer orientation; An organization to implement a customer orientation; Long-range customer and societal welfare.

Cohen.

What ever the experts definition you prescribe to or choose to follow you should always remember the following:

1. Your communications should be focused on the needs, wants, desires or problems that you can help to deliver, solve and supply for your key audiences or customers.
2. The very essence of these messages must be worked into every part of your organisation or business clearly demonstrating that you do what it says you will do every time an audience member or customer comes into contact with you.
3. It should never stay stagnant, but evolve with the changes in your market place and the world at large, ensuring that it keeps in-line with your customers or audiences needs, wants, desires and problems of the present, not yesterday.
4. Marketing is not just a profit driven exercise but a way for any individual or group to assemble a group of followers that share the same ideals or vision, whether its from a business or social perspective so don’t let its historical nature drive the perceived outcome, instead focus on principals that work and deliver you a desired result, what ever that is.

Why not share with us which definitions you’ve prescribed too in the past and why they have worked for you or not ?

So, define marketing then ?

In my post What Is Marketing I tried to describe a general sense of marketing, not just from the point of view of a single activity but the journey and obstacles faced.

This time though I thought I would try and look at the institutional references towards marketing whether they be associations, encyclopaedias or centres of learning and education etc. to try and understand how marketing is seen by the world.

My gut feel suggested that I was going to find a variety of views which may or may not conflict in some way, but I was pleased to find that on the whole there was general agreement, with a few interesting odds and sods.

I thought I would start my search with the good old internet and work my way through to other books and references if necessary.

So in the Wiktionary marketing is defined as:

“The promotion, distribution and selling of a product or service; includes market research and advertising.”

OK, short and sweet and it conjures up a reasonable pictures (on the surface obviously).

Moving on to Wikipedia;

I was disappointed to find that the only reference was to the American Marketing Association so I hoped over the their website and had a look at the Definition of Marketing page.

“Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. (Approved October 2007)”

The only thing that threw me here was the term “offering”, but I understand the vagueness of the term when you consider that marketing is not just a commercial activity used for products or services, its also used by governments or charities to raise awareness or bring about change where they are not necessarily selling anything.

Wordnetweb describes it as;

Marketing (the commercial processes involved in promoting and selling and distributing a product or service) “most companies have a manager in charge of marketing” marketing (shopping at a market) “does the weekly marketing at the supermarket”

Now I have never heard anybody popping down the shops to do their local marketing, have you ?

I then hoped over the channel to The Chartered Institute of Marketing where marketing is defined as;

“The management process responsible for identifying , anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably”

I had difficulty with this one also as its seems to be entangled with management which is neither here nor there as far as I am concerned. What is import is the reason for it and its outcome, how it gets done is another issue. I do however agree that marketing is important enough to be considered as not just a single task performed by one person but a complex web of people, skills, methods, channels ans do on that need carefully orchestrating towards a goal. The profit motive is also questionable (not for business though) when you consider that government and charities also use it.

So that almost brings us to the and of this little bit of research….”sorry, what”…..”oh!, how do I define marketing “…I hear you say (well you did ask for it having reading this far), well here goes;

“Marketing is delivering a message to your key audiences that causes them to act to the benefit of the message recipient and its source.”

More marketing defintions

Why not share your own definition of marketing…

Getting Your Message To The Right People

Over the years I’ve seen all sorts of marketing in many different formats, distributed through as many different channels selling different products and services to a whole bunch of different people.

My experience of worthwhile marketing is the kind of stuff that gets a great response because it’s like having your best sales person sent in the mail or hooking them up to the internet on a permanent basis, or having them give seminars or presentations that excite your customers every time without ever actually being there.

Carefully thought out messages that connect directly with your audience in a way that inspires loyalty or action is marketing success.

What I see all too often is emphasis placed on pure branding or imagery that makes the company look good but does not necessarily create a connection with its customers.

I think we all agree that people like to buy from people or from companies that understand them so we need to concentrate on the core principals before we start dressing it up, because nobody likes mutton dressed as lamb, especially vegetarians.

So, our jobs is to help those buyers find that “something” they desperately want or need and to give it to them and that means truly understand your market at a deep enough level where you can become like them.

Just understanding your customer and their needs is only the first bridge you will have to cross. Once over, you will need to connect with them in a language that encompasses their culture and style, clearly delivering benefits with effective calls to action.

Marketing is more than just your message, it’s about how its delivered and the impact it creates. It’s about doing things on your own terms, not on the terms of your competitors.

There are many low cost methods that you can capitalise on and exploit while mixing in selectivity and surprise to create an explosive package that many larger companies strive and fail to achieve every day.
Marketing is not about a single media, it’s about finding and using as many profitable channels as possible to generate as much business that you can handle that fulfils your customers desires and keeps them wanting more.

For example your web site should allow you to connect with your audience and give them the information they need to decide if you or your businesses can help them. It is a marketing tool by itself, and a very powerful and flexible one.

It’s a chance to demonstrate to people why they should choose you over anybody else and share with them your magnificent mission so that they can decided if it’s the same mission your are both working on.
Using tools like this and other techniques you can generate awareness about problems that you can solve for your audience or even meet immediate needs they may have.

Remember though, when building sales tools that can touch your audiences from a distance without you actually being their will require you to deal with preconceptions, assumptions, concerns and questions that they will seek answers too.  And if you can address them effectively by getting into the mind of your customer it will ultimately make it easier and faster for them to make a decision about you.

One way of doing this could be to support your claims with proof or evidence of what others say about you or what you have actually achieved which is always far more powerful than what you can ever say about yourself.

Marketing should be more than just raising awareness and getting new business, it’s about maximising your customer value and retention. Finding ways to create short term sales surges and fuelling word of mouth and adopting new marketing ways of reaching your audiences effectively.

To get the most from your marketing you will need a marketing strategy or plan which will keep you focused on these core ideas and allow you to tap into hidden opportunities inside and outside your business while you continue to advance your marketing efforts and ensure that your message reaches your audience, gets you noticed and the wheels of business turning.