Marketing and Customer
Chapter 1 Review Notes 1. Define marketing and discuss how it is more than just “telling and selling.”
Marketing is managing profitable customer relationships. The twofold goal of marketing is to attract new customers by promising superior value and to keep and grow current customers by delivering satisfaction. Hence, marketing is defined as the process by which companies create value for customers and build strong customer relationships in order to capture value from customers in return. Today, marketing must be understood not in the old sense of making a sale—“telling and selling”—but in the new sense of satisfying customer needs. If the marketer understands consumer needs; develop products and services that provide superior customer value; and prices, distributes, and promotes them effectively, this goal will be achieved easily.
2. Marketing has been criticized because it “makes people buy things they don’t really need.” Refute or support this accusation.
The most basic concept underlying marketing is that of human needs. Human needs are states of felt deprivation. They include basic physical needs for food, clothing, warmth, and safety; social needs for belonging and affection; and individual needs for knowledge and self-expression. These needs were not created by marketers; they are a basic part of the human makeup. Wants are the form human needs take as they are shaped by culture and individual personality. Wants are shaped by one’s society and are described in terms of objects that will satisfy needs. Although marketers do not create customers’ needs, they may influence their wants.
3. Discuss the two important questions the marketing manager must answer to design a winning marketing strategy. How does the manager go about answering these questions
To design a customer-driven marketing strategy, the marketing manager must answer two important questions: What customers will we serve (what’s our target market)? and How can we
Marketing is managing profitable customer relationships. The twofold goal of marketing is to attract new customers by promising superior value and to keep and grow current customers by delivering satisfaction. Hence, marketing is defined as the process by which companies create value for customers and build strong customer relationships in order to capture value from customers in return. Today, marketing must be understood not in the old sense of making a sale—“telling and selling”—but in the new sense of satisfying customer needs. If the marketer understands consumer needs; develop products and services that provide superior customer value; and prices, distributes, and promotes them effectively, this goal will be achieved easily.
2. Marketing has been criticized because it “makes people buy things they don’t really need.” Refute or support this accusation.
The most basic concept underlying marketing is that of human needs. Human needs are states of felt deprivation. They include basic physical needs for food, clothing, warmth, and safety; social needs for belonging and affection; and individual needs for knowledge and self-expression. These needs were not created by marketers; they are a basic part of the human makeup. Wants are the form human needs take as they are shaped by culture and individual personality. Wants are shaped by one’s society and are described in terms of objects that will satisfy needs. Although marketers do not create customers’ needs, they may influence their wants.
3. Discuss the two important questions the marketing manager must answer to design a winning marketing strategy. How does the manager go about answering these questions
To design a customer-driven marketing strategy, the marketing manager must answer two important questions: What customers will we serve (what’s our target market)? and How can we