What is Marketing ??

"Marketing is an Organisational Function, a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to the customer and managing customer relationship in ways to benefit the organisation and its stakeholder" - Phillip Kotler

Is Marketing an Art or Science??

Marketing is both an Art & Science.

Marketing is art because it is about appreciating the nuances of human behavior. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Beauty is art. 

Marketing is art because it is creating demand for your product. Some of the demand is immediate and some of it is in the future. You can use Science to predict the future part but you might pick a number based on art. There is always an unknown aspect that we attribute to art. Marketing is an art because there is an issue of Branding which is difficult to measure. To generate a good return on Marketing Investment requires a creative approach. That means applying the art of marketing.

Marketing is Science because it is about understanding & influencing behaviors. Psychology,  the science of behaviors studies how people respond to certain stimuli in predictable ways. This is similar to Newton 3rd Law- case - effects.

Marketing is Science because it is about measuring and analysing  numbers. How many do you reach? How many read your message? How many buy again? The numeric question and answers are important to the success of Marketing.

Marketing is Science because the most common question is "How much money should I spend on Marketing. The business owner and the accountant wants the answer to this question. It is good question but the more important question is "What return can you expect from your marketing?"

Many marketers try to portray marketing as art and give up responsibility for their marketing programs. They suggest that marketing is all chance. Instead it is a science that should draw upon the art. Use science to determine major decisions & use the art for the nuances. Importantly the science should lead and measure and the art should inspire & create.

Overview of Planning Process

The key components of the Marketing Management Process are the deep understanding of the consumer (called consumer insight) and creative marketing strategies. Developing the right marketing strategy requires a blend of discipline and flexibility...Marketing Organisation must not only adhere to the strategy and execute it flawlessly, they must find ways to constantly improve ti and keep it contemporary.

Marketing & Customer Value.

•  Marketing means satisfying the needs and the wants of the customer
• The aim of the business is to deliver customer value profitably
• While also being social responsible.

The traditional view is that a commercial organisation makes something and then sells it. Figure 2.1 on page 34 of the 13th edition of Marketing Management by Philip Kotler et al gives a diagrammatic view of the Traditional Physical Process Sequence. this may be applicable to markets where goods are in short supply and hence consumers not choosy about quality, feature or style.

The current view is that it all starts with marketing. A diagrammatic representation of the Value Creation & Delivery Sequence is available in Micheal Porter book's.

On page 35, figure 2.2 explains Micheal Porter's Value Chain that distinguishes between the primary activities and the support (secondary) activities of any commercial (manufacturing) organisation.

Core Business Processes.

• Market sensing: gathering and disseminating market intelligence within the organisation and acting upon this information.
• New offering realization: researching, developing, launching high quality offerings, quickly, within budget
• Customer acquisition: defining target markets, prospecting for new customers
• Customer relationship management: acquiring deeper understanding of, and building stronger customer relationships
• Fulfillment Management: receiving orders, shipping & collecting payment

Core Competencies

• It is a source of competitive advantage - it makes significant contribution to perceived customer benefits. 
• It can be applied in a  wide variety of markets
• It is difficult to competitors to emulate.

Corporate Mission

• What does the organisation exist for ?
• What is our business?
• Who is the customer?
• What is the value to the customer?
• What will our business be?
• What should our business be?

A clear thoughtful mission statement creates a sense of purpose, direction and opportunity among  employees, besides being essential to the corporate planning strategy process.