Marketing

Marketing is a indispensable science in business that rapidly evaluated in the 20th century. It grew very fast in organisations and people in general are aware about this subject. Marketing managers use the marketing techniques and update them all the time. In general, people associate marketing with advertising or selling different products. But marketing means more than advertising and selling products.

Nowadays people are aggressively influenced by marketing by all means of communications. We see advertisements everywhere around us: online, TV, radio, etc. it can be said that people live in an environment of marketing and they end up having artificial needs. For example if people constantly see an advertisement of a new phone, even if they really do not need it because they have quite a similar one, they think they have that necessity. Then they buy the phone but not because they really need it but because they were influenced by advertisements, friends that already bought it, the artificial need to keep up with technology etc. all these are external influences that made a consumer buy a product of any kind.

In my paper I will have a look of Cadbury organisation and I will try to analyse the most important aspects of the marketing science with reference to Cadbury.

PART A

1.1.Literature review

Before 1950s the idea of selling was to attract customers for products made on norm (Druker,1955). After 1950, a new idea came out, that of customer orientation. This idea warns the marketer that to be successful in ‘competing successfully in the quicksilver of modern markets’ they should ‘not so much be skilful in making the customer do what suits the interests of the business as to be skilful in conceiving and then making the business do what suits the interest of the customer’ (McKitterick, 1957: 78).

This theory focuses of the fact that the business should only act on the interest of customer.

In response to this theory, Levitt elaborated the theory of ’’ marketing myopia’’ in 1960. Levitt argues that in the context of continuous growth, companies must consistently identify and act upon the needs and desires of their customers and not to rest their laurels on the presumptive longevity of their products.

So Levitt suggest that managers are blinded by the power if their product. This theory should apply only for short term, because for the long term the customer sovereignty would prevail.

Comparing and contrasting these theories, I came out with the conclusion that McKnitterick focuses more on the interest of customer while Levitt believes in the power of the product and doesn’t take into consideration the longevity of the products.

The most recent definition of marketing is elaborated by the British Chartered Institute of Marketing which defines marketing as ‘the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.’

A similar theory was elaborated by Evans and Berman(1990) stating that marketing is the anticipation, stimulation, regulation, facilitation and satisfaction of consumers and public’s demand for product, services, organisation, people, place and idea through the exchange process.

However, both theories try to comprise the essence of marketing, Evans and Berman is more complex taking into consideration all the aspects of marketing such as place ideas, process etc. the British theory takes into consideration mostly the profitability in other words how to do the best product for the customer to attract a big profit.

In my opinion there is a bit of true in every theory. Marketing can be seen in many ways, but in the end the general idea is the same: to advertise very well a product in order to persuade the majority of people to buy it. The most complex definition is the one of Evans and Berman(1990). It comprises the essence of marketing in a few words. The other ones deal just with an aspect of what marketing means.

In what concerns me I believe that marketing deals with psychology and the power of manipulation. None of these theories refer to the power of manipulating people. For example, Mondelez wants to promote a new product on the market. They will manipulate the people to buy it with different kinds of arguments like: it is healthier, better, refreshing, get the family together, try and you will convince yourself etc. All these aspects made up artificially create a need in our head and the result is that in the end manipulates us to buy the product even if we need it or not.