Define marketing.
- this is a tough one, since I am a market researcher by profession, I understand how formal and far fetched "marketing" is.
- My definition of marketing is: a team of creative individuals who work to promote and advertise the product to place it firstly in the mind of consumers.
- The problem with this is that marketing in theory contains these following activities also known as the 4-Ps
- Developing the product
- Pricing the product
- Promoting the product
- Deciding what people to sell the product to

One formal definition from the American Marketing Association is:
An organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.

http://www.marketingpower.com/

Philip Kotler (marketing genious and author of many text books) states: http://www.learnmarketing.net/marketing.htm

Marketing is human activity directed at satisfying needs and wants through exchange processes.

Based on these definitions, explain the importance of marketing in organizational success.

Marketing is key for an organization to succeed. Firstly, marketers create a need in the mind of consumers. If they do not have a need for the product, they won't buy it. Then, they have to come up with a product which will delight the consumers, and keep them coming back again and again. This is needed to build a long term relationship with consumers. If marketing gets them to purchase the product once, that is great, but marketing should work to make them into life long loyal customers.

Marketing is needed to create a way for the company to communicate with consumers. This is through advertising and promotions. Without communicating the message, there is no way for the consumer to realize that they have a need. It is all circularly connected - to get consumers to realize they have needs, they need to be communicated, and then the product needs to delight the customer to continue the exchange processes.

A key component is also managing customer relations. This could involve post-purchase activities, websites, contests.. A customer needs to feel involved when purchasing a product, especially if it is large and costly. Customer relations makes a customer feel appreciated, and that the company actually cares. This is an important thing to build since it will attract customers to a company for more then just the product. Any company can sell anything, but if one company offers benefits and makes the consumer feel good, then the consumer will shop there. A happy customer is a repeat customer.

Provide at least three examples from the business world to support your explanation.

Example 1: A company is coming out with a new product which will revolutionize the cleaning industry. It makes cleaning bathrooms effortless. This new product is launched, however, sales lag. It turns out that consumers are unaware of this product. Once a marketing campaign was launched explaining the benefits of this product, sales sky rocketed. Why? Once consumers realized that there was a need for a better bathroom cleaner (by watching the ads) they realized that they needed the product, so they went out to buy it. No awareness is equated to no sales.

Example 2: An established brand of toothpaste is seeing its sale's drop. No one can understand why. The product has been used for years, however, the company has done little advertising in the past few years because the product was so well established. Once a new ad campaign hit the waves, sales increased once more. Why? Well customers forget about products if they are not reminded. To maintain long term customers, they need to be continues reminded of the product - and they need to remember how much the product delights them, and how well the product performs. But re-establishing advertising, you reinforce the communication link with customers.

Example 3: A person is looking to buy a luxury car. They have the money, and they know that there are many competitors. Who would they go to? The end up buy a car with the company that has the best customer relations. They buy it at the place where they are treated with respect and class, where they feel involved in every step of the journey, where they know they made the right decision. After they buy the car, their relationship with the company does not end there; the customer can join clubs, attend financial seminars, attend wine and cheese events. All of these things build customer relationships which are strong and makes the consumer happy. And the next time the consumer is in the market for a new car, they won't shop around - they will go back to the same dealership.