potential transactions for a wide variety of goods and services.

The concept of a market also covers exchanges of resources not necessarily

involving money. The political candidate offers promises of good government

to a voter market in exchange for their votes. The lobbyist offers services

to a legislative market in exchange for votes for the lobbyist's cause. A

university cultivates the mass-media market when it wines and dines editors

in exchange for more publicity. A museum cultivates the donor market when

it offers special privileges to contributors in exchange for their

financial support.

The Marketing Concept

The marketing concept is a management orientation that holds that the key

task of the organization is to determine the needs and wants of target

markets and to adapt the organization to delivering the desired

satisfactions more effectively and efficiently than its competitors.

In short, the marketing concept says "find wants and fill them" rather than

"create products and sell them." This orientation is reflected in various

contemporary ads: "Have it your way" (Burger King); "You're the boss"

(United Airlines); and "No dissatisfied customers" (Ford).

The underlying premises of the marketing concept are:

Consumers can be grouped into different market segments depending on their

needs and wants.

The consumers in any market segment will favor the offer of that

organization which comes closest to satisfying their particular needs and

wants.

The organization's task is to research and choose target markets and

develop effective offers and marketing programs as the key to attracting

and holding customers.

The selling concept and the marketing concept are frequently confused by

the public and many business people. Levitt draws the following contrast

between these two orientations:

Selling focuses on the needs of the seller; marketing on the needs of the

buyer. Selling is preoccupied with the seller's need to convert his product

into cash; marketing with the idea of satisfying the needs of the customer

by means of the product and the whole cluster of things associated with

creating, delivering and finally consuming it.

The marketing concept replaces and reverses the logic of the selling

concept. The selling concept starts with the firm's existing products and

considers the task as one of using selling and promotion to stimulate a

profitable volume of sales. The marketing concept starts with the firm's

target customers and their needs and wants; it plans a coordinated set of

products and programs to serve their needs and wants; and it derives

profits through creating customer satisfaction

Among the prime practitioners of the marketing concept is McDonald's

Corporation, the fast-food hamburger retailer.

In its short, twenty-year existence, McDonald's has served Americans and

citizens of several other countries over 27 billion hamburgers! Today it

commands a 20 percent share of the fast-food market, far ahead of its

closest rivals, Kentucky Fried Chicken (8.4 percent) and Burger King (5.3

percent). Credit for this leading position belongs to a thoroughgoing

marketing orientation. McDonald's knows how to serve people well and adapt

to changing needs and wants.

Before McDonald's, Americans could get hamburgers in restaurants or diners,

but not without problems. In many places, the hamburgers were poor in

quality, service was slow, decor was poor, help was uneven, conditions were

unclean, and the atmosphere noisy. McDonald's was formulated as an

alternative, where the customer could walk into a spotlessly clean outlet,

be greeted by a friendly and efficient order-taker, receive a good-tasting

hamburger less than a minute after placing the order, with the chance to

eat it there or take it out. There were no jukeboxes or telephones to

create a teenage hangout, and in fact, McDonald's became a family affair,

particularly appealing to the children.

As times changed, so did McDonald's. The sit-down sections were expanded in

size, the decor improved, a very successful breakfast menu featuring Egg

McMuffin was added, and new outlets were opened in high-traffic parts of

the city. McDonald's was clearly being managed to evolve with changing

customer needs and profitable opportunities.

In addition, McDonald's management knows how to efficiently design and

operate a complex service operation. It chooses its locations carefully,

selects highly qualified franchise operators, gives them complete

management training and assistance, supports them with a high-quality

national advertising and sales promotion program, monitors product and

service quality through continuous customer surveys, and puts great energy

into improving the technology of hamburger production to simplify

operations, bring down costs, and speed up service.

A marketing orientation is also relevant to nonprofit organizations. Most

nonprofit organizations start out as product oriented. Thus many colleges

facing declining enrollments are now investing heavily in advertising and

recruitment activities. These organizations begin to realize the need to

define their target markets more carefully; research their needs, wants,

and values; modernize their products and programs; and communicate more

effectively. Such organizations turn from selling to marketing.

Marketing

In recent years marketing has become a driving force in most companies.

Underlying all marketing strategy is "The Marketing Concept", explained in

this diagram:

THE MARKETING CONCEPT (We must produce what people want, not what we want

to produce) - This means that we PUT THE CUSTOMER FIRST (We organize the

company so that this happens) - We must FIND OUT WHAT THE CUSTOMER WANTS

(We carry out market research) - We must SUPPLY exactly what the customer

wants.

We can do this offering the right MARKETING MIX "The Four P's". The right

PRODUCT at the right PRICES available through the right channels of

distribution: PLACE, presented in the right way: PROMOTION.

Nowadays, all divisions of a company are used to "Think Marketing". To

think marketing we must have a clear idea of:

what the customer needs,

what the customer wants;

what cruses them to buy.

What the product is to the customer: functional, technological, economical,

aesthetic, emotional, psychological aspects.

"FEATURES" (what the product is) + "BENEFITS" (which means that a company

that believes in marketing is forward thinking and doesn't rest its past

achievements: it must be aware of its strengths and weaknesses as well as

the opportunities and threats it faces in market (remember the letters

"SWOT")).

More about "The marketing Mix" and the "Four P's"

PRODUCT: the goods or service that you are marketing. The product is not

just a collection of components, but includes its design, quality and

reliability.

Products have a life cycle, and forward-thinking companies are continually

developing new products to replace products whose sales are declining and

coming to the end of their lives. A "total product" includes the image of

the product as well as its features and benefits (see below). In marketing

terms, political candidates and non-profit-making public services are also

"products" that people must be persuaded to "buy" and packaged attractively

(see Promotion below).

PRICE: making it easy for the customer to buy. The marketing view of

pricing takes account of the value of a product, its quality, the ability

of the customer to pay, the volume of sales required, the level of market

saturation and the prices charged by the competition. Too low a price can

reduce the number of sales just as significantly as too high a price. A low

price may increase sales but not as profitably as fixing a high, yet still

popular, price. As fixed costs stay fixed whatever the volume of sales,

there is usually no such thing as a "profit margin" on any single product.

PLACE: getting the product to the customer. Decisions have to be made about

the channels of distribution and delivery arrangements. Retail products may

go through various channels of distribution:

1. Producer - sells directly to end users via own sales force, direct

response advertising or direct mail (mail order).

2. Producer - retailers - end-users.

3. Producer - wholesalers/agents - retailers - end-users.

4. Producer - wholesalers - directly to end-users.

5. Producer - multiple store groups/department stores/mail order houses -

end-users.

6. Producer - market - wholesalers - retailers - end-users.

Each stage must add, "value" to the product to justify the costs: the

middleman is not normally someone who just takes his "cut" but someone

whose own sales force and delivery system can make the product more easily

and cost-effectively available to the largest number of customers. One

principle behind this is "breaking down the bulk" the producer may sell in

minimum quantities of, say, 10000 to the wholesaler, who sells in minimum

quantities of 100 to the retailer, who sells in minimum quantities of 1 to

the end-user. A confectionery manufacturer doesn't deliver individual bars

of chocolate to consumer: distribution is done through wholesalers and then

retailers who each "add value" to the product providing a good service to

their customers and stocking a wide range of similar products.

PROMOTION - presenting the product to the customer. Promotion involves

considering the packaging and presentation of the product, its image, the

product name, advertising and slogans, brochures, literature, price lists,

after-sales service and training, trade exhibitions of fairs, public

relations, publicity, and personal selling's, where the seller develops a

relationship with the customer.

Every product must process a "unique selling proposition" (USP) - features

and benefits that make it unlike any other product in its market.

In promoting a product, the attention of potential customers is attracted

and an interest in the product aroused, creating a desire for the product

and encouraging customers to take prompt action ("AIDA").

Direct Mail and Direct Response

Direct Mail

Shopping without shops or direct marketing has become very big business,

aided by direct mail, TV commercials and teletext, off-the-page selling,

the telephone, the computer, and the credit card. Mail order nowadays

better known as direct or direct response marketing. In Britain, direct

mail takes third place to press and television and takes up 10 per cent of

the total advertising expenditure. It is also an excellent medium for

international advertising when it is more economical to airmail selected

prospects than to advertise in the press which may be very limited anyway.

Confusion of terms can be avoided by remembering that direct mail is an

advertising medium but mail order (or direct response) is a form of

distribution, that is, trading by mail whatever medium is used for

advertising sales offers. Consequently, direct mail is not limited to

direct marketing: a retailer can use direct mail to attract shoppers to his

store.

Characteristics of direct mail

It is addressed to selected, named recipients or at least to chosen people

at selected addresses whether they be householders or managing directors.

The quantity can be controlled, the message can be varied to suit different

groups of people, and the timing can be controlled or at any rate estimated

within postal limits.

Because of the controls mentioned above, it is economical in the sense that

even the selected lists can be culled of unwanted addresses. De-duplication

can be applied when a number of lists are being used in which certain names

are repeated. It is also economical because in a mail shot more copy and

illustrations can be used than would fill a whole page broadsheet

newspaper, and at a fraction of the cost.

Unlike any other medium, except possibly the telephone, it is a one-to-one

personal medium, like a conversation on paper. Generally, people like

receiving mail, and if the recipient is well-chosen the mail shot will be

welcomed. This medium is also personal in the sense that sales letters and

envelopes can be addressed by name (personalised). Using special techniques

like laser printing, dramatic and colourful effects can be achieved with

the recipient's name inserted at various points in the body of the letter

itself.

A direct mail campaign can be mounted very quickly, in a few hours if

necessary given the facilities to write and reproduce a sales letter, and

pack and post it with or without an enclosure. It is therefore a very

flexible medium which can be used in an emergency.

For those advertisers who (a) have or can hire a reliable mailing list and

(b) need to supply considerable information, direct mail can be their first

line or primary advertising medium. In fact, they may use no other, except

perhaps sales literature as enclosures. Others may use press advertising to

produce enquiries or initial orders which provide a mailing list for future

use.

A direct mail shot is usually consists of sales letter and enclosures. A

sales letter is not just a business letter. It is a special form of

copywriting with its own techniques. The length of the letter will depend

on the extent to which the reader's interest can be sustained The letter

may present a complete selling proposition, or it can be a covering letter

referring the reader to an enclosure. The latter should not laboriously

repeat the contents of the enclosure but highlight special features of it.

Writing a sales letter we have a pattern to follow.

The main parts of a sales letter.

Introductory opening paragraph needs to capture reader’s attention.

The proposition is the heart of the letter.

Convincing the reader. There may be a price concession if the offer is

taken up quickly, or the offer may have a time limit.

Final paragraph consists of instructions on how to respond or order.

Adopting the above four-point formula, here is an example of how a sales

letter might be written.

Dear Mr. Brown

What do you do when your wife says the lawn needs cutting? Do you turn over

a new leaf in the book you are trying to read? Or maybe you take the dog

for a walk? If you haven't got a dog perhaps you pray that it will rain?

That's if you have an old back-breaker of a lawnmower that's agony to push

up and down the lawn on a hot day.

With the new Smith and Jones electric lawnmower you don't have to push. You

simply steer! The machine does all the work. It's a pleasure, really.

Your wife will be surprised how willingly you take your Smith and Jones out

of the garden shed. She'll probably have a drink waiting for you

afterwards, not that you'll be hot and weary. It will just be nice to sit

down with her in the deckchairs and admire that neat, trim lawn. Nice work,

Mr. Brown!

You can see the new Smith and Jones electric lawnmowers at the New Town

Garden Centre – open all weekend sо you can call in when it suits you. It

comes in a box you can put in the boot, and it's very easy to assemble. Why

not bring the wife along?

Yours sincerely John Donaldson

Manager

When writing a sales letter it is necessary to use language which is

appropriate to the medium, the product and the reader. The contents of the

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