Marketing(From: Sun Kun of Accounting English, 2008.)Marketing is a group of interrelated activities designed to identify consumer needs and to develop,distribute,promote,and price goods and services to satisfy these needs at a profit.Whether an organization is large or small,whether it produces a product or provides a service,its long-range future is linked to successful markting practices.The old saying "Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door"is not true. "They" must need the product,know about it,be able to get it when and where they want it,and be able to afford it.Marketing provides the means to make the organization successful in the long run.1.The Marketing ConceptMarketing was unheard of in the early 1900s. This period can best be described as one where far more people needed consumer goods than companies were able to manufacture.This intense demand on manufacturing led to organizations dominated by production management. Companies had a production orientation: where the number one priority is to produce a good to keep up with demand. All energies and talents were laced in the production function. Selling a good was incidental; determining consumer needs was unheard of.As manufacturers increased their production capabilities,the supply of goods available increased and inventories of goods developed. An emphasis on selling occurred. This need to sell led to a sales-dominated company-a sales orientation,whereby the energy of the company is focused on selling the products produced. The salespersio's job:(1)to make the desires of the consumers "fit"the products the company manufactures and (2)to convince the consumer to buy. The company's goal:to"send the out full and bring it back empty."As more producers began competing for consumer dollars by making such high-demand products as automobiles,vacuum cleaners,and refrigerators,the supply of goods began to exceed the demand. Companies had to find a way to identify consumer demand.Company profits.Companies that are marketing oriented have adopted a philosophy for the firm known as the marketing concept.The marketing concept is a belief that the companyshould adopt a companywide consumer orientation directed at long-range profitability.It includes the belied that all efforts of the organization should be directed at identifying and satisfyingProduction OrientationCompanies were essentially production-oriented from the latter part of the nineteenth century to about 1920. Emphasis was placed on filling the demand for basic commodities. The typical family had little discretionary income and there was little demand for products not associated with filling those basic family requirements.Demand was usually supplied by the producer's perception of what consumers needed. Product design and product line decisions were heavily influenced by manufacturing considerations.Management attention was directed primarily toimproving production methods,increasing output,and lowering costs. Sales OrientationThe period of sales orientation covered roughly the years from 1920 to 1950.With the exception of the years of the Grat Depression ,this period was characterized by gradually rising discretionary income,emerging demand for products,increasing competition,and the expansion of distribution channels.Although product decisions continued to be dominated by what the manufacturing department wanted to make ,the role of sales became increasingly important. With the production department capable of tuning out increasing quantities of goods through mass production techniques,company success began to turn on the ability of the sales force to move inventories.Market OrientationCovering the years from about 1950 to 1970 ,this period was characterized by a continuing shift in business emphasis to understanding and reacting to changing markets.The dramatic rise in consumer discretionary income following World War II created demand for new products and services. The mobility provided by mass ownership of automobiles encouraged the development of suburbs, new shopping patterns, and changes in distribution methods. Markets became more segmented and more complex. Product life cycles shortened.With these conditions,production people no longer were in a position to determine accurately what would sell. Selling skills were no longer sufficient to overcome the problems created when products were not attuned to a more discriminant market demand. In order to provide a better fit between marketdemand and company offerings-and in order to provide for better coordination of marketing activities-companies reorganized and assigned increased responsibilities to the marketing department.Marketing took on the role of analyzing markets and interpreting the needs, and manufacturing departments. More sophisticated aproaches were developed to fulfill the traditional marketing roles of product promotion and the management of distribution channels. The role of marketing in pricing increased.And finally, the marketing department became the focal point for the development of corporate strategies needed to adjust to market change.Societal OrientationWhen managements adopted the marketing concept, they could not foresee the environmental problems or the changes in society's values that would raise questions about the market orientation philosophy. In terms of what we now know about pollution, the finiteness of raw materials, and the apparent inability of our economic system to eliminate poverty, some people question whether what is good for the individual consumer is always good for society.Increasingly, national policy-and, in turn, business policy-is tempering concern for the consumer with concern for society as a whole. Thomas A. Murphy, chairman of General Motors, addressed this dilemma when he said , "We may have let ourselves grow out of touch with the customer's need for continued satisfaction in a time of heightened expectations and the society's concern for environmental improve-ment and energy conservation."Marketing policies attuned to serving the market as the market wants to be served continue to represent modern company policy. But we are also seeing market-oriented decisions modified by societal concerns, as a result both of law and of responsible management policies.2.Channels of distributionEfficient production methods, coupled with skilful marketing ,may have ensured that we can produce goods or services cheaply and that there is a market for them. There remains the vitally important question of how we actually get our goods and services to the customer.Direct sales to CustomersThis ,of course, is the oldest form of distribution and in many trades it remains the most important. However, it can be a very awkward one in somebusinesses such as manufacturing. Customers especially private buyers, are unlikely to go to a factory to buy what they want, and manufacturing firms , at least one company seeking to sell its chains of petrol filling stations in the mid 1980s.There are other trades where producers sell directly to customers. In some cases this is because producers find it advantageous to control the final retail stage and be in a position to offer a complete service, including after-sales service,to the customer.In other industries producers may sell directly to consumers through factory shops, farm shops ,"pick-your-own" arrangements at farms,by mail order or any other scheme that business ingenuity may devise.Organized MarketsAfter direct selling ,markets represent the oldest form of trade from producer to consumer. Here we have in mind not the ratail mardets found in many towns on "market days" but the markets where producers and traders, especially the traders in commodities make their deals . These markets , located in many of the world's major trading centers , including London where most of the main British commodity exchanges are found ,bring together producers and traders who wish to buy in bulk for onward Distribution to the final customer.By commodities we mean goods such as tin, copper , zinc and other metals or bulk foodstuffs like tea, coffee, wheat and cocoa. What distinguishes commodities is that they tend to be sold on the basis of objective descriptions , such as " Brazilian coffee" or "Sri Lankan tea", rather than according to some brand name, though, of course, the experienced buyer will be able to distinguish high and low quality goods according to their source or to a wholesaler.WholesalingThe markets we have just outlined are wholesale markets . Wholesaling involves purchasing goods in large quantities from the producer or importer and selling in smaller quantities to the retailer, or sometimes, to another wholesaler or dealer. A service is provided as the producer prefers to deal with large orders and the retailer in smaller purchases. There are ,however, other services provided by wholesaling besides this 'breaking bulk.Conventional wholesaling has declined in importance in recent decades. The functions of wholesaling still have to be undertaken but are now often less important than in the past and where they remain essential are often carried out by manufacturers, or, more noticeably, by retailers. The growth of large chains inretailing has often been made possible by the incorporation of wholesaling and retailing within the one organization.Develoments in production methods, in transport and communications have all contributed to this process . When flour was sold by millers in large sacks, breaking bulk was a necessary service for small shops selling to ordinary households. Modern machines have no difficulty in packing flour in paper bags at the end of the production line. Motorway transport, the telephone and telex have brought retailer and manufacturer closer together and the wholesaler's warehousing is not always essential to bridge the gap between them. AgentsAgents may offer an alternative to wholesalers. An agent acts on behalf of another, the principal. The role of the agent in distribution is to take over the work of distribution from the manufacturer. In some ways agents may act much like a wholesaler; in other ways they may act like a retailer and sell to the final customer. Agents can be particularly important in servicing foreign markets where they have special local knowledge.FranchisingThis is a growing form of distribution. A franchise gives the sole right to serve a locality with a particular good or service. Agents often hold sole franchises.The modern trend in franchising is for producers carefully to develop and market the product, including the organization of advertising,and then to leave the retail stage to a franchised independent firm. The franchise holder normally has to pay for the franchise. In return they receive a wide range of services from the producer. The shop will be laid out according to a distinctive pattern. Special equipment will be provided,training given and exclusive supplies of materials provided.Franchising has been particularly important in some service trades such as fast foods. Its supporters claim that it combines the individual'entrepreneurship' of the independent franchise holder with the economies of large scale production, advertising and so on. It also provides a role for small firms and personal initiative in an economy which often seems to be dominated by large organizations . The system's critics claim that large producers favor it as it gives them retail outlets and retail management at very low cost. It can also lead to frustrated expectations among the franchise holders who will never truly be 'their own bosses.The marketing MixAs with all business decisions, there is no one right form of distribution andno one right approach to marketing a firm's products. Indeed a single firm may choose different ways of marketing different products. Marketing and distribution managers must choose a combination of different strategies in response to an environment in which a number of forces, many of them beyond their control, are at work. The chosen marketing mix (or market mix) of price, distribution channel, advertising and product promotion must be the result of careful analysis of the environment, the available strategies and the nature of the firms product.市场营销市场营销是一组相互关联的活动，用于确定消费者的需求并对商品和服务进行开发、分销、促销和给产品和服务定价，从而在赢利的前提下满足这些需求。
