The document provides an introduction to marketing concepts. It defines marketing as the process of moving products from concept to customer through identifying demand, price, and distribution channels. The marketing mix is also introduced, which comprises the four Ps - product, price, place, and promotion. Core marketing concepts are then defined, including needs, wants, demand, product, utility, cost, satisfaction, exchange, and relationships. The document also discusses different marketing concepts such as production, product, selling, marketing, and societal marketing concepts. Finally, it provides definitions of key elements of the marketing mix - product, price, place, and promotion.

1. Introduction of Marketing
Learning Outcomes:
Concept, Nature, And Importance of Marketing
Evolution of Marketing
Marketing Mix
Marketing Environment Concept, Importance, And
component.
Kumar Deepak Raja
Research Scholar
Mahatma Gandhi Central University

2. Introduction of Marketing
We use a large variety of goods and services in our daily life. These include
items like toothpaste, toothbrush, soap, oil, clothes, food items, telephone,
electricity, and many more. How do all these goods and services reach our
homes? Obviously, the business houses that produce the goods and services
have to ensure that these are to be sold, and so they have to make the
consumers/users aware of their products and place them at points convenient
to the consumers. This involves a number of activities such as product
planning, pricing, promotion, use of middlemen (wholesalers, retailers, etc.)
for sale, warehousing, transportation, etc. All these activities taken together
are termed Marketing.

3. Meaning of Marketing
Marketing is a business term that experts have defined in
dozens of different ways. In fact, even at the company level
people may perceive the term differently. Basically, it is a
management process through which products and services
move from concept to customer. It includes the identification of
a product, determining demand, deciding on its price, and
selecting distribution channels. It also includes developing and
implementing a promotional strategy incorporating both
outbound and inbound marketing. “Meeting needs Profitably”

4. Definitions
Collins Dictionary has the following definition of the term:
“Marketing is the organization of the sale of a product, for
example, deciding on its price, the areas it should be supplied
to, and how it should be advertised.”
Below is the American Marketing Association’s definition:
“Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for
creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings
that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at
large.”

7. Core Marketing Concepts

8. 1. Needs:
Existence of unmet needs is a precondition to undertaking
marketing activities. Marketing tries to satisfy the needs of
consumers. Human needs are the state of felt deprivation
of some basic satisfaction. A need is the state of mind that
reflects the lack-ness and restlessness situation.
Needs are physiological in nature. People require food,
shelter, clothing, esteem, belonging, and likewise. Note
that needs are not created. They pre-existed in human
beings. Needs create physiological tension that can be
released by consuming/using products.

9. 2. Wants:
Wants are the options to satisfy a specific need. They desire
specific satisfiers to meet a specific need. For example, food is a
need that can be satisfied in a variety of ways, such as sweets,
bread, rice, chapati, puff, etc. These options are known as wants. In
fact, every need can be satisfied by using different options.
Maximum satisfaction of consumer needs depends upon the
availability of better options. Needs are limited, but wants are
many; for every need, there are many wants. A marketer can
influence wants, not needs. He concentrates on creating and
satisfying wants.

10. 3. Demand:
Demand is the want for specific products that are backed by
the ability and willingness (maybe readiness) to buy them. It
is always expressed in relation to time. All wants are not
transmitted in demand. Such wants which are supported by
the ability and willingness to buy can turn into demand.
Marketer tries to influence demand by making the product
attractive, affordable, and easily available. Marketing
management is concerned with managing the quantum and
timing of demand. Marketing management is called demand
management.

11. 4. Product:
Product can also be referred to as a bundle of satisfaction, physical and
psychological. The product includes the core product (basic contents or
utility), product-related features (color, branding, packaging, labeling,
varieties, etc.), and product-related services (after-sales services,
guarantee and warranty, free home delivery, free repairing, and so on).
So, a tangible product is a package of services or benefits. Marketers
should consider product benefits and services, instead of the product
itself.
 Marketers can satisfy the needs and wants of the target consumers by
product. It can be broadly defined as anything that can be offered to
someone to satisfy a need or want. The product includes both goods and
services. Normally, a product is taken as a tangible object, for example, a
pen, television set, bread, book, etc.

12. 5. Utility (value), Cost, and Satisfaction:
Utility means the overall capacity of the product to satisfy need and want.
It is a guiding concept to choose the product. Every product has a varying
degree of utility. As per the level of utility, products can be ranked from the
most need-satisfying to the least need-satisfying.
Utility is the consumer’s estimate of the product’s overall capacity to
satisfy his/her needs. Buyer purchases such a product, which has more
utility. The utility is, thus, the strength of a product to satisfy a particular
need.
Cost means the price of the product. It is the economic value of the
product. The charges a customer has to pay to avail of certain services can
be said as cost. The utility of the product is compared with the cost that he
has to pay. He will select a product that can offer more utility (value) for a
certain price. He tries to maximize value, that is, the utility of product per
rupee.
Conti-

13. Satisfaction means fulfillment of needs. Satisfaction is
possible when the buyer perceives that the product has more
value compared to the cost paid. Satisfaction closely
concerns the fulfillment of all the expectations of the buyer.
Satisfaction releases the tension that has aroused due to
unmet need(s). In short, more utility/value with fewer cost
results in more satisfaction.

14. 6. Exchange
Exchange is at the center of marketing. Marketing management tries
to arrive at the desired exchange. People can satisfy their needs and
wants in one of the four ways – self-production, coercion/snatching,
begging, or exchanging.
Marketing emerges only when people want to satisfy their needs and
wants through exchange. Exchange is an act of obtaining the desired
product from someone by offering something in return. Obtaining
sweets by paying money is an example of an exchange.

15. 7. Relationships and Network:
Today’s marketing practice gives more importance to
relationship building. Marketing practice based on relationship
building can be said as relationship marketing. Relationship
marketing is the practice of building long-term profitable or
satisfying relations with key parties like customers, suppliers,
distributors, and others in order to retain their long-term
preference in business.

16. 8. Market, Marketing, Marketer, and Prospect:
A market consists of all potential customers sharing a particular need or want who
might be willing and able to engage in exchange to satisfy this need or want.
Marketing is the social and managerial process by which individuals and groups
obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and
values with others.
Marketer is one who seeks one or more prospects (buyers) to engage in an
exchange. Here, the seller can be a marketer as he wants others to engage in an
exchange. Normally, a company or business unit can be said to a marketer.
Prospect is someone to whom the marketer identifies as potentially willing and
able to engage in the exchange. (In case of exchange between two companies, both
can be said as prospects as well as marketers). Generally, a consumer or customer
who buys the product from a company for satisfying his needs or wants can be said
as the prospect

18. • Managerial Function: Marketing is all about successfully managing
the product, place, price, and promotion of a business to generate
revenue.
• Human Activity: It satisfies the never-ending needs and desires of
human beings.
• Economic Function: The crucial second marketing objective is to
earn a profit.
• Both Art and Science: Creating demand for the product among
consumers is an art and understanding human behavior, and
psychology is a science.
• Customer-Centric: Marketing strategies are framed with the
motive of customer acquisition.

19. • Consumer-Oriented: It practices market research and surveys to
know about consumers’ tastes and expectations.
• Goal-Oriented: It aims at accomplishing the seller’s profitability
goals and buyer’s purchasing goals.
• Interactive Activity: Marketing is all about exchanging ideas and
information among buyers and sellers.
• Dynamic Process: Marketing practice keeps on changing from
time to time to improve its effectiveness.
• Creates Utility: It establishes utility to the consumer through four
different means; form (kind of product or service), time (whenever
needed), place (availability), and possession (ownership).

20. Scope of Marketing
Marketing Research
Pricing
Advertising and Sales Promotion
Channels of Distribution
Financing
After-Sales Service

21. Marketing Research
Market research helps with marketing mix decisions. Research must be done to determine
client needs, tastes and preferences, interests, economic status, paying capacity, and
advertising efficacy. Data is collected, tabulated, codified, evaluated, and presented to
determine what customers will buy, why, and how much. Market research adapts items to
buyer needs. Customers are often surveyed. Marketing managers must participate in research
to utilize results.
Pricing
Pricing influences a company's sales and profitability. Cost of manufacturing, customer
paying capacity, industry demand, rival prices, and goal profit margin must all be considered
when setting a product's price. The price pays for the marketing mix's elements' contributions.
The marketing manager must assess and reconcile the many price-influencing variables
before deciding on an optimal price policy. Good pricing attracts customers.

22. Advertising and Sales Promotion
In this day of fierce competition, sales promotion and advertising have
become elements of marketing. It raises client awareness, piques his interest,
and boosts purchases. There are several sources of sales promotion and
advertising, and marketing management must decide which to use.
Channels of Distribution
Bringing together the buyer and seller and facilitating their exchange is the
essence of marketing. Distribution channels are an integral part of a complex
system that has evolved from cultural and social patterns in order to facilitate
exchange transactions. Marketers must decide what methods are best for
distributing their particular products. There are various media of distribution
like the retailers, wholesalers, department stores, chain stores, super markets,
etc

23. Financing
Without appropriate and affordable financing, marketing is tough. Money or
credit lubricates the marketing machine, as modern marketing requires
tremendous resources. Budgeting for marketing, getting funding for
operations, and offering financial aid to clients are all examples of financing.
In an era of global competitiveness, customer financing is a key marketing
strategy. To enhance sales, marketers must offer multiple financing options.
Commercial banks, cooperative credit societies, government organizations,
etc. provide marketing financing. Trade credit underpins modern business.
After-Sales Service
Customer satisfaction depends on after-sales service. After-sales service
includes free repairs, product returns or exchanges during the warranty period,
etc.

26. Production Concept
Production Concept is a belief that states that the customers would always
acquire products that are cheaper and more readily available (or widely
available). The production concept advocates that the more products or
production more would be the sales. In countries where labor is cheap and
easily available, production can be maximized while minimizing the
costs, hence increasing production efficiency.
Examples
India and China are great examples of the Production Concept of
marketing. China made sure that it increases its overall production
through manual labor available by mass producing and distributing
products across the world. Today China is one of the biggest exporters
of its manufactured product across the globe. What China did in
manufacturing, India did with information technology services by
mass producing talent for IT. Today India is one of the biggest
exporter of IT services.

27. Product Concept
Product Concept states that customers or consumers prefer product which is of
the highest quality, performance and features. Product concept is a mandatory
concept in order to give the best possible product to the customer as per the
demand and expectation. A product is not complete in itself and requires other
factors of business like marketing, distribution, sales, service etc. to be
successful.
Example of Product Concept
Apple is one company which works highly on product concept to get the best
products to their consumers. Apple's products are perceived to be very high
quality with innovative features and great performance. Customers go after the
products of Apple and that creates a marketing pull.

28. Selling Concept
The selling concept essentially mirrors the thought that consumers will not
purchase enough of the company’s products unless large-scale promotional and
selling efforts are carried out by it. Selling concept is one of the ideologies in
marketing like production concept, product concept, holistic concept etc.
The selling concept is used for goods that customers don’t buy normally, unsought
goods like insurance, etc. These goods are aggressively sold by tracking down the
target segment and sold on the virtue of the product benefits.
Example
One of the most common example of selling concept is the insurance industry.
Insurance companies spend a lot of budget in promoting insurance products
and selling efforts are very important part of it. Insurance agents and managers
promote the products at a large scale and explain the benefits to the target
audience

29. Marketing Concept
When it comes to the marketing concept, it is customer-oriented. It places customers
in the middle of the marketing process, discovering customers’ demands and wants,
then meeting those needs better than the competitors.
In this method, the marketer assumes that the customer is always right, and his
requirements and wants should be their priority. Here the marketing strategy
concentrates on producing a profit by satisfying the needs and wants of customers.
It supports a very simple strategy: marketers do not search for the right customers
for their product; instead, they build the right product. Thus, marketers seek to
bridge the gap between the consumers and the company’s products.

30. The societal marketing concept holds that a company
should make good marketing decisions by considering
consumers’ wants, the company’s requirements, and
society’s long-term interests.

31. Holistic Marketing
Holistic marketing considers a business and all its parts. It sees a business as one
entirety. As a result, it gives a shared aim and purpose for each activity within a
business. And to everyone related to it. It thinks about a business’s place in the
wider society. For example, where does a business fit into the broader economy?
And how it impacts the lives of its customers. Think of the human body that can
only function when all parts are working together. In the same way, holistic
marketing understands all the different parts of a business that need to work
together to operate at its optimum Consequently, this approach drives towards the
alignment of your business’s processes, services, systems, and customer touch
points. This creates a consistent and seamless customer experience on multiple
channels.

33. Marketing Mix
The marketing mix is defined by the use of a marketing tool that combines a
number of components in order to become harden and solidify a product’s brand
and to help in selling the product or service. Product-based companies have to
come up with strategies to sell their products, and coming up with a marketing
mix is one of them.
Marketing Mix is a set of marketing tool or tactics, used to promote a product or services
in the market and sell it. It is about positioning a product and deciding it to sell in the
right place, at the right price and right time. The product will then be sold, according to
marketing and promotional strategy. The components of the marketing mix consist of 4Ps
Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. In the business sector, the marketing managers plan
a marketing strategy taking into consideration all the 4Ps. However, nowadays, the
marketing mix increasingly includes several other Ps for vital development.

34. Therefore, the marketing mix indicates the appropriate combination of four P’s—
product, price, promotion, and place—for achieving marketing objectives. The
components are also known as marketing mix variables or controllable variables as
they can be used according to business requirements
According to Philip Kotler, ‘marketing mix is the mixture of controllable
marketing variable that the firm uses to pursue the sought level of sales in the
target market’
The original marketing mix, or 4 Ps, as originally proposed by marketer and
academic Philip Kotler & E. Jerome McCarthy, provides a framework for
marketing decision-making.[6] McCarthy's marketing mix has since become
one of the most enduring and widely accepted frameworks in marketing
In 1981, Booms and Bitner proposed a model of 7 Ps, comprising the original 4 Ps
plus process, people and physical evidence, as being more applicable for services
marketing

37. Product
A product is a commodity, produced or built to satisfy the need of an
individual or a group. The product can be intangible or tangible as it can
be in the form of services or goods.

38. Price
Price is a very important component of the marketing mix definition. The price
of the product is basically the amount that a customer pays for to enjoy it. Price
is the most critical element of a marketing plan because it dictates a company’s
survival and profit

39. Place
Placement or distribution is a very important part of the marketing mix
strategy. We should position and distribute our product in a place that is
easily accessible to potential buyers/customers.

40. Promotion
It is a marketing communication process that helps the company to publicize the product and its
features to the public. It is the most expensive and essential components of the marketing mix,
that helps to grab the attention of the customers and influence them to buy the product.

41. People
The company’s employees are important in marketing because they are the ones who deliver
the service to clients. It is important to hire and train the right people to deliver superior service
to the clients, whether they run a support desk, customer service, copywriters,
programmers…etc. It is very important to find people who genuinely believe in the products or
services that the particular business creates, as there is a huge chance of giving their best
performance.

42. Process
We should always make sure that the business process is well structured and verified
regularly to avoid mistakes and minimize costs. To maximise the profit, Its important to
tighten up the enhancement process.

43. Physical Evidence

44. Marketing Environment
Marketing environment is the combination of external and internal factors and forces
that affect the company’s ability to establish a relationship and serve its customers.
The marketing environment of a business consists of an internal and an external
environment.
•The internal environment is company-specific and includes owners, workers,
machines, materials etc.
•The external environment is further divided into two components: micro & macro.
•The micro or the task environment is also specific to the business but is external.
It consists of factors engaged in producing, distributing, and promoting the
offering.
•The macro or the broad environment includes larger societal forces which affect
society as a whole. It is made up of six components: demographic, economic,
physical, technological, political-legal, and social-cultural environment.
“A company’s marketing environment consists of the actors and forces outside of
marketing that affect marketing management ability to build and maintain successful
relationships with target customers”. – Philip Kotler