The advantages of a marketing orientated business are that their business sales will increase because the customer will want their product. Another advantage is that the customer will feel happy with them as they have better relations with customers, they understand their customers and finally the customers are satisfied as they are buying products that they want and desire.
The four marketing principles
Marketing has four important principles which are:
- Understanding consumer needs
- Communicating effectively with consumers
- Utilising new technology
- Keeping ahead of the competition
The first principle is to understand consumer needs. Organisations have to be really careful; the reason for this is because the market is changing at a quick rate so therefore they should have a look out for new products and market opportunities. If they don’t do that they can suffer a decrease of sales and may also lose customers. They should think about doing research such as questionnaires and surveys to keep in track of their customers wants. If the business doesn’t keep track of customer needs then they won’t know what the customer likes or doesn’t like so by this it could prevent in a loss of sales and also can lose the customer’s interest in the business.
The second principle is communicating effectively with consumers; this is where the organisation communicates to their customer in their own ways. This is depending on what they are focussing on. They have to do this right so they communicate to the right customers. For example, if you wanted to promote `facebook` then you would target younger age groups rather than older age groups. They would be most likely to promote it in places where younger people go such as colleges and universities. They can promote it by giving out leaflets to them. Also they can put up posters to promote.
The third principle is utilising new technology; this principle is very common now a days. Organisations use this to promote their products and services. They can do this by ways like pop ups and email marketing. The reason this will be a benefit is because a large majority of people use the internet to surf or research the internet.
The fourth principle is keeping ahead of the competition; businesses will always try to keep ahead of their competitors. The reason for this is very straight forward, so that they do not suffer a loss to their business. They can prevent this by basically following and making sure that the other three principles are done correctly.
Types of Organisations
There are several types of organisation including:
- Public organisations
- Private organisations
- Voluntary organisations
Public Organisation
(The Manchester College)
A public organisation is basically owned or controlled by the government, for example The Manchester College. The Manchester College carries out the four marketing principles. The first principle is to understand customer needs which they do by having a variety of courses for the students. Also they offer different timing of courses such as evening, part time and online courses. The second principle is communicating effectively with consumers; they carry out this by advertising their college in places such as on buses, newspapers and radio as this is the appropriate choice of advertisement. The third is utilising new technology; The Manchester College carries this out by using their website, email, sms and questbak surveys so they can get feedback from the students. The last is keeping ahead of the competition; The Manchester College have competition from other colleges so by keeping ahead of them they should offer a variety of courses and produce good results.
Private Organisation
(Coca-Cola)
A private organisation is basically owned by private individuals for example Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola carries out the four marketing principles. By understanding customer bringing out different variety of flavours. Coca-Cola communicates effectively by advertising on T.V, using celebrities such as Wayne Rooney and also giving free glasses as they know this appeal to their target audience. The third principle is utilising new technology, Coca-Cola can utilise technology by using ad-words on Google and using their website Coke Zone to attract customers. The fourth principle is keeping ahead of the competition, Coca- Cola have to watch out for their rivals such as Pepsi. They can do this by giving out new special offers so they can satisfy the customer needs.
Voluntary Organisation
(Oxfam)
Voluntary organisations are basically not for profit organisations. These are mainly charity based organisations. Oxfam is one of those voluntary organisations, Oxfam understands their customers by doing research into areas in need of help. They also allow the option to donate online to the customers. The second principle is communicating effectively with consumers, Oxfam carry this out by showing what they have done with the donations so they can get trust form the customers. The third principle is utilising new technology, Oxfam use their website, TV adverts, leaflets and also even use Facebook as it is popular. The fourth principle is keeping ahead of the competition; Oxfam has to ahead of their competition like Cancer Research. They do this by giving feedback to their customers and also keeping up with new trends so they can keep getting in their donators.
Marketing Functions
The broad areas of marketing which help with achievement of the marketing principles are the following:
- Establish a distinctive identity for a product or organisation.
Basically the main purpose of this function is to make the product stand out. For example if you see Coca- Cola they have made their logo stand out from the rest of their competition to gain more customers.
- Plan, coordinate and monitor the marketing mix.
The purpose for this function is to make use of the marketing mix (4p`s). The effectiveness of the marketing mix needs to be monitored and changed if the expected results are not acceptable with the business.
- Coordinate marketing activities effectively.
Purpose of this function is about three departments that are design, sales, and distribution departments. These departments have to make sure that they are informed about developments of the product.
- Manage changes in technology, competition and consumer tastes.
The purpose of this function is to keep a look out for changes in technology, competition and the consumer tastes. This is important so the business doesn’t fall behind and keeps in date with the trend.
E-marketing
E- Marketing is basically marketing but with the use of electronic methods more specific the internet. This is a very popular way to market. Organisations use this to set up their own business online. There are many examples for E- Marketing such as websites, email marketing and pop-ups. A website provides 24 hour marketing so by this the business can market when ever they want to. Email has a benefit that is the organisation can market one to one with their customers. This is basically were they send a direct email with their name on it so it directs straight to them. This is good because then it makes the customer feel more importance to the business. The last benefit is that it will make their organisation into global reach with e-marketing.
