Marketing and market orientation

Marketing

Marketing is the process of planning, designing, pricing, promoting and distributing ideas, goods, and services, in order to satisfy customer needs, so as to make a profit.

Companies point out how the specail charatericstics or features of their products and services possess particular benefits that satisfy the needs of the people who buy them.

Non-profit organizations have other, social, goals, such as persuading people not to smoke, or to give money to people in poor countries, but these organizations also use the techniques of marketing.

In some places, even organization such as government departments are starting to talk about, or at least think about their activities in terms of the marketing concept.

Words

Marketing /ˈmɑːkətɪŋ $ ˈmɑːr-/ ★★☆ S3 W3 n.

[uncountable] the activity of deciding how to advertise a product, what price to charge for it etc, or the type of job in which you do this

a clever marketing ploy

point out phv.

to tell someone something that they did not already know or had not thought about

He was always very keen to point out my mistakes

feature /ˈfiːtʃə $ -ər/ ★★★ S2 W1 n.

[countable] a part of something that you notice because it seems important, interesting, or typical

Air bags are a standard feature in most new cas.

possess /pəˈzes/ ★★☆ W3 vt.

to have a particular quality or aboility

Different workers possess different skills.

in terms of something

if you explain or describe something in terms of a particular fact or event, you are explaining or describing it only in relation to that fact or event

Femininity is still defined in terms of beauty.

the four Ps

The four Ps are

product: deciding what to sell

price: deciding what prices to charge

place: deciding how it will be distributed and where people will buy it

promotion: deciding how the product will be supported with advertising, special activities, etc.

A fifth P which is sometimes added is packaging: all the materials used to protect and present a product before it is sold.

The four Ps are a usful summary of the marketing mix, the activities that you have to combine successfully in order to sell. The next four units look at these activities in detail.

To market a product is to make a plan based on this combination and put it into action. A marketer or marketeer is someone who works in this area.

(Marketers can also be used to describe an organization that sells particular goods or services)

Words

packaging /ˈpækɪdʒɪŋ/ ★☆☆ n.

[uncountable] the container or material that a prouct is sold in

plastic packaging

[uncountable] the process of wrapping something for sale

the date of packaging

[uncountable] a way of making something seem attractive and interesting to people

the packaging of the company image

marketing mix

the mix of marketing actions used by a company, which are usually known as the four Ps: product, price, palce, and promotion. The idea behind the four Ps is that a company should have the right products for each market it is in, price them correctly in realtion to each othe rand to competitors’ products, use the best ways to deliver them, and advertise them to customers in an effective way

market vt.

to try to persuade people to buy a product by advertising it in a particular way, using attractive packages etc

If you could ever figure out how to market this, you’d make a fortune.

marketer /ˈmɑːkɪtə $ ˈmɑːrkɪtər/ n.

also marketeer /ˌmɑːkəˈtɪə $ ˌmɑːrkəˈtɪr/ n.

someone who sells goods or services

Market orientation

Marketers often talk about market orientation: the fact taht everything they do is designed to meet the needs of the market. They may describe themselves as market-driven, market-led or market-oriented.

Words

market orientation also marketing orientation n.

[uncountable] when a business concentrates on designing and selling products that satisfy customer needs in order to be profitable

Organizations which have a market orientation need to respond quickly to changes in the way people live and work.

market-driven/market-led/market-oriented adj.

market-driven activities, products, developments etc are a result of public demand for a particular product, service, or skill

one-driven/led/oriented adj.

someone or something is led or made by one

Additional words

by far/far and away

used to say that something is much bettor, worse etc than anything else

Watching sport was by far the most popular activity on Saturday afternoons.

Spring is far and away the best time to visit the islands.

It is the end of this time : )