By Professor Chin Yew Sin

The vital role played by marketing has been consistently
recognised ever since industries commenced producing goods and
services for the end-users, i.e. consumers.

According to Drucker (1991), marketing is so basic that it
cannot be considered a separate or independent function.
Instead, marketing involves seeing the whole business from the
perspective of so-called "final" results viz. the customer's
point of view.

In other words, business success is not determined by the
producer but by the customer.

In our increasingly competitive business world, the importance
and benefits of marketing to organisational performance has been
greatly emphasised as marketing now becomes more critical to the
continuous survival and growth of companies.

Definitions

The term "marketing" was derived from its original form of the
vulgar Latin "marcatus", which means to trade or buying/selling
goods in market.

Even though marketing has been defined and conceptualised in
various means, the definition propounded by the American
Marketing Association (1995) that marketing is "the performance
of business activities that direct the flow of goods and
services from producer to consumer or user" serves a general
purpose.

Nevertheless, over the years other aspects have been augmented
to this basic definition to reflect current developments in
marketing.

According to Kotler (1997), marketing is typically seen as the
task of creating, promoting and delivering goods and services to
consumers and businesses; it is defined as a societal process by
which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want
through creating, offering and freely exchanging products and
services of value with others. Thus, marketing is based on the
following key concepts:

· Needs, wants and demand;

· Products (goods and services);

· Value, cost and satisfaction;

· Exchange and transactions;

· Relationships and networks;

· Markets; and

· Marketers and prospects.

It can be said that all marketing begins with the needs of human
beings, which relate to items that satisfy needs in one way or
another.

On the other hand, wants are specific items that satisfy those
needs.

A further step is when human beings have a demand for certain
items, which constitutes the ability and willingness to purchase
them. Products (goods and services) refer to items that people
use to satisfy their needs or wants. Products are actually
bought in view of the service or satisfaction that it offers.

In deciding what or which product (whether goods or services) to
purchase, it is vital for the customer to decide on the value of
the product that is capable of satisfying his needs.

In wanting to possess such a product, he has to pay a price
(cost). Hence, in making a decision to purchase an item, the
customer will consider both the value and the price.

After he has decided on the product he wants, it can then be
procured via the process of exchange or transactions.

Relationship marketing

As a result of this exchange process, what has occurred is
relation ship marketing, i.e. establishing long-term
preferences. This will eventually establish what is often known
as the "marketing network", which is the sum total of all the
supporting activities of a company.

The setting up of a marketing network brings us to the concept
of the market, which is deemed as the existence of all potential
customers who need to fulfill a need or a want and who might be
willing to do an exchange to satisfy their needs or want.

Finally, from the establishment of markets, we proceed to
marketers and prospects - those are actively looking for an
exchange and those who are willing and able to engage in an
exchange of values. Therefore, the whole process which
incorporates the various activities mentioned above, constitutes
what is commonly known as "marketing".

Marketing concepts: past and present

According to Kotler (1997), the development of marketing
concepts encompasses the following stages in chronological
order:

· The production concept is regarded as one of the oldest
concepts in business. This concept views that consumers will be
attracted to products that are widely available and low in cost.

· The product concept recognises that customers will be
attracted to products that offer the best quality, performance
or innovative features.

· The selling concept is based on the proposition that customers
if left alone will not purchase enough of the organisation's
products. A company must thus carry out aggressive selling and
promotion efforts.

· The marketing concept emerged in the mid 1950s. Basically,
this philosophy aims at attaining corporate goals via satisfying
and exceeding customer needs better than the competitors.


It is important to note that there is significant difference
between the selling and marketing concepts. According to Levitt
(1960), selling is focused on the needs of the seller, while
marketing focuses on the needs of the buyer.

Thus selling is preoccupied with the seller's need to convert
the 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.

In addition, Drucker (1993) also differentiates selling from
marketing by stating, "There will always, one can assume, be a
need for some selling. But the aim of marketing is not make
(sic) selling superfluous. The aim of marketing is to know and
understand the customer so well that the product or service fits
him and sells by itself."

· The societal marketing concept holds that the organisation's
task is to determine the needs, wants and interests of target
markets and to deliver the desired satisfaction more effectively
and efficiently than competitors in a way that preserves or
enhances the consumer's and society's well-being.

· The relationship marketing concept is defined as "getting to
know your customers (clients, public, etc.) better so you can
meet their ants and needs better".

Future marketing prospects

The advancement and proliferation of information technology and
the wide availability and accessibility of computers and their
connectivity has not only opened up boundaries between trading
countries but also unlocked the door of each home that has a
computer.

The PC has become a symbol of egalitarianism and individualism.
Moreover, the constant churning out if new technology is slowly
creating totally new human environment.

In light of this new development, internet marketing will become
more and more important in future. The Internet can be applied
by companies as an integral part of the internet marketing
concept because of the following factors:

· It can be used to support the full range of organisational
functions and processes that deliver products and services to
customers and other key stakeholders;

· It is a powerful communications medium that can act as a
"corporate -glue" which integrates the different functional
parts of the organisation;

· It facilitates information management which is now
increasingly recognised as a critical marketing support tool to
strategy formulation and implementation ; and

· The future role of the Internet; should constitute part of the
vision, of a company since its future impact; will be critical
to most businesses.
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· The author, a Malaysian, is a visiting professor of Zhongshan
University, Guangzhou, China and CEO of Oriental Strategy
Research Centre. He can be contacted at yschin@mailcity.com