HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF MARKETING
Societies have moved from agriculture and individual self sufficient to an economy built around division of labour and specialization, urbanization and industrialization. It should however be noted that production for individual self sufficiency is not marketing because there is no exchange going on hence exchange or trade laid the foundation of marketing and is the corner stone of marketing.
This is clearly shown by the following orientation stages;
THE PRODUCTION ORIENTATION STAGE.
Here, the production process was a simple one with the main emphasis laid on production, which was believed to be in short supply, and the economy was characterized by shortages little or no attention was devoted to marketing and production processes were very local ie within neighbouring areas the function of a sales department in an organization was simply to sell the copanys output at a price(this was a period of up to 1930.)
At this stage the small producers began to manufacturer their goods in larger quantities in anticipation of future orders further division of labour occurred and a type of business developed to help sell the increased output ie intermediaries/middlemen.to facilitate communication and buying and selling, the various interested parties tended to settle near each other hence the formation of trading centers the main idea at this stage was to sell whatever was produced and this called for heavy/substantial promotional effort to be expended unfortunately, this was the period that the concepts of selling acquired its bad reputation(this was the age of hard selling ie the period up to 1950).
Modern marketing was born with the industrial revolution where there was growth of urban centers and declining rural population resulting in rural-urban migration. The emphasis here was on the growth of manufacturing enterprises because the market demand exceeded the available supply (demand greater than supply)but this has changed and supply has now exceeded demand shifting the emphasis from production to marketing.
The marketers must now embrace the concept of integrated/coordinated marketing management,directed towards the twin goal of customer-orientation and profitable sales volume.emphasis here is on marketing rather than selling.but,how well the companies have embraced the marketing is still questionable.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND HUMAN ORIENTATION STAGE.
The conditions of the 1970s led to this fourth stage, which was characterized by the concern for the society the emphasis here is on social responsibility on the part of the marketers for their survival in the industries marketers must therefore be concerned with creating and delivering a better quality of life rather than only a material standard of living. The rise in social responsibility as a concept for business was highly influenced by the rise in consumerism movement.
CONCEPTS OF MARKETING/MARKETING PHILOSOPHIES/MARKETING PRINCIPLES.
Marketing concept-this refers to the ways of business thinking that have evolved over time and they include;
Production concept-this is the oldest philosophy that has guided the sellers.it can be traced to the industrial revolution. Organizations produced in large quantities the belief being that consumers will favor products that are either available or were affordable. Manufacturers therefore focused on improving production and distribution efficiency. This philosophy is applicable when the following conditions exists.
- When demand for a product exceeds the supply.
- When the price of a product is too high and can only be brought down with increased productivity.
Product concept-this was a belief system adopted by business men before 1920.the belief was that consumers will favour products that offer the most quality(design ) performance and features to them. If u design a product in a way that looks attractive,consumers will have to buy the product.
Selling and sales concept/”hard sell”. this belief was developed between 1925-1950 and was commonly referred to as hard sell concept(companies using adverts to become the best ie out do the others)and it prescribes that consumers will not buy enough of organisations products unless it undertakes a lot of selling and promotional effort organisations must therefore advertise their products and employ sales persons to communicate with consumers with the aim of convincing them to buy the products this theory is applicable for unsought goods i.e insurance, microwave etc.ie it aims at informing, communicating and promoting a companys product.
Marketing concept.-this is a business philosophy that was adopted after 1950 and the philosophy holds that achievement of business goals depends on determining the needs of customers and delivering the desired level of satisfaction to consumers more effectively and efficiently than the competitors.the marketing concept stands on the following pillars/highlights/considerations.
Market focus/targeting-the firm must concentrate on one or a few key segments of the market and satisfy their needs.ie marketers usualy target the innovators as opposed to laggards in a market.
Customer orientation-the firm must carefully define customer needs from the customers point of view.this is important because a satisfied customer:
Will buy the product again.
Will talk favourably to others about the firms product.
Will pay less attention to competing brands in the market.
Is likely to buy other products that the company may add to its line.
integrated marketing-this means that the various marketing functions must pull together inorder to satisfy the customer e.g. well trained and motivated employees, good and efficient suppliers e.t.c.
profitability-the job of a marketer is to satisfy consumer needs at a profit.
