Marketing has been defined by the American marketing Association as a term that denotes the form of activities and an assortment of institutions as well as processes of creating, communicating and also delivering and the exchange of offerings that hold significant value for customers or the clientele pool (and the entire society at large) of a particular company’s services and/or products. Marketing is normally perceived as creative industry entailing the common fronts and concepts of advertising, distribution and selling. As such this business organisational aspect also pertains to the mean so anticipating clients future needs (normally discovered through market research) and expectations and strategising to meet and fulfill them. Effective and feasible marketing models have been hailed for their fruitage and effectiveness in fostering long term relationship between business organisations and other non business institutions and the clientele base. The models play expediently into conceptual and strategic thrusts aimed at precipitating among other things, good will ad optimal service and product provisions and enhancing organisations’ image and communicating its culture. It is in this conceptual and theoretical framework extension that this paper has been drafted in the objective of; among other things, exploring the significance of marketing and its role in light of it s importance to the business organisation and the community within which the business establishment serves
The works of Reichheld and Sasser (1990) have made significant contributions to the bodies of knowledge in the subject of the significance of marketing for a organisation and the community within which it operates. Beyond the common place functionalities of marketing which are realised through the associative fronts of advertising (the four Ps), distribution and selling marketing plays a fundamental role in other principal organisation goal such as competitiveness and long term sustainability. Researches have illuminated feasible marketing thrusts results in high rate of customer retention, which stabilises a business establishment’s customer’s base for long term time frames.
The scholars in the works present their findings which entail that profit margin(s) in service provisions sectors and industries including credit card companies grew in proportionality to the longevity of a company’s marketing stratagem in relation to its yield of customer’s relationship with the service company. The scholars underscore in particular the incidences of MBNA in America. “Customer defections ‘swat’ team staffed by some of the company’s best telemarketers”. The scholars have mentioned that this amounted to a 50% success rate in luring clients to retain their credit cards. The scholars also indicate that a 5 % growth in customer retention raised average customer value by 125%. In the conclusion of the empirical data based conceptions on customer retention in e-businesses companies, Reichheld and Sasser (1990) indicated that, “cutting defections in half could more than double the growth rate of the average company.” This serves to illumine the critical importance of marketing of organisations survival and sustainability.
The works of Everett (1993) who also explores similar dimensions and dynamic have also spawned the broadening of perspectives in tehstudy of the importance of marketing. His work has laid invaluable ideas in the marketing studies owing to his notions on that a committed client retention unit designed by Patrick J. Swanick at the Society National Firm in Cleveland, attained a 57% accomplishment rate in influencing callers to continue with the Cyber oriented e-commerce institution. Everett has underscored that the success of the marketing model in this scenario involved the probing for causes for potential business failures and that the causes established empowered the e-firms staff to come up with feasible marketing resolutions. The success of the approach was further enhanced by adopting contemporary means of conducting effective marketing.
Various scholars have attempted to establish the relationship surmised between the aspect of marketing succes and customer satisfaction. The works of Reichheld and Kenny (1990), have explored the close relationship between the client satisfaction and the role of marketing. From another different yet related perspective the contributions made by Bowen and Lawler (1990) as well as that of Schlesinger and Heskett (1991) delve into the dynamics around the link between marketing versus the quality of service the customer get from their service institutions.
Some researches have also illumined the relationship that exists between the aspects of behaviors, skills and service quality and marketing. Zeithaml, et. al. (1990) has underscored the essence of adopting paradigmatic shifts form personnel management in way of enabling personnel to assume responsibility. (Schlesinger and Heskett, 1991) also concurs, “Personnel have to take responsibility, think for themselves and respond well to pressure from customers”. The works of Bowen and Lawler (1990), Reichheld and Kenny (1990) also reinforce the significance of empowering to take responsibilities and be at the fore front of problem, resolution in matter that relate to customers and the service provision interface. He details that effective marketing strategies must view the role of personnel as holistic such that the entirety of the organisation in all fronts is a marketing vehicle. This he bases on the critical importance of marketing in defining an organisation service and product provision culture among other fundamental functions of marketing such as raising awareness and keeping competitive.
Marketing also plays a significant for the role it plays in the community within which a business establishment operates. Marketing influences the culture of society throes channels of consumer behaviors and the role of mass media. This is illustrated in manner and lengths at organisational go at ensuring cultural and communication relevance where marketing is done especially in global markets. Kitchen (1999) states that a concept of effective marketing display-rules can help advertisers to appeal to global target audiences. Effective marketing consists of cultural rules that govern proper and improper ways to express emotion. In effect, these may alter or inhibit the direct expression of emotion in order to conform to the expectations of a social situation. In order to reach global consumers, art directors and copywriters take into account cultural preferences, global mass culture and impact on country of origin. Researchers state that privacy requires special protection by society because they represent indispensable conditions for an existence worthy of a human being. The general notion of privacy does not impede society from curtailing or even abolishing particular rights with a view to the promotion of overriding interests, often designated as belonging to “the general interest” or “the common good.” However, when interests are presented as privacy issues the use of this terminology implies that they cannot be simply discarded for the sake of overriding interests. Privacy is meant to be of a higher rank than rights not so named, and the purpose of this higher rank is to ensure that the social system serves those basic privacy interests which are indispensable for a life of human dignity.
Marketers are in a constant flux to develop new strategies and expand their markets and achieve advantages presented by economies of scale through globalization. The aim of every supplier all around the world is to effectively tap their target audience, to effective inform them of the commodity being offered and make a sale, many methods have been employed and revolutionized and of this the newest being digital advertising. This method provides the opportunity to easily manipulate and work with the content in hand. An example of this may be that data sent to mobiles and internet can be detected and traced easily. Online advertising has changed the realm of advertising in the past few decades by adding a lot more features to the conventional brick and mortar marketing could only imagine. Chief Executive Officer of the interactive advertising bureau (IAB) Mr. Rothenberg that the field of interactive marketing has been steadily growing and developed vitality and more areas of expansion are expected wince consumers in this age are spending double the time online compared to the past. (Potter 2005).
Marketing is an inalienable concept for business establishments to make headway in communities within which they operate. Similarly marketing can not be ignored by any society which seek tot be actively involved in those aspects that contribute to the shape and direction of society as power of marketing aspects such as adverts have pervasive effects on society. Other realities to be factored in cognisance of the foregoing entail the vulnerability of the especially y children and the youths to the influence of mass media and popular culture. Normally such aspects have presented more demerits than merits on marketing on the part of the society although organisations stand to befit from well strategised marketing thrusts.
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