Business

Marketing functions: market and marketing philosophies

Before listing the functions of marketing, it is relevant to note that the main objectives of marketing activities is to fill these gaps or gaps in exchange, thus facilitating the flow of goods, services and ideas from producers to end users. In order for marketing to conceive and deliver a satisfaction package through an exchange process, it must take on some basic functions. These functions are divided into three types. Namely: Transactional, Logistics and Facilitator.

1. Transactional functions

These include the following activities:

(a) Purchase: Search and choice of alternative products or evaluation of goods.

(b) Advertising: Presentation and impersonal promotion of goods and services through the media.

(c) Personal selling: this is a person-to-person conversation and presentation of goods and services.

(d) Sales and marketing promotion: activities that stimulate consumer purchases and the effectiveness of distributors.

2. Logistics functions

These include:

(a) Selection of distribution channels and channel members.

(b) Transportation and storage and physical handling of merchandise.

3. Facilitating functions

(a) Product financing by providing capital

(b) Assumption of risks: maintaining or assuming ownership

(c) Market information test

(d) After-sales transaction: provide after-sales services.

A synthesis of the above functions shows that by performing the functions listed above, marketing creates four basic utilities: form, place, time, and possession utilities.

Form Utility: Marketing creates form utility by transforming marketing information into goods, services, or ideas.

Utility of place: this means making the product available where consumers need it.

Time utility: Have it available when needed.

In short, your marketing goals are to have the right product in the right place, at the right time, for the right person.

What is a market?

For the common person, the word market invokes the image of a place where buyers and sellers meet to exchange their products. This is the traditional view of a market. The meaning of market has been broadened to include new perspectives. These are captured in the explanation below:

Kotler (1997: 13) defined a market as “all potential customers who share a particular need or desire and who might be willing and able to participate in an exchange to satisfy that need or desire.” Nwokoye (1996: 7) defined the market for products or services as “individuals or organizations who have purchasing power and who are current or potential buyers of a product or service.” The two definitions show that:

1. A market is made up of people or organizations: commercial companies, non-profit organizations, and governments that take the form of buyers or sellers.

2. That said market participant has a common current or potential need.

3. That market participants are willing to participate in the transaction.

4. That the participants have the ability to participate in the transaction: purchasing power or something of value.

From the two definitions, it is clear that a wide range of participants are involved in marketing, namely producers, manufacturers or processors, farmers, retailers, consumers, transport companies, advertising agencies, market research companies and users. . There are different types of markets based on their shared characteristics. Examples include consumer markets, industrial markets, reseller markets, government markets, auto markets, regional markets, and international markets, etc.

In this article, the term market is operationally defined as a social system that facilitates the exchange of goods and services between individuals, households, groups, and organizations to satisfy their shared needs and wants.

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