The Scope and Importance of Marketing

To most people, marketing is often closely associated with advertising and selling of products. This comes as no surprise considering that these aspects of marketing are the only ones that the average consumers have experience with. There is, however, a good deal more to marketing than television commercials, advertising flags and internet ad campaigns. Marketing is not limited to goods or to profit-making products. Colleges, doctors, hospitals, lawyers, museums and other professional s and institutions also engage in marketing practices.

The modern definition of marketing is described as directing the flow of the goods from the producers to the consumers. All activities including produce planning, development, methods of letting the products reach the target consumers, distribution, price setting, promotions and many more are part of marketing.

Not so long ago, marketing was only an incidental concern for businesses. The main focus was always on production. Goods and services were made available to consumers with little concern for the preferences of potential customers. Consequently, the available products on the market were determined by production managers.

Current businesses are now more oriented towards marketing instead of production. Instead of creating something and making the consumers want them, businesses now put effort in determining  or anticipating what the consumers want. Plans for the products are then created accordingly. In short, what is produced is determined by marketing decisions and marketing managers have more power over company decisions compared to production managers.