What is Marketing?

Dr. Philip Kotler defines marketing as “the science and art of exploring, creating, and
delivering value to satisfy the needs of a target market at a profit.

Marketing versus advertising

Marketing encompasses all the activities and processes a company undertakes to promote and
sell products or services. It involves market research, product development, pricing strategies,
distribution, sales, and customer service. Essentially, marketing is the entire journey a
product takes from conception to the hands of the consumer.

Key Components of Marketing:

 Market Research: Identifying target audiences and understanding their needs and
preferences.
 Product Development: Creating products or services that meet market demands.
 Pricing: Setting prices based on market conditions and competitive analysis.
 Distribution: Deciding how and where products will be sold.
 Sales Strategy: Developing plans to increase sales and reach customers effectively.
 Customer Service: Providing support and ensuring customer satisfaction.

Advertising

Advertising is a subset of marketing and refers specifically to the process of creating and
delivering messages to promote products or services. It involves the use of paid channels
such as TV, radio, print, online ads, and social media to reach target audiences and persuade
them to take action.

Key Components of Advertising:

 Creative Content: Designing compelling messages and visuals to capture attention.

 Media Planning: Choosing the right platforms and channels to deliver ads.
 Budget Management: Allocating funds for advertising campaigns.
 Targeting: Identifying the right audience for specific ad messages.
 Performance Tracking: Measuring the effectiveness of ads through metrics like
impressions, clicks, and conversions.

In summary, marketing is a broad strategy that includes various activities to promote and sell
products, while advertising is a focused effort within that strategy aimed at communicating
with consumers through paid media channels.
Marketing Mix Variables

Marketing mix variables can be defined as all those activities and actions involved in
identifying the needs and wants of consumers, producing those needs and wants, putting in
mind the consumers’ satisfaction, value of the product and how such goods will be moved
from the point of production to the point of distribution and consumption. Hence from the
above discussion, Marketing Mix can be defined as the set of activities, actions, or a set of
controllable and tactical marketing tools that a company or an organization uses to promote
its brand or product in the market as well produce a desired response from its target market. It
is about putting the right product or a combination in a place, at the right time, and at the
right price. Marketing Mix is associated with the 4Ps of marketing.

The 4Ps of marketing include the following:

 Product
 Price
 Place
 Promotion

1. PRODUCT

As discussed in our previous class lecture, marketing is about research and continuous
research. I told you that the first step of marketing discipline is conducting research to
identify the consumer needs and wants. It is the task of marketing organization to meet the
needs, wants and services of its consumers and any other group who engage in its marketing
relationship, the urge and zeal to satisfy the needs and wants of such consumers is what gives
rise to the concept of product.

What is a product? A product is referred to as any item built or produced to satisfy the needs
of a certain group of people or the target market. Products can be classified into two namely:
[a] Tangible products and [b] Intangible products. Tangible products are those products that
can be seen, felt, tasted and touched. Examples of such products include: books, food stuffs,
furniture, clothes, cars, shoes, electronics, etc... while intangible products can be referred to
as services which are being rendered to consumers. Examples of such services include:
laundering service, cleaning service, car wash service, fumigation service, medical service,
auto service, transportation service etc...

An organization must ensure it has the right type of product that is available in demand for
its market. One important thing to note is that a marketer must create the right product mix
and offer a better product to its target market than its competitors will do. While researching
on the products to offer the target market, an organization or a marketer needs to take into
consideration the following:
  What does my clients or target market want to derive from my service or product? It
means your product must address their needs and meet their expectations, if you are
offering them drugs, make sure it is able to cure the supposed illness it is meant for.
 How will the consumers use the product or enjoy the service to give them the desired
result? Ensure you put the guidelines on how such drugs should be administered or
taken for them to achieve the desired results.
 What features must the product have to meet the clients’ needs?
 What name will I give the product? You need to make sure that the product’s name is
attractive, catchy and captivating. Ensure that it’s a name that your consumer can
remember easily.
 Consider producing various sizes, shapes, colours, flavours, fragrances etc...
 How will your product be different from other competitors? Ensure you have a
distinct feature that will differentiate your product from other competitors especially
the competitors with similar products using the same concept with you.

All these are what a marketer must take into consideration when planning or developing a
product to offer a target market. This will serve as guideline to what and how he should go
about the production.

2. PRICE

Price is the value that is offered for a product either tangible or intangible, it is the amount
that a customer pays for or offers to enjoy a product or service. Price is a vital element of the
marketing mix because it is about making profit. Price determines the business organization’s
profit, growth and survival. One important thing to note is that if you are newly introducing a
product into the market, you are likely not to make the price high because doing so will affect
the sales and the demand of such product. At the same time, you are likely not to make it too
low compare to what your competitors are offering theirs so as not to make it look inferior to
your consumers. There is a belief and a fact that price shape the perception of your product in
the eye of your consumers, this means that when purchasing a product, some consumers
based the quality of the product on the price, they believe that a product with high price is of
quality and durability while the product with low price will prove fake, but this is not always
like that, your pricing will depend on the overall cost of production so as a marketer you
have to ensure you check for your competitor’s prices before fixing your own price.

In deciding the fixture of your product price, you need the following as guidelines:

 How much did it cost to produce the product? This will include the cost of raw
materials, transportation of raw materials from where it was purchased, cost of
labour, and cost of production and packaging, cost of distribution etc...
 What are the customers perceived product value? This means how do the consumer
perceive the product price, this will depend on their level of income and exposure,
for example a student of Federal Polytechnic Offa will prefer to go to owode market
to purchase a Gucci chiffon top or cloth of grade A from second hand sellers at the
 rate of #700 rather than placing an order for the same new Gucci top from Amazon
online market for #8,000
 Can your price keep up with the price of the competitor?

3. PLACE

Immediately a product is been produced, marketers need to create an avenue through which
the products can easily get to the consumers, this is because no matter how good a product is,
the moment it cannot get to the proposed consumers or target market at the convenient and
the right place or location where they can easily get it, the aim of the marketing may be
defeated. Therefore, the term ‘Place’ refers to the distribution channel that a marketer or an
organization finds most suitable to and appropriate for the distribution of the product down to
the target market. In marketing, place can be divided into two:

a) Channel of distribution: channel of distribution refers to the routes, avenue or

pathways through which goods and services flow, or move from producers to
customers. It is critically important that marketers understand channels of distribution
and that they are able to have distribution facilities that will enable them to reach their
market target effectively. The route taken by goods and services include the
manufacturer, intermediaries, and the ultimate consumer. Intermediaries in the
channels include wholesalers, retailers who take little and market on their own
account, and various kinds of agents such as brokers, manufacturers or commission
sellers who do not take little but who still aid marketing flows and exchanges.

[b] Physical distribution: physical distribution involves the management process of

planning, organising, implementing and controlling those activities related to physical
handling of goods, order process, inventory management, transportation,
storage/warehousing to facilitate the flow of materials and final goods from the source
of production to the points of use to meet consumers need at a profit. A large number
of tasks are involved in physical management, packaging storage/warehousing, order
processing, transportation, customer service.

As a marketer, you need to analyse the customer and their needs, discuss and finalize the
channel objectives as well as work out distribution tasks and processes. To do this, you need
to take the following into consideration.

 Where do consumers/clients look for your product? Ensure you have a location which
is easily accessible to your consumers.
 What kind of store will your consumers prefer? If it is a physical store, will it be a
mall, supermarket or a brick store?
 Will the consumers prefer to shop online?
 How do you access your different distribution channels? Ensure you are able to
manage all your distribution channels at all times, always ready to attend to the need
of your consumer at any point in time irrespective of your location.
  Do you need to attend trade fairs? You may also need to attend a trade fair to
showcase your products and make it more popular especially for those who are yet to
know about your product. A trade fair is an exhibition organized so that various
companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products
and services, meet with industry partners and customers, study the activities of
competitors and examine recent market trends and opportunities.

4. PROMOTION

Promotion is a very significant aspect of the marketing mix, after you have produced the best
product, packaged it beautifully and brilliantly, give it the right price, distributed it
magnificently, all these would be a waste if nobody knows about the product or if you as a
marketer fails to make the product known. For people to know about the beautiful and skilful
work you have done, you need to create what we call awareness, which is about promotion.

Therefore, promotion includes all activities and actions aimed at creating awareness,
stimulate interest and persuade consumers to buy a particular product. Such activities involve
decisions on advertising programme of the marketer, personal selling strategies, sale
promotion methods and publicity programme. There are numbers of different kind of
promotional channels which are discussed below.
1. Advertising – This is defined as any paid form of non-personal presentation and
promotion of ideas, goods and services by an identified sponsor and can be in form of
the following:

 Radio- Radio is a very effective tool of advertising, though it is inexpensive but

can go a long way to reach local customers and inform them about your products
or service.

 Television - This option is more costly but if you want your advertisement to
reach customers in regional, national or international level, then television would
be the best option because it combines both visual and sound ability.

 Print – This can be in form of direct mail or printed materials which include
newspapers, magazines, publications, flyers, brochures, letters etc...

 Electronic – This is a means of advertising electronically through the company

websites giving out information about your company which will include your
products or service, addresses, information about each department of your
organization etc... Most marketers today have websites where they introduce
their products. Potential and current customers can easily visit such website to
access any information they need to know about such company or organization.
  Word of mouth – This is a means through which a convinced or satisfied
customer tells another about a product. Such action is usually followed by the
satisfaction derived from the consumption of a particular product.

2. Sales Promotion – This method is done through special offers with a plan to attract
consumers or the target market to buy the products. This method can include free
samples of such products, coupons, loyalty programs, contest, prizes and huge
discounts o products. It could also include trainings and seminars organized by
companies or organizations for their consumers. This is a way of sensitizing or
educating the consumers about a new product or upgrade on an existing product. Sales
promotion also includes trade fair shows and exhibitions of products which can also
be done through social networking.

3. Public Relations – This is an act of building a favourable image for your company or
business, this could be done through organizing or being involved in community
activities, you can also hold press conferences and engage the local media as part of
your promotional strategy.

EXPANSION FROM 4Ps TO 7Ps

The 4Ps of marketing is however extended which brings the number of the Ps to 7 and which
are as follows:
5. People – People comprise of the target market and people directly related to the
business. As a marketer, you need to research thoroughly to find out whether
there are enough people in your target market that is in demand for your products
and services, the company’s employees are important in marketing because they
are the ones who deliver the service. As a marketer it is important for you to hire
and train the right people so as to deliver superior service to the clients and target
market. For example, a big restaurant will want to employ and train experienced
chefs so as to deliver perfect service, a bank will want to employ persons with
accounting experience, a fashion designing company will want to employ and
train those with experience in fashion and designing.
It is believed that the highly trained employees will perform the best. In addition, the loyal
consumers will be more open to honest feedback about the business and input their own
thoughts about the business or service and therefore input their passion which can scale and
grow the business or organization.

6. Physical Evidence – Being a tangible or intangible product or service, a business

needs physical evidence. Physical evidence refers to everything your customers
see when interacting with your business. These includes the following:
 The Physical Environment – This means the location of your business or company
where you provide or produce the products or services.
  The Layout or Interior Design – This includes the layout and the decoration, the
furnishing, etc... For example, an hotel or an event centre is expected to be well
illuminated with various colours of lights, designs etc...
 Packaging – This refers to how your product is......
 Branding – Branding is creating a unique name, symbol, image or logo, design or
any other features that differentiate and identifies your product from other
products or that of competitors in the market.
 Service - This is about service delivery and it includes how you relate with and
treat your consumers.
 Staff /Employees and their mode of dressing – This includes your staff attitude to
consumers, employees or staff attitude to the consumers usually have a lot of
influence on your consumers especially when such service involves
communicating with customers and clients. A receptionist should always put on a
smiling face no matter what, so also an air hostess must always look charming.
As an organization, always ensure that your employees’ mode of dressing speaks a lot about
your organization especially when your job is service delivery. Most consumers are attracted
by the dress code of a service delivery business. Examples of such service could be hotel
service, air hostess, catering service, security service, etc...

7. Personal Selling – This is the last P that a marketer must include in its marketing
mix, for you to achieve a strong sales force, personal selling is very important, it is
about employing salespersons to promote and sell your product, salespersons play
a vital role in building and moulding a customer relationship through well planned
communication. This method though can be a bit costly but effective because it
involves hiring highly skilled and professional salespersons for such promotion,
but if done right, the profit gain could definitely outweigh the cost. A good and
well-coordinated personal selling effort helps a lot in delivering and distribution
of the product and at the same time it ensures customer satisfaction.

COMMUNICATION IN MARKETING

Communication can be defined as a transfer of ideas from the sender to the receiver. The
Encyclopaedia Britannica defines communication as the exchange of meanings between
individuals through a common system of symbols. Communication is an exchange of
facts, opinions or emotions by two or more persons. Communication can also be defined
as intercourse through words, letters, symbol or messages and as a way through which the
member of an organization shares meaning and understanding with one another.

With the above definitions, it is pertinent to know that there is no marketing without
communication simply because communication must take place for marketing to be
effective. Marketing in this modern world has gone beyond developing a product, pricing
 it and making it look attractive. Communication is used to develop marketing processes
for creating design briefs, content strategies and marketing plans. It is also a vital skill
when providing feedback on various products.

To convince people to buy a particular product or soliciting services, a good marketing

strategy has to make use of communication skills and interactions with clients.

Below are the roles performed by communication in marketing transactions:

1. Communication is used to inform, create awareness about a new product, and identify
various brands i.e goods and services of various organizations for the benefits of their
target audience.
2. Communication helps to persuade, encourage and convince people to try a product, it
helps to persuade current and prospective customers to engage in an exchange
relationship with an organization.
3. Communication helps to enhance the knowledge of the public on the uses and mode
of usage of a product.
4. It also helps in reinforcing customers’ experience by reminding them of the usual
derivable satisfaction from a product or service so they can further patronize the
product or service.
5. Communication is also used to attract a customer to a store
6. Communication is used to create brands images, carving separate and identifiable
images/identity for different products/services most especially where competing
products/services are very similar in all ramifications. The branding and image will
help the customers differentiate between the products/services by making the right
purchasing decisions.
7. It is also used to project good image and reputation for a company
8. Communication is also used to counter claims and promotions by competitors.