MARKETING PROCESS

The Marketing Process
1.Define customer value and satisfaction.
2.Understand the nature of high performance businesses.
3.Understand how to attract and retain customers.
4.Define customer profitability, company profitability, and total quality management.


Once the strategic plan has defined the company’s overall mission and objectives, marketing plays a role in carrying out these objectives. The marketing process is the process of analyzing market opportunities, selecting target markets,developing the marketing mix, and managing the marketing effort. Target customers stand at the center of the marketing process. There are following steps in Marketing Process:

1.  Analyzing marketing opportunities


2. Selecting target markets


3. Developing the marketing Mix


4. Managing the marketing effort
 
a. Analyzing marketing opportunities
First step of the marketing process is analyzing market opportunities and availing these opportunities to satisfy the customer’s requirements to have competitive advantage. The marketing function of analyzing market opportunities is important in the marketing planning process. Any marketing manager must analyses the long-run opportunities in the market to improve the business unit's performance. To evaluate its opportunities firms needs to operate a reliable marketing information system. Marketing research is an indispensable marketing tool for this purpose. Researching the market allows the company to gather information about their customers, competitors and any environmental changes to determine the market opportunities. Once the market opportunities have been analyzed then modern marketing practice calls for dividing the market into major market segments, evaluating each segment, and selecting and targeting those market segments that the company can best serve.
Evolution of Marketing Department
1) sales department, finance, personel, operations, sales, accounting
2) sales department w/ other marketing functions
3) separate marketing department
4) modern marketing department
5) marketing company
6) process & outcome based company
Financial Analysis
(1)profit margin net profits/net sales
(2)asset turnover net sales/total assets
(3)return on assets net profits/total assets
(4)financial leverage total assets/net worth
(5)rate of return on net worth net profits/net worth
Profitability Control
1) identify functional expenses
2) assign functional expenses to marketing entities
3) profit/loss statement for each marketing entity
Marketing strategies must be based on consumer needs, and also on the company’s industry position and resources relative to competitors. The company must continually monitor competitors’ products, prices, channels, and promotion.