Understanding Marketing Management

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PART 1 Understanding Marketing Management
Chapter 1 | Defining Marketing for the 21st Century Chapter 2 | Developing Marketing Strategies and Plans

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In This Chapter, We Will Address the Following Questions
1. Why is marketing important? 2. What is the scope of marketing? 3. What are some core marketing concepts? 4. How has marketing management changed in recent years? 5. What are the tasks necessary for successful marketing management?

One of the key factors in Barack Obama’s victory in the 2008 U.S. presidential election was a well-designed and well-executed marketing program.

Defining Marketing for the 21st Century
Formally or informally, people and organizations engage in a vast number of activities we
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By contributing to the bottom line, successful marketing also allows firms to more fully engage in socially responsible activities.2 CEOs recognize the role of marketing in building strong brands and a loyal customer base, intangible assets that contribute heavily to the value of a firm. Consumer goods makers, health care insurers, nonprofit organizations, and industrial product manufacturers all trumpet their latest marketing achievements. Many now have a chief marketing officer (CMO) to put marketing on a more equal footing with other C-level executives such as the chief financial officer (CFO) or chief information officer (CIO).3 Making the right marketing decisions isn’t always easy. One survey of more than a thousand senior marketing and sales executives revealed that although 83 percent felt that marketing and sales capabilities were a top priority for their organization’s success, in rating their actual marketing effectiveness, only 6 percent felt that they were doing an “extremely good” job.4 Marketers must decide what features to design into a new product or service, what prices to set, where to sell products or offer services, and how much to spend on advertising, sales, the Internet, or mobile marketing. They must make those decisions in an Internet-fueled environment where consumers, competition, technology, and economic forces change rapidly, and the consequences of the marketer’s words and actions can quickly multiply.

When two employees
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