The Power of Marketing Philosophy

One of the biggest challenges for businesses today is attracting customers and keeping them. 

Since marketing is the science and the art of exploring, creating, interacting and delivering products to customers with the aim of satisfying their demands, the power of marketing philosophy lies in determining and meeting those needs and wants.

Market philosophy is the marketing idea, that considers production, sales and customer satisfaction. It is the focal point of all business activities.

Each and every business has its own idea on how it will do production, how it will sell and do the marketing of its product.

There are as many marketing concepts as many businesses running in the world. But basically, there are five distinct marketing philosophies, or five different concepts used by businesses to guide their marketing efforts, and they are all driven by an explicit purpose that considers cost efficiency and effectiveness within a certain market.

Same philosophy cannot result in a gain for every business, hence different businesses use different marketing philosophies.

Let’s see what each of them entails.

The Production Concept

The production concept is one of the earliest marketing concepts where the company focuses on the efficiency of its production processes. This concept works on an assumption that customers prefer a product which is inexpensive and widely available, and very often, the focus of the production concept is on the quantity, not the quality of the products.

One of the best examples of the production concept are Amazon or retail stores; the market is flooded with cheap products from China. And another example is BYD, which is known abroad as an electric vehicle maker, but in China the company is famous for its cheap compact cars and manically fast hybrids.

Conclusion: A low price may attract lots of new customers, but the focus of the business stays mainly on the production and not on the product quality. In fact, it will cause a decrease in sales if the product is not up to the standards. Why this concept works? Because most people can't afford expensive products, and intuitively they know that the product will not serve at its best. So, the businesses bet on this approach and almost always win.

The Product Concept

The product concept lays emphasis on 'quality of production', performance and innovative features. And here, all the marketing strategies are focused on making continuous product improvements, as the customers are looking for innovative options and continuously seeking out the best of what is currently available.

Many companies within the technology industry utilize the product concept, constantly updating and releasing new products.

Conclusion: The right strategy will filter the target market and the company will try to satisfy the demands of the product 'connoisseurs'.

The Selling Concept

If the production and product concepts focus on production, selling concept focuses on making the sale of the company’s product through large scale marketing and promotional activities.

The selling concept is a very risky strategy, as the business management concentrates to complete the transaction of sale, thinking that their job is done once the product is sold. They push the product, without thought of long-term consequences. Instead, they could build a long terms relationship with customers. They do rely on the possibility that customers don’t remember their past shopping experience.

Conclusion: Some of the businesses last not so long because of 'quitting' the process halfway. They have a short-sighted approach as they ‘try to sell what they make rather than what market wants’.

The Marketing Concept

The marketing concept is fully customer-oriented! The business managers evaluate all kinds of outcomes, finding out customers’ needs and wants. They truly believe that the customers dictate the terms of the market and product development, putting them in the middle of the marketing process. So, after providing a brilliantly-developed product, business managers constantly work on their products and keep learning about the ever-changing needs of their customers. Otherwise their competitors can beat them.

Conclusion: The emphasis by this philosophy will help the business grow and develop along with the products. However, this isn’t the only philosophy that should be followed by all the businesses. Each business is free to choose whether to stop and make mainly profit or to develop the product along with the customer's attitude.

The Societal Marketing Concept

According to societal marketing concept, the business managers aim is to determine the needs, wants and interests of customers, but they also realize that they have a social and environmental responsibility, caring about the well-being of the society and the environment.

Hence, many businesses today donate and participate in all sorts of charities, as well as promote them. The greatest examples of such companies are Tesla and Adidas.

Conclusion: Throughout the years, there have been so many companies, shouting against animal cruelty and running successful vegan campaigns. All these efforts will undoubtedly attract millions of supporters, ensuring them long-living business.

◆ ◆ ◆

Companies don’t follow a single marketing concept rigidly. They usually use a mix of marketing concepts to adapt the market or to make the market adapt them. So if you run a business, you can choose the right philosophy which suits a certain period of time, as mentioned above, they’re all used for different purposes. However, if you want to build a long-lasting business success - society’s needs should come first.