Marketing as One of the Organizational Functions - Literature review Example

Running head: MARKETING Marketing - A Research Proposal Marketing Research Proposal Research Topic: Marketing 1) What am I going to focus on? This proposed study report will be focusing on marketing as one of the organizational functions that is solely performed to retain old customers and attract new ones, promotion of products or services, maintaining demand and supply chains, and it is often regarded as channel of communication between ultimate users and producers. It strengthens the bond between organizations and general public. It is an ongoing process which have adverse effects if slows down. This report will illustrate a review on marketing and the debates that have changed the scope of marketing. This research proposal includes text analysis that is the supporting part of the research aim. The objective of this research is to gain an understanding of marketing, core activities of marketing, and its effective usage. 2) What are the main debates in this area? This proposed research aims to focus on the concept of marketing, the main debates that exist in the marketing subject area such as manipulative marketing which attempts to hide flaws in the quality of a product, internationalization, and globalization affecting the scope of marketing, and the debate regarding principle of AIDA (Awareness, Interest, Desire and Action) (AIDA, 2012) being universally applied to all markets, targeted audience perceives what is wants to or marketing makes them comprehend what organization actually wants them to. The research also seeks to evaluate the role of legislation and governments defining the boundaries of marketing. Also, the need of marketing, mediums that can be used as marketing sources, factors that affect marketing adversely or have positive impacts on it and the role marketing plays in flourishing a marketed item will also be studied in the research. 3) Why have I chosen this area? Marketing has always been with humans, implicitly and explicitly, intentionally or unintentionally. From secular educations to businesses, from social lives to religions, marketing has always been there in different modes and faces. Marketing is not a static concept instead it is such a dynamic process that it has evolved and molded itself as humans went through the process of evolution. The universality of this topic has made this topic to be chosen. Literature Review The research is supported by the textbook Marketing written by a technical writer and business analyst Mercer (1996). The targeted audience of the book is marketing professionals, marketers and other personnel interested in fostering their knowledge about marketing. The aim of writing this text is to comprehend the concept of purpose, role, techniques, and theories of marketing and getting a better understanding of it in a descriptive manner and also, the book uses factual data where it was necessarily needed. In this text, the history of marketing is discussed with the essence. It has been emphasized in the book that marketing is not about making products known to consumers but marketing is a vast concept. It is about the complexity of interaction involved in marketing, and its effects on decision-making and busines strategy choices. Multi buyer and multi factored marketing plans are discussed with market examples. Text is organized in fourteen (14) different chapters, catering all the related information and study of marketing, such as co-ordinations, organization’s pigeon-holes, sales vs. marketing, marketing mix (product, price, place, and promotion), and critics on this approach, the idea of product vs. benefits, corporate strategy, customers, and market positioning are elaborated. These all heads are thoroughly discussed under the scope of marketing and its impact on them. The author in order to clarify the complex concepts uses historic and practical examples and references that make the argument more clear. The book is based on the marketing related practical experiences faced by individual (including author). This text refreshes the concepts of marketing, its rules, principles, strategies, and merits. In this text, an inherent limitation was found that the whole book is written considering and relating the experience of few people, which the author met in his 30 years career. This sample size may not be sufficient for writing about the core foundational concepts of marketing on the basis of the experiences of few people, who have worked in this specific field, and thus, findings may support the purpose of a larger audience (Mecer, 1996). Another research article The Basics of Consumer Marketing in Asia written by Jette (2003) allows relevant understanding of the subject. The very basic core knowledge about the industry and marketing methods is provided. This article provides information about living practical marketing conditions of Asia. Intended audience of this article is Harvard Business School’s (HBS) Professionals and other investors who may be interested in investment in Asia. This article helps investors and other interested personnel to get to know about the consumers and markets of Asia, and the basics required to sustain in this market. It also provides an understanding of the marketing strategies that can be applied to the Asian markets and modes, which can be used for marketing purposes in Asia. It provides detailed discussion of the marketing strategies, methods, and mediums that are supported by the presence of the available resources in Asia. It is an objective article based on concise descriptions and facts. The written article is organized in a continuous flow of information and includes the quotations of highly successful businesspersons and investors. Particularly, investments in China have been focused in the article, and comments of different investors from Uniliver, Philips, and Japanese e-commerce web site Rakuten are provided for a better understanding of the topic. Recent, examples and evidences and practical market situations were used. The study focused on the growth and development of China focusing on development of global industries and investments. This article despite of being enriched with the information about the Asian markets has failed to provide the overall information about Asia particularly China. It did not address the energy and resource issues of Asia including China. There are other economies in the world, which are quite attractive for investments and are not discussed in this article (Jette, 2003). The Marketing: Concepts and Strategies written by business writers Pride and Ferrell (2006) is chosen as the third source. Pride and Ferrell are one of the successful writers of business studies. This book is very useful for corporate professionals, marketing related personnel, and decision makers. This book provides an understanding of the whole cycle that starts with marketing and includes supply, distribution, and customer responses. It describes the integration between marketing strategies and customer relationships, global environment and social and ethical responsibilities of organizations, the usage of information technology to strengthen relations with customers, customer’s behaviors and target marketing (niche marketing), product’s promotion, distribution, and pricing decisions. This book covers all the basic information about marketing. The core concept on which the entire concept of marketing is based including useful strategies that help strategic apex, managers, and supervisors to achieve long-term goals and short-term objectives of the organization are discussed in this book. Strategies and concepts of marketing are presented in quite detailed and descriptive manner. Areas covered in the book are arranged in an ascending order by the level of their complexity. This book constitutes eight (8) parts and each part deals with specific areas. Past examples and historic strategies are emphasized on to be used and are explained in the current market context that makes their application in the current situation easier. However, the limitation of the written text that can be seen is that this text brought all the knowledge that can be availed from any other source of marketing information. It could be stated that there is no uniqueness or newness in the text. Some major practical recent issues like online marketing and online trades are not tackled in this book (Pride & Ferrell, 2006). Reflection 1) How this research improved knowledge about the topic? The review and research analysis has enhanced my knowledge about the basic marketing concepts, strategies, and why it is so essential for any business or a product, its necessity for survival and why it is often regarded as the lifeblood of organization. It is learnt that the mediums used for marketing can be identified very easily but the methodology by which these mediums should be used require a technical approach that must take into account the internal and external factors affecting marketing aims and objectives (Pride & Ferrell, 2006). The research has also allowed understanding the targeted audiences’ feedback, which is considered very important because of its hybrid effects on marketing. 2) Recommendations for Further Researches: A further research can be prooceeded on different constituent aspects of marketing, as marketing itself is a broad area that can be further segmented into smaller units like Marketing Media: the channels used for marketing, Marketing mix: the areas of great focus while formulating a marketing plan, Marketing strategies: the ways of marketing which are chosen to get desired result/ achievement of objectives, On-line marketing: the basic requirement of current time and need of emerging markets, and Demand Marketing Supply: how these three areas are connected and can affect each other. 3) The most interesting Area of Research: The most interesting part of the research was found to be the Strategies of Marketing, as it relates and depends upon the nature of the item being marketed. It allows an understanding of marketing as the process, which starts from the development of item and continues till the end (Jette, 2003). References Jette, J. (2003). Basics of Consumer Marketing inAsia. Boston: Harvard Business School. Mecer, D. (1996). Marketing. Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers, Inc. Pride, W., and Ferrell, O. C. (2006). Marketing: Concepts and Strategies. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Comapany. Read More