The Process of Marketing - Essay Example

Market research helps to minimize risks associated with business operations and also enables the creation of benchmarks to help measure progress. Marketing research is often outsourced to different companies and this functions as a disadvantage because the data obtained may be too general and may not reflect the elements that only an organization can collect based upon its intimate knowledge of its customers (Gordon, 2008). Contemporary research suggests that companies allot the lion’s share of their resources towards marketing their products rather than on doing research. (Gordon, 2008). Most companies also use third parties, i.e, market research companies, to carry out their research which helps to prevent bias but may also have disadvantages, as indicated above. There is a general tendency to use electronic methods for data collection, through the use of surveys. Additional qualitative research methods may be used to gather general information about companies, while quantitative studies may focus upon quarterly, half-yearly or annual measurement of key metrics in assessing changing customer trends over time. (www.lifestyledynamics.com)

The process of marketing requires considerable thought and a comprehensive study of the market.  Firstly, there must be an adequate level of consumer demand for the product. Secondly, knowledge about the product needs to be communicated to consumers through the use of effective advertising. A product is likely to succeed if it is able to address demand and is priced reasonably but if consumers are unaware of the availability of the product, or if it is priced too high, it may fail to garner adequate levels of sales. The sale of certain products will also depend upon the place where they are sold, for example, warm clothes sell in cold locations. If a product is to be successful, Price, Promotion and Place must all be considered.

Kotler has identified ten different areas where an organization’s failure to perform can impede its marketing efforts. In my organization, one of these weaknesses that exist is the failure to make maximum use of technology. In an age where almost all companies have a website, my company also has one but effective communication and interactivity is not maintained on the website. The information posted is sometimes out of date and there is an inadequate number of people available to service the site and answer customer queries and complaints. This has impacted negatively on the company’s marketing efforts because disgruntled customers who are not able to get a positive and timely response to their complaints are broadcasting their experiences to other customers. This amounts to negative marketing which is adversely impacting the sale of the company’s products.