1. The product concept:
This concept came into existence in the early 20th century. There is a shift from marketing of low cost products to marketing of high quality products. This concept assumes;
· Consumers will prefer those products that offer best quality and performance.
The main features of societal concept include;
1. Firms place emphasis on research and development to improve quality.
2. Focus on profit motive.
3. Lack of emphasis on marketing research.
4. Less concern for customer satisfaction.
Product-oriented companies suffer from the phenomenon of ‘marketing myopia’---the term coined by prof. Theodore Levitt. ‘According to Prof. Levitt, “marketing myopia refers to narrow perception of marketing, where excessive attention is given to the product and ignoring the customer in the process,
2. The Selling concept:
This concept gained importance after the great depression of 1930s. This concept places emphasis on promotional efforts to expand the business. It assumes;
· Consumers will prefer those products which are aggressively promoted with the help of publicity, advertising, salesmanship and sales promotion.
The main features of societal concept include;
1. More emphasis on promotional efforts like advertising and sales promotion.
2. Focus of emphasis on marketing research.
3. Lack of emphasis on marketing research.
4. Less emphasis is placed on customer satisfaction.
This concept is adopted most aggressively with unsought goods, goods that buyers normally do not think of buying such as insurance policies magazine subscriptions, etc. firms use hard-sell techniques such as aggressive advertising and sales promotion to persuade customers.
3. The Marketing concept:
This concept came into existence in the 1950s due to large scale competition especially in advanced countries. This concept is also known as customer oriented concept. The target customer becomes the focus of all marketing decisions. This concept holds the view that.
· The key to organizational success is to identify and satisfy customer requirements more effectively than the competitors.
The marketing concept considers four factors;
1. Target customer
2. Integrated approach
3. Customer satisfaction
4. Emphasis on profits
The marketing decisions start with the identification of target customers and their requirements. The activities of all departments are integrated with each other, keeping marketing function as the pivot (turn). All activities such as R&D, production, finance, HR and marketing are undertaken to generate customer satisfaction. At the same time, equal emphasis is placed on profits.
The marketing concept differs from the selling concept as follows:
· Selling concept focuses on the requirements of the seller; marketing concept focuses on the needs of the customer.
· The purpose of selling is to sell what is made; purpose of marketing is to make what customer needs.
· Selling concept starts with the existing products of the firm; marketing concept starts with the identification of customer requirements.
4. The Relationship Marketing concept:
In the 1990s, a new concept of marketing has emerged called the ‘relationship marketing concept’. In a narrow sense of the firm, relationship marketing refers to building long term customer relationship. In a broader sense, relationship marketing involves creating, maintain and enhancing profitable and long term relationship with all stake holders such as customers, distributors, dealers, employees, financiers, shareholders, suppliers and society.
· This concept hold the view that..
Company will prosper and progress, if it maintains excellent relationship with various stakeholders.
5. The HOLISTIC concept of marketing
Philip Kotler introduced the Holistic Concept of Marketing, which gives competitive advantage to business firms. Nowadays, professional marketers adopt the holistic approach. The holistic marketing concept consists of four elements.
1. Integrated Marketing: all elements of marketing-mix (product, price, promotion and place) are integrated to deliver superior customer value.
2. Relationship Marketing: -efforts are made to build, maintain and enhance long-term relationship with customers, dealers, suppliers and other stakeholders.
3. Internal Marketing: -the task of selecting, training and motivating employees to serve the customers well. Employees within the organizational are treated as internal customers, so that they treat the external customers more effectively.
4. Performance Marketing: -emphasis is placed on profits as well as other concerns or issues such as customer loyalty, customer satisfaction, market share, product quality and other related issues.
