The Definition of Marketing

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The Definition of Marketing
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February 28, 2007

Marketing is a term that is used frequently.   Generally, it is thought of as how a company advertises and sells their products or services, but upon reading several sources during the research phase of creating this paper, it was found that there are many more elements involved in marketing.   Marketing goes way beyond advertising and selling; it is a focal point of a company that drives the direction the company takes.
According to Perreault, there are two definitions for marketing.   The definition for micro-marketing was stated as the performance of activities that seek to accomplish an organization's objectives by anticipating customer or client needs and directing a flow of need-satisfying goods and services from producer to customer or client (Perreault, 2004).   This is different than the definition provided for macro-marketing which stated that it is a social process that directs an economy's flow of goods and services from producers to consumers in a way that effectively matches supply and demand and accomplishes the objectives of society (Perreault, 2004).
The micro-marketing definition applies to the activities of a single company or organization while the macro-marketing definition involves how the whole marketing system works.   Macro-marketing impacts society, as a whole.   It looks at matching supply and demand within a society.
Interestingly, the American Marketing Association (AMA) recently changed their official definition of marketing in 2004.   The first official definition of marketing surfaced back in 1935 and remained unchanged until 1985 when the AMA decided to revise the wording.   In 2004, they decided to revise the definition again by declaring, "Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing... [continues]

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