Essay on Marketing Process

#1. The Marketing process is made up of simple concepts that involve lots of research on the part of the marketer. The process begins with understanding the consumer, without knowing what consumers need or want, it would be extremely hard for firms to both develop and sell a product. Knowing that consumers want more green products due to growing environmental concerns is a very important detail. Needs and wants are what fuel consumer purchases and marketers must perform research in order to best serve their customers. Through this research, marketers are led to the next step of the process and can now develop a customer driven marketing strategy. Here, the firm must decide how it will differentiate its product from others on the market. Companies build their marketing strategy in multiple steps and use the Four P’s or marketing mix (Wickipedia, pg 1): Product, Price, Place and Promotion. The “Product” steps has marketers as the questions of; who is your product intended for, what is the benefit of your product to the customer, and how will the product supplier position your product within the market (Learn, pg1). “Price” it’s based on the supply and demand of the product, and must also consider the cost to produce and design of the product (Learn, pg2) as well as the cost to distribute and promote your product (Learn, pg3). “Place” answers the question of distribution and incorporates the idea of right place right time by looking at the different methods or “channels of distribution” (wholesalers, retailers, direct sales and manufacturers) (Learn, pg3). Finally “Promotion” asks how the product is communicated to the consumer – its main focus is to demonstrate the benefits of your product to your “target market” (Learn, pg4). It includes multiple methods including advertising, public relations, sales promotion, personal selling and direct mail (Learn, pg4). Once all of the questions have been answered and the data reviewed, a supplier can develop its marketing