1. Needs, Wants, Demands The marketer must try to understand the target markets needs, wants, and demand. Needs are the basic human requirements. People need food, air, water, clothing, and shelter to survive. People also have strong needs for recreation, education, and entertainment. These needs become wants when they are directed to specific objects that might satisfy the need. An American needs foods but wants hamburger, French fries, and a soft drink. A person in Mauritius needs food but wants a mango, rice, lentils, and beans. Wants are shaped by ones society. Demands are wants for specific products backed by an ability to pay. Many people want a Merceds; only a few are able and willing to buy one. Companies must measure not only how many people want their product but also how many would actually be willing and able to buy it. These distinctions shed light on the frequent criticism that “market create needs” or “marketers get people to buy things they dont want.” Marketers do not create needs: Needs preexist marketers. Marketers, along with other societal factors, influence wants. Marketers might promote the idea that a Mercredes would satisfy a persons need for social status. They do not, however, create the need for social status. 2. Product, Offering, and Brand Companies address needs by putting forth a value proposition, a set of benefits they offer to customers to satisfy their needs. The intangible value proposition is made physical by an offering, which can be a combination of products, services, information, and experiences. A brand is an offering from a known source. A brand name such as McDonalds carries many associations in the minds of people: hamburgers, fun, children, fast food, Golden Arches. These associations make up the brand image. All companies strive to build brand strengththat is, a strong, favorable brand image. 1 3. The four P components of marketing mix 保证 品种 库存 Four Ps: product, price, place, promotion V全对方背叛四舍五入 啊咧电瓶车 食品啊骗人的吗 猜猜爱丽i团 2 Mix 四基本要素 Four Cs: customer solution, customer cost, convenience, communication 顾客成本方便沟通 3 4. Company orientations toward the marketplace We have defined marketing management as the conscious effort to achieve desired exchange outcomes with target markets, but what philosophy should guide a companys marketing efforts? What relative weights should be given to the interests of the organization, the customers, and society? Very often these interests conflict. Marketing activities should be carried out under a well-thought-out philosophy of efficiency, effectiveness, and social responsibility. However, there are six competing concepts under which organizations conduct marketing activities: the production concept, product concept, selling concept, marketing concept, consumer concept, and societal marketing concept. 1) The production concept The production concept is one of the oldest concepts in business. The production concept holds that consumers will prefer products that are widely available and inexpensive. Managers of production-oriented businesses concentrate on achieving high production efficiency, low costs, and mass-distribution. They assume that consumers are primarily interested in product availability and low prices. This orientation makes sense in developing countries, where consumers are more interested in obtaining the product than in its feature. It is also used when a company wants to expand the market. Some service organizations also operate on the production concept. Many medical and dental practices are organized on assembly-line principles, as are some government agencies (such as unemployment offices and license bureaus). Although this management orientation can handle many cases per hour, it is often to charge of impersonal and poor-quality service. 2) The product concept 4 Other businesses are guided by the product concept, which holds that consumers will favor those products that offer the most quality, performance, or innovative features. Managers in these organizations focus on marketing superior products and improving them over time. They assume that buyers admire well-made products and can evaluate quality and performance. However, these managers are sometimes caught up in a love affair with their products. Management might commit the “better-mousetrap” fallacy, believing that a better mousetrap will lead people to lead beat a path to its door. Such was the case when WebTV was launched during Christmas 1996 to disappointing results. Product-oriented companies often trust that their engineers can design exceptional products. They get little or no customer input, and very often they will not even examine competitors products. A general Motors executive said years ago: “how can the public know what kinds of car they want until they see what is available?” GMs designers and engineers would design the ne