If you are a person who is somehow related to the world of marketing then, I am sure you would have come across the terms marketing concept or marketing philosophy and ever wondered what exactly these terms mean and how it can impact your business profitability. I will walk you through an amazing journey of understanding what is marketing concept, how it evolved and what is its importance in any business. So, let's get started.
Marketing Concept Meaning:
To grasp the meaning, let us quickly understand the marketing concept definition.
One of the literal definitions of concept is an idea or invention to help sell or publicise a commodity and the definition of philosophy suggests that it is an attitude that guides the behaviour of a person/entity.
From the above, we can conclude for our understanding that marketing concept/philosophy can be defined as an attitude of a business that it adopts to sell and market its products/ services.
Hence, the marketing concept includes various approaches, attitudes, and ideas adopted and utilised to sell and promote a product or services by a business entity.
The Evolution Of Marketing Concepts:
The Production Concept The production concept was at the early times when the number of firms in an industry were few and less competitive. This created an economic gap with demand exceeding the supply of the products/services offered in the market. This meant whosoever produces earns a business. Organisations that adopted this concept focused on increased production, production efficiency and mass distribution to reduce costs and compete in the market with its price making the goods affordable and available to the customers.
The Product Concept The product concept was adopted at a time when increased production narrowed the economic gap between demand and supply of a product/service. This forced the marketers to differentiate their offerings based on quality, features and performance. This meant that businesses should continuously focus on product development and innovation.
The Selling Concept There was another phase in the market where every business was able to deliver quality products in the market with increased production capacity. This resulted in firms carrying out aggressive selling techniques to promote and persuade their customers. This concept is based on the belief that businesses and customers when put together won't buy or buy enough of the firm's products unless they are persuaded and convinced to do so.
The Marketing Concept In the mid-1950s, firms adopted an attitude of gaining long-run profitability by focusing on customer satisfaction and value addition called the marketing concept. The marketers then began to find the right products for the customers rather than the right customers for the products. Now, firms started competing to deliver greater customer satisfaction and superior value addition. Hence, all business decisions evolved around the needs and wants of the customers and satisfying such needs became the focal point.
Now that we are familiar with the marketing concept, let us understand what is societal marketing concept.
Societal Marketing Concept is an extension of the marketing concept which aims at identifying and satisfying the needs and wants of the target market with an attitude to care for the long-term welfare of the customers and society at large.
You may find the selling concept, the marketing concept, and the societal marketing concept sound similar. Let us find out the difference between
Marketing concept and selling concept
Marketing concept and societal marketing concept
Marketing Concept Vs Selling Concept
Marketing Concept | Selling Concept |
The marketing concept is a customer-oriented attitude which aims at creating, delivering and communicating superior customer value to the target market. | The selling concept is product-oriented and relies on aggressive selling and promotional techniques to achieve the organisational objectives. |
The firms sell what can satisfy the needs of the target market | The firms aim to sell what they make, rather than make what the market wants. |
Also, check out the difference between marketing and selling for enriched marketing wisdom on this topic.
Marketing Concept Vs Societal Marketing Concept
Marketing Concept | Societal Marketing Concept |
The marketing concept focuses on identifying and satisfying customer needs and wants and generating profits through customer satisfaction. | The societal marketing concept being an extension of the marketing concept focuses both on customer needs and social welfare and generates profits thereon. |
Now, many people may wonder which marketing concept is best.
It may sound that marketing and societal marketing concepts are best for contemporary businesses and this is true to an extent. But, in my opinion, firms can adopt different marketing philosophies according to their need of the hour and still have an ultimate attitude to gain long-term profitability by delivering value to their customers.
To sum up, marketing concept and consumer behaviour go hand in hand. The marketing concept evolves with time based on how the customers react to the dynamic business environment.
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