The Marketing Concept

The marketing concept holds that gaining organizational goals based on determining the wants and needs of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions more efficiently and effectively than competitors do.

Under the marketing concept, customer target and value are paths to profits and sales. The selling and marketing concepts are frequently confused. The primary differences are following:

1). The selling concept takes an "inside-out" viewpoint (focuses on present products and uses heavy promotion and selling efforts).

2). The marketing concept takes an "outside-in" outlook (target on customer values,needs and satisfactions).

Various companies claim to accept the marketing concept but actually do not unless they commit to market-focused and customer-driven philosophies.

1). Customer-driven companies research existing customers to learn regarding their desires, collect new service and product ideas, and test proposed product improvements.

2). Such type of customer-driven marketing usually works well in a situation of clear need and while customers know what they want.

3). When customers do not know what they want, marketers may try customer-driving marketing-try to under customer needs even better than customers themselves do, and making  products and services that now will meet existing and latent needs and in the future.