How to market products or the magazine, see Marketing (magazine).
Marketing
Key concepts
Product marketing Pricing Distribution Service Retail Brand management Brand licensing Account-based marketing Ethics Effectiveness Research Segmentation Strategy Activation Management Dominance Marketing operations Social marketing Identity Digital marketing
Promotional contents
Advertising Branding Underwriting spot Direct marketing Personal sales Product placement Publicity Sales promotion Sex in advertising Loyalty marketing Mobile marketing Premiums Prizes Corporate anniversary On-hold messaging
Promotional media
Printing Publication Broadcasting Out-of-home advertising Internet Point of sale Merchandise In-game advertising Product demonstration Word-of-mouth Brand ambassador Drip marketing Visual merchandising v t e
Marketing is the process of communicating the value of a product or service to customers, for the purpose of selling that product or service.

Marketing can be looked at as an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, delivering and communicating value to customers, and customer relationship management that also benefits the organization. Marketing is the science of choosing target markets through market analysis and market segmentation, as well as understanding consumer behavior and providing superior customer value. From a societal point of view, marketing is the link between a society's material requirements and its economic patterns of response. Marketing satisfies these needs and wants through exchange processes and building long term relationships.

Customer orientation[edit]

Constructive criticism helps marketers adapt offerings to meet changing customer needs.
A firm in the market economy survives by producing goods that persons are willing and able to buy. Consequently, ascertaining consumer demand is vital for a firm's future viability and even existence as a going concern. Many companies today have a customer focus (or market orientation). This implies that the company focuses its activities and products on consumer demands. Generally, there are three ways of doing this: the customer-driven approach, the market change identification approach and the product innovation approach.[6]

In the consumer-driven approach, consumer wants are the drivers of all strategic marketing decisions. No strategy is pursued until it passes the test of consumer research. Every aspect of a market offering, including the nature of the product itself, is driven by the needs of potential consumers. The starting point is always the consumer. The rationale for this approach is that there is no reason to spend R&D (research and development) funds developing products that people will not buy. History attests to many products that were commercial failures in spite of being technological breakthroughs.[7]

A formal approach to this customer-focused marketing is known as SIVA[8] (Solution, Information, Value, Access). This system is basically the four Ps renamed and reworded to provide a customer focus. The SIVA Model provides a demand/customer-centric alternative to the well-known 4Ps supply side model (product, price, placement, promotion) of marketing management.

Product → Solution
Promotion → Information
Price → Value
Place (Distribution) → Access
If any of the 4Ps were problematic or were not in the marketing factor of the business, the business could be in trouble and so other companies may appear in the surroundings of the company, so the consumer demand on its products will decrease. However, in recent years service marketing has widened the domains to be considered, contributing to the 7P's of marketing in total. The other 3P's of service marketing are: process, physical environment and people.

Some consider there to be a fifth "P": positioning. See Positioning (marketing).

Some qualifications or caveats for customer focus exist. They do not invalidate or contradict the principle