Role of Marketing in Business

Role of Marketing in Business

        Introduction

Marketing generally describes the acts associated with the selling of a company’s products. Marketing covers different sections, with advertising being the primary sector. There is also consumer research and product design as part of marketing. The marketing department is one of the pillars that support the success of any business. It is through marketing that businesses create their public image, which goes a long way in influencing stakeholders of the organization. The marketing environment is one of the most dynamic sectors of business. Marketing has evolved from a time before the onset of digital marketing to current times, where it heavily relies on digital means. Through the times, marketing has adapted to the changes to maximize the advantages to the business.

However, an article on the McKinsey Quarterly describes a situation that is commonly experienced in business. More often than not, the finance department views marketing as such a trivial part of the business. This possibly stems from the fact that the benefits of marketing are mostly intangible. Take, for example, building the company’s reputation through the creation of a good image. This effect is quite immaterial, and even though it may play a significant role in influencing stakeholders, the increase in company performance probably will not all be attributed to marketing. For the finance department, effective performance is measured through tangible results. For instance, taking on a new investment strategy, which results in increased profits or stock prices for the company (Court, Gordon and Perrey, 2012). However, marketing is such a vital cog in the business’ machinery, and its role cannot be ignored even if the results may be intangible.

Consumer Research

Consumer research is the analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data in the market regarding consumers in relation to a specific product. The preferences and buying behaviours of consumers are observed through direct observation, telephone and mail surveys as well as in-person interviews. The main aim of this particular sector of marketing is to identify consumer preferences so that the company can make adjustments or accommodations that will end up supporting a broader market. For instance, if a company introduces a new product in the market and they intend to keep producing the item, then they would need to know what the consumer thinks about it. It does not necessarily have to be a new product on the market. it could be an additional feature introduced in an already existing product. Additionally, consumer research could also be employed prior to the invention of the product in order to influence the company’s decision to produce or not.

Bronwyn (2017) mentions some of the advantages that result in a company that employs consumer research. Since the market has already been analyzed, and the management knows exactly what will bring about the ultimate utility for the consumer, it is much easier to make decisions regarding the product that will ensure a maximum gain. This allows the company to take advantage of the market and inevitably make apparent gains in the business. Furthermore, this is one of the means through which the company can learn information about their competitors’ products through comparative consumer research. This is whereby the consumers will compare the company’s product utility to the utility achieved from a similar product in the market. As a result, when the company advances production, they have the edge over their competitors. Other benefits to the company as a result of consumer research include the identification of a target market, since most products usually have a particular consumer audience in mind, and the creation of new ideas resulting from suggestions by the consumers

An example of a market failure that occurred in the U.S due to weakened consumer research was the case with the supply of deodorants in China. Unilever had, in the past years, built its Rexona deodorant market from scratch in other smaller countries than China. With the growing Chinese population, the company thought it would make a great market for the Rexona deodorant. However, Unilever had made a wrong guess in regards to this market. The company had assumed western behaviour in regards to perspiration and deodorant would be the same as in China. In the west, perspiration or sweating could be a major source of social embarrassment and thus the demand for deodorant. However, for the Chinese, sweat is considered healthy. It is seen as a natural metabolic process meant to get rid of wastes from the body and improve mental activity. Therefore, the deodorant market did not quite perform as had been expected by Unilever (Guo, 2018). As a matter of fact, less than 10% of the Chinese population use deodorants. This instance demonstrates the vital role of consumer research for the welfare of the business.

Product Design

After consumer research is done, the next step would be product design. Product design describes an iterative process of imagining and creating products that will best serve the consumer or best suit a certain target audience. Since, you are aware of what consumers value in a certain product the company is producing, all you need to do is to improve on your product and remake in such a way that it is to the satisfaction of the larger percentage of the target market.

The major role played by this part of marketing is the differentiation of the company or business’ products from others in the market. Product design is meant to set off the company from its competitors. If the product is well structured, then this could foster increased clientele and loyalty from the consumer. An article by Bhasin mentions some of the companies that have successfully employed product design, such as Louis Vuitton and Rolls Royce. Products from these companies are distinguishable from others in the market. The article states that, “A brand which invests higher in product design and involves the customers in the design process, is guaranteed to have a higher ROI and to be chosen more than the competition.” (Bhasin, 2017). This means that it is quite a good venture for any company to pay attention to its marketing department because it plays a significant role in the results the company will witness.

Advertising

Advertising can be defined as a market communication tool that a business could use to promote the sale or use of its product, service or idea. Advertising is done over several media, especially now with the employment of technology in business, from social media platforms, websites, to online journals and articles as well as newspapers and magazines. Advertising serves different roles for any business. It could be used to raise consumer awareness regarding a business feature or product or build a brand name for the company, or also build a relationship or rapport with the consumers.

Adverts are entirely instrumental in increasing consumer demand for a product. Good advertisement would mean that you reach a wider audience, hence a more significant percentage of consumers in the target market. Phrases employed in advertising like ‘hurry while stocks last’ implement the scarcity strategy. In response to this message, consumers will rush to have the product since it is limited in amount, which works to the advantage of the company since their demand will go up. Advertising also increases the competitive edge of the company against others. Since this is a means of consumer awareness, if the company advertises a product or service, and companies with similar products do not, then it is more likely that consumers will turn to the advertising company since they will tend to assume familiarity with the company. As a result, there is the creation of loyalty between the business and customer, another bonus for advertising.

Some of the major companies to have effectively employed advertisements in their marketing strategy are Netflix and Apple. Netflix often makes an effort to inform its users and target users of any new shows or films that are soon to be released or have already been released. Part of the sign-in process to Netflix requires the user’s email address, which the company then uses as a channel of communication to give the account holder of any notifications regarding the app. Additionally, the company also features articles on the New York Times, providing lists of shows and films as well. Apple is another prominent company that uses advertisement to its advantage. Apple is swift in giving its consumers information regarding updates on software as well as the introduction of new features or entire products. Learning from some of the economic giants, it is evident that marketing through the advertisement sector is quite crucial to a business.

Therefore in response to the intangibility of marketing, I would say that regardless of the nature of the results, businesses still rely heavily on marketing. If you think about it, marketing sets off the confluence of events that will lead to the results expected by the financial sector. For instance, if the financial sector developed an idea that about a new product that they would like to introduce into the market, without proper marketing procedures, the venture would fail. This is evident in the earlier mentioned case with China and the Rexona deodorant. It seems that Unilever did not conduct proper consumer research of the Chinese market with regards to their product. From a financial point of view, it does make sense why Unilever would want to invest in the market since a high population would naturally mean a high consumer market. However, if research had been done, then the company would have discovered the Chinese beliefs regarding perspiration, and perhaps the company would not have invested as heavily as it did. Similar results were seen with Tampax, a tampon company that did not know about Chinese culture, which finds tampons invasive.

Conclusion

Marketing has been shown throughout the paper to be instrumental to the gains achieved by the company over the operation period. Through the different sectors, consumer research, product design and advertisement, it is evident that marketing is not just useful when a company is introducing a new product, but also when it is promoting the use of an already existing one. The reputation of the company is just one of the many things that are at stake if marketing goes wrong. Therefore, even though it may yield intangible results, marketing plays a vital role in creating and adding value to the firm. As mentioned earlier, financial results often tend to stem from marketing.

References

Bhasin, H. (2017). What is Product Design and its Importance in Marketing? Marketing91. Retrieved from: https://www.marketing91.com/product-design/

Brownwyn, V.D. (2017). Consumer Marketing Research and Why Does it Matter? Prana Business Consulting. Retrieved from: http://pranabusinessconsulting.com/consumer-marketing-research-and-why-does-it-matter/

Court, D., Gordon, J. & Perrey, J. (2012). Measuring marketing’s worth. McKinsey Quarterly. Retrieved from: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/measuring-marketings-worth

Gleeson, P. (2019). The Importance of Marketing for the Success of a Business. Small Business – Chron.com. Retrieved from: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-marketing-success-business-589.html

Guo, O. (2018). Aiming at China’s Armpits: When Foreign Brands Misfire. The New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/02/business/china-consumers-deodorant.html