What is Marketing? or Marketing for Dummies

Whenever I want to understand anything, I tell the person to explain me in a way that I know nothing about it, like you are telling to any layman. Same way, when I explain something to anyone, then I try to explain it in a way that listener knows nothing about it. So find below 'Marketing' definition in my own words which I think any layman could also understand it. It could also help those who have never read Marketing before and for those too, who have got admission in their BBA or MBA.

Advertising is not the whole Marketing:

First of all make it clear in your mind that advertising is not the whole marketing. It is part of it, though one of the most sexy part of Marketing but a single part. I'm gonna divide marketing in four categories, out of these four categories, one has more six parts and out of those six parts, one is advertising. I'll come it to later in below explanation.

Marketing Definition:

Marketing is a process in which an organization analyze need of a product, create a product, determine its price, make it available at targeted place and do promotion for it.

Marketing is all about these 4P's I've highlighted in above definition. I'll give a short explaination about them below.

Organization sells whether a product or service. I'm going to use 'product' word for my easiness, however it could be any service too. You can replace 'product' with 'service' if you wish to understand it that way.

In an overview concept:

Everything and every matter about the products of organization come under the umbrella of Marketing. Organization's face, its identity, its product, everything about it, is in Marketing.

If we divide organization in departments, then Management has to do decide the vision of the organization, mission, goals and further objectives. They would give overview of their desired destination so that every department work accordingly to reach there. Then they will keep check on it and manage that every department could make it possible. Managing all the resources of organization.

Human Resource department will hire the right person for right job. They will take care of the most important resource of the organization, which is human, which can be further explained as a talent, skills that is needed for organization. They take care for those talented people, keep them happy for organization, so they could show more efficiency and give most to the organization.

In a same way the other departments work for the same objective i.e. to benefit the organization.

What is Marketing? in little detail:

Now what I'm going to tell below is all about Marketing.

It starts from analyzing the need of a product. Firstly organization research for the need of product in a market, then create the product. Which type of product it should be? What will that product offer? if it is about eating than how it taste should be? everything about the product is the start.

After creating the product then it comes to analyze the price of the product. How much it cost? How much targeted audience can pay happily? There are several strategies of setting a price which one read while studying Marketing.

After setting it's price, we have to make that product in reach of our target audience (Target audience is that group of people, for whom that product is produced. For every product there could be different target market). We have to make available that product in right place where our target audience is.

After distribution it comes to Promotion which can be done in six ways:

1. Advertising: The most sexy part of promotion and it includes almost half of the budget of whole promotion, that's why it overcomes all other aspects of promotion. However nowadays due to lot of noise (lot of adds that it become hard to concentrate on one) organizations are shifting their budget from advertising to other tools of promotion. Advertising can be done through broadcast media (T.V., radio etc.) billboards or print media.
2. Direct Marketing: If you've got chance to visit any super market then you've often seen people of certain product, for instance, a soup company has their stall over there. On which they test you the sample and sell the products directly to customer from there.
3. The Internet and Interactive Media: Internet has become a very powerful tool nowadays. As the advancement come, people have started using internet more than any other media. T.V., radio and print media are one sided in which customer don't have any option to interact with them. On the other hand Internet is the medium in which customer is interacting with the organization. This has become a very good tool to bring customers close to their products.
4. Sales Promotion: Buy one get one free, Buy a jar of Ovaltine and get a Mug free, 10% off, 50% off and other signs like that are all part of sales promotion. In this organization give a incentive to customer to buy there product.
5. Publicity and Public relations: This is unpaid promotion. When any organization launch their new product, newspaper use to publish their news which become a publicity for them and their product is promoted. Sometimes newspapers or T.V. channels make documentary on any organization's procedure and get their interview which also came under Public relations.
6. Personal Selling: This is yet another important tool in promotion where organization send their sales person house to house to sell the item. If item is related to corporate sector then sales person goes to offices to promote their product. They show their product, do direct selling there, show advertisement, give sales promotion or convince people by any mean to buy the product.