Marketing management philosophies

Marketing management means choosing target markets and getting, keeping and growing customers by creating superior value for them. It manages demand too: not only creating it, but sometimes reducing demand that is too high, or smoothing demand that goes up and down.

Firms have followed five philosophies (concepts) of marketing:

• Production concept: customers want products that are available and affordable, so focus on producing a lot, cheaply. The starting point is the factory.
• Product concept: customers want quality and features, so focus on improving the product. The starting point is still the factory.
• Selling concept: customers will not buy enough unless pushed, so use aggressive selling and promotion.
• Marketing concept: 'Identify a need and fill it.' The starting point is the customer: find what they want, and satisfy them better than competitors do. A satisfied customer comes back: if you like the samosas at one shop, you keep buying them there.
• Societal marketing concept: satisfy customers, but also protect the long-term welfare of society: avoid pollution, waste and harmful products. A firm that sells refill packs and uses recycled bottles follows this concept.

So the focus moved from the factory, to the customer, to society.