The features of modem marketing are discussed next:
Marketing occupied an important place in all stages of economic life, even from barter system. But today, marketing is a complicated stage. Modem marketing possesses special characteristics. Modem marketing covers all business activities in order to ascertain the demand, product planning, distribution and facilitating the entire marketing process. The modem marketing emphasizes the need for integrated and well-coordinated marketing programme. It aims to attract the customers.
1. Consumer Orientation:
Modem marketing recognizes consumer’s supremacy in marketing. The managerial attention was focused on the market and the consumer. The management becomes consumer or marketing-oriented. Consumer-orientation or market-orientation may be defined as the “managerial state of mind concerned with consumer satisfaction and profit, and not sales volume alone.” Consumer becomes the pivot of all business decisions.
In production-orientation, large-scale production becomes the rule of day. By ignoring the marketing side, the managements focus their attention only on production. Under sales orientation stage, attention is focused on attaining maximum sales. But the production-orientation stage continues, though with declined sales. In consumer-orientation, the consumer becomes the pivot around whom all business is developed. Creation of satisfied customers is the main goal of modem marketing. Profit can be earned only by serving the consumer’s need.
2. Modern Marketing Begins with the Customers:
The producers of the last century had little care for the consumers. Now, the production is carried on in large quantity. The manufacturer produces more than what the society needs. The marketer aims to develop the market; the market becomes seller’s market. Similar marketers appear in the market and there arises competition.
The consumer, who comes in the last stage, accepts the goods; there is no alternative. But the situation has changed. Market has developed from national to international. Competition is the order of the day. Businessmen have started realizing it. Earning profit is possible only through the consumer’s satisfaction.
To satisfy a customer, his needs are to be known. Under consumer-oriented marketing, it becomes essential to know what the consumer needs. This is possible only when information is collected from the consumers. Modem marketing begins with the consumers and ends with the consumers. Marketing research starts at this stage.
Through market research, information of current consumer needs can be known. Therefore we can say that the task of marketing starts with the consumer and ends with the consumer. Levitt says, “Instead of trying to market what is easiest for us to make, we must find out much more about what the consumer is willing to buy. In other words, we must apply our creativeness more intelligently to people, and their wants and needs, rather than to products.”
