Marketing: Consumer Power and Quality Products for Success - Essay Sample

Introduction

Marketing gets construed as a process that involves advertising and selling or delivering products to consumers. Companies implement marketing of their products to attract more customers and increase their profits. The consumers have the power to promote and achieve a company's success, but they can also make a company go down fast. The company therefore should provide quality products to its consumers and ensure that they fully serve their needs and wants. A company should first get acquainted and know its target customers, for everyone has a different opinion on things, views, and not everyone is interested in their products. (Achrol & Kotler, 2012). Consumers are like the audience of a company; they are entitled to quality products and giving feedback; their needs should be carefully satisfied.

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Marketing refers to the understanding the consumers and relating well with them. In our daily lives, we often make friends by meeting them, understanding their behaviors, what they like, and hate, and sharing ours too. Communication is the key to good relationships, and this is brought about by granting every party freedom to share their opinions and views, then making decisions and effective conclusions. Marketing is not far off from this, too. This is the process that companies apply to know their customers better (Perreault & McCarthy, 2012). It is all about what you say whenever you want to sell your products to your customers, and most importantly, how you say it. For instance, various companies advertise their products through captivating ways like using graphics, slogans and pleasing phrases and lines. Some even use their top customers to advertise, for example, an oil company can interview their loyal consumers on the effectiveness of their products, and later use their responses to advertise (Perreault & McCarthy, 2012).

Competitors are also considered in the marketing process. A company usually has several competitors, with the same products. The way to beat up a competitor is by producing more quality products that fulfill the consumers' wants and also ensuring an outstanding service delivery (Achrol & Kotler, 2012). The company, therefore, has to take feedbacks from its customers and also open forums, like the modern-day social media platforms where the consumers can freely share their opinions, needs, and whatever they want to be changed or upgraded. The main goal for the company should also be to increase its profitability. This can be achieved by engaging the consumers, building good and healthy relationships. The marketers can spend more time with some of their clients, to talk them into buying the available goods. It also helps maintain customers (Bickart & Schindler, 2011).

However, this course has turned out to be more knowledgeable. It has partially changed my perspective on marketing. It has introduced the basic elements of marketing, as creating communicating, distributing, and exchanging (Achrol & Kotler, 2012). The action shows how marketing does not only entails advertising and selling products to customers but also involves exchanging goods. The creation process involves collaborating with the suppliers, customers and distributors. This way, a company can identify the valuable products that satisfy the customers' needs and increase the company's profitability too. The second element is communication, which is a basic requirement for marketers; they must have good communication skills, thus relate to the consumers and learn their needs, and it also determines how they describe the products to consumers (Achrol & Kotler, 2012).

Exchanging process is whereby the customer can trade a valuable asset for a product. In some instances, a customer might lack enough money to purchase a quality product, and a company can offer the product in exchange for a valuable, that pays for it. (The company can sell it elsewhere and get the money back). Distribution is simply the process that involves availing the products to the consumers. Once they have inquired about particular products, the company distributes them evenly to particular customers.

The most surprising lesson in this course is the main principles of marketing. Initially, I concluded that the main aim of marketing is selling the products, which is contradicted here, not to be the main step of the marketing process. The marketers are mainly supposed to stimulate the demands; therefore, principles were set in the past. The four Ps that are required in the marketing process (Perreault & McCarthy, 2012). These principles include price, place, product and promotion. Product is simply the goods created and distributed to consumers, as well as the services offered by a company. Promotion involves the advertising and relations of the sellers and the customers. This is the point where the marketers communicate with their potential consumers to persuade them to purchase the products, promoting the company's profitability. Price is the amount charged for the products, the sellers set their prices, and the consumer is subjected to pay in exchange for the item. Lastly, the place is whereby the company or sellers ensure that the products are made available for the consumers whenever in need. It involves the distribution of the products and the distribution channels used, either through online means, physically in stores, or both (Perreault & McCarthy, 2012).

The course should have introduced digital marketing, which occurs electronically and online, and offers a variety of marketing opportunities (Bickart & Schindler, 2011). Some of the channels used in digital marketing include emails, search engines like Google, social media, and other websites. It offers platforms for the sellers or companies to make a good rapport with the customers, offer them chances to share their opinions, and acquire feedback from the consumers as well as getting their needs. It should teach more about digital marketing, as the generation of today has been highly affected by technology. Social media has the leading population. Lately, the youths are more endorsed in social media, along with their parents and even the elderly. This, therefore, opens a great opportunity and is a large platform to market quality products (Bickart & Schindler, 2011).

The power of consumers is a great consideration and influence on a company. It can either lead to its success or failure, regardless of the company's capabilities. Consumers can be demands, and it might be difficult for companies to cope or work to their satisfaction. The rise of technology has created some changes in marketing in that it has added power to consumers. The customers have access to information, and as we know, knowledge is power. Whenever consumers want to purchase products, they seek information first, not wanting to be informed by the company (Bickart & Schindler, 2011). Social media has given consumers a chance to export their power. They have choices now and can make decisions freely and openly.

Conclusion

In conclusion, marketing is the general activity that companies implement to help promote the buying and selling of their products. The consumers are the target market for the companies and one of their sources of profit gain. They should, therefore, ensure a good relationship with the customers to achieve their goals.

References

Achrol, R. S., & Kotler, P. (2012). Frontiers of the marketing paradigm in the third millennium. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 40(1), 35-52. Doi: 10.1007/s11747-011-0255-4

Bickart, B., & Schindler, R. M. (2011). Internet forums as influential sources of consumer information. Journal of interactive marketing, 15(3), 31-40. Doi: 10.1002/dir.1014

Perreault, W. D., & McCarthy, E. J. (2012). Basic marketing: A global managerial approach. McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Retrieved from http://182.160.97.198:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/1332/Introductory%20pages.pdf?sequence=1