The Role of Marketing - Essay Sample

Introduction

Marketing plays an inevitable role in the new product development process. Whenever a company produces a new product, the company requires experts with marketing shrewdness and proficiency for many reasons. The marketing department offers interplay roles in new product development by evaluating the price, identifying the customers, seeking the criteria to use to sell the products to customers, how the company will retain the customers, and doing the market intelligence to unveil the impact of the market forces to the products of the company each season. Therefore, before launching the new product to the market the first step is to find the people need the product, giving formal education about the value of the product to the customers, and helping the customers to purchase the products. .

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In marketing only the innovative and proactive businesses or organizations that stand out. Amongst other factors, marketing is one of the critical factors that is a determinant for the survival of the business coupled with financial operation and the workforce in the operation structure. Were it not for marketing, the clients will not perceive the essence of the products thus the organization`s operation will be doomed. Therefore, marketing establishes a relationship between the customers, suppliers, and resellers.

Arguably, some people argue that the marketing department has little to do with the new product development. However, recent research highlights that marketing department is amongst the key aspect that influences the performance of a firm in collaboration with research and development department. Therefore, marketing is used in the new product development process in the quest to improve innovation in the product cycle. According to (Drechsler et al. 2013), there is no precise scientific approach that demonstrates the influence of the marketing department on the new product development to optimise innovation performance. Thus far, research demonstrates that the quality of marketing research together with the ability to identify the customer needs leverages the decision making process in the new product development. As Doyle & Bridgewater (2012) put it, neither marketing nor innovation is a simple process. Therefore, it is the role of the leadership management to impart the right culture that focuses on the market; more specifically addressing the customer needs.

Marketers in a company are as important as the developers of the product during the new product development cycle. A company must coordinate the marketing department with the manufacturing department to help one another launch the product successfully. When marketing the new product, the marketers put into consideration the marketing tactics, the "4Ps": the price, place/distribution, promotion, product, and customer service.

Before the launch of a new product, the marketing team must determine the price of the product. The marketing team put many considerations before determining the price of a new product. First, the marketing team has to research on the prevailing market forces by considering the equilibrium between the demand and supply before setting the main objective. Based on the findings from the research on market forces, the marketing team use the various pricing methods to determine the price of the new product. The company can use the most suitable methods of pricing which include mark-up pricing, value pricing, perceived value pricing, and target-return pricing.

Identifying the place or point of sale of a new product is another critical process of new product development. The marketing team chooses the destination of the new product in the market involving the various marketing mix strategies that would streamline the supply chain. When marketers determine the place for a new product, the marketing team makes decisions based on the market coverage, assortment criteria, and the batch to release to the market, the geographical location of the customers, and means of transporting the new products until they reach the hands of the customer. Places where the marketing team as intensively introduced the product by explaining the value of the new products to the customers prior before official launch has a lot of influence on the overall perception of perception of the product ultimately the successful launch of the product.

Promotion is a strategy that introduces the product to the market before the company officially release them to the market. The promotion team can offer special sales, free products, offering bonuses, and educating the customers the value of the product as part of advertising the product to the market. The marketer must be innovative by giving myriad information about the importance of the product to garner demand as the product is in the development process cycle.

Offering customer service is the final stage the marketing play in the process of the new product development. After the distribution of the new products to the market, the marketers have to maintain the relationship with the customers to sustain the funnel of future sales. Nowadays, companies are using technology to maintain the relationship with the clients by offering online support system, using big data, and data analytic among other techniques to improve their product and brand. As a result, companies have intruded social media to catch new audience for their products and services. Indeed most businesses are succeeding because they are changing the marketing strategies of meeting new clients. As a result, this marketing strategy is meeting the organizations` expectation although competition is high. The inroads that technology is creating are making it easy for companies to meet clients on the social media platforms and through the company websites.

In 1920s organization charts indicated, the major role of marketing was to represent the customers. Essentially marketing department must represent the voice of the customers. The marketing department takes the obligation of getting involved in almost the entire process of the innovation process. Nowadays, customers have control over what, how, and when to consume (Doyle & Bridgewater 2012). Therefore, the customers are becoming less brand-loyal because the prefer getting firsthand information through conducting personal research and product specialist. For this reason, the marketing team must take most of the time educating the customers the value of their product before they persuade the customers to buy.

Notably, the new product development process relies upon the knowledge from the market regarding what the customers need and get opinions on how to design products that are acceptable to the customers. Therefore, marketing is the keeper of the customer intelligence. The marketers have the opportunity to influence the innovation in the new product development cycle. In this case, marketing transforms the customer insights into business insights thus marketing suse these insights to foster innovation. According to Drucker (2014), the value of marketing and innovation is to create a customer, thus the business can realize better results through the integration of marketing and innovation. More often than not, the success of corporate success has to use the element of innovation.

Organizations depend on various insights from marketing. These insights include why the customer will buy the product, how the customer will buy the product, and who will buy the product. These insights influence the innovation of a new product and can as well influence the general performance of the company. Marketing executives and professionals should adopt the leadership role that integrate innovation in the new product development process.

Arguably, marketing performs the critical role of translating information from the customers to implement new products. Therefore, the marketing team finds it easy to position the product in the market. The innovation of new products positions the company to adjust to the market dynamic such as changing of customer taste and preferences and standing out amongst the rival companies (Doyle & Bridgewater 2012). When the company needs to meet the customer change of taste and preference, the company must concentrate on innovating its products. This will be possible when the marketing team is up to the task of identifying the customer needs, the dynamics of the market, and taking the leadership role in the innovation process.

The annual CMO study at the recent Red Herring CMO summit revealed that CMOSs acknowledge the significance of innovation in the company (Patterson, 2009). The review of various literature depicts that companies that integrate marketing and research and design department as a single entity enhance the performance of their new products. Studies done by Ruekert & Walker (1987) ascribes to the fact that marketing participation in the new product development cycle and integrating it with other functional departments such has research and development make a conglomerate of the most important aspects that influence the success of new product process. Therefore, marketing is a key ingredient that influence new product development.

Another study of 114 hi-tech company in China in the year 1999 suggested that marketing plays a critical role not only on influencing the new product performance positively, but also positively affect the timeliness of the product development. More explicitly, researchers conclude that marketing helps the organization to gauge the market trends and be responsive to leverage those trends and make them an opportunity for the company.

The marketing and product development are inseparable. The two departments work in handy to ensure the company respond strategically to the changes in the customer dynamics. Besides, marketing strategically grows the company because if both innovation and marketing work separately, the new product development can be ineffective as compared when the two metrics work together (Patterson, 2009).

In the evolving corporation, marketing is taking a different dimension. Apparently, marketing operates in three operative stages. The levels are classified as corporate, business, and functional level. In the distinct levels, marketing exists in three dimensions; marketing as a strategy, marketing as a culture, and marketing as a tactic. In an organization, each marketing dimension operates on every level of strategy. Therefore emphasis is made on separate strategies depending on the level of the strategy within the organization`s hierarchy.

Conclusion

Over a long time, marketing has played a significant role in new product development innovation by obtaining insights from the customers and translating them into opportunities. Marketing not only provides feedback to the company but also undertakes the role of testing new products before they launch the product officially to the market. Arguably, marketing in a critical process that works in handy with the research and development department to coordinate the various activities within the framework of the new product development process to ensure the company meets the needs of the consumer. Notably, marketing and innovation are inseparable aspects of the company. Marketing offers the research and development with the recent trending information about the product the R&D department utilizes the information to make critical decision to help to innovate new products to respond to the customers` change of taste and preference. Also, involving the marketing mix with the '4Ps' is essential to help the R&D department to strategically produce products which they are sure the customers will buy as well as identifying the means the product will reach the market.

Various studies have attributed to the role of marketing in the innovation of new pro...