When it comes to marketing, companies strive to ensure that their strategies meet customer needs, increase sales, maximise profits, and beat their competition. This sounds nice, doesn’t it? However, many might wonder which philosophy is actually best for a company in setting marketing strategies.
In this blog post, we will explain 5 different marketing concepts that have a specific function in holistic marketing strategy, i.e. in observing marketing as a whole that includes several interconnected pieces without which it can’t be successful. The following concepts are exactly these we are talking about:
- Production concept
- Product concept
- Sales concept
- Marketing concept
- Social marketing concept
These 5 basic marketing concepts are a key part of putting together any new marketing campaign. Here is what you need to know about all of them…
Production Concept
This concept was founded during the production era of early capitalism in the mid-1950s. At that time, the companies were primarily engaged in production and efficiency. Also, the concept of production is responsible for the idea of supply and demand.
The basic idea of this concept is that companies will want to produce cheap products in maximum quantities in order to maximise profitability and sales volume. Companies assume that consumers are primarily interested in product availability and low prices, while customer needs may not be fully addressed. Such an approach is probably most effective when companies operate in very high-growth markets or where the potential for economies of scale is significant.
The problem with this concept is that companies run the risk of not creating quality products and may have problems with the user experience. An example of this is the use of developing countries to produce cheaper products in larger quantities. Another historical example is Ford cars that produced a ton of cars through their assembly line, but all came out the same without customisation or user input.
Product Concept
The product concept does not relate largely to production and business results but focuses more on customer experiences. Potential customers favour products that offer quality, performance, or innovative features.
This marketing concept believes in potential customers and how their brand loyalty is closely linked to product options, the quality of those products, and the benefits they derive from the products and business they invest in. This is most often seen in our obsession with Apple products and looking forward to their new devices and features after launch.
In this marketing concept, companies will concentrate on producing premium products and improving them over time. There is a fine line between focusing on customers and defining your role and leadership in the industry.
Sales Concept
The concept of sales is one of the important concepts, which advocates that people will not buy enough products, so companies must persuade them to take action. Of course, in today’s marketing, we know that sales are not the path to full marketing success. During World War II, when aggressive advertising was used to entice people to buy bonds and other products, this marketing approach became more widespread.
The sales concept gives companies complete freedom in order to effectively stimulate greater purchases towards their potential customers. This action is used when a company has to face excessive capacity and the need to sell what it produces, not what the market needs or wants. Companies that decide to use this marketing concept must be really good at finding potential customers to sell their products to.
Marketing Concept
Marketing as a whole, as well as the marketing concept, is based on the concept of competition. It is a marketing concept that believes that the success of a company depends on marketing efforts that give better value than its competitors. This concept focuses on the needs and desires of targeted marketing, as well as on providing values that are better than the competition. The goal of marketing is to be a significantly better option compared to competitors. Competitive advantage is key!
This concept most often appeared in the 50s of the 20th century, when companies were trying to stand out in the market industry. Nowadays, a great example of this concept is the modern competition between Pepsi and Coca-Cola, which sell similar products, but their values are completely different. For example, Pepsi focuses on winning over the younger generations, while Coca-Cola focuses on winning overall generations in a more holistic approach.
Marketing concept, partially the sales concept too, relies heavily on online marketing, i.e. digital marketing, which complements the holistic approach to promoting and selling products and services and without which doing any kind of business today is not possible if you want to survive in the niche of choice. Online marketing takes time and expertise and must follow a defined strategy. For it, you must use a website as a means of communication and make it user-friendly. Next, you must use email and email-related tools for improving your list of subscribers and newsletter, such as Benchmark, as another important means of interaction. On the website, you should have quality content, find a target group, keep an eye on ROI (return of investment), and be active on social media. We speak of basics here, of course.
From this traditional concept of marketing, the concept of social marketing has evolved.
Social Marketing Concept
The concept of social marketing is the most advanced and modern way of thinking. It is a marketing concept that believes in bringing society back to producing better products that help the world be a better place. This orientation emerged when the question arose as to whether marketing and businesses address the massive problems society has, such as environmental degradation, lack of resources, population growth, poverty, and social disruption or not.
The key question of any business is: Do the companies that produce the goods act in the best long-term interest of consumers and society? For example, fast-food restaurants offer delicious but unhealthy food. Foods will usually be high in fat, and then their meals will be supplemented with French fries, pies, and juices, which are also not healthy choices. The food is then wrapped in a suitable package that usually ends up somewhere on the ground as waste. Many people enjoy what fast-food chains offer, but at what price? These companies, although they make customers happy, may harm the health of consumers and cause environmental problems.
Conclusion
All of the above marketing concepts can help you achieve organisational goals depending on whether you understand the needs and desires of your target market while delivering quality products that people love or not.
Customer attention and value are the approaches to produce sales and profits, according to the entire marketing idea. The concept of marketing as a whole is based on the philosophy of “feelings and responses” for customers. The task is not to find the right customers for your product, but to find the right products for your customers.