Marketing Philosophies

The moderen marketing is a result of evolution of the concept of marketing philosophies and there are 5 types of marketing concepts that can be identified. These were originated due to the need and wants of the society which were affected by the PEST factors.

Production Era-

Production Era was pinoneered by increase in needs of people where by producers tried to satisfy basic needs of people with a generalistic view. The primary concern was to increse the output and since the demand was greater than the supply production was sold with no selling effort. Producers were aiming to achieve standardization and economise of scale through mass production and the famous businessman Henry Ford took the leadership in promoting this concept.  He introduced his model T car which was standardized product produced to satisfy the basic need of transportation. There were no specific features in this car and it was just aimed at fullfilling the need of transportation. Henry Ford said “You can have a car in any colour provided it is black.” This statement implies that the Ford Motor Company was not willing to change their product design to suit customer specification instead customers had to accept what was produced by the producer.

Product Era-

This era was originated through increase in the supply of products where the producers started come up with different ideas to be innovative. Even thought at this level demand was still greater than the supply producers had a little pressure of competition and to be innovative they tried to introduce features to product by justifying a need. This had an individualistic view when compared to the generalistic view in production era where car manufacturers came up with features such as speed, safety and status attached to cars rather than just producing something for transportation.

Selling Era-

This era was originated to through change in market conditions where the supply was made equal to demand by increase in supply. The main focus of the producers was to some how sell all what was produced and stay ahead of competition for survival since there was huge cut throat competition due to increase in supply. Significant competition resulted in aggressive selling practices such as sales promotions, buy one get one free (BOGOF), bundle pricing, sales discounts and long credit periods.

Marketing Era-

This is era was originated through rapid expansion in supply where the supply exceeded the demand. Sellers realized that aggressive selling can no longer be applied in marketing era as everyone was providing sales incentives to customers but no sellers were able to some how sell because the supply was greater than the demand. Sellers had to find a different approach to sell products and finally they ended up in identifying, anticipating and satisfying customers needs and wants. This established the concept that the customer is the king and the organization should identify their needs and satisfy them to deliver high customer value which will result in a loyal customer base.

Societal Marketing Era-

This era was originated due to imitation of marketing concept by all seller in the market. Since everyone started to identify and satisfy customer needs organizations had to find a different way to differentiate themselves from their competitors.  In modern marketing organizations look at values of customers, the business as well as values of the society in carrying out their marketing activities and they strive a balance between above mentioned three types of stakeholder to differentiate themselves from competitors. By considering societal values company try to be a socially responsible organization while building its public image to attract more customers. Concepts such as ethical advertising, green marketing and CSR (corporate social responsibility) are used used in societal marketing era.

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