Maxwell Ranasinghe: M.A. (Interdisciplinary) York, BSc.(Business Admin) Sri Jayewardenepura, CPM( Marketing) New Haven. – Senior Lecturer and Corporate Trainer.
Wikipedia provides a summary of marketing definitions. Philip Kotler defines marketing as , “Satisfying needs and wants through an exchange process”. The Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing as, “the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably”. A similar concept is the value-based marketing, which states the role of marketing as that which contributes towards increasing shareholder value. In this context, marketing can be defined as, “the management process that seeks to maximise returns to shareholders, by developing relationships with valued customers and creating a competitive advantage”.The American Marketing Association changed their marketing definition in 2013 as, “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large”. (Wikipedia, 2019)
The AMA’s new definition is an extension from the original meaning which referred literally to going to market with goods for sale. From a sales process engineering perspective, marketing is “a set of processes that are interconnected and interdependent with other functions of a business aimed at achieving customer interest and satisfaction”.New definition included value creation not only for customers and shareholders, but for the partners too, and most importantly, for the society at large. This “society at large” term could be enlarged and interpreted well into taking the sustainability issue into the core marketing definition. There is a lot of scholarly work on the definitions of marketing, but the author does not wish to go into an extensive analysis of the literature. However, some background information as to the argument for a marketing definition, that includes sustainability as a core element, has been made.
The market economy and nature’s economy are intertwined. Economic sustainability must be based on ecological and social sustainability, as there is no economy unless there is a planet to live on. The World Commission of Environment and Development (1987), advocates that the future of the planet’s environment, communities and their cultures should not to be compromised by actions in the present. This advocacy has now given direction for businesses, for over two decades, to change the way that they operate their businesses. It is not just complying with a plethora of rules and regulations as to the protection of environment, it challenges the business community to come up with innovations and commit towards addressing the imperative environment of the planet we live on. As such, American Marketing Association (2007) has called for businesses to recognise a responsibility to the society at large, not just to individual consumers or to its shareholders. However, businesses currently have little guidance as to how they might drive a sustainable development agenda or a commitment, to change their core business activities, to suit the need of the day. So far, the sustainability issue is not being dealt as a core marketing issue, but as a detached issue of marketing. It is not embedded in the core activities of marketing. As Crittenden, Ferrel and Pinney (2011) highlight, “there is little mainstream marketing management theory, research and practice, that equips companies to deal with the 21st century operating environment in which sustainability is the consumption norm and not the exception”. Phillip Kotler (2011),observed, that marketing will have to reinvent its practices to be environmentally responsible. However, the tactical tool used for achieving market goals is still the marketing mix, which focuses on individual customer rather than the benefits to the society at large, and does not provide guidance on operating more sustainably. Therefore, business managers need a Sustainability Marketing Model that provides directions to consider sustainability implications in decision making. This should enable the business managers to consider sustainability issues from corporate level strategic planning to operational level activities, such as product, pricing, distribution and promotion. Performance evaluation of companies should not be based only on profits that they make, but also on the improved sustainability performance, that includes planet and people in to the formulae.
As cited by Pomering (2014) Bridges and Wilhelm (2018), highlighted that, “marketing education for sustainability requires a consideration of environmental and social issues in all elements of marketing strategy planning, from objective setting to target market selection, to strategic and tactical decisions regarding each of the marketing mix variables”. In other words, they argue that a holistic approach towards marketing should be embedded with sustainability.
Pomering (2014) argues, that the conventional marketing mix (four Ps), broadly details the activities the marketing manager needs to consider to achieve the organisation’s desired market offering: product, price, promotion and place. He further observes that although the four Ps are important decision areas, they alone do not permit a firm to adequately address sustainability challenges. If the products are not produced within the carrying capacities of the natural resources, the production process will not last long too. Further, society needs to use the products in an environmentally sustainable way so that all the other beings also will not be harmed. For example, the throwing of the polythene bags, which go to the sea, and whales that are eating the jelly fish, think that the bags are jelly fish, consume them and die.
Pomering (2014) argues that these challenges can be addressed through adding four more elements: processors, physical evidence, partnerships and participants. Although processors and physical evidence are features in the existing services marketing mix, Pomering’s version adds a sustainability filter to these elements that broadens the scope.
Zeithaml et al, 2007 describes Processors as actual procedures, mechanisms and activities which the service is delivered. Pomering (2014) argues that a sustainable filter to these activities is needed to be attached to improve efficiency and prevent damage that may occur through the processors. Tangibility clues, that assists consumers in the evaluation of products, are referred to as Physical Evidence. However, sustainability filter needs to be attached to services cape, including design of building and furnishing etc., through use of low carbon modes, such as energy efficient buildings, solar energy etc. He refers to Partnerships as the cooperative efforts of sustainability outcome-enabling individuals and organisations, in the realisation, that one organisation cannot stand alone in the struggle to achieve sustainability. Customers and other stakeholders, even the competitors, are captured under partnerships. Describing the Participants element, Pomering (2014) highlight the role of human resource management and customer management. He argues that employees should be committed to sustainability ethos and committed to continuous sustainability performance. In the same manner, he suggests that customers are not merely targeted to consume the products, but also to be included in the co-production of sustainability process: for example, product use, servicing and disposal, recycling and future product purchase.
In light of the above and other published literature on this important definition issue, the author suggests a definition as follows.
Marketing is a way of proficiently understanding the role played by humans as a customer, finding out their needs and wants, and delivering them through a managed business process, with due regard to sustainable business practices that creates a better world.”
In justification of the above definition, the following is also cited.
1. Marketing is not just a function of management. Long ago, it was identified as a business philosophy.
2. The main focus of marketing is the customer. Refer to the earlier definitions of marketing, like Adams Smith’s, which we have now dropped even from our study text.
• (Adams Smith (1776) “Consumption is the sole purpose of all production and interest of product ought to be attended to, only so far as it may be necessary for promoting that of the consumer”.
It talks about the core, “the consumer” and ” the activity the marketers should do” very well. We need to revisit it and expand it. That’s why we need to include “Proficiently understanding the role played by human as a customer”. Customer includes an individual, as well as a group of people. The planet that we live on could be added to the word customer in the present context, as it is a major stakeholder. In order to understand the role of a customer proficiently, it is necessary to adopt a skillful and scientific methodology. This would greatly reduce the occurrence of wrong decisions and wastage of resources.
3. Marketing is not just an activity or societal process. It cannot be restricted to creation, promotion, distribution and pricing of goods and services. In the author’s opinion, these words should not be in a meaningful definition, as they restrict the horizons of marketing. It is a managed process which includes planning, organizing and implementing. It uses many management tools to achieve goals. Further, it focuses on developing a sustainable relationship with partners and participants. Therefore, the inclusion of “managed process” is very appropriate in author’s point of view. Further, the managed process was expanded to “managed business process” as all the organizations ,even the “nonprofit organizations”, would prefer a margin over the cost of their operations. It could be monetary or otherwise. Therefore, “managed business process” is included.
4. Marketers (business organizations) have not taken much care of the needs of the society at large. As a result, they are largely responsible for the degradation of the environment and the use of unethical practices, considering the world as a bundle of resources available to satisfy the needs of the current human generation, without considering the needs of the other living plants, animals, and the needs of the future generation. This would even go in line with Buddhist philosophy that sheds light on to a new paradigm in marketing. Already well accepted, the societal marketing concept should be expanded and included in the mainstream marketing definition. Therefore, the “sustainable business practices that creates a better world” is included. The marketer should consider “society also as its customer” and therefore give value to society too. With the current trend in the world, marketers would be the drivers of the world. Therefore, they need to have a broader vision of the whole world and have an attitude to work towards the world’s sustainability:
Optimize the performance of their business,
Create strong relationships with their customers, other businesses, staff and the community,
Balance their budget and ensure their financial sustainability,
Help the business community to prosper,
Reduce their carbon footprint.
The world and the business environment is continuously changing and it poses issues that we have not faced in the past. In order to adopt to the changing environment, we have to reshape or reinvent business approaches without delay for our own survival. Devising a new definition for marketing is imperative to changing the “business as usual” attitude, which adversely affects humanity.
References
Crittenden V.L, Ferrel L.K, Pinney, C.C. (2011) “Market- oriented sustainability: A conceptual framework and propositions” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, vol 39e, pp. 71-85
CIM “Marketing library resources – content, knowledge databases”.
Kotler, Philip (1980). Principles of Marketing. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Inc.
Kotler, P. (2011) “Reinventing Marketing to Manage the Environment Imperative, Journal of Marketing, vol 75(4) pp. 132-135
Pomering, A. (2014) Strategic marketing Sustainability: from a marketing mix to marketing matrix. In H. Hassan (Ed.) Being Practical with Theory: A window into Business Research (pp 80-86) Wollongong, Australia
Smith, A. (1776) Wealth of Nations, Strahan and Cadel, London
Wikipedia (2019) Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing [accessed 22 Aug 2019]
Zeithaml, V., Bitner, M.J., Gremler, D.D. (2006) Service Marketing integrating customer focus across the firm, McGraw-Hill, New York