Marketing is often perceived as a clever way of manipulating consumers to buy a product and ultimately increase a company’s profit. As a socially aware student intending to pursue a marketing degree I feel it my duty to defend this common accusation.
Marketing is finding out what consumers want or need, and giving it to them.
Many corporations and entrepreneurs make the mistake of creating a product then using marketing to try and convince consumers of its value. Marketing needs to be the first step, not just the last! What if those corporations focused their marketing resources on finding out what consumers want…then creating a product to satisfy that need. The level of persuasion and manipulation in marketing strategies would be far less and companies would have a higher focus on making a difference in the lives of consumers, instead of just making profit.
This is why I consider market research to be one of the most important aspects of marketing. It’s hard, it’s complicated, it’s costly and it’s time consuming…but it’s very important. Afterall, isn’t it more complicated, expensive, and time consuming to try selling a product that no-one wants?
Seth Godin explains this concept perfectly in his very short but to the point blog post titled “Date Certain”. He states that FedEx‘s success is down to the fact that it really understands what its customers are looking for in a delivery service. While competitors believe customers want the fastest delivery possible, FedEx has clearly completed extensive market research to discover that customers would much prefer an exact delivery date, even if it takes longer.
It’s not hard to sell a product or service, as long as it is something consumers want. Take the time to find out that information.