Marketing is a contested area that has been widely discussed in many forms. It involves many facets and occurs across many settings. Therefore marketing shall not be ignored from the perspective of a company and it cannot be ignored from the perspective of a consumer. In my experiences with marketing I have had two very enlightening insights: The importance of marketing in profits, and the importance of added value.

Firstly, the importance of marketing appeared to me in my work as a consultant in the company “Personal Workflow”. It offers workshops, courses, and private coaching about personal productivity and time management. The company was established in 2008 and today it has five employees. The company is growing and until now the marketing has mostly been by the word of mouth. Before learning about marketing I was sceptic of its importance. I had the belief that as long as a product was excellent, it would sell itself. The marketing mix with product, price, place, and promotion suggests otherwise. Product is only one component of marketing and the three other P’s also has to be taken into consideration when creating sustained competitive advantage.

Secondly, added value is important. Marketing has to be seen from a demand perspective, hence the consumer is very important. The key to adding value to consumers is marketing research. Here a marketing course adds value to my personal skillset. In a report from the American Marketing Association (Lord 2000) the top two of the most important discriminators between new product winners and losers were understanding of user’s needs and attention to marketing and launch publicity. The first describes that adding value to consumers is vital to the company. The value added by my company is energy, well-being in everyday life, and love of working. The second describes that market research is important. Today, a market research of the personal productivity industry would show that time is a scarce resource that needs to be properly managed.

In sum, just knowing yourself that a product is excellent and adds value does not mean that others think the same. You have to make proper market research and execute a well-planned marketing plan. These are important elements in achieving success in business, which I will take with me in further work and I hope you will too.