Marketing Management, Millenium Edition

Marketing deals with identifying and meeting human and social needs. One of the shortest definitions of marketing is “meeting needs profitably.” Whether the marketer is Procter & Gamble, which notices that people feel overweight and want tasty but less fatty food and invents Olestra; or Marketing deals with identifying and meeting human and social needs. One of the shortest definitions of marketing is “meeting needs profitably.” Whether the marketer is Procter & Gamble, which notices that people feel overweight and want tasty but less fatty food and invents Olestra; or CarMax, which notes that people want more certainty when they buy a used automobile and invents a new system for selling used cars; or IKEA, which notices that people want good furniture at a substantially lower price and creates knock-down furniture—all illustrate a drive to turn a private or social need into a profitable business opportunity through marketing. more