marketing - an introduction

Marketing is 'the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably'.

The definition highlights the fact that the customer is at the heart of business, and companies ignore this at their peril.

Marketing is about getting the right product or service to the customer at the right price, in the right place, at the right time.

Marketing is a key management discipline that enables the producers of goods and services to interpret customer wants, needs and desires – and match or exceed them in delivery to their target consumers.

Every product we buy, every store we visit, every media message we receive, every choice we make in our consumer society has been shaped by the forces of marketing.