Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index '\Marketing' is the craft of linking the producers (or potential producers) of a product or service with customers, both existing and potential. It is an inevitable and necessary consequence of capitalism. However marketing is not limited to capitalist countries. Marketing techniques are applied in all political systems, and in many aspects of life. Marketing methods are informed by many of the social sciences, particularly psychology, sociology, and economics. Marketing research underpins these activities. Through advertising, it is also related to many of the creative arts. What marketing involves Contrary to the popular conception, marketing is not just about promotion -- it can be divided into four sections, often called the "four Ps". They are: Product - The Product management aspect of marketing deals with the specifications of the actual good or service, and how it relates to the end-user's needs and wants. Pricing - This refers to the process of setting a price for a product, including discounts. Promotion - This includes advertising, publicity, word of mouth, and personal selling, and refers to the various methods of promoting the product, brand, or company. Place or distribution refers to how the product gets to the customer; for example, point of sale placement or retailing. These four elements are often referred to as the marketing mix. A marketer will use these variables to craft a marketing plan. For a marketing plan to be successful, the mix of the four "p's" must reflect the wants and desires of the consumers in the target market. Trying to convince a market segment to buy something they don't want is extremely expensive and seldom successful. Marketers depend on marketing research to determine what consumers want and what they are willing to pay for. Marketers hope that this process will give them a sustainable competitive advantage. Marketing management is the practical application of this process. Finding marketing articles marketing fundamentals consumer customer marketing mix sustainable competitive advantage core competency experience curve effects marketing myopia market segment target market business model value value chain value migration market share economies of scope end-user product management product product differentiation product life cycle management diffussion new product development research and development conjoint analysis Quality Function Deployment list of product failures planned obsolescence Crossing the Chasm technology lifecycle product line whole product product portfolio B.C.G. Analysis G.E. Multi Factoral analysis contribution margin analysis cannibalization product bundling problems with portfolio models positioning perceptual mapping factor analysis multi dimensional scaling discriminant analysis preference regression brand management brand brand equity private brand corporate branding family branding individual branding corporate identity trademark genericized trademark pricing price price points psychological pricing pricing objectives discounts and allowances penetration pricing price wars variable pricing and real-time pricing pricing for profit maximization price discrimination price skimming two part tariff price elasticity of demand geographical pricing and price zoning cost-plus pricing markup cost-plus pricing with elasticity considerations break even analysis rate of return pricing competitor indexing joint product pricing transfer pricing barter loss leaders marketing management marketing plan strategic planning implementation and control promotion sales promotion advertising mind share mass media television commercial advertising slogan list of advertising slogans subliminal advertising product placement Nielsen Ratings sex in advertising subvertising personal selling sales techniques negotiation shill sales force management sales force management system publicity buzz word of mouth viral marketing undercover marketing public relations e-marketing personalized marketing permission marketing E-commerce Business to Business Electronic Commerce (B2B) Business to Consumer Electronic Commerce (B2C) Online auction business model (C2C) Search Engine Optimization bricks and clicks business model disintermediation The dot com boom customer relationship management(CRM)systems web banner spamming multimedia distribution retail shopping mall department store list of department stores supermarket list of supermarkets franchising wholesaler supply chain supply chain management logistics logistic engineering shrinkage drop shipping direct marketing database marketing telemarketing Multi-level marketing specialty catalogs pyramid scheme LGAT Direct Marketing Association marketing strategies growth strategies horizontal integration vertical integration innovation strategies aggressiveness strategies P.I.M.'s study strategies for mature and decining markets market dominance strategies Porter generic strategies mass customization marketing warfare strategies offensive marketing warfare strategies defensive marketing warfare strategies flanking marketing warfare strategies guerrilla marketing warfare strategies guerrilla marketing consumer behaviour demographics lifestyle buyer decision processes evolution of marketing production orientation sales orientation marketing orientation personal marketing orientation marketing research qualitative marketing research focus group quantitative marketing research survey techniques questionnaire construction scales sampling simple random sampling systematic sampling stratified sampling cluster sampling multistage sampling nonprobability sampling experimental techniques observational techniques industry or market research environmental scanning SWOT Analysis competitor analysis ecological model of competition Porter 5 forces analysis data analysis techniques used in marketing research cross tabs logit analysis intent scale translation preference-rank translation conjoint analysis factor analysis multi dimensional scaling discriminant analysis cluster analysis preference regression services marketing service quality gaps analysis complaints handling experience economy service sector service mark criticisms of marketing propaganda No Logo Finding related topics list of management topics list of marketing topics list of human resource management topics list of economics topics list of finance topics list of accounting topics list of information technology management topics list of production topics list of business law topics list of business ethics, political economy, and philosophy of business topics list of business theorists list of economists list of corporate leaders list of companies This article is from Wikipedia. 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