Introduction to Marketing

INTRODUCTION TO
MARKETING

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ESSAY.............................................................................................................................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

ESSAY
Marketing is the set of activities that an organisation undertakes for promotion of its
products and services and includes the steps of marketing research, product development,
product branding, packaging, promotion and advertisements followed by sales. Marketing
research is the first step to determine the viability of a new product or service by conducting a
research directly to gain insights about the market from potential customers. Research lays the
foundation to make an efficient marketing plan for being cost efficient, have a competitive
advantage, and gain a huge market share (Stevens, Loudon and Wrenn, 2006). The propose of
marketing research process is ascertaining a specific product with the audience. Marketing
research information helps in identification of opportunities to serve different groups of
customers, examination of the market size and unmet market needs, investigation of competition,
clarification of unique value proposition, setting foundation for promotional strategies and tactics
(Brusco and et.al., 2017). The entire process helps the top management of the company for
making informed decisions, bringing innovation and allocating the resources appropriately. They
can determine feasibility, develop potential new markets, keep close tabs on marketing trends,
assess the demand for new products and place products optimally. Marketing research consists of
collection of data or information for going ahead with product differentiation and segmentation
of market by combining primary data with secondary information which is conducted through in-
house marketing or by a third party. Primary information is collected through exploratory or
specific researches like first-hand surveys, focus groups, questionnaires, exit surveys,
observations, interviews, product testing that address the issues and requirements of the company
through questions. Secondary information on the other hand refers to data that is already
gathered by an outside entity and can be used second-hand from various reports and survey data
published across journals, government reports or another business house operating in the specific
industry (Malhotra and Dash, 2016).
For instance, Apple Inc. which is a blue-chip technology company operating globally as a
designer, developer and seller of consumer electronics, online services and software implements
primary research method for developing its marketing strategies. Apple doesn’t believe in hiring
third parties for conducting its marketing research and conducts in-house research with aim to
develop best products with oriented towards consumers. Apples’ primary approach to conducting
research is the oversimplification of activities that are undertaken in the process. Although
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