Roles and responsibilities of the marketing function

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Table of Contents
List of tables and figures ............................................................................................. 1
1.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 2
2.0 The marketing concept ......................................................................................... 4
3.0 Roles and responsibilities of the marketing function ............................................. 5
4.0 Roles and responsibilities of marketing in relation to the wider organisational
context ........................................................................................................................ 6
5.0 Impact and influence of marketing environment on the roles and ........................ 7
responsibilities of the marketing function .................................................................... 7
6.0 Significance of interrelationship between marketing and other functional units
of an organisation ..................................................................................................... 11
7.0 Critical analysis of how the key elements of the marketing function interrelates
with other functional units of an organisation ............................................................ 12
8.0 Conclusion ......................................................
List of tables and figures
List of tables:
Table 01: Evolution of concepts...........................................................................2
Table 02: Factors of micro environment and interrelation to
marketing..............................................................................................................9
Table 03: Factors of the macro environment and interrelation with marketing....10
List of figures:
Figure 01: Classification of marketing environment..............................................8

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1.0 Introduction
Overview of marketing
“Marketing is the management process of identifying, anticipating and satisfying
customer requirements profitably.” (Chartered institute of marketing cited in
Baines, Fill and Page, 2013). Similarly Twin, (2020) refers to marketing as the
activities that a company undertakes to promote the buying and selling of a product
or service, this includes advertising, selling and delivering products to customers
or other businesses. McDonald and Wilson (2011) indicate that the central idea of
marketing is of a matching between a company’s capabilities and the wants of
customers in order to achieve the objectives of both parties. In contrast Lendrevie
et al (2006) cited in Baines, Fill and Page ( 2013) claims that
“Marketing is the endeavour of adapting organisations to their competitive markets
in order to influence, in their favour, the behaviour of their publics, with an offer the
perceived value of which is durable superior to that of the competition” (Baines, Fill
and Page; 2013)
Effective marketing is essential because consumers tend to be rational and are
always on the look for affordable products that satisfy their needs and wants.
Customer tastes and preferences are also constantly changing. The ability to
identify and offer products and services that provide consumer benefits and satisfy
their needs determine the success of the business in the market in terms of
profitability and revenue. Failure to do so leads the firms to lose market share and
profits. (Marcouse, Hammond and Watson; 2015)
The purpose of this essay is to take a glance into the marketing aspect of
organisations, primarily by understanding the concept of marketing and the roles
and responsibilities of the marketing function as well as its relation to the wider
organisational context. Moving on the impact and influence of marketing
environment on marketing decisions is identified. Further the significance of
interrelationship between marketing and other functional units of an organisation is
highlighted. Finally a critical analysis of how the elements of marketing interrelate
with other functional units of an organisation is provided.

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The Impact of covid-19 on businesses around world
The 2019 corona virus disease (COVID-19), first identified in Wuhan, China has
expanded across borders leading the World health Organisation to declare it as a
pandemic on 11 March 2020.
As the outbreak continues governments across the world have taken strict
measures such as movement restrictions, nationwide curfews, travel bans and
border closures to handle the situation, which has in turn had a huge impact on
people and notable consequences on national economies and global trade. The
purchasing managers’ indices data globally as well as in Sri Lanka has recorded
the steepest contractions which indicate a high possibility of a global recession.
Despite of the overall impact on all businesses, some industries may be at risk
more than others. To point out the tourism, apparel and textile, retail and consumer,
construction and engineering as well as the banking and finance industries of Sri
Lanka are at a comparatively higher risk. (PwC Sri Lanka, 2020) With the economic
downturn, consumer behaviour is expected to change drastically as consumer’s
ability to spend may be affected especially for those without significant disposable
income
The overall situation has created many challenges for marketing in terms of
changes in priorities and objectives. As a result of the pandemic marketers expect
a notable increase in virtual content, webinars, social media, blog content and
video production. In short the online media is becoming the go-to alternative as the
pandemic continues. (Newscred, 2020)
Businesses should ensure to remain in the positive light by taking a compassionate
approach to advertising and also being resourceful towards their employees,
customers and key stakeholders, this would lead to long-term consumer trust,
satisfaction and loyalty. Also as consumers spend most of their time at home,
marketers can reach their target consumers by investing heavily in television,
digital and direct mail advertising.
Therefore considering the situation, marketers will have to adapt to the latest trends
and gain insight to understand changing consumer behaviours in order to develop
successful marketing strategies moving forward. (Advantix Digital)

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2.0 The marketing concept
After understanding the market, marketing managers move on to develop
marketing strategies, in order to develop successful strategies marketing
managers have to first decide on the customers that they wish to serve ( target
market) through market segmentation and then on how they are going to optimally
serve these customers ( differentiation and market positioning). There are 5
different concepts using which organisations design and carry out their marketing
strategies; the production, product, selling, marketing and societal marketing
concepts. (Kotler and Armstrong, 2018)
Table 01: Evolution of concepts
Production concept Focuses on improving production and distribution
efficiency. (availability and affordability of products)
Product concept Focuses on continuous product improvements in
terms of quality, performance and innovative
features.
Selling concept
Focuses on large-scale selling and promotional
efforts.
Marketing concept
Focuses on identifying and satisfying the needs and
wants of target market better than competitors.
Societal marketing concept
Considers consumers wants, company’s
requirements and long term interests of consumers
and society when making marketing decisions.
Author developed (2020) based on Kotler and Armstrong (2018)
The marketing concept (also referred to as market orientation) implies that all the
activities of an organisation are driven by a desire to satisfy customer needs.
(McDonald and Wilson, 2011)
Market orientation focus on developing:
• Customer orientation: concerned with creating greater value for
customers by continuously developing and improving products and services
to meet the customer needs and wants in order to provide customer
satisfaction on a continuous basis.
• Interfunctional coordination: all the functions within an organisation
including employees work together to gain customer satisfaction in order to
achieve organisational goals and long-term profitability.
(Baines, Fill and Page; 2013)