Marketing Report: Roles and Responsibilities in Company X

This report, written from the perspective of a head of marketing at Company X, argues against the board of directors' decision to cut the marketing department's budget and human resources. It begins with an introduction emphasizing marketing's crucial role as a bridge between the market and the business, ensuring alignment with target customers. The report then defines marketing and explores its basic concepts, including the production, product, selling, marketing, and societal marketing concepts. It delves into the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function within an organizational context, highlighting how marketing drives sales growth, builds brand awareness, fosters customer relationships, and provides competitive advantages. The report also examines the interrelationship between the marketing department and other units, emphasizing the importance of coordination for overall company success. The conclusion summarizes the significance of marketing and persuades the board to reconsider their decision, underscoring the potential negative consequences of reduced marketing efforts.

ASSIGNMENT 1 FRONT SHEET

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Table of Contents
I. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................. 6
II. MARKETING’S DEFINITION AND BASIC CONCEPTS.....................................................6
2.1 The definition of marketing............................................................................................ 6
2.2 Basic concepts of marketing.......................................................................................... 7
2.2.1 Production Concept.................................................................................................. 8
2.2.2 Product Concept....................................................................................................... 8
2.2.3 Selling Concept........................................................................................................ 9
2.2.4 Marketing Concept................................................................................................... 9
2.2.5 Societal Marketing Concept..................................................................................... 9
III. THE KEY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE MARKETING FUNCTION IN
ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT AND IN THE CONTEXT OF CURRENT MARKETING
ENVIRONMENT.................................................................................................................... 10
3.1 The key roles of marketing........................................................................................... 10
3.2 Functions of Marketing................................................................................................. 12
IV. THE INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MARKETING DEPARTMENT AND OTHER
UNITS................................................................................................................................... 14
V. CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................. 16
REFERENCES....................................................................................................................... 16

Executive Summary
This report is written to persuade the board of directors to reconsider the
decision to cut the expenses and human resources of the marketing department.
The composition is divided into 5 parts, starting with a brief introduction about the
importance of marketing followed by the definitions and basic concepts of
marketing. The main roles of marketing for the company as well as the functions of
marketing are the next analysis to show the influence of marketing and what
marketing brings to the company. Next, the indispensable part is the connection
between the marketing department and other departments, this section shows that
marketing is an integral part of the company because when marketing in
coordination with other departments, it will help the company stay on track and
thrive. Finally, the conclusion to summarize the importance of marketing to the
company, what marketing gives to the company and the lack of marketing is a huge
loss for the company, and persuades the board to see back and change the decision.
I. INTRODUCTION.
Working in Company X as a head of marketing, I realize that the company is facing
many financial difficulties and challenges in many aspects. However, when I heard
that the board of directors had decided to cut down the budgets as well as human
resources of the marketing department, I wrote this report to show the board of
directors the important of marketing as well as the association between marketing
department and other units in company. It can be said that Marketing plays a very
important role and has a great influence on the company. Marketing is the bridge
between the market and the business and thereby ensuring the company's activities
towards the right target market. In order to understand the needs, desires and
characteristics of the target customers, marketing is vital because through
marketing activities, the company will find out and know what is needed to be able
to continue. contact with target customers. Besides, thanks to the marketing
research, the company will know the highlights and limitations of the business

environment that the company is going from which can help the company overcome
and advance further. It also has a big part in analyzing and understanding
competitors, helping the company to offer outstanding methods and projects that
are superior to competitors. Moreover, marketing is also closely linked with other
departments because from the results of the marketing department's activities,
proper policies and strategies will be in place. From there, the other divisions will
have an action plan and implementation based on the proposed studies and
forecasts. This paper aims to enquire about marketing’s definition and what are the
basic concepts of marketing, the key roles of marketing as well as its functions in
organizational context and in the context of marketing environment. The
interrelationships of marketing department and other units in a company is also
analyzed to show the benefits from the association of marketing with other
departments.
However, in order to take a closer look at marketing, today's report will provide the
necessary things to be able to see the profound definition of marketing as well as
the strong impact of marketing on the company.
II. MARKETING’S DEFINITION AND BASIC CONCEPTS.
2.1 The definition of marketing.
Nowadays, there is no doubt about the evolution of communications which
means there are several definitions of marketing that can be found out through the
Internet, newspaper or books. However, because of that development, the definition
of marketing can be misinterpreted, each person has different perceptions about
marketing and it might be confused to those who are studying about marketing
because they do not know which conveys enough the definition of marketing.
According to Clark, “Marketing consists of those efforts which effect transfers
in the ownership of goods and care for their physical distribution” (Clark, 1922). It
was defined that “Marketing is the process of planning and executing the
conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to
create exchanges that satisfy individual (customer) and organizational objectives”
(American Marketing Association, 1988). Another definition of marketing by Jonson,

Marketing is the role that assesses the needs of customers and then fulfills them by
generating an effective demand for and providing profitable products and services
(Johnson, 1982).
Continuing with a definition of marketing in 1996, Marketing is the role that
assesses the needs of customers and then fulfills them by generating an effective
demand for and providing profitable products and services (Kotler and Armstrong,
1996). At the beginning of the 21st century another definition of marketing was
changed, Marketing as a discipline is undergoing a transformation from an art that is
studied to a profession of sound theoretical basis... Marketing is both a directional
approach – Some may say a theory of business-and a feature of business (Michael
Baker, 2003). It can be clearly seen that there are many marketing definitions in
both the past and the present but generally all speak of the role and direction of
marketing. Learn about consumers' black boxes and deliver ideas, goods and
services that are appropriate and can satisfy customers.
2.2 Basic concepts of marketing
Marketing concepts are strategic ideas, content and forms of marketing that
aim to understand customer needs, influence customer perceptions and determine
how a company can leverage that. The end result of the marketing concept is direct
support, making the sale easier. The marketing concept and technique is really
based on what it takes to determine the right product, the price for those products
and what needs to be communicated to the target customer (through advertising) to
ensure sales. successful goods. One of the key aspects of marketing concepts is

building a brand identity for what a company is selling and this varies from the
company itself.
Figure 1: Marketing concepts. (Source: https://www.iedunote.com/marketing-
concepts)
2.2.1 Production Concept.
This is a long-standing concept dating back to the 1950s. It speaks to the fact
that consumers often prefer products that are widely available and especially cheap.
Availability and low prices are what consumers are concerned about while their
needs may not be fully addressed. Businesses focus on this concept, focusing on
achieving high production efficiency, low cost, and mass distribution.
An example of Production Concept, being a famous phone company from
China, Oppo is a cheap mobile producer that is always available in the market. We
can easily find and buy it through the phone stores, although Oppo products are not
really good, it meets the cheap and availability without having to place an order or
wait for a long time, and another thing is that Oppo has a good camera that can
take beautiful and clear pictures, which is also on the list of why people often prefer
Oppo to other phones.
2.2.2 Product Concept.
The product concept states that consumers will prioritize products that offer a
lot of quality, performance, or creativity (Cydney Hatch, 2020). Businesses will focus
on continuous product investment and improvement. Trusting potential customers
and keeping their brand loyalty tied to its product choices and quality. However, this
concept is also risky because if the quality and benefits that the product gives
consumers less and less when their demand is increasing, they will find and replace
with a new product can better meet their needs.
An example of Product Concept, take an example from the fact that it is Apple.
Apple is always interested in improving its products and constantly bringing benefits
to users through its products. Being satisfied with customers, each year a new
innovative design, apple has gained customer loyalty and trust. Despite competing

with many big brands like Samsung, Oppo, Xiaomi…, Apple is still the first brand
name in the list of qualified products.
2.2.3 Selling Concept.
The selling concept for that customers will not buy products if the business
does not have promotions, sales efforts, and large-scale promotion (Cydney Hatch,
2020). They focus on creating sales transactions rather than building long-term
profitable customer relationships. The purpose of the business is to sell what they do
rather than do what the market wants. So, to be able to sell products, marketers
must learn the market demand, target customers, produce products, appropriate
fish prices and on top of that is to advertise and distribute effectively.
An example of Selling Concept: Insurance can prove this. Insurance sellers are
often well equipped with different techniques or strategies to find potential
customers and emphasize the benefits of the product. Besides, they also offer many
attractive incentives with many words that can attract customers.
2.2.4 Marketing Concept.
The Marketing Concept is the concept of competition because the success of a
business depends on the forces that marketing brings better value than competitors
(Cydney Hatch, 2020). This concept focuses on the needs and desires of targeted
marketing as well as providing better value than competitors. Through marketing,
your goal is to select priorities over competitors. Competitive advantage is the key.
The concept is based on four key factors: profitability, coordinated marketing,
customer trends and target market.
An example of Marketing Concept:
-Pepsi: Focuses on winning over the younger generations.
-Coke: Focuses on winning over everyone in a more holistic approach! (Blog, 2019)
They compete with each other by offering different target customers. If Pepsi just
stopped at winning the young generation, Coke struck straight on winning everyone.
It can be seen that this competition is the key for both companies to thrive from the
past to the present and possibly in the future.

2.2.5 Societal Marketing Concept.
The concept of social marketing is the most modern and progressive
marketing mindset right now. This concept holds that the mission of the business is
to determine the needs, desires, interests of the target market, and to distribute
satisfaction more effectively than competitors in ways that enhance social welfare or
preserve (Cydney Hatch, 2020). The concept of social marketing requires balancing
the three major goals of consumers (satisfaction), society (human welfare) and
company (profits) for businesses because this helps marketing activities be effective
and sustainable. In addition, the concept of social marketing also provides social
services that benefit the community such as building schools, sports facilities,
hospitals, clinics, etc., helping to improve the lives of the community. It not only
helps businesses gain acceptance in a given environment, but it also creates great
opportunities for businesses to sell their products.
An example of Societal Marketing Concept: Coca Cola plays a key role in
providing corporate social responsibility (CSR), in India, Coca Cola has consistently
received awards as the best company for providing CSR. More than 500 rainwater
harvesting structures can serve more than 1 million people, in Coca Cola slum areas
organized medical camps serving more than 1 million residents and more than
135,000 scholarships for students in 116 military schools (Blog, 2019). This has
helped India develop its economy and thereby Coca Cola's products are widely
accepted in the Indian market.
III. THE KEY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE MARKETING FUNCTION
IN ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT AND IN THE CONTEXT OF CURRENT
MARKETING ENVIRONMENT.
3.1 The key roles of marketing.
Marketing helps growth sales: A good marketing strategy will bring profits
and increase sales for businesses. Not only does it stop at understanding and
responding to customer needs, marketing also broadens the reach and makes the
product popular (35express, 2020).

In the third quarter of 2019, through a PepsiCo sales executive conference, it
was reported that a 12% increase in advertising and marketing spending helped
increase market share for the main brand, Pepsi and boost sales. on some brands.
Specifically, net sales increased to 4.3%, $ 17.2 billion compared to a year earlier. It
can be said that higher investment in advertising and marketing has brought a
positive result for PepsiCo (Robert Williams, 2019). In particular, PepsiCo's Pepsi
product, Pepsi is one of the famous drink brands in the world, Pepsi's marketing
strategy is to create a common sense for both the generation and the main target is
the young generation. With this marketing campaign, Pepsi has always shown the
vibrant and youthful spirit through advertisements on social networks, TV posters on
the street. When entering the Vietnamese market, Pepsi has made many
contributions to the community to help bring the brand closer to consumers,
connect with the community, attract the media and thereby strengthen the brand’s
identify value, brand image, product development and increase sales.
Building and maintaining relationships between business and
customers: In order to develop and enhance brand awareness, each business must
have a proper marketing strategy to maintain and build relationships between
businesses and customers. To do this, the marketing strategy that the business has
to make customers remember and understand more about the business and its
products, and this strategy must create sympathy for consumers, analyzing trends
according to human characteristics because the more they understand the other
person, the more they will improve their ability to trust. The image of the business
will be more popular in the hearts of customers and it will help build a long-term
relationship between customers and businesses, and customers will also use the
product in the long term.
Realizing that the connection between them and customers is very limited,
Nike has found the key to being able to create a stronger connection with customers
that is collecting customer data from that can uphold and maintain dominance.
Customer data is considered to be the backbone for businesses if they want to exist
in the future because when customer data is available, businesses can enhance
customer experience, in addition to helping businesses adapt. Be with local culture
and product development. Nike has established a program called Nike Plus, a Nike

membership program for loyal customers, and to become a Nike member,
customers must create an account and provide some of their credentials, it's free. In
addition, Nike has a D2C strategy, which adds value to consumers and helps Nike to
collect more information about customers, thereby creating unique shopping
experiences for them and it helps Nike maintain and build long-term relationships
with customers.
Marketing helps develop business: In this 4.0 era, it is no stranger to the
development, fierce competition of the market with hundreds of brands and
thousands of similar products appearing increasingly thick. This shows just how
important marketing is because it can be said that marketing is a prop for
businesses to decide the growth and prosperity of the business. Most businesses
with strong growth have invested heavily in marketing to be able to sustain their
long-term presence in the market. If the marketing of the business is too weak then
it is not surprising that consumers leave them and look to a new business, have a
stronger marketing strategy to find the important factors and above all, gain trust.
of consumers. Therefore, marketing activities will help to effectively balance the
competitive advantage between small and medium enterprises with large
enterprises, with an investment marketing strategy that will bring businesses
tremendous growth.
Biti's Hunter made a comeback in 2017 through outstanding events, media
campaigns and viral videos. With AIDA, Biti's sales have exploded unexpectedly,
creating a resounding step in the Vietnamese shoe market. AIDA includes:
Awareness, Interest, Desire and Action. Biti's Hunter has successfully promoted the
image, brand and product through 2 mv of 2 famous singers, Son Tung M-TP and
Soobin Hoang Son. This has attracted a large number of young customers, which
makes Biti's revenue amazing. In addition, Biti's also stimulates the love of
customers through the promotion by celebrities. Although the price of Biti's is not
too expensive, it also causes some consideration when making purchases for many
people, to deal with this, Biti's has motivated them by reducing the price of products
and offering many promotion codes at certain time frames through social
networking sites.

Facilitating interaction and finding potential customers: Along with the
development of technology today is the development of social networking sites. This
has a great influence on the marketing of businesses because it helps increase
interaction between businesses and customers. It can also evaluate the influence as
well as the name of the business in society. Moreover, this is the best and fastest
way to convey information about products to customers and create opportunities for
customers to express their thinking and feelings more about the product.
Starbucks is a testament to this, they exploit what customers need through
three major social networking sites, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Starbucks
understands and connects the same topic on various media, shares its campaigns
on social networks, exposes and increases interaction with customers and uses
sophisticated images and videos. It is not too strange for Starbucks to be famous for
the delicious drinks that satisfy a lot of customers, which helps Starbucks thrive and
has a worldwide branch. The perfect combination in the marketing strategy has
helped Starbucks grow and be popular with many consumers.
3.2 Functions of Marketing.
Gathering and analyzing market function.
It is very important to collect, evaluate and research deeply into the market to
be able to collect information related to the target customers from which to devise
appropriate marketing strategies to attract and meet customers. It must give an
answer to the common question of almost all buyers that is why they have to buy
from you and not another business? Further research and analysis help businesses
understand what customers need, how much they want to spend on that product,
etc.
Finding the best distribution channels.
In order to distribute goods or services to consumers, it is also important to
choose a distribution channel. Because if the business does not choose a good
distribution channel, it is certain that the product will not reach the target customer
and therefore the sales will decrease. However, choosing a distribution channel that
can promote its full potential is not easy because not having to distribute it
anywhere, distributing it, determining the area of customers. target and bring it to
the consumer.

Promotion.
In business, promotion is an indispensable thing because most of the
promotional products will attract a lot of customers to buy not only old customers
but also a large number of new customers. With the strong development of
technology today, it is really not difficult to implement promotions because
consumers can buy online or even in stores, businesses can offer many forms of
promotion based on the picture. buy in order to attract customers more easily. This
is a marketing strategy that can bring a lot of benefits, for example, when a
business launches a new product they can get a promotion by buying a new product
and giving an old one, which gives them 2 The benefit is that you can sell second-
hand goods, promote or sell new ones, or when businesses combine both online and
direct purchases, you can offer different types of discounts based on your needs.
customer.
Pricing of products.
To be able to offer a suitable price for the product is also called a challenge
because if the product price is too high, it will be picky about buyers than low-priced
or affordable products. However, if the price is too low, it will not bring profits to the
business and thus the business will slip. Businesses need to do some market
research in order to get a suitable price for long-lasting products in the market. So,
it is extremely important to consider the various factors, customer categorization,
their income, the company's goals of the products and the competitors' policies from
which to set prices. Consistent with customer needs about the product.
Customer Services
The key to success is customer satisfaction about the company's products.
This involves listening to customers, meeting their needs and desires by providing
after-sales services, shopping with credit cards, debit cards, and services like
membership cards. Accumulating points after every purchase can also help
businesses gain customer information, categorize customers and take outstanding

steps. In addition, it must also handle and respond to customer complaints about
the product, thereby improving quality and strengthening customer trust.
Design and product development.
The shape of the product also somewhat affects whether the product is sold or
not. Decisions related to quality standards used for the shape or design of a product
or packaging to attract buyers and especially when buying products of the same
type but different in shape and packaging. Surely consumers will like the product
has a more beautiful appearance. This is not uncommon because if the packaging
and sticker work well, the product will probably be sold more or less and most
customers often assess the quality of the product through its packaging.
Marketing Plan.
Designing a right marketing plan for the plan to increase production, sales,
and product promotion will help businesses gain many benefits and deserve what
they spend. Many businesses today choose to approach the random market but
must say that this approach is not really effective and often leads to costly. Mapping
the right marketing plan will make it easier for businesses to achieve their goals. If
there is a good marketing plan to make the product popular, there is a reason for
devising a stronger plan to make the product more popular.
IV. THE INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MARKETING DEPARTMENT AND
OTHER UNITS.
The connection between marketing and other parts of a business is extremely
important. Marketing helps businesses research the market, inform and collaborate
with other departments to set specific strategic goals for product development and
increase sales of the company. Besides, marketing also helps businesses to have
capable and qualified employees suitable for businesses. After all, marketing is
relevant to all the other parts of the business, working with others to understand the
main focus, supply chain mechanism and business development in the best way.
Accounting and Finance Department.

Marketing has a strong relationship with the finance department because
marketing will help the finance department to price products according to the
market and help the company gain profits (Helen Say, 2018). Both departments will
work closely to ensure that businesses will have an appropriate budget to meet the
needs of research, distribution and promotion. The two departments will help each
other, marketing will focus on building market share, the number of goods sold and
the finance department will take care of costs and return on investment.
Human Resources Department
Marketing with the human resources department will ensure that the recruited
employees have the qualifications and capabilities suitable for the business so that
they can develop well in researching, developing new product ideas and meeting
production spending with qualified staff.
Operations management/ Product Manufacturing department.
The relationship of marketing with this department is to research and develop
plans and strategies to meet the wants and needs of consumers. Marketing helps
this department to operate the product as best as possible and ensure that the
products after launching to meet the goals of the business and the needs of buyers.
Sales
In order to create high sales, businesses need to get information from
customers, the target market from which to make appropriate sales campaigns is
why there is a connection between the sales department and marketing. However,
sometimes there will be inconsistencies between sales and marketing in businesses
because the lack of cohesion between these two parts leads to slow sales, which can
make the business go down quickly. If this is overcome and the link between the two
parts becomes stronger, it will create a stronger business.
IT
Perhaps no one thinks that marketing has a relationship with the IT
department. However, in order to make the most of marketing research, the
marketing department needs to be fully equipped with advanced technologies
suitable for the era provided by the IT department. This is extremely important