As we’ve seen the key objective of an organization’s marketing efforts is to develop satisfying relationships with customers that benefit both the customer and the organization. These efforts lead marketing to serve an important role within most organizations and within society.
At the organizational level, marketing is a vital business function that is necessary in nearly all industries whether the organization operates as a for-profit or as a not-for-profit. For the for-profit organization, marketing is responsible for most tasks that bring revenue and, hopefully, profits to an organization. For the not-for-profit organization, marketing is responsible for attracting customers needed to support the not-for-profit’s mission, such as raising donations or supporting a cause. For both types of organizations, it is unlikely they can survive without a strong marketing effort.
Marketing is also the organizational business area that interacts most frequently with the public and, consequently, what the public knows about an organization is determined by their interactions with marketers. For example, customers may believe a company is dynamic and creative based on its advertising message.
At a broader level marketing offers significant benefits to society. These benefits include:
• Developing products that satisfy needs, including products that enhance society’s quality of life
• Creating a competitive environment that helps lower product prices
• Developing product distribution systems that offer access to products to a large number of customers and many geographic regions
• Building demand for products that require organizations to expand their labor force
• Offering techniques that have the ability to convey messages that change societal behavior in a positive way (e.g., anti-smoking