The core concept of marketing:

Need. The need is the basic requirement or state of felt deprivation that is fundamental to human
existence. The need of humans is not influenced by the outside world it is inherent in every one
of us. Our basic need includes food, water, shelter, oxygen, etc. and secondary may be intimacy,
recreation, etc. Need is what motivates one to take steps to satisfy it. As a marketer, you should
identify the customer’s need, make them aware of it, and convince them how your offerings i.e.
product or service satisfy their need. As said it is the beginning of marketing, your marketing
strategy should include the customer’s needs and how it will satisfy them.

Want. Want is a desire to satisfy of need. Customers’ want is based on their taste, preference,
culture, the society they belong to, and individual personality. For example, need is food – while
there are many options for food want takes place to satisfy the need – as want is shaped by e.g.
culture an American when feels hungry may eat burgers whereas a Nepali may eat Daal and
Bhaat.

Customer want is influenceable. You can always influence customers’ wants through different
marketing and promotional strategies.

Demand. It is the next level of want. Demand is when consumers want to buy and they possess
the ability to pay and the willingness to buy. Remember – a demand is when it has a willingness
to buy and the ability to pay.

Your marketing strategy should not always be based on consumers’ wants but should also include
their demand capacity. For example, you may want to buy a Lamborghini but you do not have
enough money to buy it. Here you only have the willingness to buy but not the ability to pay.
Lamborghini is your want and, say, you have the ability to buy a Bullet bike that is your demand.

Transfers and Exchange. The exchange is also called the barter system. In exchange, include two
parties who give something in return for something. For an exchange to be valid there should be
two parties, willing to exchange and provide value to each other. For an exchange to be it does
not require to be in a monetary way. It may be by product and product or service and service.

Transaction. A transaction is an event that happens after the exchange and is done in monetary
terms. For a transaction to be it must require to be in monetary terms.

A transaction requires two parties, agreement, condition, legal compliance, and monetary value.
For example, you give an apple to Ram in return for an Orange that is an exchange. And, when
you buy an orange giving some money to the seller is a transaction.

Orientation of a firm
PRODUCTION ORIENTATION

A production orientated organisation commonly operates a mass production model and

streamlines this production process for its product offering. This orientation approach assumes
that its customers value price, and therefore, it focuses on lowering production costs to meet
such price needs of this customer base.

This price is believed to form the main value proposition of the production orientation
organisation’s key offering, focusing its resources towards operations and positioning its key
marketing communications on price-based messages.

This assumption that price is king, however, isn’t always indicative of the needs and wants of the
target audience as the approach does not require learning anything about the customer base. It
assumes that its customers want the cheapest product available and will strive to realise this
price.

Advantages: Economies of scale, efficiency, low cost to customers.

DISADVANTAGES: DISREGARDS CUSTOMER NEEDS, SET-UP COSTS ARE USUALLY HIGH.

PRODUCT ORIENTATION

It is sometimes assumed that a product orientation approach is similar to a production

orientation approach. But it is exactly the opposite. This approach to business concerns its
products and continually improving and refining them so that the product can always be superior
to that of its competitors. So, as the previous orientation was centred around price, product
orientation is centred around quality, which often increases the price.

Premium products fall into this category, but the approach does not always offer what its target
audience actually wants or considers the factors that the audience uses to form its purchasing
decision. See a previous post on how to launch a science product for more of product marketing.

Quality – and therefore a product orientated organisation – often does not consider external
factors, and focuses on manufacturing a high-quality, premium product that is superior within
the market it operates and competes within.

Advantages: Focus on quality, innovation, skills development/outsourcing.

Disadvantages: Potential missed market opportunities, obsolescence.

SALES ORIENTATION
A sales orientated organisation focuses the majority of its resources on selling its products and
services to its target audience. In a way, it does prioritise its customers but not in a sense of
listening to their needs and wants – it simply wants to sell to them.

Existing products are usually given to the sales and marketing teams and they are tasked to
finding buyers to those products, wherever and whoever they may be. Many organisations will
feel they are not selling enough of their products and will, therefore, adopt sales orientated
techniques to focus the organisation on selling more and building on its profit margins.

Disregarding customer needs in this way, and adopting aggressive outbound sales techniques, is
an approach that rarely works in the long term. This is especially the case now that the general
“customer” (regardless of industry) is more empowered than ever and appreciates relationships
within the sales processes, especially within the B2B pharma sectors. That said, this isn't to say
that organisations cannot be successful with this templated approach. The inbound
sales/marketing approach has emerged as attractive in modern-day sales orientated
organisations.

Advantages: Immediate short-term sales are generated.

Disadvantages: Risks customer confidence, costs, not always sustainable.

MARKET ORIENTATION

A market orientated organisation looks at the market and its target audience first, before any
production or sales activities takes place, to learn what potential customers want from
organisations. The product or service offering is therefore created with the customer in mind,
resulting in a true customer-first approach.

Market orientation, in marketing strategy terms, commonly revolves around culture, values and
other internal behaviours focused on satisfying customer needs that are usually well-researched
prior.

Although this clearly has its benefits, it can also come at a cost to organisations as it usually puts
organisations on the back foot, always reacting to customer demands rather than predicting or
shaping them with innovative products and services. This said, most markets are moving more
towards a market-orientated approach as customers have more and more access to information
about what they are looking to buy. To maximise the success of marketing efforts, it's crucial to
choose the most effective channels, such as email marketing, which boasts the highest ROI of all
marketing strategies. Tools like Sender can help you make the most of this channel and reach
exceptional results.

Advantages: Customer satisfaction, loyalty, continual investment in research.

Disadvantages: Reactive, not always innovative, market always changing.

SOCIETAL ORIENTATION

As people generally become more aware of their environments, the world and the societies they
live within, the societal orientation approach has emerged, giving organisations a new
organisational philosophy.

The societal orientation organisation, considering its product, process and its marketing, to an
extent, focuses on the impact its organisation and products has within the societies it operates
within, as well as the wider environment. Ethical considerations in this manner have become
highly popular within the pharmaceutical and life science industries.

In competitive markets, however, this approach can be challenging to sustain – especially for
small to medium size organisations where profits and customer satisfaction can affect how it can
execute the environmental and societal orientation approach.

Advantages: Image is enhanced, appeals to upcoming markets, ethical.

Disadvantages: Marketing message is sometimes distorted, limited budget.

What is Holistic Marketing?

Holistic marketing is the integrated and coordinated marketing philosophy that assumes the
collective effort of a business is necessary to achieve its marketing goals as effectively and
efficiently as possible. It sees a business as a single unit not an entity with different components.

Holistic marketing views an organization as a system of interrelated and interconnected

components. It explains that for the human body to function properly every organ to work
properly The holistic approach states an organization to work properly every department,
business unit, or work team should work properly.

It aims to establish a shared purpose in the company and align all the efforts of the company to
achieve a common marketing goal, which may be a profit goal, brand image, or competitive
position. What it states is that the best way to establish a company’s competitive position or
achieve success in this dynamic marketing environment is the application of a holistic approach.

The holistic marketing concept is the latest thought in the marketing philosophy. It acknowledges
that everything matters in marketing and that a brand, integrated way of doing business is
essential for the best solution.

Philip Kotler, a Guru of modern marketing defines the holistic marketing concept as “It is based
on the development, design, and implementation of marketing programs, processes, and
activities that recognize their breadth and interdependencies.” This is based on the holism
philosophy that best fits with Aristotle’s quote “The whole is more than the sum of its parts.”
This concept emerged in the 21st century mainly due to social and technological challenges and
the need for a broad and integrated marketing perspective. Holistic marketing is the combination
of the marketing concept and societal marketing concept with a focus on relationship marketing.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Holistic Marketing

As the energy of a holistic approach brings effectiveness, efficiency, better brand building, etc.
this modern marketing practice has emphasized for companies to think about its importance.
Following are some positive and negative aspects of this marketing philosophy.

Advantages:

• Competitive Position & Advantage – Companies adopting a holistic approach are

far away from those who do not. The holistic approach emphasizes companies
make quality products and deliver better through proper coordination than
competing partners.
• Brings Coordination – This marketing philosophy insists companies ensure peace,
harmony, and team spirit, and work in the same direction i.e. goal.
• Customer Satisfaction – The goal of a holistic approach is to deliver a unified
message, and quality products (service), and to achieve customer satisfaction at
the fullest level.
• Customer Retention & Repeat Business – It also tries to deliver value beyond the
expectations of customers. That certainly makes customers delighted and such
customers are more likely to be brand loyal.
• Building Brand – This concept focuses on consistently changing or improving the
company’s strategies and activities with the changes in consumers’ mindset. To
ensure optimal branding potential, it contends that a business must maintain
uniformity across all of its goods, services, and distribution channels.
• Long-Term Success – Building quality products, achieving customer satisfaction,
and building a stronger bond between different stakeholders have a positive
impact on the company’s future.
• Happy Family – It emphasizes an organization should work as a happy family all
members should be at peace and directed to achieve common goals. And, should
understand the achievement of a family’s goal is equal to their personal prosperity.
Disadvantages:

• Costly – The holistic marketing concept focuses on the long term which requires
quality products, skilled marketers-sales personnel, environmentally friendly
products, and strategies that usually require more costs.
• Workforce Diversity – An organization always has employees from diverse
backgrounds with differences in skills, education, attitude, understanding, etc.
Driving their difference towards a common goal is a challenging task.
 • Conflicts May Arise – It is obvious that when there are diverse people the
probability of conflicts is high.
• Small Companies May Not Achieve It – A small company may maintain
coordination, peace, and proper communication in the organization but somehow
it is difficult to make quality products and participate in philanthropic events.
Examples of Holistic Marketing

When you look into companies practicing the holistic marketing concept three things need to be
considered first is, how they have managed their internal environment, their product quality with
customer service, and concern for society’s long-run interest.

One of the examples of a holistic approach you can take is of our body. Our Body is only strong
when all our body parts work properly. Similarly, with a holistic approach, an organization only
has the strong potential to achieve its marketing goals when its all components work together
properly.

Coca-Cola’s Real Magic – Another good example of holistic marketing is the practice of the Coca-
Cola Company. They are not promoting the brand only they are also sharing the happiness with
the brand. They launched the “Real Magic” they said is about creating a movement to choose a
more human way of doing things by embracing our unique perspectives.

Ncell – Ncell is a telecommunication company in Nepal that is a good example of holistic

marketing practice in Nepal. It provides communication services and products as per the need
and wants of customers. The showrooms are branded in a proper manner. Similarly, the services
are excellent and customer service is polite.