Sales and Marketing Management

The term “marketing” is misunderstood and misapplied in many companies and industries. To improve the understanding, it may be helpful specifying what marketing is not. Marketing is not synonymous with advertising or sales. Marketing is an umbrella term covering a host of activities involved with strategy and planning. Advertising and sales are “after” activities involved with executing the plans. Both are part of the marketing function in an organization. Advertising often plays a rather substantial role in encouraging consumers to buy products and services for household use (or to support the sales effort in business-to-business sales). Selling often plays a rather substantial role in encouraging business purchasers to buy products and services for organizational use (or in negotiating with trade partners to stock consumer products). 1 Introduction 2 Fundamental Principles 3 Market Intelligence 4 Targeting Customers 5 Brand Image and Positioning 6 Marketing Strategy & Planning 7 Implementing Strategies & Plans 8 Concluding Remarks Keywords: consumer; market; positioning; people; proficiency; intelligence; target; image; segment; channel