The Ultimate Guide to Marketing Concept with Examples

by Manas Chowdhury
6 minutes read

In this era of data analytics and statistic, most businesses have adopted a strategy-driven approach for running their organizations. Data analytics and statistics have mostly been noted in the business marketing sector. It will not be an exaggeration to claim that the success of a business largely depends on the effectiveness of the business marketing strategies. To improve business marketing strategies, you must clearly understand the marketing concept.

What is Marketing Concept?

You need to understand the definition of marketing first to understand the fundamentals of the marketing concept. According to the American Marketing Association, marketing is defined as communicating, creating, and rendering products or offers to clients or customers. Typically, a business marketing campaign has been developed on various strategies and techniques.

The marketing concept grossly comprises various marketing strategies. All these strategies aim to develop long-term and profitable relationships with the customers. The marketing concept definition has been provided in different ways by many people. The most popular definition of marketing concept is encouraging companies to develop products according to the preferences and requirements of consumers.

It is also essential to analyze your examples of marketing concepts to understand them profoundly. If you analyze the marketing concept of Coca Cola focuses on reading the minds of people in different regions. Depending on the local sentiments, the company develops the advertisement campaign content. The company has become successful with its marketing campaigns for its strong ground research in understanding local sentiment.

Crucial Components of the Marketing Concept

According to Philip Kotler, the Father of Modern Marketing, “Marketing is a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with other.”

He has also stated that a satisfied client or customer does the best advertisement for a business. Thus, the modern-day marketing concept focuses on rendering a better experience to the customers. A satisfied customer improves the business retention rate and brings new buyers to your business.

The marketing concept depends on a few crucial components. In the following section, find the marketing concept’s 7 “P” factors. Keeping the following seven factors in control helps businesses develop unique and successful marketing campaigns.

  1. Product: For a marketing concept, the product is the nucleus. Businesses develop their marketing strategies surrounding the products. Thus, a business marketing campaign focuses on telling the unique features and benefits of the products to the potential buyers.
  2. Price: The price of a product has the greatest impact on potential buyers. A competitive pricing strategy helps the companies to find more buyers. Initially, it may fetch low revenue. But, a high conversion rate will help your business grow as a brand quickly.
  3. Promotion: Another important P of business marketing is promotion. The primary aim of promotion is gaining exposure. Manufacturing the products is not enough. A business should promote it to find buyers. Promotion includes various tactics such as indirect selling, direct selling, etc.
  4. Place: Place is the location where businesses exhibit their products or services. Today, many businesses use a website to showcase their products. On the other hand, many businesses use conventional display arrangements to showcase their products. Strategic product placement can bring more customers.
  5. People: In business marketing, people have an important role to play. Most businesses invest in salespersons who undergo training to nurture their marketing skills. The revenue of a business depends on how the salespersons interact with the potential customers.
  6. Process: The process refers to the stage how the product reaches the buyers. For small retailers, the process is simple. Today, you see the emergence of various online businesses. The process is an important factor for such a business. A seamless order fulfillment increases buyers’ satisfaction.
  7. Physical Evidence: The physical evidence in marketing includes everything that physically exists around your business. From business promotional posters to product packages. All these things should reflect your brand identity. Nevertheless, creativity in representing a brand identity draws more attention from the buyers.

To understand what marketing concepts are, business marketing enthusiasts should consider the factors mentioned above. A business that adopts robust strategies for the seven aforementioned factors will emerge more successful than others.

Different Types of Marketing Concept

The different types of marketing concept

According to the marketing experts, the marketing concept is best defined as a strategy that businesses and marketing agencies adapt to meet buyers’ requirements. At the same time, the marketing concept focuses on profit maximization for the organizations. The marketing concept has five categories, which are discussed in the following section of this article.

1. The Product Concept

The marketing concept assumes that price and availability do not influence the customers, as people look for quality over those factors. Therefore, the product concept focuses on improving the product through various innovative measures. If you analyze the marketing concept of Apple, you will understand that the company heavily relies on the product concept.

Apple brings innovative products, and the introduction of the iPhone was a revolution in technology. Every passing year, Apple uses cutting-edge technology to add more features to improve the iPhone quality. If you check the smartphone industry, you will find that none can match the quality level of Apple. Even though the price is high, Apple observes a high market demand for its iPhone products.

Apart from Apple, Google is another example of adopting product concepts in business marketing. Google constantly upgrades the products to render more satisfactory experiences to the users. As a result, the company has successfully built an exceptional brand identity.

The product concept is more suitable for startup businesses introducing a new product or service concept. People expect quality services from the startups instead of quantity, availability, affordability, etc. Therefore, Strava and Stripe are some startups that have adopted the product concept in business marketing.

2. The Production Concept

The production concept is the opposite idea of the product concept. As the name implies, the production concept focuses on operations. Through various innovative measures, the business intends to improve production. In such cases, the business assumes that the customers will be more attracted to readily available products. The product concept is not new, as it emerged first during the early rise of capitalism in the 1950s.

In the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, the product concept is crucial. After inventing a medicine formula, the pharmaceutical companies have to make minimal changes to it with the advent of time. But, the demand for medicines increases as time progresses. Thus, pharmaceutical companies must focus on manufacturing products at a higher quantity to meet the increasing demand.

The best example of a product concept is the marketing concept of Coca-Cola. The company puts minimal effort into research and development. You will not notice the change in the taste of Coca-Cola or other soft drinks frequently. Nevertheless, you will not find many changes to their packaging.

The companies make a profit by expanding the production unit. Higher production means more products will be available in the marketplace, and thus more people will purchase them. Coca Cola produces around 500 billion bottle per year.

3. The Selling Concept

The selling concept is often referred to as a costly tactic for business marketing. However, many businesses have become successful following this unique model. The selling concept involves attracting the buyers without product quality and buyers’ requirements in consideration. In such a business marketing concept, you will not find a repeat purchase.

The selling concept depends on convincing the buyers that the product will benefit them. The businesses that adopt the selling concept often adopt an aggressive advertisement campaign. They will frequently connect to potential buyers to sell their products. Sometimes, the over-marketing efforts of the sellers may become annoying for the buyers.

The best example of the selling concept is insurance policies. Most people have some basic insurance policies, though the insurance companies come with many unique and innovative products. The businesses try to convince the buyers by telling the benefits and features of these insurance policies.

The businesses belonging to the financial services domain also adopt the selling concept. For example, a company offers a particular financial scheme. It will use aggressive marketing strategies to sell a product to the buyers. Soft drink manufacturing brands also use the same concept to sell their products. These companies know that high-calorie soda water is not good for the health. They run aggressive business advertisements to convince the buyers to try their products.

4. The Advertising Concept

The advertising concept is another type of marketing concept that focuses on increasing the ability of a company to beat rivals and earn higher revenue. Examples of the marketing concept are common among various businesses. Today, most businesses have to understand their target audiences. Knowing the target group and sensing such groups’ requirements help businesses develop marketing strategies.

The advertising concept is a more practical and risk-free concept. You may find various fashion and makeup product manufacturing brands adopt such marketing concepts. For example, you can consider the marketing concept of Nike.

As a shoe manufacturing brand, Nike is well-known to the world. However, the company has a specialization in manufacturing sports shoes. In the beginning, the company conducts ground research to understand the problems sportspersons face with their existing shoes. Depending on the collected data, the company improvises the product for their target buyers. As a result, it finds many customers easily.

Glossier is another brand that deploys the advertising concept for business marketing. Many women are unhappy with their makeup products, as those products cause significant skin damage. Thus, Glossier has launched an array of makeup products that ensure zero skin damages. The products nourish skin and promote natural radiance.

5. The Societal Concept

The societal marketing concept is an emerging trend in business marketing. The marketing concept focuses on the welfare of society. Through such marketing ideas, the businesses represent themselves more socially responsible. For example, many cruelty-free brands have emerged in the fashion industry these days.

Instead of using the leather from organic sources, the companies use PU leather or artificial leather. According to a 2019 study by GlobalData, around 35% of global consumers look for the cruelty-free beauty products. The number has been rising in last few years, and thus more prominent beauty and fashion brands will go cruelty-free in coming years.

The fast-food industry has also adopted such a marketing concept recently. Many well-known fast-food brands have started producing foods that are healthier for consumers. Nevertheless, businesses also need to keep environmental suitability in mind. Thus, the fast-food industry has limited the use of plastic for the packaging of their products.

The marketing concept of Nestle is an example of the societal marketing concept. In the recent advertising campaigns, the company has taken a mission to make the lives of farmers better globally. Through such a campaign, the company has built a socially responsible brand value.

You can notice similar marketing campaigns from various brands nowadays. The societal marketing concept is not completely new. In the last 1980s, many businesses have started using this concept. But, it has become a more popular idea recently. Almost all businesses want to protect their brands as socially responsible brands.

What Is the Best Marketing Concept for Your Business?

Different marketing concepts confuse businesses about deciding the right marketing strategies. What is the most suitable marketing concept for your business? How can you decide on the right marketing concept? Findings answers to these questions are essential, and you will find a guide in the following section.

  • Target Audience: Adopting a marketing concept depends on your target audience. To understand the target audience’s sentiment, the businesses have to conduct surveys and studies. A business gathers data through those surveys and analyzes data to adopt the right business marketing concept.
  • Business Domain: Certain marketing concept suits a particular business domain. For example, a fashion brand can show social responsibility to attract more buyers. Cruelty-free fashion has been trending recently. On the other hand, ecommerce brands can also feature social responsibility to find more buyers.
  • Business Goal: Choosing the right business marketing concept depends on the business goals. What is the goal of your business? What do you aim for in the future? Finding these answers is important before embracing the marketing concepts. A business with a high revenue goal can adopt production, product, and selling concepts for business marketing.
  • Brand Value: You need to consider brand value for choosing the right business marketing concept. For example, the production concept is suitable for well-known brands. If your brand is not well-known, focusing on a production boost will not help your business. Rather, it may cause losses for your business in many cases.

Marketing Concept vs. Selling Concept

Both marketing and selling concepts are popular in the business marketing sector. The following section finds the fundamental differences between these two marketing concepts.

  • Businesses that adopt the selling concept follows an aggressive advertising approach to reach more buyers. On the other hand, the marketing concept focuses on accomplishing business goals by providing buyers with quality services or products.
  • The marketing concept directs the products towards the buyers’ minds. Businesses want to create a sentiment that buyers need those products through such promotional strategies. In the marketing concept, the businesses draw the minds of buyers to the products. Such businesses clearly know about their target market.
  • The marketing concept focuses on improving the product to meet the customers’ requirements. On the other hand, the selling concept creates hype around a product to become compelled to buy them.
  • In the marketing concept, customer retention is an important factor. Customer retention does not hold an important place in the business marketing process in the selling concept.

Marketing Concept vs. Product Concept

Businesses have to adopt various marketing concepts depending on the brand identity and business operational domains. Both these concepts can help businesses grow. In many cases, businesses use these concepts to develop business marketing strategies. The following section finds the key differences between these two marketing concepts.

  • The product concept considers that buyers need quality, and they have a low concern regarding the price and availability. But, the marketing concept is a more inclusive idea. Along with the quality of the product, it focuses on pricing, availability, and other aspects to increase customer satisfaction.
  • The product concept is suitable for renowned brands. For example, people do not mind making a high expense for purchasing the Apple iPhone. But, you will never purchase a similar product with an identical price from another seller. The marketing concept includes strategies to boost the brand value of a business. Thus, the concept helps both small and large businesses.
  • The product concept has a small target group, as only a few people can afford an expensive product. The marketing concept stresses reaching more potential buyers. Businesses that adopt marketing concepts change strategies and reduce profit-margin to reach more buyers belonging to low and average-income groups.

Marketing Concept and Marketing Mix

Business marketing has become an integral part of a business. Depending on various factors, businesses have to develop their marketing strategies. For the right marketing strategies, a business must choose a suitable marketing concept. Finding the right marketing concept helps businesses grow quickly.

People often become confused between marketing concepts and marketing mix. The marketing concept is an orientation or philosophy that businesses need to adopt for planning their marketing activities. On the other hand, marketing mix refers to the set of tools that have been used for business marketing campaigns.

Typically, the marketing mix depends on four significant factors: place, promotion, product, and price. On the other hand, the marketing concept depends on many factors. In the above section of this article, the seven Ps of the marketing concept have already been discussed.

Marketing Concept and Tools

The marketing concept is a philosophical assessment of the future marketing plans of a business. Through analyzing many factors, the business marketing concept has been decided. From the product’s price to the target buyers, many factors have been taken into consideration for the marketing concept.

On the other hand, marketing tools practically implement business marketing plans. A business uses different marketing tools to accomplish its marketing goals. The marketing executives are also the parts of the business marketing tools. On the other hand, businesses search for innovative and cutting-edge tools to make the marketing process smoother and cost-effective.

Conclusion

A business marketing campaign should have a strategy-driven approach. The marketing concept philosophy is essential for developing the right business marketing strategies. Therefore, the marketing concept is indispensable for every business today. The success of a business depends immensely on selecting the right marketing concept.

Your Questions on Marketing Concept, Answered!

What is marketing concept philosophy?

According to the business marketing experts, the marketing concept holds that firms implement to increase customer satisfaction, profitability, and brand value. Nevertheless, the philosophy helps businesses create marketing goals and obtain a unique identity.

When was the marketing concept era?

Marketing concepts are not new things, as businesses have practiced various marketing concepts for a long time. However, marketing enthusiasts have started using marketing concepts formally from the twentieth century. During the first industrial revolution, many businesses had taken different marketing approaches. With the advent of time, new concepts have emerged.

Why marketing concept is important?

The marketing concept is important for many reasons. According to the experts, the marketing concept helps a business develop the right marketing strategies. Though businesses do not know what suits them the best, many tools and strategies are there. The marketing concept helps businesses set marketing goals and implement strategies to achieve them.

What are the different concepts of marketing?

The marketing concept is broadly divided into following five categories:

• The product concept
• The production concept
• The selling concept
• The advertising/marketing concept
• The societal concept

How is the marketing concept related to the purpose of selling?

The marketing concept focuses on developing marketing strategies. How will buyers respond to the products? What are the best marketing tools for your business? Adopting the right marketing concept or philosophy gives a company the right direction to plan and implement marketing strategies. Thus, it eventually increases selling and helps the businesses grow quickly.

Which marketing concept is best?

The best marketing concept depends on the type of your business. Every business has different goals and target audiences. So, analyzing these factors is crucial to deciding the most suitable marketing concept for your business.