Business professionals sometimes view marketing as a brand, sales, or advertising function. Marketing is actually the most important thing for a business to invest in, understand, and promote. Marketing divisions and titles have little to do with the overall importance marketing plays in the success or failure of business. That’s not to say branding, sales, or advertising aren’t important, but marketing extends beyond titles of brand managers or product coordinators. Amazon is well known for its e-commerce business, but how many customers know of Audible, Shopbop, PillPack, or Amazon Web Services? These business units work in media, fashion, pharmaceutical, and cloud computation industries and may not be as well-known as Amazons core business. So, why has Amazon invested in these lesser known brands? The answer is marketing and it may not seem like it readily applies to the surface perspective of an organization. Marketing is about creativity, strategy, and a scientific approach to a business objective, however big or small.
"Marketing is the science behind every aspect of movement in business."
Management, sales, human resources, accounting, or supply chain operations are crucial aspects in business, but the success or failure of these areas is a marketing driven concept. It’s hard to imagine companies like Kmart, Toys "R" Us, or Sears not having successful business units at point in time before closing or filing for bankruptcy. The issue that all companies face is understanding how every business division, unit, decision, or person factor into the success of business objectives. A sales rep for medical equipment might have an incredible sales pitch or be a clever speaker but finds the equipment she sells has many quality issues compared to a competitor. Marketing doesn’t mean success or failure. It’s a scientific approach of understanding how something in business works and how someone might change it.
When a business strategy is successful it’s because of marketing. When a business strategy fails it’s because of marketing. The infamous 1985 New Coke marketing story is a favorite of among marketers. Coca-Cola is arguably the most established brand in the soft drink industry and in 1985 the brand took a risk by introducing a new type of coke drink. This new product was considered a major failure. Was it due to poor quality? Did account managers not meet with partner distributors enough? Was there an inventory shortage? Marketing seeks to understand these situations as best as possible. Coca-Cola has such a well-established brand loyalty that changing what loyalist love is extremely risky. It’s important to know this particular failure may not have been a brand problem, but a time issue. Fast forward to today. Coca-Cola has introduced products like Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Coca-Cola Clear, and various fruit flavored Cokes. Aren’t these considered types of new cokes? Is Coca-Cola still the largest global cola drink manufacturer? If marketing seeks to understand every aspect of movement, then understanding that movements are tangible (Products) and intangible (Timing) aspects is essential in understanding marketing.
Panera Bread, a bakery café chain that sells delicious, bread-based items may benefit from knowing of a popular Keto diet that restricts the intakes of carbohydrates and sugars. Toyota and Ford may be interested in knowing how services like Uber and Lyft are changing transportation methods. Netflix might want to know what popular shows viewers want to see during the Christmas holiday. Marketing is a business science. Striving to learn every aspect of movement in business isn’t enough to understand marketing. Scientists seek to understand how things work and create theories & assumptions about the world we live in. Home Depot and Lowe’s, two home improvement rivals are constantly battling for customer loyalty, sales, brand partners, and sponsorship opportunities. Changes to their product lines, e-commerce capabilities, service methods, and operations are built from understanding movements in every aspect of their business. Changes implemented do not guarantee success or failure, but a scientific approach to these changes mitigates risk of failure.
Marketing is a micro concept as well as the many macro examples discussed. It’s not uncommon to imagine that a well-qualified candidate may not be called for an interview due to a typo on his resume. Finding out ingredients for a particular dog food are similar to chemicals used in sedatives for pet euthanasia can have drastic effects towards a brand. Imagine a popular celebrity coming into a Starbucks and ordering a venti coffee Frappuccino, with a double shot of espresso, mixed with almond milk, and topped with cinnamon powder. The celebrity then posts this drink on their Twitter feed. Over the next few months Starbucks notices the demand for almond milk and cinnamon powder substantially increase in their stores. Correlations in marketing research happen at all levels and there are numerous examples of how small instances create massive ripples in business. Chess isn’t won by a single move. Yes, the game is over by one move of immobilizing the opponents king, but a series of other moves had to have occurred first to reach the final play.
Marketing isn’t just about increasing sales. Sales are results of good marketing. This is where the sales, advertisement, and branding confusion occur. Marketing aims to make any business function effective, but one function alone cannot grow a business. If advertisement does a great job of bringing customers into your store, but customers experience cluttered merchandise, confusing layouts, or negative employees, then how can we consider the marketing of advertisement successful? If customers love your online accessibility and purchase products that are constantly out of stock, then how can the marketing of online functionality be a success? Everything in business is relative when discussing marketing and everything done by the organization is connected by a chain. Marketers can’t promise amazingly priced power drills in commercials if the hardware store is having inventory shipping discrepancies. Marketers can’t use branding to tell stories about pet grooming if customer experience is inconsistent and volatile. The entire supply chain and every area within it is a marketing opportunity.
Why should marketing be the priority in business? Imagine you run a $500,000 revenue generating shoe store. Your store is always spotless, employees are punctual, and your financial statements show a steady growth of profits and controlled costs. Customer service is executed exceptionally well and inventory is rarely an issue. One day a customer comes in and ask an associate if your store price matches shoes from a big-box competitor like Walmart, Burlington Coat Factory, or Ross. How should the associate answer? Marketing tells us big-box stores are low price operators meaning their competitive strength is offering low prices (Ross: “Dress for Less”, Walmart: “Save Money, Live Better”). Specialty stores, like a shoe store, usually can’t offer the same low prices because their competitive strength is higher service or specialty products. These forms of value change your price structure. It’s very rare to not find the same or similar products at a specialty store without a marked-up price. Places like Walmart and Walgreens, or Home Depot and Ace Hardware stores are prime examples of price vs. quality of service and/or product. You can have all managerial duties of running a business on point, but if we fail to understand the specific value our business provides for customers, we begin a path towards extinction.
Management is a vital philosophy in business that must be involved in every aspect of running a business; however, surpassing limitations or creatively competing go far beyond what management can offer. What's the difference between management and marketing? Management answers the “how”, and marketing answers the “why”. No other business philosophy will demand a scientific approach to solving a business objective. Managers, accountants, human resource professionals, or economists are marketers when applying a scientific approach in solving riddles. People who work in branding, advertising, or sales miss out on marketing if they focus on their function alone without considering all movements in their business. Every success or failure has a marketing philosophy behind it. Quality, pricing, employee training, service methods, channel partners, suppliers, branding, investing, online functionality, or even how you greet your customers is marketing and it’s the most important thing for a business to invest in, understand, and promote.
-Christopher A. Bustillos
