Marketing
How am I to define the term — marketing? Authors would be of aid in acquiring a better grasp of it. Marketing in the context of cultural analysis, is the key to survive in a kind of capitalist system in which the satisfaction of human needs and wants are intertwined with the complex production, exchange, and consumption (2004). Marketing is said to serve the purpose of capitalism by looking at human needs and wants and its satisfaction through the modes of production. There is a stress on the context of the society or its culture, which is the focus of marketing. According to (2000), marketing pertains to a customer’s needs and wants satisfaction, and the ways and means by which messages and images are mentally kept alive among the consumers (). Thus, marketing deals with strategically aligning the product for the good of both the target consumers and the producers as well.
This is now how I conceive of marketing. Marketing is aiding the consumers to single out from the variety of products in the market. It undertakes strategies in order to increase the demand for a product in the market place. It is undeniably functional for capitalism, because a successful marketing strategy begets profit. These strategies are anchored on what the society values or believes in. It is in this manner that the consumers perceive a certain value from the product. Consumers are more than just being consumers of the product. They consume according to their way of life. Thus, marketers should carefully position the product in the market, because the market is an interrelated system.
(2000) is saying that the appeal, theme, idea, benefit, identification, and motivation are the essential factors in designing a product (). Let us take the products of Body Shop and the marketing practice behind as a case in point. Body Shop is known to be a company that values ethics and social justice. This is no marketing strategy to acquire a perception of goodness. By looking at the packaging of its products, the company is able to transmit its values and eventually connect with the consumers whenever they scrutinize the product. What is to be read on the products’ labels are that they are not tested on animals, and that one of the ingredients support local trade in a specific Third World country. Considering shop’s color, it seems to be the only cosmetic line with a dark shade. Body Shop products in the US can no longer be bought in the stores, but also at home. This enables the product to be more personalized.
By taking into account all these marketing practices, the Body Shop and its products have an edge to thrive in the market. It stands apart from other cosmetic lines, because the consumers are able to perceive goodness from the company. Consider too the prestige that the company has attained for the past 3 decades. One has to put in the picture the political, economic, social, and technological factors too ( 2000, ). With this, I conclude that to marketing is surviving.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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