This paper examines the evolving definition of marketing in the 21st century by comparing two scholarly definitions — from Christian Gronroos and Frederick Webster — alongside a student-constructed definition emphasizing customer-centricity. Moving well beyond the traditional four Ps of product, price, promotion, and place, the paper argues that modern marketing requires cross-functional integration and transparency, especially in a social media-driven landscape. The importance of marketing to organizational success is discussed, and three business examples — Apple, Tesla, and JetBlue — are used to illustrate how customer-focused marketing strategies create lasting brand value and competitive advantage.
Having progressed from the foundational four elements of product, price, promotion, and place (distribution), marketing today is more multifaceted in its dependence on other departments, functions, and stakeholders to succeed. These dependencies have been made more complex by the immediate, instantly visible nature of every marketing campaign on social media (Bernoff & Li, 2008). No longer can a marketing strategy be executed in a vacuum; today every aspect of a campaign is immediately visible to the public, often communicated globally within moments.
The challenge for marketers is to move beyond the four foundational elements that defined marketing in the 20th century and into what it has become today. The intent of this analysis is to compare two definitions of marketing alongside a personal definition. The importance of marketing to organizational success is also discussed, with three examples from the business world used to support the explanations provided.
The multifaceted nature of marketing and its high level of organizational dependency are becoming more evident in the definitions written over the past twenty-five years. According to Dr. Christian Gronroos, a noted theorist and researcher in customer satisfaction, marketing is the core set of strategies in any business that establishes, develops, maintains, and commercializes long-term customer relationships so that the goals and needs of each party are met (Gronroos, 1989). His view of marketing is one of mutual exchange — a reciprocity of giving and receiving value through fulfilled commitments (Gronroos, 1989). This definition carries a decidedly economic perspective, but it lacks focus on the actual customer experience. It also omits the concept of trust; while the definition implies that trust is a byproduct of the relationship, Gronroos does not explicitly identify it as a key factor for customer relationships to succeed.
The second definition centers on the longevity of customer relationships and the need to build deep knowledge of customer needs, preferences, and wants. Dr. Frederick Webster defined marketing as the long-term creation of value for customers, based on having exceptional insight and intelligence into their needs, preferences, and wants (Webster, 1994). This definition incorporates the foundational elements of what an effective Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system can accomplish when designed well.
Drawing on insights from ongoing study in this area, a third definition has also been developed: Marketing exists to unify an entire organization around the goal of attracting, selling, and serving customers at or beyond their expectations, delivering excellent customer experiences in the process. This often involves tight orchestration across all areas of a business, as each department and function must contribute to the customer experience for it to be consistently high quality. This definition is meant to galvanize an entire organization around a common objective of being customer-centric, leading to greater agility and responsiveness to customer requirements. The future of marketing is increasingly defined by the customer experience first, with the product often secondary or even last (Lusch, 2007).
Marketing is the foundation of any successful business in that it solidifies the organization's vision, mission, and values as customer-driven — not product-, technology-, or internally driven. For meaning to permeate any business, there must be a strong focus on those being served. Conversely, when a business becomes myopic and inward-centered, it fails to deliver value to anyone. Marketing galvanizes a company to deliver value by always striving to serve the customer more efficiently and at a level that continually exceeds their expectations. The world's most successful businesses are so customer-centric that they will regularly and completely realign internal processes to make them more efficient from the customer's standpoint first.
"Apple, Tesla, and JetBlue as marketing case studies"
A second example is the development and launch of the Tesla automobile. The marketing for this vehicle concentrated initially on the mid-to-high-end auto buyer and sought out a very specific psychographic profile of customer — individuals who were highly influential in their industries and who also believed in sustainability and in a method of transportation that did not pollute as heavily as internal combustion engines. Tesla also ensured that every one of these potential prospects understood its state-of-the-art battery technology. All of these elements came together, and Tesla quickly began selling its new electric-powered cars to industry influencers, establishing a highly effective brand.
The third example is the redefining of JetBlue. Following a series of damaging customer experiences — including an aircraft stranded on the tarmac at JFK Airport in New York for seven hours on Valentine's Day, 2007 — JetBlue successfully reinvented its entire airline around the customer and has since become a leader in customer satisfaction awards. The reversal from being myopic and inward-focused to fully re-architecting the company around the customer illustrates precisely what effective marketing leadership can achieve.
Marketing is now more conversational and far more transparent than it has ever been. The rise of social media (Bernoff & Li, 2008) and the need to build meaningful exchanges with customers (Gronroos, 1989) have helped to break down the silos that once defined marketing as a standalone function. Well beyond the classic four Ps, today marketing must be the most integrated strategic area of any business.
Bernoff, J., & Li, C. (2008). Harnessing the power of the oh-so-social web. MIT Sloan Management Review, 49(3), 36–42.
Gronroos, C. (1989). Defining marketing: A market-oriented approach. European Journal of Marketing, 23(1), 52.
Lusch, R. F. (2007). Marketing's evolving identity: Defining our future. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 26(2), 261.
Webster, F. E., Jr. (1994). Defining the new marketing concept (part 1). Marketing Management, 2(4), 22.
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