Marketing reversed prior business logic 50 years ago and said «the customer is king», and the companies began to recognize that it was not just the product that was the most important aspect of their business. Companies recognized that consumers had a myriad of choices of product offerings and marketing was responsible to ensure that the companys products had the benefits and attributes that customers wanted and were willing to pay for. Today, considering the technology development, which influences every function of the company, the focus of the successful marketing oriented companies has changed «the customer is king» to «the customer is a dictator!!!».
However, and despite the new trends in marketing, like any social science, marketing has basic principles, and these principles need to be considered when making any type of marketing decisions. So, the major step of a student of marketing, whether it is a young university student or an experienced business executive, is to understand the principles of marketing, and reading the present book will be the first step in accomplishing this task. This book describes these basic principles of marketing, and while the authors recognize that each decision may be slightly different any previous decision, the rules or principles remain the same. The present book presents these basic marketing principles and tries to capture the essence of practical and modern marketing today. Therefore, the purpose of Principles of Marketing is to introduce readers to the fascinating world of marketing today, in an easy, enjoyable and practical way, offering an attractive text which to learn about and teach marketing.
Introduction to marketing.- The market environment and competence.- Consumer behavior.- Segmentation and positioning.- Market research.- Marketing strategy.- The product and the Brand.- Distribution.- The Price.- Communication.
