Ever since man started trading goods, marketing was created. Marketing has evolved and there were several phases in its evolution. First, there was the production of the product, with no consideration on customers’ wants and needs. Secondly, customer’s wants and needs were not really considered as products were pretty much standardized. Lastly, products were differentiated and a focus on customer’s wants and needs came to the forefront of business concern, which was the needs and wants of customers. (Kotler, P. & Keller, K. ). Marketing involves the satisfying customer’s needs and wants.
An essential factor in the marketing process as well as a business, your goal is to provide value to the customer for a profit. (Kotler, P. & Keller, K. ) A successful marketing manager must be open-minded and think from a customer’s perspective. Thinking like a customer is an intricate tool to a successful marketing manager. You must ask yourself, what does the customer want and need? Successful companies are customer-driven, placing customers at the center of their decision-making process and focusing on strategies that deliver a consistently positive experience at every touch point. (http://www. arketstrategies. com/, August 31, 2010) Great marketing managers conduct research to keep themselves abreast on the needs and wants of customers in an effort to develop their marketing approach. Providing an “easy” process for customers to complain assists in the improvement in development of valuable goods and services for the customer. To aide in customer satisfaction, many companies have complaint cards in their stores as well as links on their website to file a complaint or give kudos. Many of the larger companies have stated that many of their innovations derived from customer complaints. Kotler, P. & Keller, K. , Marketing Management, 2009) In short, customer feedback is an integral component of customer centricity, as is an understanding of how the customer experience works with internal and market factors to impact a company’s bottom line. In my personal experience, the McDonalds Corporation is one business that comes to mind when speaking of meeting the needs and wants of its consumers. For example, many coffee lovers enjoy consuming coffee that has a flavored taste as well as iced coffee.
Starbucks Coffee has provided this since it the 1980’s and has since them blossomed in revenue. (http://assets. starbucks. com/assets/starbucks, August 31, 2010). Being aware of the needs and wants of customers, in 2009, the McDonald’s Corporation introduced the “McCafe” section in their restaurants. (http://www. aboutmcdonalds. com , August 31, 2010. ) Not only did the McDonald’s Corporation answer to the needs and wants of its consumers, they offer the same coffee choices for a better value than that of Starbucks Coffee.
Another way that the McDonald’s Corporation focused on the needs and wants of its consumers, was by providing nutritious meal selections in their kid’s meal known as the “Happy Meal”. The company added apple slices to the menu in the place of their famous fries. In closing, in an influential article titled, “Marketing Myopia” by Theodore Levitt, Levitt put forth a simple point – upper management is too busy concentrating their energies and resources on the improvement of existing products, rather than on understanding customer needs.
In fact, many industries have fallen victim to this short-sightedness – believing that the industry they think they serve is an infinitely growing one. Haziness over the definition of purpose has sent many companies to their doom. (http://www. scribd. com, August 31, 2010) While resources of improvement is important, avoiding the “Marketing Myopia” is a critical variable to a company’s success considering the focus should be the wants and needs of the customer. References Kotler, P. & Keller, K. , Marketing Management, 2009.
