Delivering

Again this seems obvious, but marketing isn’t just selling a product or service. In essence it is delivering on the promise created by your marketing mix. It is your job to accurately describe that brand promise, and if you fail to deliver on that promise, you have failed as a marketer. At the very least you need to deliver what you promise, but a smart marketer over delivers to delight and wow his customers.

Exchanging Offerings That Have Value
You provide customers value in the form of features and benefits delivered by your products and services. In return you demand value, usually in the form of financial payment. Only an unethical marketer would expect to receive value for something of no value. And only an ineffective marketer would deliver value yet not receive appropriate value in exchange. One of the roles of a marketer is to determine the fair value of the product/service he is marketing. He must then go about exchanging that product/service for the appropriate value.

Customers, Clients, Partners, and Society at Large
Marketers must satisfy these constituents by marketing products and services so that they fulfill customer needs/wants and attain their clients’/partners’ goals. There is also an ethical question about the role of the marketer to “protect” society at large by refusing to misrepresent features/benefits or hide the negative aspects of a product or service. True marketers think of long-term, strategic goals, and trying to “make a quick buck” at the expense of others is not how you attain these objectives.

In conclusion, “marketing” seems to mean different things to different people, but in reality marketing is a complex and robust activity that encompasses many different skills, competencies and people. It is a very exciting and rewarding field that offers a marketer the chance to explore his own interests and develop strengths in areas he may have never considered.