The marketing process

The marketing process consists of four elements: strategic marketing analysis, marketing-mix planning, marketing implementation, and marketing control.

Strategic marketing analysis

Market segments
The aim of marketing in profit-oriented organizations is to meet needs profitably. Companies must therefore first define which needs—and whose needs—they can satisfy. For example, the personal transportation market consists of people who put different values on an automobile’s cost, speed, safety, status, and styling. No single automobile can satisfy all these needs in a superior fashion; compromises have to be made. Furthermore, some individuals may wish to meet their personal transportation needs with something other than an automobile, such as a motorcycle, a bicycle, or a bus or other form of public transportation. Because of such variables, an automobile company must identify the different preference groups, or segments, of customers and decide which group(s) they can target profitably