In the 1950s, successful companies were those that managed to generate their products faster and at less cost than their competitors.
At the end of World War II, these companies gave more importance to finances; however, some time later, they took the philosophy of sales, focusing on meeting sales budgets, putting all their energy into their sales force. Today, the objective of companies is to identify customer needs, unifying the efforts of all areas to achieve institutional processes not only in search of customer satisfaction, but also concerned about their social environment.
In recent decades, marketing has evolved, precisely because it is through this discipline, that it is possible to identify customer needs. However, not all companies have implemented it, since there are still entrepreneurs who still do not consider it as a strategy in which all areas of the company must be involved in a systemic way, in order to work towards achieving a single objective (sales budget).
Today, marketing education has reached unimaginable levels, but it was not until after World War II that universities and business schools worldwide became interested and specialized in the subject, taking it to the bachelor's level, Masters and doctors degree. Thus, more and more people are interested in this discipline.
However, in Mexico, its appearance was slower. At the beginning of the 1970s, a Bachelor of Marketing began to be offered in some universities with vision, and it was not until the mid-1990s that it emerged in postgraduate studies as a master's degree, this discipline was only spread at a diploma or specialty level.
Marketing is still considered by many businesses to be an isolated activity. Peter Drucker, one of the most respected theorists in recent decades and concerned about this area mentioned:
Marketing is so fundamental that it cannot be considered an individual function. It is the entire commercial operation seen from the perspective of its final result, that is, from the point of view of the consumer ».
Therefore, it will be necessary for companies to have a Strategic Plan that includes the sales budget, which involves each and every one of the areas and levels of the company, based on a thorough investigation of customer needs and the environment. surrounding it.
Marketing and its evolution
The evolution of marketing dates back to the first settlers who traded with each other and with Native Americans. Some settlers became retailers, wholesalers, and street traders. However, large-scale marketing did not begin to take shape until the outbreak of the Industrial Revolution in the second half of the 19th century. Since then, marketing has evolved in three successive stages of development: product orientation, sales orientation, and market orientation.
These stages illustrate an evolution of the marketing approach through time, which are closely linked with the historical period that was lived at each moment. Figure 1 shows the three different orientations mentioned.
Figure 1.
The stages of evolution of marketing
Source: (Stanton, Etzel and Walter, 2004).
As can be seen in the previous figure, three stages of marketing are presented, which are represented in each of the arrows: the first (corresponding to number one) refers to the stage of product orientation and although it is not recommended, some companies still apply it. This stage refers to the fact that the main focus of the companies was focused on the quality and quantity of production, under the assumption that the customer is interested or needs well-made products at affordable prices. This trend prevailed until the early 1930s, which is reasonable if one thinks that at that time in history, the main interest of businesses was to produce the right amount of acceptable products for a rapidly growing population in the which there was not much competition.
If an analogy is made, at this time, companies in Mexico were born and created products that the entrepreneur considered necessary, without thinking about the needs and satisfaction of the client, or in their external environment, since competition was incipient.
The second stage (indicated in arrow number 2) refers to the sales approach, which prevailed during the 1950s, it changed the way of doing business, as only manufacturing with quality was insufficient, now the problem was centered how to put the product in the hands of the consumer, whose resources, at that time, were limited. By offering numerous options, the competition began, which generated sales tactics, sometimes with little ethics, as a result of the growth of the competition.
At this time, in Mexico, the companies that wanted to subsist had to take a turn in the way they managed, it was no longer enough to have efficient production, it was imminent to generate an army of sellers who put the product or service in the hands of the consumer. at any cost.
Finally, the third stage corresponds to the orientation of the market, which arises as a result of the unethical sales, as well as the change in consumer behavior, which was more demanding and knew what it wanted, so companies they take on the task of investigating what customers want, in order to satisfy that need. This concept is also called "customer focus" and focuses on their needs and wants, which shapes the customer satisfaction process. This approach extends to delivering value to the consumer, the company is geared towards their preferences and requirements, and then combines and directs the skills and resources of the entire organization for total customer satisfaction.
This was the moment in which the Mexican companies that are known today as global companies, were given the task of using marketing to investigate consumer needs, in order to develop a product that suited their needs and achieve your satisfaction and, of course, your long-term loyalty.
However, today, this concept calls into question the suitability of pure marketing in this time of environmental problems, scarcity of resources, accelerated population growth, global inflation and lack of concern for social services. Society questions companies as to whether they feel, serve, and meet individual needs, and whether they always do what is best for consumers and society in the long term.
According to social marketing, the simple definition of marketing challenges possible conflicts between consumers' short-term wishes and their long-term well-being.
The concept of social marketing holds that the organization must determine the needs, wants and interests of the target markets. Thus, it has to provide the desired satisfactions more effectively and efficiently than the competitors, in order to maintain and improve the well-being of the consumer and of society. This is the latest concept in the evolution of competition.
Bibliography
1. Pérez Romero, Luis Alfonso (2004) Social Marketing. Theory and practice. Prentice Hall. Mexico.
2. Zamora G. Jorge; Vásquez-Párra, Arturo; Morales D. Fernanda; and Cisternas R. Carrorina RIAT. Inter-American Journal of Environment and Tourism. Volume 1, number 1. (August 2005).
3. Stanton William J., Etzel Michael J, Walter Bruce J. (2004). Fundamentals of Marketing. McGraw Hill. Mexico.
