Marketingiscommunicatingthe value of a product, service or brand tocustomers, for the purpose of promoting or selling that product, service, or brand.Marketing techniques include choosingtarget marketsthrough market analysis andmarket segmentation, as well as understandingconsumer behaviorand advertising a product's value to the customer.From a societal point of view, marketing is the link between a society's material requirements and itseconomicpatterns of response.Marketing satisfies these needs and wants through exchange processes and building long-term relationships.Marketing blends art andapplied science(such asbehavioural sciences) and makes use ofinformation technology.Marketing is applied in enterprise and organizations throughmarketing management.A firm in themarket economysurvives by producinggoodsthat persons are willing and able to buy. Consequently, ascertainingconsumer demandis vital for afirm's future viability and even existence as agoing concern. Many companies today have a customer focus (or market orientation). This implies that the company focuses its activities and products on consumer demands. Generally, there are three ways of doing this: the customer-driven approach, the market change identification approach and the product innovation approach.[5]In the consumer-driven approach, consumer wants are the drivers of all strategic marketing decisions. No strategy is pursued until it passes the test of consumer research. Every aspect of a market offering, including the nature of the product itself, is driven by the needs of potential consumers. The starting point is always the consumer. The rationale for this approach is that there is no reason to spend R&D (research and development) funds developing products that people will not buy. History attests to many products that were commercial failures in spite of being technological breakthroughs.[6]A formal approach to this customer-focused marketing is known asSIVA[7](Solution, Information, Value, Access). This system is basically the four Ps renamed and reworded to provide a customer focus. The SIVA Model provides a demand/customer-centric alternative to the well-known 4Ps supply side model (product, price, placement, promotion) of marketing management.ProductSolution

PromotionInformation

PriceValue

Place (Distribution)Access

If any of the 4Ps were problematic or were not in the marketing factor of the business, the business could be in trouble and so other companies may appear in the surroundings of the company, so the consumer demand on its products will decrease. However, in recent years service marketing has widened the domains to be considered, contributing to the7P's of marketingin total. The other 3P's of service marketing are: process, physical environment and people.Some consider there to be a fifth "P": positioning.SeePositioning (marketing).Some qualifications orcaveatsfor customer focus exist. They do not invalidate or contradict the principle of customer focus; rather, they simply add extra dimensions of awareness and caution to it.The work ofChristensenand colleagues[8]ondisruptive technologyhas produced a theoretical framework that explains the failure of firms not because they were technologically inept (often quite the opposite), but because the value networks in which they profitably operated included customers who could not value adisruptive innovationat the time and capability state of its emergence and thus actively dissuaded the firms from developing it. The lessons drawn from this work include: Taking customer focus with agrain of salt, treating it as only a subset of one's corporate strategy rather than the sole driving factor. This means looking beyond current-state customer focus to predict what customers will be demanding some years in the future, even if they themselves discount the prediction. Pursuing new markets (thus new value networks) when they are still in a commercially inferior or unattractive state, simply because their potential to grow and intersect with established markets and value networks looks like a likely bet. This may involve buying stakes in the stock of smaller firms, acquiring them outright, or incubating small, financially distinct units within one's organization to compete against them.Other caveats of customer focus are: The extent to which what customerssaythey want does not match their purchasing decisions. Thus surveys of customers might claim that 70% of a restaurant's customers want healthier choices on the menu, but only 10% of them actually buy the new items once they are offered. This might be acceptable except for the extent to which those items are money-losing propositions for the business, bleeding red ink. A lesson from this type of situation is to be smarter about the truetest validityof instruments like surveys. A corollary argument is that "truly understanding customers sometimes means understanding them better than they understand themselves." Thus one could argue that the principle of customer focus, or being close to the customers, is not violated herejust expanded upon. The extent to which customers are currently ignorant of what one might argue theyshouldwantwhich is dicey because whether it can be acted upon affordably depends on whether or how soon the customers will learn, or be convinced, otherwise. IT hardware and software capabilities and automobile features are examples. Customers who in 1997 said that they would not place any value on internet browsing capability on a mobile phone, or 6% betterfuel efficiencyin their vehicle, might say something different today, because the value proposition of those opportunities has changed.How to use Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP) to develop marketing strategiesToday, Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP) is a familiar strategic approach in Modern Marketing. It is one of the most commonly applied marketing models in practice. In our poll asking about themost popular marketing modelit is the second most popular, only beaten by the venerable SWOT / TOWs matrix. This popularity is relatively recent since previously, marketing approaches were based more around products rather than customers.In the 1950s, for example, the main marketing strategy was 'product differentiation'.The STP model is useful when creating marketing communications plans since it helps marketers to prioritise propositions and then develop and deliver personalised and relevant messages to engage with different audiences. This is an audience rather than product focused approach to communications which helps deliver more relevant messages to commercially appealing audiences. The diagram below shows how plans can have the flow fromAudience options > Audience selection > Production positioning

STP is relevant to digital marketing too, whereapplying marketing personascan help develop more relevant digital communications as shown by these alternativetactical customer segmentation approaches.In addition, STP focuses on commercial effectiveness, selecting the most valuable segments for a business and then developing a marketing mix and product positioning strategy for each segment.How to use STP?Through segmentation,you can identify niches with specific needs, mature markets to find new customers, deliver more focused and effective marketing messages.The needs of each segment are the same, so marketing messages should be designed for each segment to emphasise relevant benefits and features required rather than one size fits all for all customer types. This approach is more efficient, delivering the right mix to the same group of people, rather than a scattergun approach.You can segment your existing markets based on nearly any variable, as long as its effective as the examples below show:Well known ways to segment your audience include: 1. DemographicsBreakdown by any combination: age, gender, income, education, ethnicity, marital status, education, household (or business), size, length of residence, type of residence or even profession/Occupation.An example is Firefox who sell 'coolest things', aimed at younger male audience. Though, Moshi Monsters however is targeted to parents with fun, safe and educational space for younger audience. 2. PsychographicsThis refers to 'personality and emotions' based on behaviour, linked to purchase choices, including attitudes, lifestyle, hobbies, risk aversion, personality and leadership traits. magazines read and TV.. 3. LifestyleThis refers to Hobbies, recreational pursuits, entertainment, vacations, and other non-work time pursuits.Companies such as on and off-line magazine will target those with specific hobbies i.e. FourFourTwo for football fans. 4. Belief and ValuesRefers to Religious, political, nationalistic and cultural beliefs and values.The Islamic Bank of Britain offers Sharia compliant banking which meets specific religious requirements. 5. Life StagesLife Stages is the Chronological benchmarkingof peoples lives at different stages.An example is Saga holidays which are only available for people aged 50+. They claim a large enough segment to focus on this life stage. 6. GeographyDrill down byCountry, region, area, metropolitan or rural location, population density or even climate.An example is Neiman Marcus, the upmarket department store chain in the USA now delivers to the UK. 7. BehaviourRefers to the nature of the purchase, brand loyalty, usage level, benefits sought, distribution channels used, reaction to marketing factors.In a B2B environment, the benefits sought are often about how soon can it be delivered? which includes the last minute segment - the planning in advance segment.An example is Parcelmonkey.co.uk who offer same day, next day and international parcel deliveries. 8. BenefitBenefit is the use and satisfaction gained by the consumer.SmythsonStationary offer similar products to other stationery companies, but their clients want the benefit of their signature packaging: tissue-lined Nile Blue boxes and tied with navy ribbon!Market targetingThe list below refers to whats needed to evaluate the potential and commercial attractiveness of each segment. Criteria Size:The market must be large enough to justify segmenting. If the market is small, it may make it smaller. Difference:Measurable differences must exist between segments. Money:Anticipated profits must exceed the costs of additional marketing plans and other changes. Accessible:Each segment must be accessible to your team and the segment must be able to receive your marketing messages Focus on different benefits:Different segments must need different benefits.