The
foregoing discussions on the difference between selling and marketing lead us
to the marketing concept. The marketing concept emerged in the mid-1950s.
Instead of a product-centered, “make-andsell” philosophy, business shifted to a
customer-centered, “sense-and respond” philosophy. Instead of “hunting,”
marketing is “gardening.” The job is not to find the right customers for your
products, but the right products for your customers. The marketing concept
holds that the key to achieving organizational goals consists of the company
being more effective than competitors in creating, delivering, and
communicating superior customer value to its chosen target markets. The
marketing concept was born out of the awareness that a business should start
with the determination of consumers wants and end with the satisfaction of
those wants. The concept puts the consumer at both the beginning and the end of
the business cycle.
