In this course, you will learn about the marketing process and examine the range of marketing decisions that an organisation must make in order to sell its products and services. You will also learn how to think like a marketer, discovering that the focus of marketing has always been on the consumer. You will begin to think about who the consumer of goods and services is, what the consumer needs, and what the consumer wants. Marketing is an understanding of how to communicate with the consumer, and is characterised by four activities: creating products and services that serve consumers, communicating a clear value proposition, delivering products and services in a way that optimises value, and exchanging (or trading) value for those offerings.

Many people incorrectly believe that marketing and advertising are the same. In reality, advertising is just one of many tools used in marketing, which is how firms determine which products to offer, how to price those products, and who they should be made available to. We will explore ways marketing departments and independent agencies answer these questions, whether through research, analysis, or even trial and error. Once a company identifies its customer and product, marketers must determine the best way to capture the customer’s attention. Capturing the customer’s attention may entail undercutting competitors’ prices, aggressively marketing with promotions and advertising (like “As Seen on TV” ads), or targeting ideal customers. The strategy a marketing firm chooses for a particular product is vital to the success of the product. The idea that “great products sell themselves” is simply not true. By the end of this course, you will be familiar