The Marketing Concept

The marketing concept is the philosophy that the consumer's interest is the starting point if not the
major focus, from which all planning takes place. This is also called consumer orientation. (The
central thesis of this book, the concept that concepts are marketed using the marketing concept, is a
tongue twister and every effort has been taken to assign unambiguous usage of such words as idea,
concept, notion, thesis and so on, so that their intended meaning will be clear from the context in
which thay are employed.) A consumer oriented marketer plans strategy by first inquiring into the
needs and desires of the clientele. Then and only then are the four Ps considered. By contrast,
producer orientation dictates a policy that says, in effect, "I wish to market product X, now let me
find people who wish to buy it.” All too often a market for X simply does not exist.


Idea marketing too, can be either consumer or producer oriented. Marketers, having ascertained
consumers' felt needs and wants, disseminate ideas in such a manner that those ideas become
available for adoption by interested individuals. This is called "pull" marketing because it is based
on the premise that informed consumers seek out or pull at the product offering on their own
initiative. Producer oriented idea marketers engage in the opposite or "push" marketing,
alternatively termed high-pressure or simply persuasion.