Customer-oriented marketing

Customer-orinted marketing is one of the marketing's strategy but it is more detailed and accurate than all the other strategies. Orientation on customers' needs is the key point for the success of marketing activity. To determine clients' preferances marketing research is used. It helps to satisfy customers who can possibly repeat the purchase. It also requires managers to analyze and select the necessary information through the whole data base and determine the most important market segments for a given product. These knowledge identifies the trends that are occulting in the whole market. 

Marketing mix is one of the most important concepts in this strategy. It includes such elements as price, place, promotion and product; it is called 4P model. 

Product component contains: product line, shape, design, size, colour, quality, packaging, labeling, branding. It also involves product planning and developing. Customers choose a product according to it's features and attributes. A consumer takes into account the total package of benefits available from the product and makes a decision to purchase it. To influence them to do it, attacking customers is being made by labeling the product, its' variety, innovations, guarantees, and etc.

The place is the goods' distribution. That means delivery at the right place and the right time. It includes channels of distribution, transportation, warehousing, inventory.

Promotion is an activity that let's customers know about the product. It is affecting the public through advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, PR-techniques. 

Price is the component that is mentioned by customers first of all. This part develops such areas as pricing and discount policies, payment strategies, delivery terms, and others. Price of a product should cover the expenses for it at least to "pay" for the creation of this product, but it also tries to make a profit. The price should also be low that stimulate customers to buy a product. Moreover, pricing is used in the market competition.

An example of the customer-oriented companies could be Lindström company that provides hire out services. One basically rents a store/place/building but it is oriented on working clothes, hiring and mat's changing. http://www.lindstromgroup.com/en-GB/company/

The source was used: http://kalyan-city.blogspot.fi/2010/05/marketing-marketing-mix-4-ps-of.html

Marketing effects

Positive effects:

• Price competition
• Comparative information
• Service's and product's understanding by customers
• Attractions of customers
• Keeping customers
• Analyzing customers' needs
• Customers' satisfaction
• Positive attitudes towards the products
• Company's communications
• Amount of sales
• Consumers' and corporate's expectations
• Brand building
• Image
• Name recognition
• Phone calls, feedbacks 
• Frequency of purchasing
• Advertising efficiency

Negative effects:

• Lack of free choice
• Influence on subconsciousness
• Ascendancy in children
• Ethical disagreements in different countries, nations, cultures.

Successful firms and activities.

What is a successful firm? It is a business where actions (sales production or service) within a period of time are crowned with a success of reaching a goal, and it could be expressed as good financial income.

Activities:

- Huge amount of sales

- Focus on new markets

- Use new technologies

- Improve own existing technologies

- Use innovative-driven products

- Develop customer relationships and trust

- Increase target group

- Price leadership

- Product variety 

- Name recognition, brandbuilding

- Competitive advantages

- Try to be unique

Pros&Con of marketing

Pros.

Marketing helps:

• To know about products' existing.
• To make a choice for a good.
• To be better that competitors.
• To present advantages of a product.
• To find new customers.
• To develop customers' relationships.
• To increase income and sales.
• To build brand.
• To share a market and increase its' part.
• To communicate with suppliers, customers, competitors, etc (with the whole world).

Con.

• Marketing is one of the biggest expenses of a company.
• Marketing is flexible activity. Customers' needs and preferences change and marketing strategy should be modified, too.
• Clients can make a wrong decision due to marketing activities. For instance, it promotes goods with bad quality.
• It is a barrier for new companies to come into a market if other organizations have money for marketing activities.
• Government policies should be known in every country where marketing strategies might be used.

Market-driven business examples

What is a product? It is a result of a labour process. It is something offered and could satisfy customers' needs. The development of new products is based on a product orientation or a marketing orientation. The first one means the concentration on good's producing, characteristics, etc. The last one learns customers' wants and preferences. 

One of the examples of market driven company can be Home Depot organization. It is a U.S. retail chain which is the largest in the world for the sale of the tools for repairing and building materials. The Home Deport is the third largest retailer in the world after U.S. Wal-Malt and the French chain Carrefour. The strategy of Home Deport company was to provide the customer value through the customer service. The company offers a four-week education program for customers who want to make do-it-themselves goods. Moreover, customers' value increases when the organization always update its' stores. The brand-name products can not be found anywhere else. For doing it, many contracts are signed with the suppliers.

The paragraph was written according to Bill Barrett's article, http://www.wdbarrett.com/pdfs/marketdrivenorg.pdf.

Some more exactly instances could be found on the link below: http://ru.scribd.com/doc/59816825/Examples-of-Market-Drivers-and-Market-Driven-Companiesz