How can managers adopt marketing orientation successfully

A market-orientated business continually identifies and analyses consumers needs, wants and values within the target market. A product-orientated business is when the firm focuses on the production process and the product. A market orientated business has advantages over a product orientated business and these are;

* A market-orientated business can respond quicker to changes in the market.

* They are more confident that the launch of a new product will be a success.

* Market orientated businesses will be in a stronger position to compete with new competitors.

For the business to be successful at being market orientated it must consult the consumer continuously, this means that the company needs to be conducting market research on a continuous basis. When carrying out marketing research the information gathered will be useful for strategic decision making, tactical decisions and will provide relevant information for the marketing database. Conducting marketing research will involve looking into the following areas:

* Sales research

* Product research

* Price research

* Sales promotion research

* Distribution research

(Introduction to Management Booklet)

For a business to adopt marketing orientation successfully, the marketing mix should be used. The marketing mix involves developing a product in the right quantities that the consumers want to buy, pricing the product at a price that consumers are prepared to pay, promoting the product effectively to the target market and distributing the product in ways that meets the consumer needs. There are the four main factors of the marketing mix (product, price, place and promotion). The product deals with factors such as the design, special features, the quality and reliability of the product and the packaging. The price needs to be able to cover the cost of production and generate a profit. The price needs to be right because customers will use the price as a way of knowing if the product is of good quality, so the price affects the buyers’ perception. The price can be decided once the following factors have been taken into consideration:

* The market segment

* Competition and the price they charge for their products

* The image of the product

* The level of demand expected

* The stage in the product life cycle