What is Marketing?
What do the following have in common?

Aventis Pharmaceuticals Ferguson Enterprises ConocoPhillips Spring

Enterprise Rent-A-Car Sherwin-Williams Wal-Mart

They all try to sell products to you, the consumer, through marketing. Marketing is the exchange that takes place between consumers and sellers to satisfy individual and organizational goals.

Successful Marketing
Successful marketing is customer driven. It addresses customer needs and desires and then seeks to satisfy consumers with quality goods and services. It involves having the right product, at the right price, at the right place, and at the right time.

Successful marketing is the major reason why Payless ShoeSource can make a profit, and it is also the reason Hormel Foods Corporation is a superstar company instead of just another food distribution firm.

The Global Aspect
Companies must now globally monitor changes in customers and competition, while evaluating emerging legal, technological, social, and economic opportunities. Marketing is at the core of overall strategy for manufacturers, service companies, sports marketing, retailers, and nonprofit institutions.

It is the main source of information about markets and customers and helps a company attain a global competitive advantage.