Welcome to the first edition of Marketing!

We are proud to say that our book is the first new, comprehensive textbook in marketing in over two decades. In the summer of 2004, the American Marketing Association revised its nearly 20 year old definition of marketing, redefining marketing as “an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.” Our book, Marketing, is the first marketing principles textbook to fully integrate this new definition, emphasizing the value and the role of the customer in marketing organizations and activities.

When we, the authors, sat down to write this book, it seemed imperative that the evolution of the field and practice of marketing be at the forefront. We wanted to be sure that we were fully educating today’s student about current marketing trends and practices, so we integrated newer concepts such as value creation, globalization, technology, entrepreneurship, ethics, and services marketing into the traditional marketing instruction. In this book, we will examine how firms assess, analyze, create, deliver, communicate, and capture value. We will explore both the fundamentals in marketing and new influencers, such as value-based pricing and the Internet that are shaping the way businesses communicate with their customers in today’s marketing environment.

It is not often that textbook authors get the opportunity to design, plan, and write a book that is totally up to date and reflects not only the current trends in the marketplace, but also the needs of instructors and students. During the writing and revising of this book, over the course of three years, we’ve sought the advice and expertise of hundreds of marketing and educational professionals, and we’ve taken all of their guidance to heart. We are grateful to the hundreds of individuals who participated in the focus groups, surveys, and personal conversations that helped mold this book, and we hope that you, the reader, will learn from and enjoy the results.

What is marketing?

Regardless of your age, your gender, or the city in which you live, you already know something about marketing. You have been an involved consumer in the marketing process since childhood when, for example, you accompanied your mother or father to the supermarket and asked to buy a particular brand of cereal because you saw a friend eating it or heard about it on television. The prize inside the box of cereal was of value to you as a child; the nutritional information offered on the box panel was of value to your mother or father. Once you begin to explore the many ways in which companies and brands create value for their customers through marketing, you will also begin to appreciate the complex set of decisions and activities that are necessary to provide you with the products and services you use every day.

The function of marketing is multi-faceted, but its fundamental purpose is to create value. Consider these examples:

Not too long ago water was simply one of the most basic natural elements. It came out of a faucet in your home and was consumed for the purposes of drinking, washing, etc. Taking a cue from European firms like Perrier in France and San Pellegrino in Italy, US based firms such as Poland Springs, Arrowhead, and Aquafina created new products that customers find valuable by bottling water in attractive and easy to carry packages. Today bottled water is a $35 billion worldwide industry with US sales in excess of $6 billion.

Why do people buy roughed-up jeans for well over a hundred dollars when they could buy Wrangler jeans at Wal-Mart for under twenty? The answer lies in marketing brand value: because brands like Diesel and Seven for All Mankind have created a cache for their brands with edgy advertising and innovative washes and styles. When trendsetters start to wear these brands, others follow.

The prevalence and power of the internet has created a marketplace of better informed and savvy customers than ever before. Those who teach the marketers of the future need to account for the consumer’s ability to assess the marketplace at their fingertips and discern good value from poor value. This textbook, Marketing 1e, is all about the core concepts and tools that help marketers create value for customers. Throughout this book you will find many other examples that define how companies create value for customers through branding, packaging, pricing, retailing, service, and advertising. We introduce the concept of value in chapter 1 and carry it through the entire text:  

• The first section of the text contains four chapters and the central theme of the section is “Assessing the Marketplace.” Following an introduction to marketing in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 then focuses on how a firm develops a marketing plan. A central theme of the chapter is how firms can effectively create, capture, deliver and communicate value to their customers. Chapter 3 focuses attention on Marketing Ethics. An ethical decision framework is developed and presented. The key ethical concepts are linked back to the marketing plan introduced in Chapter 2. Finally, Chapter 4 (Analyzing the Marketing Environment) focuses on how marketers can systematically uncover and evaluate opportunities. Key elements of scenario planning are introduced and presented to demonstrate how to analyze and capitalize on opportunities presented.
  
• The second section of the book deals with “Understanding the Marketplace” and is composed of three chapters. Chapter 5, Consumer Behavior, focuses on all aspects of understanding why consumers purchase products and services. The consumer decision process is highlighted. Chapter 6, Business-to-Business, focuses on all aspects pertaining to why and how business-to-business buying takes place. Finally, Chapter 7 focuses on global markets. Thus, the three chapters move from creating value for the individual/consumer to the fi rm/business to the global level.
  
• The third section of the book deals with “Targeting the Marketplace.” Two chapters compose this section. Chapter 8 focuses on Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning. In this chapter, we focus on how firms segment the marketplace, then pick a target market and finally position their good/service in line with their customer’s needs and wants. Chapter 9 on Marketing Research identifies the various tools and techniques that marketers use to uncover these needs and ensure that they create goods and services that provide value to their target markets.
  
• Marketing devotes three chapters to Value Creation. The first two, Chapter 10, “Product, Branding, and Packaging Decisions,” and Chapter 11, “Developing New Products” cover the development and management of products and brands. While many of the concepts involved in developing and managing services are similar to those of physical brands Chapter 12, “Services: The Intangible Product” addresses the unique challenges of the marketing of services.
  
• Pricing is the activity within a firm responsible for Value Capture by bringing in money and affecting revenues. Marketing devotes two chapters to pricing capturing values for the firm. Chapter 13 examines the importance of setting the right price, the relationship between price and quantity sold, break-even analysis, the impact of price wars, and how the Internet has changed the way people shop. Chapter 14 looks specifically at how to set prices.
  
• One important reason why Wal-Mart has become the world’s largest retailer is their Value Delivery system. They time the delivery of merchandise to get to stores just in time to meet customer demand. To achieve this, they have initiated many innovative programs with their vendors and developed sophisticated transportation and warehousing systems. Marketing devotes two chapters to value delivery. Chapter 15 takes a look at the entire supply chain, while Chapter 16 concentrates on retailing.
  
• Today’s methods of Value Communications are more complex because of new technologies that add email, Blogs, Internet, and Pod casts to the advertising mix that once only utilized radio and television to relay messages to consumers. Marketing devotes three chapters to value communications. Chapter 17 introduces the breadth of integrated marketing communications. Chapter 18 is devoted specifically to advertising, while Chapter 19 covers personal selling.
  
• You will also find the value theme integrated throughout the text in the Adding Value boxes that occur in each chapter. These features illustrate how firms find ultimate success by adding value to their products and services.

In addition to our emphasis on value in Marketing, you will also find integrated and highlighted coverage of ethics, entrepreneurship, services, and globalization within the framework of the marketing discipline:

• Marketing contains an entire chapter on Marketing Ethics. Placed early in the text (Chapter 3), it provides rich illustrations of corporate responsibility, and introduces an ethical decision-making framework that is useful for assessing potentially ethically troubling situations that are posed throughout the rest of the book. It therefore sets the tone for ethical material in each subsequent chapter. In addition, each chapter contains an Ethical Dilemma box with a compelling ethical discussion and end of chapter discussion questions that force students to consider and evaluate each situation.
  
• Entrepreneurship. An entrepreneurial spirit pervades most marketing innovations and is necessary to keep firms growing and healthy. Marketing nurtures that entrepreneurial spirit by providing examples of young entrepreneurial firms and successful entrepreneurs wherever possible. Each chapter also contains an Entrepreneurial Marketing box that depicts recognizable and interesting young entrepreneurial firms.
  
• Marketing defines Services as the intangible product and devotes Chapter 12 to the topic. A balanced approach to presenting products and services is used throughout. Examples of great service businesses and how product-oriented businesses provide great service abound.
  
• Most firms are involved in Global Marketing at some level. Giant firms such as Proctor & Gamble, Starbucks, and United Airlines have global operations. But small entrepreneurial firms are also involved because they get their materials, products, or services from firms located in other countries. Global examples are woven throughout each chapter of Marketing. In addition, Chapter 7 is devoted exclusively to the topic.

Why will instructors enjoy using this book?

• Tradition.Marketing draws from a history of outstanding marketing texts. As such, users of other books will feel confident and comfortable with the material in this new text. We honor all the traditional marketing concepts, but make them current, relevant and fun for your students to learn.
  
• Assessment. Business schools and accrediting organizations are demanding that students be accountable for specific material that is essential for any marketing practitioner. Of course, Marketing provides students with the knowledge of the language of marketing. In addition, students will come away with a set of tools that is essential to be successful in marketing careers. But the material goes beyond the printed page. The Online Learning Center contains an Interactive Student Tool Kit. The Tool Kit is a set of interactive exercises that are working models of the concepts presented in the text. Sophisticated, fun, and instructive, this Interactive Tool Kit contains up to 3 gradable assignments on each of the following concepts:
  
• SWOT Analysis (Chapter 2
• Compensatory versus Non-compensatory Consumer Decision Making (Chapter 5)
• Vendor Evaluation Analysis (Chapter 6)
• Market Positioning Map (Chapter 8)
• Service Quality (Chapter 12)
• Break-even Analysis (Chapter 13)
• Developing an Advertisement (Chapter 18)
  
• Outstanding Ancillary Materials. In addition to the Tool Kit, Marketing provides instructors with a broad spectrum of high-quality supplements:
  
• Two sets of state-of-the-art PowerPoint presentations for each chapter. One set contains pictures, screen grabs, key terms, interactive exhibits, and embedded videos. The other is a frills-free version, ideal for customizing.
• A user-friendly, yet comprehensive Instructors’ Manual. In addition to the lecture notes and end of chapter solutions, you will also find additional assignments, examples, and in-class activities that you can use to enhance your classroom lectures. This IM is available on the Instructor’s side of the Online Learning Center and in hard copy.
• A video program on DVD consisting of more than 15 segments in a variety of lengths to provide flexibility for your classroom. Some of the firms featured in these videos are Newman’s Own Organics, Taco Bell, and Netflix. The bottled water industry is covered in one long segment that integrates several key concepts of the concepts discussed in this book.
• One of the most important aspects of the teaching package is the Test bank. The model for this test bank is unique, and was designed by a focus group of instructors. The test bank provides approximately 130 questions per chapter. Each question is keyed to chapter learning objectives and linked to the current AACSB standards. In this test bank you will find a balanced mixture of true/false, multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions that are labeled as definition, conception, or application driven.

Why will students enjoy using this book?

• A Compelling Read. Marketing was written with the student in mind. The examples are current and appealing, and feature a wide range of products and services that will be recognizable to a diverse group of readers.
  
• Unique End of Chapter Applications and Exercises
  
• Marketing Applications. Each chapter concludes with eight to eleven Marketing Applications. These questions ask students to apply what they have learned to marketing scenarios that are relevant to their lives.
• Ethical Dilemma. At least one of the Marketing Applications in each chapter poses an ethical dilemma based on material covered in the chapter. For instance, in Chapter 7 on global marketing, we pose the issue of offshore tax preparation work being done at a local accounting firm that communicates a personal commitment to each customer. Students can apply the ethical decision-making framework introduced in Chapter 3 to these marketing situations.
• Net Savvy. Each chapter contains two exercises that force students to the Internet to apply material covered in the text. For example, in Chapter 18 on advertising we direct students to the Childrens’s Advertising Review Unit, one of the major self-regulatory bodies for childrens’s advertising at www.caru.org. We ask students to choose a press release and discuss what action CARU took against the identified company or group and the legal and ethical issues addressed in the case.
• End of Chapter Cases. Each chapter ends with a 2-3 page case covering a current marketing idea, concept, or company.
  
• Website for Students (www.mhhe.com/grewal-levy) The Online Learning Center will help students and instructors use Marketing effectively. Some of the features on the website are:
  
• The Interactive Student Tool Kit
• Multiple-choice questions on the student site
• Marketer’s Showdown and other selections from the book’s video program

We’ve created this book and support package to give both instructors and students the best possible learning experience. We truly hope that you and your students fully enjoy this book and the tools that accompany it.