In this approach the focus is put on the study of particular institutions which include imports, exports, middlemen, wholesalers, and retailers. Emphasis is placed on understanding the functioning of an institution. The disadvantage of this method is that it does not give adequate knowledge of the entire marketing functions. It also fails to explain the relationship between the different institutions (Ashley and Morrison 5).
Functionality Approach
This approach denotes the importance of various marketing functions. One’s concentration is on the specialized functions carried out by marketers. In the functionality approach, marketing is split into many functions. They include buying, selling, storage, advertising, and pricing. This approach tends to focus on the various marketing functions and fails to elaborate how these functions are applied to specific business operations.
Management Approach
This method focuses on the marketing activities and the role of decision making at the level of an organization. The method specializes mainly on how the managers handle certain problems. It generally involves evaluating a firm’s current marketing approaches in order to achieve the company’s marketing objectives. In the management approach, some factors are manageable whereas others are uncontrollable. Controllable factors include advertisement and price adjustment. Uncontrollable factors, on the other hand, include social, political, and economic components. These are factors that cause marketing changes and are beyond the firm’s control. Controllable factors, on the other hand, can be managed by the firm. The management approach focuses on the practical aspect of marketing but ignores the theoretical aspect (Kotler and Armstrong, 38).
Systems Approach
In this approach focus is put on the interconnection of the various marketing functions. The system approach examines the marketing connections that exist both within and outside the market segment.
Societal Approach
This marketing approach can best be described as the method through which a given society meets its consumer needs. In this approach attention is placed on ecological factors and the impact of marketing decisions on a firm to the surrounding community.
Legal Approach
This marketing approach focuses on the transfer of ownership to the buyer. It elaborates in detail the regulatory marketing aspect. The disadvantage of this marketing approach is that it only focuses on the legal marketing aspects neglecting other critical factors.
Economic Approach
This approach mainly deals with the problems of demand, price, and supply. The method does not vividly portray the idea of marketing or what marketing generally entails.
All marketing approaches relate to each other basically because their main objectives are to increase a firm’s sales volume while, at the same time, satisfying the unlimited consumer needs. Marketing is normally done with the aim of increasing a firm’s consumer market share so that the company can reach even a wider target market.
Centric Approach
The customer centric approach is a marketing approach that emphasizes understanding and satisfying the needs, resources, and wants of an individual consumer rather than those of the whole target market. The method involves the marketers first assessing each customer on an individual basis before deciding whether to serve the customers directly or by the use of a third party. In this approach, the marketer may decide to customize the product in order to suite specific consumer needs. According to Golden (28), marketers’ actions in the customer centric approach are normally guided by the analysis that aims at maximizing the effective efficiency of the marketing actions.
In my opinion, all these marketing approaches are directly related to the customer centric approach due to the fact that all of them are aimed at expanding the business by striving to increase the current market share the company currently enjoys.
It is evident that the customer centric approach is the most superior approach in comparison to the other marketing styles. This is basically because of the following reasons. First, the approach incorporates new tools that offer visibility into an individual customer’s behaviors. This is made possible by the loyalty card created by this approach. By focusing on a particular customer specific customer needs and wants are satisfied (Stone et al. 46).
Secondly, through the approach customers get to interact with the firm or business enterprise in more ways than before. The approach makes marketing become a dialogue between retailers and consumers. This is due to the fact that they interact on a one-on-one basis. This is essential because consumer needs get to be fully satisfied. Thirdly, the approach provides customers with a single seamless experience across different platforms.
There exist several ways through which the superiority of the customer centric approach can be evaluated. They include assessing the market share a company currently enjoys. One may assess the nature of the target market before and after the approach has been implemented. Initially, one may find that the company enjoys a certain percentage of the total market share. After the approach has been implemented, this market share is expected to increase.
The second method involves assessing a company’s sales volume before and after the approach has been implemented. It is expected that the company’s sales volume will boost as a result of increase in the company’s target audience. The third element involves assessing the customer’s level of satisfaction. Through adopting this approach, it is expected that the customer’s needs and wants will be satisfied even better. So by assessing the level of satisfaction one can ascertain whether the method is ideal.
The last method involves assessing a company’s profit margin. If the profit margin of a particular firm appears to increase after this approach has been implemented, one can safely deduce that the customer centric approach is the most reliable method firms should adopt.
There exist several companies that have successfully implemented the customer centric approach. These companies serve as evidence of how the approach can be depended on.
Companies which Use Centric Approach
Intuit
This enormous business enterprise has continued to maintain its reputation as a company that is consumer-oriented. From time immemorial the company has always encouraged its employees to look for ways to solve real life consumer problems. The company’s new products are always tested in a live environment so that the customer reaction is observed. If the reaction is positive, the company goes on to launch the product. When negative, the company attempts to either improve the product or do away completely with the product. There was a point in time where Intuit launched “Design for Delight” – an initiative aimed at instilling a culture of customer centricity in the employees (Borch 26).
Amazon
Another company that has successfully adopted this marketing approach is Amazon. For example the company CEO Mr. Jeff Brezos often leaves a seat open during his conference meeting to represent the customer. This serves as a reminder to all the members present that the consumer is the most important company shareholder. Some of the specific products Amazon has developed include; kindle fire TV and Echo. The company is also known to reward employees who raise the company bar higher.
Advantages of Centric Approach
There are vast advantages associated with the customer centric approach. Through using of this approach, companies are able to establish stronger and meaningful connections with their customers. By tailoring a company’s product to satisfy specific needs, customers keep on coming back after their first purchase. A good example is REI, a company that is known to provide its consumers with outdoor recreational gear and services. The firm is built on a consumer-cooperative model where majority of the consumers have the firm’s membership. The customers, therefore, receive various offers and discounts. These consumers are maintained because it is hard for them to do shopping without the good offers the company suggests to them (Bloom et al. 98).
Efficiency
The approach is also efficient as it reduces the running as well as overhead costs of a firm. The firm needs to provide offers and promotions to consumers only at the right time and for the right shoppers.
Differentiation
This approach enables a company to be unique and different from its competitors because they deal with specific consumer needs. An example of a company that best depicts differentiation is Apple Company. The unique top-notch product that the company offers ensures that the company’s target market continues to grow.
Disadvantages of Using Centric Approach
There also exist some disadvantages associated with the customer centric approach. First, the method is expensive to implement. Secondly, it is hard for all consumer needs to be satisfied because they keep on changing from time to time. Thirdly, some of the consumers do not know what they need and lastly the approach is time consuming (Kumar 30).
Conclusion
In a nutshell, it is necessary for all organizations to adopt the customer centric approach because of the vast advantages associated with it. It is true that these organizations will encounter many challenges e.g. time constraints, money and resources while attempting to develop their own model but the end results will be fruitful for the company. It will result in the company’s profit margin, target market and sales volume increasing. The customers will also be satisfied, and it will lead to satisfaction mutual satisfaction of all parties. Companies ought to realize that their consumers are their greatest asset. They, therefore, should be maintained by any means.
Works Cited
Ashley,William C., and James L Morrison. “Anticipatory Management: Tools for Better Decision Making.” The Futurist, 31(5), 1997, p.47.
Bloom, Paul N., George R. Milne, and Robert Adler. “Avoiding Misuse of New Information Technologies: Legal and Societal Considerations.” Journal of Marketing, 58(1), 1994, pp.98-110.
Borch, Fred J. “The Marketing Philosophy as a Way of Business Life.” The History of Marketing Thought, 3, 2008, pp.184-190.
Baines, Paul, et al.
Marketing. OUP Oxford, 2008.
Golden, Jackie. Effective Customer Success Execution: A Customer Centric Approach to Creating a Customer for Life. BookBaby, 2015.
Kotler, Philip, and Gary Armstrong. Principles of Marketing. Pearson Prentice Hall, 2012.
Kumar, V. Customer Lifetime Value: The Path to Profitability. Now Publishers, Inc, 2008.
Stone, Marilyn A., et al. Fundamentals of Marketing. Routledge, 2007.
