Pantheon asks: What does marketing actually mean?

March 18, 2013 - PRLog -- For Pantheon the key words in this definition are value and benefit.
For Pantheon value is significant because for a product or service to be successful it must in some way be of value to the customer. The creation of value requires an understanding of customer needs in the form of benefits. What will the product or service do for them and why will it be better, faster or easier to use than that which is currently available? Marketing activity needs to communicate value and benefit.
Pantheon appreciates that successful businesses need to ensure that the services they provide offer tangible benefits - and therefore genuine value - to their target audience. To fully succeed at this, they need to differentiate their offering: focusing on offering unique benefits and value.
"Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably." The official academic definition from The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).
Pantheon interprets this as meaning the ideas, the brand, how you communicate, the design, print process, measuring effectiveness, market research and the psychology of consumer behaviour all count as part of the bigger picture of ‘marketing’. The key thing to note is that an understanding of what customers need and value is central to marketing. Understanding your customers' needs and how you can add value through marketing activities paves the way for a successful business in the long term.
After evaluating various definitions Pantheon realises that marketing doesn’t just start with a new idea or innovative product, it in fact begins with the customer. Although this might sound counter-intuitive, it is the customer that makes your business successful, and so this should be where the marketing process begins, not at the point when the product is ready to sell.
Pantheon appreciates that entrepreneurs are always naturally enthusiastic about their ideas and assume other people will feel the same, but it doesn’t always work that way. During the process of setting up a new business or launching a new product, you’ll need to persuade many people that your product is worth buying, so of course it makes sense to know your end user. Wan you save them time, money or effort? What are their needs, problems, wants?
Pantheon explains that your customers are not just limited to people who buy your product off of a shelf- investor, distributor, retailors are also in this bracket, they need to feel that their investment is safe and will yield a return. For decades academics have been trying to come up with a concise definition for marketing, the most literal route being:
“The commercial functions involved with transferring, goods from producer to consumer”
At Pantheon we understand marketing to be the management process for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably. Marketing is the activity, set of institutions and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society.
Pantheon shares what they value to ensure they create successful marketing
Understanding potential customers and the external business environment in as much detail as possible
Identifying opportunities and developing a strategy to capitalise on these
Using established marketing tools to deliver the strategy
Measuring results to ensure a process of continual improvement
Pantheon Shares what Marketing means to their business
•   Putting the customer first
•   A Business Ethos
•   A Planning Process
•   Core to sustained business success
•   Allocating resources to achieve your goal

At Pantheon the exact  definition of marketing is not important, but what they do understand to be is important to small and large businesses alike is to ensure that the customer is at the very core of your vision throughout all departments and understood by everyone involved in your business.