Introduction

Welcome to Marketing in the 21^st century. This course briefly introduces you to the concept of marketing, how to assess if your organization is marketing orientated and the role of ethics in marketing. You will then be introduced to the principles of branding before considering internal marketing in turbulent times. First, let’s start by considering a quote from British entrepreneur Emma Harrison published in the British newspaper the Daily Mail (2004): As we shall see throughout this course, marketing encompasses a wide range of interrelated activities and at its heart, drives the organization forward. As a manager, you will have had, to varying extent, some experience of marketing. This could be involved in making strategic decisions that have marketing implications. On the other hand, as a consumer you will have been exposed to marketing from an early age, possibly making you skeptical about what it can offer. Marketing is concerned with satisfying customer needs but is it a positive activity for our societies? Marketing encompasses a number of activities that are partially created by the organization but also largely influenced by factors in the external environment such as competitors’ activities and legislation. As a management activity, marketing is constantly changing and evolving to meet the needs of the market. For many, this constant change makes it an exciting profession, as summarised here by Ian Hunter, Head of Marketing at Fujitsu Services. This is achieved through a variety of learning techniques, including case studies, videos, activities and group discussions. Supporting this learning, students are encouraged to become critical thinkers about how they undertake their own decisions, as well as how marketing influences our society.