Legal Definitions - marketing

Marketing refers to the organized activities and processes a business uses to promote, sell, lease, or license its products or services to customers. It involves understanding what customers need and want, creating valuable offerings, communicating their benefits, and making them available to the target audience.

• Example 1: A local artisanal coffee shop decides to introduce a new line of specialty cold brew coffees. To market these new products, the owner creates eye-catching posters for the shop window, posts enticing photos and descriptions on social media, offers free samples to customers during a specific hour, and sends an email newsletter to loyal patrons announcing the new offerings and a limited-time discount.

  Explanation: This illustrates marketing as the act of promoting and selling products. The coffee shop is actively engaging in various activities—advertising, sampling, and direct communication—to make potential customers aware of the new cold brew, highlight its value, and encourage them to purchase it.

• Example 2: A large software company develops a new cloud-based project management tool designed for small businesses. To market this service, they launch a targeted online advertising campaign on business-focused websites, create detailed instructional videos and webinars, offer a free 30-day trial, and send sales representatives to industry conferences to demonstrate the software's features and benefits.

  Explanation: Here, marketing encompasses the comprehensive process of identifying a customer need (efficient project management for small businesses), developing a service to meet that need, and then actively promoting and "selling" (or licensing access to) that service through various channels to its target audience. The free trial is a key marketing tactic to encourage adoption.

• Example 3: A non-profit organization focused on environmental conservation wants to raise awareness and donations for a new tree-planting initiative. They develop a campaign featuring compelling stories and images of deforested areas, create a dedicated section on their website for the initiative, partner with local schools for educational workshops, and send out direct mail appeals to potential donors.

  Explanation: In this context, marketing is used to promote a cause and solicit support. While not selling a tangible product, the organization is "marketing" the value and importance of its initiative to potential donors and volunteers, aiming to persuade them to contribute resources or time. They are communicating the "offering" of environmental improvement and seeking an "exchange" in the form of donations.