CAREER ADVISOR

“Your Career Advisor” is responding to the following:
"Can you tell me what is Marketing ? what are the requirements to be a good marketer and what steps I should follow in order to persuade others to buy my ideas?"
All reasonable questions related to careers, skill development or employment related issues – sent to advisor@skill-link.com - would be addressed in this section every week.

Q1: What is marketing ? and how to be a good marketer ?

Can you tell me what is Marketing ? What are the requirements to be a good marketer and what steps should I follow in order to persuade others to buy my ideas?

Replying
Dear Mr. A,

Is this a question ? it is what business schools hope you will learn upon graduation, and after going through numerous courses J

While obviously this is not the right forum to elaborately discuss "marketing", we are interested to shed some light on the topic. We notice from many interviews with Middle Eastern job seekers (and professionals in general) that they confuse sales & marketing. You often hear someone describing his job title as "Marketing Representative" or "Marketing Executive" when what he does is really sales. An easy rule to apply is: if you are seeking to make a client sign on an order or execute a transaction , then it is sales.

What is marketing ? it is a matter of determining demand, matching a product or service with customer needs, and promoting those attributes in the marketplace to produce sales. It is therefore not a one-time event, but an on-going process. A specific marketing plan outlining concrete goals is indispensable to a well-managed business; without it, financial budgets and profit plans are incomplete. While even the best marketing plan cannot ensure success, conducting thorough research and establishing specific objectives minimizes the possibility of failure. The marketing plan decreases misunderstanding and increases organized thinking.

In other words, it is the process of determining what do customers need (market research)? how to fulfill that need ? how to price the product or service planned to be offered ? what varieties ? how to have it reach the customers (distribution channels) ? how to promote it (advertising) ?

Marketing is not a function only performed by a marketing department or someone with the title of marketing manager. Every organization (or even one person activity) must be undertaking some sort of marketing. From the physician (medical doctor) who decides what specialization he wants to go into, where to have his clinic, how to price his services, what hours to operate his clinic, how to furnish his clinic, where to place signs with his name on, etc…. to the Chief Executive Officer of the largest corporation.

While originally marketing was associated with products, it then expanded to services (banking, internet etc…). Also non for profit organizations have their share, fund raising for charities and electoral campaign management (during parliamentary or presidential elections) are some sort of marketing.

The back bone of marketing is a marketing plan; the following are its key components (generic sample)

Conducting Market Research & Analysis

· Economic Trend Analysis
· Political and Social Analysis
· Product and Service Analysis
· Customer Analysis
· Market Potential Analysis
· Competitive Analysis

Developing Goals & Tactics

· Statement of Overall Strategy
· Packaging
· Pricing
· Distribution
· Advertising and Promotion
· Publicity

Preparing the Marketing Budget

A combination of reading, studying and hands on experience is a mandatory tool kit to prepare a person to be a marketer. To be a good one, the person also needs an open mind, strong analytical skills and creativity.

It is unfortunate that the Arab countries and Egypt included have a shortage of good marketing managers. In several of the large companies in the region, this position is staffed by expatriates.

One of the most famous authorities on marketing: Dr. Philip Kotler wrote numerous books and articles about this topic. His works are used as standard references in most marketing courses. The "Your Career Advisor" editor has enjoyed reading his "Principles Of Marketing" twenty years ago- it is highly recommended. Dr. Kotler other titles include: The New Competition, Kotler On Marketing: How to Create, Win and Dominate Markets, Value Added Public Relations: the Secret Weapon of Integrated Marketing. You can order these books through any online bookstore such as amazon.com or bn.com

And finally, if you are still intrigued with the topic of marketing, you may be interested to check what the American Marketing Association (AMA) has to offer. AMA has over 40,000 members worldwide, it serves many levels of marketing practitioners, from executives to students. For further information on AMA you can visit their site: www.marketingpower.com 

There is also supposed to be an Arab Marketing Association, however it seems to be keeping a very low profile. For your reference its web site address is: http://www.amasoc.com 

Closer to home, the "German - Arab Chamber of Commerce & Industry" has an active training body: FORMAT. It offers numerous training courses in marketing (and other business fields) every year. Also it offers training on negotiations skills, which address the last part of your question. You can reach FORMAT as follows:

Tel: (20-2) 392 4089/2203, Fax: (20-2) 392 4089
2, Sherif Street, El Lewa Bldg., 5th floor, Apt. 58, Downtown, Cairo, Egypt

Good Luck.

Note from the editor: 
Employer names and inquiry sender names were withheld for confidentiality

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