Rethinking Marketing

Rethinking the Relationship Between Social/Nonprofit Marketing and Commercial Marketing

• Core Argument: This article challenges the conventional view that nonprofit and social marketing are simply special cases of commercial marketing; instead, it suggests that they represent the most complex form of marketing.
• Commercial marketing should be seen as a simplified version of the complexities inherent in nonprofit and social marketing.

Broadening the Field of Marketing

• Kotler and Levy's Contribution (1969): They advocated for broadening marketing beyond just selling products, recognizing it as a pervasive activity applicable to various organizations, whether or not they were traditionally recognized as such.
• Vargo and Lusch's Service-Dominant Logic (2004): They argued for a fundamental rethinking of marketing where services are dominant, and products are merely vehicles for delivering services.
• Nonprofit and social marketing are viewed by Vargo and Lusch as applications of service logic.
• Vargo and Lusch emphasize that firms gauge the effectiveness of their value propositions based on marketplace feedback related to financial performance.
• They now contend that service is the fundamental basis of exchange, service is exchanged for service, and customers co-create value, all of which align well with social and nonprofit marketing.
• AMA Definition of Marketing (2007-2008): The American Marketing Association updated its definition to include the societal impacts of marketing, recognizing its potential positive and negative influences.
• The updated definition acknowledges marketing's role in generating value for customers, clients, marketers, and society at large.

Persistent