The Concept of Exchange

Marketing helps to create demand for a product leading to an exchange—that is, the act of trading something of value (money) for a desired product, either goods or service.

Key Players in the Marketing Industry

1. Marketer, also referred to (from the agency’s point of view) as the client, is any company or organization behind the brand—that is, the organization, company, or manufacturer producing the product or service and offering it for sale.

2. Suppliers or vendors refer to the materials and ingredients used in producing a product obtained from other companies, referred to as suppliers or vendors.

ü  Supply chain is used to refer to this complex network of suppliers who produce components and ingredients that are then sold to the manufacturer.

ü  Distribution chain or channel of distribution refers to the various companies involved in moving a product from its manufacturer to its buyers. Suppliers and distributors are also partners.

3. Distributors and Retailers – are intermediaries who help in the distribution of the product to the customer. They are also a partner in the communication process and their marketing communication often supports the brand.

4. Marketing Partners (i.e. Agencies) - have marketing relationships that involve cooperative programs and alliances between two companies that work together as marketing partners to create products and promotions.

Types of Markets

Market refers to the type of buyer of a certain product. The consumer is a general term for people who buy and use products and services, which is almost all of us and it is similar to the term general public. Customer, however, refers to someone who has purchased a specific brand or visited a specific retailer. The phrase share of market refers to the percentage of the total sales in a product category a particular brand has.

The four main market types are:

1. Consumer markets consist of people who buy goods and services for personal or household use.

2. Business-to-business (B2B) markets consist of companies that buy products or services to use in their businesses or in making other products.

3. Institutional markets include a wide variety of nonprofit organizations, such as hospitals, government agencies, and schools that provide services for the benefit of society.

4. Channel markets include members of the distribution chain, which is made up of businesses we call resellers, or intermediaries. Channel marketing, the process of targeting a specific campaign to members of the distribution channel, is more important now that manufacturers consider their distributors to be partners in their marketing programs.