2.1 MARKETING 16 MARKETING, AN INTRODUCTION Modern marketing emerged during the first industrial revolution and developed in the early 20th century, highlighting the importance of research, of a better product design, of effective distribution and well-built communication. What is your idea of customer satisfaction? ONLINE RESOURCES Great marketing agencies A competitive advantage is what sets a company apart from its competitors, the way they excel at something compared to its rivals. delay: ritardo to ensure: garantire for granted: per scontato in compliance: in conformit issue: problema leap: salto ratio: rapporto to thrive: prosperare trust: fiducia 50 Businesses exist to provide goods or services. Customers have wants and needs to satisfy and have pain points (i.e. problems) to solve. Marketing is the activity in charge of making businesses and customers meet. What is marketing? Businesses survive and thrive if they can offer customers what they want or need, if they solve their problems, and make their lives easier. Therefore, marketing, in its contemporary sense , refers to the set of actions that put knowledge of consumer needs first and the satisfaction of those needs as its objective. In other words, the term marketing refers to the set of strategies that a company adopts to: get to know their customers better in order to find out what they need and want so as to offer it to them; achieve a competitive advantage over its competitors so as to stand out among and be differentiated from them; optimise the sale of its products; aim at customer satisfaction; build trust in the brand. Marketing anD aDVertiSing The marketing process The marketing process involves identifying the target audience, creating a strategy, and implementing the plan in order to win customers over. It consists of four main steps: strategic market analysis: it identifies the ideal consumer, studies consumer needs and wants, checks on competition, and becomes aware of one s position on the market; marketing-mix planning: it is the core strategy of the entire business plan of companies which defines the right product to serve at the right price, at the right moment, and in the right place; marketing implementation: it outlines the exact steps and actions to get the result; marketing control: it is the process which makes sure each step meets or exceeds goals or highlights any issues to correct so as to ensure the achievement of the objectives adopted by the company.