Marketing is sometimes seen as a side issue when it comes to the entire business creation, yet it is arguably one of the most important aspects. Without it, even if you have the best idea in the world, you will never be able to go through with it and have a successful business. Marketing is the process of communicating with the people who may want to buy your product. It is the act of putting your ideas and products ‘out there’ and generating awareness and interest. But what do people and specifically students think about marketing? Do they believe it is important?
I interviewed students from the University of Groningen and these are their responses:
"Marketing is used to get your business out there to people. To be able to build some sort of brand awareness, and leave an impression on people. It is a tool for outreach,” said one student. “There are so many products out there that you know if you do not distinguish your product in a way it will get lost and no one will even know about it.
“(Marketing) is a necessary way for businesses to survive and reach people especially in this age of oversaturation in the market,” said another student. “As someone who has tried to run my own business, it is also the only way to reach people and make a living. It is the most important thing about running a business. Of course you have to make a good product, something worth marketing. But you also have to get it out to people. That's where most businesses fail.”
“(Marketing is) important for both companies that want to bring their products and services to people, and for the customers as well. Companies need and use marketing so people know that they exist and so that people might know that they may be a good fit for them.”
“It is a very necessary part of running a business and trying to make a living,” said yet another student. “I’m taking a marketing class and you don’t realize just how much marketing affects everything. It’s really everywhere and most people just don’t notice it.“
Marketing is truly everywhere, especially now that we have entered the digital age and our attention has become a sort of currency that companies will pay to get. Moreover, there is definitely a dark side to marketing, which the students did not fail to mention.
“We are used to toxic practices and we are getting very tired of it,” was one response. Someone else said: “(Marketing) can definitely be misused.” Still another comment was: “We can see examples of bad marketing everywhere. People no longer respect your privacy and use advanced tools to get you to buy a product in any way possible. I think that there are definitely examples of unethical marketing. Like, for example, some use marketing as a way to destroy another brand, or when they use your personal data or psychology against you.” Another student said: “I definitely think marketing is important, though I personally don’t like it. It’s basically the art of manipulating people.”
Though marketing seems to be essential, there are definitely some negative aspects to it, or so students apparently think. Manipulation, disrespect of privacy, caring only for profit and using marketing as a weapon were concepts that were mentioned by the students. However, despite these negative comments and views of what marketing is and does, everyone seemed to agree that marketing was not only important but also an essential aspect of selling a product. On the other hand, perhaps marketing as a discipline and marketeers in general should work on promoting a more positive view of the art of marketing.