What is marketing? According to (Kotler, 2003) "Marketing is the corporate function that identifies unsatisfied needs and desires, defines and measures their entity and potential profitability, determines which target markets the organization can best serve, decides on the appropriate products, services and programs to serve these chosen markets, and invites all members of the organization to think about and serve the customer”. superior solutions, save the buyer time and effort in searching and purchasing goods/services, and provide a higher standard of living for society as a whole Evolution of Marketing (Keith, 1960) During a production orientation In quest At the time, businesses were mainly concerned with production, manufacturing and efficiency issues. The reason for the predominance of this orientation is that during this period there was a shortage of manufactured goods (relative to demand), so goods were sold easily. . The implications of this orientation were: · Product lines were narrow · Pricing was based on production and distribution costs · Research was limited to technical product research · Packaging was designed primarily to protect the product · Promotion and advertising were minimal After World War II, as supply began to exceed demand in many industries, companies had to focus on how to sell their products. Numerous sales techniques such as closing, probing, and qualification were all developed during the sales orientation era, and the sales department began to play a key role in a company's organizational structure. Other promotional techniques such as advertising and sales promotions were beginning to be taken seriously. Packaging and labeling were used for promotional rather than protective purposes, and pricing was usually based on comparison with competitors. The development of marketing orientation was motivated by the need to analyze in greater detail the relationships and behaviors that existed between sellers and buyers. In the old days of marketing (before the 1950s) companies identified strategies and tactics simply to sell more products and services with little regard for what customers actually wanted. Often this has led companies to embrace the philosophy of "selling as much as possible", with little concern for building long-term relationships. But starting in the 1950s, as competition became increasingly tough in most industries, companies began looking for ways to improve. In 1960, Theodore Levitt introduced the concept of “marketing myopia,” which forms the basis of the current marketing concept. Levitt argued that companies thought too much about their product and not about potential customers.