Marketing Environment
Made by: Maike Hofman
Chapter 3
Marketing Environment: the actors and forces outside marketing that affect marketing
management’s ability to build and maintain successful relationship with target customers.
Microenvironment: the actors close to the company that affect its ability to serve its
customers, the company, suppliers, marketing intermediaries, customer markets, competitors
and publics.
Macro environment: the larger social forces that affect the microenvironment, demographic,
economic, natural, technological, political and cultural forces.
The microenvironment
Marketing intermediaries: firms that help the company to promote, sell and distribute its
goods to final buyers. They include resellers, physical distribution firms, marketing services
agencies and financial intermediaries.
Resellers are distribution channel firms that help the company find customers or
make sales to them. These include wholesalers and retailers who buy and resell
merchandise.
Physical distribution firms help the company stock and move goods from their points
of origin to their destinations.
Marketing services agencies are the marketing research firms, advertising agencies,
media firms and marketing consulting firms that help the company target and promote
its products to the right markets.
Financial intermediaries include banks, credit companies, insurance companies and
other businesses that help finance transactions or insure against the risks associated
with the buying and selling of goods.
Suppliers: form an important link in the company’s overall customer value delivery network.
They provide the resources needed by the company to produce its goods and services.
Competitors: the marketing concept states that, to be successful, a company must provide
greater customer value and satisfaction than its competitors do.
Public: is any group that has an actual or potential interest in or impact on an organisation’s
ability to achieve its objectives.
Seven types of publics:
Financial publics: this groups influences the company’s ability to obtain funds. Banks,
investment analysts and shareholders are the major financial publics.
Media publics: this groups carries news, features and editorial opinion. It includes
newspapers, magazines, television and radio stations and blogs and other Internet
media.
Government publics: management must take government developments into account.
Marketers must often consult the company’s lawyers on issues of product safety, truth
in advertising and other matters.