heur
MARKETING NOTES
2025-2026
Universiteit Antwerpen
/ University of Antwerp
Erik Zhu
,ERIK ZHU TEW1 2025-2026
Marketing: Chapter 1 – Marketing Principles and Practice
1.1 What is Marketing?
What is the primary goal of marketing?
1. Increase sales through aggressive promotion
2. Understand and meet customer needs to create value
3. Create advertisements for products
4. Ensure that products are cheaper than those of the competitions
Marketing defined
Marketing = a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need
and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others.
- In business context: to build and maintain profitable relationships with stakeholders
What does marketing apply to?
Application of marketing
Physical products Film, music, and theater
Services Places
Retail Ideas
Experiences Charity and non-profit
Events People
➔ … anywhere “buyers” have a choice
1.2 What is the difference between customers and consumers?
Customer = a person who buys the product vs. consumer = the one who uses the product
Role Description Marketing implications and applications
Initiator Initiates idea Target initiators by emphasizing how a
product addresses their needs
Influencer Influences decision E.g., collaborate with influencers
Decider Ultimate buying decision Facilitate decision-making process
Buyer Actual purchase Ensure smooth purchasing process
Payer Pays Offer various payment methods
User Consumes Provide user support, gather feedback
Gatekeeper Controls access to product Communicate effectively with gatekeepers
information
Example: Old spice (video)
1
,ERIK ZHU TEW1 2025-2026
1.3 Market Orientation
Market orientation
“The organization-wide generation of market intelligence pertaining to
current and future customer needs, dissemination of the intelligence
across the departments, and organization-wide responsiveness to it “
(Kohli and Jaworski, 1990: 6)
- Essence
• Organization-wide belief in delivering customer value
• Create products to meet existing and latent needs
The three components of market orientation
Exam Q: know the three components
- Customer orientation: customer in
the center, focus point
- Competitor orientation: tracking
competitors, and tailor to what
they’re doing
- Interfunctional coordination: all
departments working together with a
customer mindset
• R&P, managers, marketers, …
Goal: long-term relationship with the
customers
Customer centricity is also…
- Not trying to please ALL CUSTOMERS →Fulfilling needs in a
profitable
- 23%: even willing to pay more → focus on them
Example: Amazon Key (video)
1.5 Differences between sales and marketing
Differences between sales and marketing
- Sales: product push, short-term focus on satisfaction of customer needs
- Marketing: product pull, long-term focus on satisfaction of customer needs, high focus on
stimulation of demand → no need to push, they are willing to buy from you
! green boxes: understand,
don’t learn it by heart, unless
professor tells you
2
, ERIK ZHU TEW1 2025-2026
Acquisition vs retention
- Acquisition = attracting potential customers
- Retention = maintain satisfaction of the current customers (loyal)
Tip of the iceberg
- What consumers see is only a fraction of the company’s overall
business strategies
“The aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous (overbodig)
1.6 What do marketers do?
- Placing customers at the center of a company’s
operations and decision-making processes
• Generate customer insights
• Develop marketing strategy
- Understand the map, don’t need to learn it
Marketing within organizations (not really important)
Marketing/marketers…
- … puts customers first
- …should enhance a firm’s relationships with its
customers
- …marketers do not control all the marketing mix
elements
- …is present in all aspects of an organization: all departments play a role in creating,
delivering, and satisfying customers
CEOs with a marketing background outperform CEOs from nearly all other backgrounds when it
comes to being socially responsible, inclusive, and having a strong strategy and long-term vision.
They have a better overall reputation than business leaders from nearly all other areas (Tesseras, 2021)
1.7 Marketing as exchange
Exchange: the core of Marketing
Exchange = the act of obtaining a desired object from someone by offering something in return
- At least two parties
- Each must hold something of value to offer
- Parties must want to deal with each other
Exchange creates value, gives people more consumption choices or possibilities
3
MARKETING NOTES
2025-2026
Universiteit Antwerpen
/ University of Antwerp
Erik Zhu
,ERIK ZHU TEW1 2025-2026
Marketing: Chapter 1 – Marketing Principles and Practice
1.1 What is Marketing?
What is the primary goal of marketing?
1. Increase sales through aggressive promotion
2. Understand and meet customer needs to create value
3. Create advertisements for products
4. Ensure that products are cheaper than those of the competitions
Marketing defined
Marketing = a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need
and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others.
- In business context: to build and maintain profitable relationships with stakeholders
What does marketing apply to?
Application of marketing
Physical products Film, music, and theater
Services Places
Retail Ideas
Experiences Charity and non-profit
Events People
➔ … anywhere “buyers” have a choice
1.2 What is the difference between customers and consumers?
Customer = a person who buys the product vs. consumer = the one who uses the product
Role Description Marketing implications and applications
Initiator Initiates idea Target initiators by emphasizing how a
product addresses their needs
Influencer Influences decision E.g., collaborate with influencers
Decider Ultimate buying decision Facilitate decision-making process
Buyer Actual purchase Ensure smooth purchasing process
Payer Pays Offer various payment methods
User Consumes Provide user support, gather feedback
Gatekeeper Controls access to product Communicate effectively with gatekeepers
information
Example: Old spice (video)
1
,ERIK ZHU TEW1 2025-2026
1.3 Market Orientation
Market orientation
“The organization-wide generation of market intelligence pertaining to
current and future customer needs, dissemination of the intelligence
across the departments, and organization-wide responsiveness to it “
(Kohli and Jaworski, 1990: 6)
- Essence
• Organization-wide belief in delivering customer value
• Create products to meet existing and latent needs
The three components of market orientation
Exam Q: know the three components
- Customer orientation: customer in
the center, focus point
- Competitor orientation: tracking
competitors, and tailor to what
they’re doing
- Interfunctional coordination: all
departments working together with a
customer mindset
• R&P, managers, marketers, …
Goal: long-term relationship with the
customers
Customer centricity is also…
- Not trying to please ALL CUSTOMERS →Fulfilling needs in a
profitable
- 23%: even willing to pay more → focus on them
Example: Amazon Key (video)
1.5 Differences between sales and marketing
Differences between sales and marketing
- Sales: product push, short-term focus on satisfaction of customer needs
- Marketing: product pull, long-term focus on satisfaction of customer needs, high focus on
stimulation of demand → no need to push, they are willing to buy from you
! green boxes: understand,
don’t learn it by heart, unless
professor tells you
2
, ERIK ZHU TEW1 2025-2026
Acquisition vs retention
- Acquisition = attracting potential customers
- Retention = maintain satisfaction of the current customers (loyal)
Tip of the iceberg
- What consumers see is only a fraction of the company’s overall
business strategies
“The aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous (overbodig)
1.6 What do marketers do?
- Placing customers at the center of a company’s
operations and decision-making processes
• Generate customer insights
• Develop marketing strategy
- Understand the map, don’t need to learn it
Marketing within organizations (not really important)
Marketing/marketers…
- … puts customers first
- …should enhance a firm’s relationships with its
customers
- …marketers do not control all the marketing mix
elements
- …is present in all aspects of an organization: all departments play a role in creating,
delivering, and satisfying customers
CEOs with a marketing background outperform CEOs from nearly all other backgrounds when it
comes to being socially responsible, inclusive, and having a strong strategy and long-term vision.
They have a better overall reputation than business leaders from nearly all other areas (Tesseras, 2021)
1.7 Marketing as exchange
Exchange: the core of Marketing
Exchange = the act of obtaining a desired object from someone by offering something in return
- At least two parties
- Each must hold something of value to offer
- Parties must want to deal with each other
Exchange creates value, gives people more consumption choices or possibilities
3
