In the streets, right at the centre of Harare and elsewhere, there is a lot of marketing, as well as selling going on, as people are trying to eke out a living in the harsh economic environment. The question is, can these traders differentiate between marketing and selling?
By Matipedza Lole
At the intersection of Fourth Street and Robert Mugabe Road, there is one aggressive vendor who sells water and snacks to motorists who stop at the traffic lights. He dresses uniquely in very colourful suits, shirts and bow ties, no matter how hot or cold it is, and he tops the dress code with sun glasses. Farai Mushayademo, or “the rainbow man” as I call him, is one of the most cheerful vendors I have come across. So unique are his selling tactics that he was once featured in a BBC News report a few months ago. I had an interesting discussion with him, and he explained his strategy by stating that, “Zimbabweans do not like dirty, hence they will buy from a smart person who can entice them”. By presenting himself in this manner and branding himself accordingly, he has a competitive edge.
Difference between marketing and selling
These are the basic concepts of marketing and selling going on here. Without the theory and deeper understanding of marketing, the rainbow man is getting it right. However, when I asked him what he understood by marketing and selling, and whether there was any difference, he simply said it was the same. Is he correct?
Renata Mathewson, a marketing author, says that, “marketing, from a customer’s point of view, is often perceived as something manipulative that sneaky marketers do, to coerce us into buying things we do not need. From a business owner’s perspective, marketing can be expensive, intangible and hard to measure for success or return on investment. Renata also says, many owners of small and medium-sized enterprises view marketing as a function they can do themselves instead of hiring a marketing manager (either in-house or outsourced). They view it as a cost they do not want to incur because of the assumption that it involves costly advertising campaigns. However, marketing does not have to be any of these things. As a function within the business, it is simply the act of bringing your goods or services to market and getting the right message to the right consumers.
Noordhoff Uitgevers, in his article titled, Insight into Marketing, mentions that the very nature of marketing is often misinterpreted as some people think that it is a modern form of selling or that it is just another word for advertising. Noordhoff also mentions that selling and advertising are important marketing functions, and that, marketing involves more, which is true, as marketing embraces activities that are aimed at enhancing an organisation’s ability to satisfy the needs and wants of the target customers. To augment this important function, market research and product development are vital. While research is aimed at finding what customers want, product development aims to develop the product further to remain relevant on the market, so that it continuously satisfies the customers better than the competitors’ offering.
Marketing definition
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
There are many definitions of marketing and they focus on market orientation and customer satisfaction. Marketing embraces all the activities that bring buyers and sellers together. The activities include advertising, selling and delivering products or services to people. Thus marketing is a management process through which the goods and services are moved or changed from the concept to the ultimate consumer or customer.
Selling definition
A retired professor of marketing, Theodore C Levitt, says that selling concerns itself with the tricks and techniques of getting people to exchange their cash for your product. Mushayademo has mastered this art very well. He dresses himself like a “Christmas tree”, which attracts some motorists to buy his product, as he is perceived to be a smart vendor. This is his “unique selling proposition”, a trick, to the customer, I presume. Levitt also says that selling is not concerned with the values that the exchange is all about. When companies make products or provide their services, they put them on the market to sell them. When products or services are bought, the companies then realise return on investment.
Differences between selling and marketing
My take is that in some markets or societies, the consumers have a choice when they want either products or services that are designed to meet their specific needs and wants (scenario A). On the other hand, there are societies in which the consumers have very little choice and they get stuck with the available products or services supplied, (scenario B).
Interestingly (Scenario A) means that, typically there are “marketing-orientated” companies that have the ability to anticipate the needs and wants of the customers, as they should constantly seek to identify with their customers. There is a shift from thinking about the product, but they have to adapt to the thinking of the consumer hence, the need for well-developed marketing strategies and marketing plans. Therefore, clearly the companies must know their customers well and develop an ongoing relationship with them such that the product or service is precisely what the customer wants. Once this is achieved then, yes, the product can sell itself. Customer preference takes centre stage.
Scenario B is the opposite of scenario A, where consumers in this society have limited choice or none at all, hence companies do not bother about anticipating their needs, and they have to make do with what is available and on offer. Thus companies sell their products without a need for marketing, as they try to get rid of what is available on the shelves.
Therefore, the difference is that marketing aims to make sure that whatever products are available, are what the customers want, whereas selling aims at trying to get rid of what has been availed on the shelves for the consumers. A very thin line indeed of differentiation. I would not blame Mushayademo, but actually hail his “understanding” of marketing and selling that he shared with me. Corporates, therefore, need to invest in marketing strategies that are arrived at by satisfying consumers, so that the sales effort is made easier.
Matipedza Lole is an accomplished Marketers’ Association of Zimbabwe (MAZ) fellow, a healthcare consultant, employee benefits and insurance advisor, client relationship and management expert.
This article was contributed on behalf of MAZ, a leading body of marketing professionals promoting professionalism to the highest standards for the benefit of the industry and the economy at large. For any further information, kindly contact [email protected] or visit the website on www.maz.co.zw.
