What is this thing called marketing?

I guess, since I have titled this blog "Everything is Marketing," I should make an attempt to define Marketing.

I prefer a very broad definition of marketing. That should be obvious from the title of this blog. In my mind, "marketing" is anything and everything that contributes to the acquisition of a product or service. This includes sales. This includes promotional messages, both overt and accidental. This includes actions and product features and company practices and market conditions that contribute to the impressions that customers and prospective customers have of the product or service. So the receptionist, the delivery guy, and the accounts payable clerk are marketers. Marketing is not just the realm of the people who write the ads and close the sales.

Marketing has a lot to do with making connections. The best marketing is long term in its focus and develops lasting relationships more than quick sales. Marketing, in the mind of this humble blogger, is a very interconnected and intertwined with virtually everything an organization does. In other words, Everything is Marketing!