What actually is marketing? Many people think of marketing as only sales and advertising because every day we are bombarded with TV commercials, flyers, catalogues, sales calls, and commercial e-mail. However, selling and advertising are only one element of marketing. Today, marketing must be understood not in the old sense of making a sale but in a contemporary and holistic sense of satisfying customer needs.

In this book the authors develop the Quintessential Marketing Arena by following the logic of the three major steps of the marketing process. Along this process they present the fourteen most important marketing instruments that occur during this process.

Having read this book:

• You will have a basic understanding of marketing and the process of marketing management
• You will know the most important marketing instruments and how they interact
• You can develop your own marketing plan based on the Quintessential Marketing Arena

Autorentext

Prof. Dr. Nils Bickhoff holds an M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in business ad-ministration and began his career as a consultant with Roland Berger Strategy Consultants in 1995. He advised international clients on matters of strategy, organization, branding and corporate finance, and was also responsible for Roland Berger's global research & development activities. In 2005 he founded his own company and has since been advising top managers on all issues of strategic management. Nils Bickhoff has authored and published management books in several languages, is editor of the "Quintessence" series, gives lectures and seminars and is Professor of Strategy and Marketing at Euro-FH (University of Applied Sciences).

Prof. Dr. Svend Hollensen is Associate Professor of International Marketing at University of Southern Denmark. He has practical experience from a job as International Marketing Coordinator in a large Danish multinational enterprise (Danfoss) as well as from being International Marketing Manager in a company producing agricultural machinery. After working in industry he received his Ph.D. from Copenhagen Business School (CBS). He has published articles in international recognized journals and is the author of globally published textbooks, e.g. Global Marketing. Indian and Spanish editions have been developed in co-operation with co-authors. The textbook Global Marketing has also been translated into Chinese, Russian, Spanish and Dutch.

Prof. Dr. Marc Oliver Opresnik is a Professor of Marketing and Management and Member of the Board of Directors at SGMI St. Gallen Management Institute, a leading international business school. In addition, he is a Professor of Business Administration at Lübeck University of Applied Sciences as well as a visiting professor to international universities. He has 10 years of experience from working in management and marketing positions for Shell International Petroleum Co. Ltd.. Dr. Opresnik isthe author of numerous articles and books, including the international marketing textbook "Marketing - A Relationship Perspective". Along with Kevin Keller and Phil Kotler he works as a co-author of the German edition of "Marketing Management". As president of the consulting company Opresnik Management Consulting, Dr. Opresnik works as a coach, keynote speaker and business consultant for numerous international corporations, institutions and governments.

Inhalt
Marketing and Marketing Management: A First Basic Understanding.- Step 1 - Market Analysis: Structuring and Evaluating the Market Information.- Step 2 - Strategic and Operative Marketing Planning: Segmenting, Targeting, Positioning.- Step 3 - Marketing Implementation: Executing the Marketing Plan.- Conclusion: Marketing and Railroad Companies.