Marketing intermediaries; Firms that help the company to promote, sell and distribute its goods to final buyers; they include physical distribution firms, marketingservice agencies and financial intermediaries.
• Resellers; The individuals and organisations that buy goods and services to resell at a profit.
• Physical distribution firms; Warehouse, transportation and other firms that help a company to stock and move goods from their points of origin to their destinations.
• Marketing services agencies; Marketing research firms, advertising agencies, media firms, marketing consulting firms and other service providers that help a company to target and promote its products to the right markets.
• Financial intermediaries; 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.
Customers
The company must study its customer markets closely.
• Consumer markets consist of individuals and households that buy goods and services for personal consumption.
• Business markets buy goods and services for further processing or for use in their production process, whereas reseller markets buy goods and services to resell at a profit.
• Institutional markets are made up of schools, hospitals, nursing homes and other institutions that provide goods and services to people in their care.
• Government markets are made up of government agencies that buy goods and services in order to produce public services or transfer the goods and services to others who need them.
• international markets consist of buyers in other countries, including consumers, producers, resellers and governments.
Publics
The company’s marketing environment also includes various publics. A public is any group that has an actual or potential interest in or impact on an organisation’s ability to achieve its objectives.
1. Financial publics. Financial publics influence the company’s ability to obtain funds. Banks, investment houses and stockholders are the principal financial publics.
2. Media publics. Media publics include newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations that carry news, features and editorial opinion.
3. 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.
4. Citizen action publics. A company’s marketing decisions may be questioned by consumer organisations, environmental groups, minority groups and other pressure groups (see Marketing Insights 3.1). Its public relations department can help it stay in touch with consumer and citizen groups.
5. Local publics. Every company has local publics, such as neighbourhood residents and community organisations. Large companies usually appoint a community-relations officer to deal with the community, attend meetings, answer questions and contribute to worthwhile causes.
6. General public. A company needs to be concerned about the general public’s attitude towards its products and activities. The public’s image of the company affects its buying. Thus, many large corporations invest huge sums of money to promote and build a healthy corporate image.
7. Internal publics. These include its workers, managers, volunteers and the board of directors. Large companies use newsletters and other means to inform and motivate their internal publics. When employees feel good about their company, this positive attitude spills over to their external publics
