BUS203: Principles of Marketing

Most organizations start with an idea of how to serve customers better. Apple's engineers began working on the iPod by looking at the available technology and thinking about how customers would like to have their music more available, as well as more affordable, through downloading.

Many companies think about potential markets and customers when they start. John Deere, for example, founded his company on the principle of serving customers. When admonished for making constant improvements to his products even though farmers would take whatever they could get, Deere reportedly replied, "They haven't got to take what we make and somebody else will beat us, and we will lose our trade". He recognized that if his company failed to meet customers' needs, someone else would. The mission of the company then became the one shown in Figure 1.4 "Mission Statement of Deere and Company".

Figure 1.4 Mission Statement of Deere and Company

Here are a few mission statements from other companies. Note that they all refer to their customers, either directly or by making references to relationships with them. Note also how these are written to inspire employees and others who interact with the company and may read the mission statement.

IBM

IBM will be driven by these values:

• Dedication to every client's success.
• Innovation that matters, for our company and for the world.
• Trust and personal responsibility in all relationships.

Coca-Cola

Everything we do is inspired by our enduring mission:

• To refresh the world…in body, mind, and spirit.
• To inspire moments of optimism…through our brands and our actions.
• To create value and make a difference…everywhere we engage.

McDonald's

• To be our customers' favorite place and way to eat.

Merck

• To provide innovative and distinctive products and services that save and improve lives and satisfy customer needs, to be recognized as a great place to work, and to provide investors with a superior rate of return.

Not all companies create mission statements that reflect a marketing orientation. Note Apple's mission statement: "Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system, and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone". This mission statement reflects a product orientation, or an operating philosophy based on the premise that Apple's success is due to great products and that simply supplying them will lead to demand for them. The challenge, of course, is how to create a "great" product without thinking too much about the customer's wants and needs. Apple, and for that matter, many other companies, have fallen prey to thinking that they knew what a great product was without asking their customers. In fact, Apple's first attempt at a graphic user interface (GUI) was the LISA, a dismal failure.