Marketing strategies depend on the company’s orientation.

A marketing orientation is a business approach or philosophy that focuses on identifying and meeting the stated or hidden needs or wants of customers. Companies need to decide on how best to use their internal corporate resources to reach their customers. They will adapt a philosophy based on their strengths, the market conditions and companies strategies. The four philosophies are production, sales, marketing and societal marketing orientations.

1.      Production Orientation- Production orientation is a philosophy that focuses on the internal capabilities of the firm rather than on the desires and needs of the marketplace. The focus for the business is to reduce costs through mass production. A business orientated around production believes that the "economies of scale" generated by mass production will reduce costs and maximise profits. A production orientated business needs to avoid production efficiency processes which affect product design and quality. Compromising product design and quality for the sake of production is likely to reduce the product's appeal to customers. Ford created one type of car and stated that the consumer could have it in any color as long as it was black!  Firms that use this philosophy believe that they are utilizing their firm's strengths in the best way. They look internally and decide on how to proceed depending upon their own capabilities. The one problem with this type of philosophy is that it does not take into consideration whether their product or service actually meets the needs of the consumer and market. If a firm is a new inventor as with Ford, they are able to be successful. If a car manufacturer kept this production orientation today and limited any type of options to the consumer, they would surely be out of business very quickly!

2.      Product Orientation- A product orientated company believes that its product's high quality and functional features make it a superior product. Such a company believes that if they have a superior product customers will automatically like it as well. The problem with this approach is that superiority alone does not sell products; superior products will not sell unless they satisfy consumer wants and needs.

3.      Sales Orientation- A sales orientated company's focus is simple; make the product, and then sell it to the target market. This type of orientation involves the organisation making what they think the customer needs or likes without relevant research. However as we know sales usually aren't this simple. An effective marketing strategy requires market and marketing research, prior to product development and finally an effective promotion strategy. Sales orientation is when a company believes that they will sell more product or services if very aggressive sales methods are used to gain higher sales. The central theme of sales orientation is about making items and making money. Sales oriented companies rely heavily on promotion and a highly trained aggressive sales force. An example would be a door to door salesman or a mall kiosk. Again, the problem with this type of philosophy is that it again does not focus on what the customer and market requires. It is too caught up in pushing their product or service with a polished sales technique.

4.      Marketing Orientation- Marketing orientation is the philosophy that a firm exists to satisfy consumer's wants and needs and also provides shareholder and corporate benefit. A market orientated company puts the customer at the "heart" of the business; all activities in the organisation are based around the customer. The customer is truly king!. A market orientated organisation endeavours to understand customer needs and wants, then implements marketing strategy based on their market research; from product development through to product sales. Once sales have begun further research will be conducted to find out what consumers think about the product and whether product improvements are required. As markets continuously change, market research and product development is an ongoing process for a market orientation company. Marketing orientation also incorporates the belief of long term customer relationship building, the process of a combined business effort to satisfy customers and really researching customer needs and wants. Businesses that are known for following this philosophy are Apple, Disney, and Coca-Cola. They keep their eye on their consumer at all times.

• Societal Marketing Orientation- Societal marketing orientation takes the idea of providing customer value to the next level. Companies that endorse this idea follow the marketing orientation; plus, they also believe that their product or service protects or enhances society's interests. A current example is the explosive growth of green products that companies market. They promote that these products are helpful to consumers, good for the company profits and also better the environment. A growing trend is the use of charity marketing. The buy pink to support breast cancer marketing campaign has become so prevalent that some experts say it has created a negative backlash and complacency regarding social marketing. It has made consumers wary of how much of their donations reach the targeted charity. It has also made them weary of constant requests to purchase products associated with a social movement or charity.