Explain the relevance of marketing concept to the 21st century Essay

Explain the relevance of marketing concept to the 21st century business of Virgin Group - Essay Example In the case of Virgin Group, it can be observed that the overall goal of the organization is to partner with different business groups in order to create recognised brands. Therefore, the element of mutual relationship among the stakeholders involved is very important since it helps the partners involved to pull their resources towards the same direction. As such, the marketing concept that is suitable for this noble cause is relationship marketing since it is designed to improve the viability of the organization through unifying all the stakeholders involved in a certain business. This marketing concept is effective since it is oriented towards fulfilling the needs and wants of all the stakeholders involved in Virgin Group’s activities. Introduction The success of business in its operations mainly depends on the marketing concept adopted. As such, this paper seeks to evaluate the relevance of relationship marketing (RM) to the operations of Virgin Group which is regarded as t he 21st century business. The paper starts by describing above mentioned marketing concept and this is followed by a brief introduction of the chosen organization, Virgin Group. The main body of the paper will focus on explaining the relevance of the marketing concept to the 21st century business under spotlight. The main points discussed in the paper will be summarised in the conclusion. Description of the marketing concept Relationship marketing is described as the process of establishing, maintaining, enhancing and commercialising customer relationships so that the objectives of the parties involved are met Strydom (2004). Relationship marketing is particularly concerned with satisfying the customer needs and wants. During the contemporary period, it can be noted that markets are characterised by stiff competition such that it becomes imperative for the organisations to retain their customers in order for them to operate viably in the future, (Athanasopoulou N.D). This can be ach ieved through establishing quality relationships around services of the customer, suppliers and other stakeholders as well as their values. These stakeholders in business particularly the customers are the main component in the relationship mix. Concerted efforts ought to be taken in order to satisfy the needs of the customers which can lead to creation of loyalty among them. In case of Virgin Group, this strategy can go a long way in creating competitive advantage for the organization. The concept of relationship marketing often involves high customer involvement and contact whereby mutual understanding can be created among the parties involved. Strydom (2004) posits to the effect that relationship marketing is a continuous process. Essentially, the concept of relationship marketing evolved from transactional marketing in order to serve the interests of the customers profitably. The concept of relationship marketing is also centred on creation of value chain which will help the org anization to gain a competitive advantage if its products and services are regarded as more valuable than the ones offered by the other competitors in the same industry (Wang et al, 2004). Positive consumer perceptions about a product play a pivotal role in creating quality relati