The idea of a marketing concept is simply to figure out the wants and the needs of the customers, and to satisfy those in a better manner than your competitors. By doing that, a business or company can maximize its profits and grow quickly. However, marketing is hardly as simple.

There are several key concepts that come into play, starting with finding the right target market and then understanding the needs and wants of that target market. Unless that product or service is tailored according to the needs of that target market, it’s obviously not going to sit well with the customers, who will continue to stick with your competitors.

In this article, we will focus on the societal marketing concept, and talk about what it is.

What Is Societal Marketing?

Societal marketing is a concept that has a very simple purpose: to satisfy the needs of the consumer before looking at generating a profit. However, the company puts special emphasis on fulfilling its social responsibilities to create a sustainable and a viable future over a longer period of time.

The marketing strategy followed by the companies should be focused primarily on the society and its customers as well. In essence, this is a marketing concept that postulates that a company should focus on making marketing decisions by not just factoring in the wants of the consumers, but also the requirements of the business.

The society’s long-term interests should play a role in their marketing decision above all. Instead of just looking at profits, emphasis should be placed on the well-being of the society and the people who make up the society. Think of it as a middle line between a corporation’s social responsibility and its dedication to sustainable development.

Why Is it Necessary?

The world we live in is changing dramatically by the day. We are facing many issues that are likely to change the world in the future, including serious problems such as global warming and rising sea levels. As the polar ice caps start to melt and the sea levels begin to rise, there is a very real possibility that many land regions are going to fall under water.

Unless corporations start playing a more active role in saving the atmosphere and spreading awareness, it’s going to be difficult for individuals to do anything on their own. The purpose of societal marketing is to help in creating a sustainable future for our future generations and leaving the world better off.

More and more businesses are coming to the realization that societal marketing is the only way to do business. Many of the world’s leading organizations have become open to the idea of societal marketing. Many companies have openly committed to integrating societal marketing into their businesses, while many others have shown a partial commitment.

Driven by Philosophy

While societal marketing is essentially a marketing management concept, the philosophy is basically designed to change the way companies make decisions. There are several areas of decision-making that are influenced by societal marketing, where this approach plays a major role.

The Needs of the Consumer

Many companies that are looking to meet the wants and the needs of their customers often try to go the extra mile with businesses and competitors. They don’t really bother thinking about what’s good for the society or the industry at large; they are only concerned with what’s good and will help them in making money. 

However, by taking this approach, businesses are going to have to focus on what’s good for not just them, but also society at large and their customers. Instead of producing goods primarily for the needs and wants of the customers, they should focus on producing goods that are beneficial to their customers and to the needs of the society at large.

They are both completely different things, and that’s what businesses should focus on.

Human Welfare

In general, the basic definition of human welfare means the wellness and the goodness of the society overall. The marketing decisions and actions taken by the business shouldn’t just focus on maximizing their profits; it should be focused on maintaining the overall health and welfare of people in the society.

The company shouldn’t do anything that might disturb the harmony of the society at large, they should make decisions that would maintain the peace. For example, companies that actively partake in noise and air pollution, as well as harmful industrial drainage in the main water lines should not be doing these things.

Human welfare is an important element of societal marketing and should be taken seriously. Companies will be expected to make decisions that are going to benefit not just them, but the society around them as well. The idea is to create a positive footprint that helps all companies.

Profit

At its core, businesses only produce goods because they want to earn a profit from them. Their primary focus when producing goods and services is to generate a profit. Without societal marketing, businesses would only be focused on producing goods and services that help turn a profit.

However, when they put societal marketing front and center, businesses will look to create services and products that are going to not just be profitable, but also better for the economy and the society as a whole. The focus is on creating goods and services that are needed by customers.

They should meet their needs and wants, but also provide healthy alternatives and benefit society.

The Objectives

There are several objectives that are important for societal marketers, starting with changing the attitudes, expectations, and beliefs of the people. The focus is on making people aware of the environment and making them responsible for it. Companies should take on marketing strategies that would convince people to change their ways.

Societal marketers are likely to use a mixture of the traditional marketing mix and then engage it with their marketing campaigns, thus increasing the overall impact that it generates. More importantly, a key objective of societal marketing is that the marketing of its products should eventually increase awareness about the environment in which the company operates.

The messages used during the societal marketing campaigns should be highly effective to the point that people start considering it their responsibility to take action and to play their role in saving the environment.

The Importance

It is hard to put a metric on just how important societal marketing really is in this day and age. As the world slowly moves toward destruction, companies and businesses are expected to take up steps that are going to help in curbing the damage. Global warming and climate change are very real problems that have already begun to ravage the global atmosphere.

Unless more awareness is spread around the globe and people start to realize just how harmful these things are, it’s going to be too late to take action. That’s why societal marketing is so important to spread the word around about these issues.