1. “Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.” (Chartered Institute of Marketing)

2. “The purpose of marketing is to earn profit by adding the maximum value at minimum cost.” (Colin Milner)

3. “Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.” (American Marketing Association)

4. “Marketing is getting someone who has a need to know, like and trust you.” (Jon Jantsch)

5. “Marketing is the art and science of chossing target markets and building profitable relationships with them; it’s the art of demand management.” (Philip Kotler)

Borrowed with pride from all over the place.

A long time ago someone told me the definition of marketing was “meeting consumers’ needs profitably” and having always thought it a good definition, I wondered if the structure would work in creating definitions for sales and branding too and whether once complete, the three definitions would help differentiate between the disciplines. See what you think…

SALES – Retailing what you can make or source profitably

MARKETING – Meeting consumers’ needs profitably

BRANDING – Identifying and marketing your vision and values profitably

Branding is at the heart of everything we do at The Value Engineers, so we’ve long been collectors of definitions of brands.

One of the classic definitions, often referred to, is from Kotler:
“A name, term, symbol or design, or a combination of them which is intended to signify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors” 
 
I’ve also had a go at putting together my top five one-line definitions of a brand. 

A brand is…
…a unit of social currency
…one of the biggest value generators in the modern business world
…more than promise, it’s a responsibility
…a portal to a world
…a zip file of meaning
 
Can you do any better?