Gurus On Marketing

Kotler 3 then advocated the importance of values in the exchange
process which facilitated the transfer of goods from producers to
consumers. He believed that the exchange process involved not only
goods and money but also time, energy and feelings. Other writers
at that time were also emphasising the ‘social’ nature of exchange.
Thus came into existence the social exchange school of thought.
Since 1990s customers became the focus of attention. From Levitt right
through to George Day the emphasis of marketing practice has been
to transform organisations into customer-driven business. We are
now in the era of ‘service excellence school of thought’.
Marketing discipline therefore, is heavily influenced by economics,
psychology, philosophy, management and other social sciences.
We will in this book look at the work of some of the marketing gurus
such as Levitt, Kotler, Sheth and Day and some other gurus on strategy
such as Ansoff, Porter and Peters whose works have direct bearings
on the practice of marketing.
ONE THE FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKETING 13