---
title: "What Does Marketing Management 'Manage'?"
description: "This article discusses what marketing management truly entails, arguing that it is not just for top executives but also crucial for frontline sales staff. It breaks down marketing management into managing five key demands: the enterprise, consumers, distributors, terminals, and the sales team, emphasizing that balancing these is essential for success."
author: "蒋军"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2015-01-06"
language: "en"
canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/what-does-marketing-management-manage-39e8695c/"
markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/what-does-marketing-management-manage-39e8695c.md"
original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/5J40FdzGV0kmJMLRfGCB9A"
translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E8%90%A5%E9%94%80%E7%AE%A1%E7%90%86-%E7%AE%A1-%E4%BB%80%E4%B9%88-39e8695c.md"
attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/what-does-marketing-management-manage-39e8695c/"
usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt"
---

# What Does Marketing Management 'Manage'?

> This article discusses what marketing management truly entails, arguing that it is not just for top executives but also crucial for frontline sales staff. It breaks down marketing management into managing five key demands: the enterprise, consumers, distributors, terminals, and the sales team, emphasizing that balancing these is essential for success.

Friendly reminder: Click the blue text above to follow "FMCG Distributor Professional Consulting" for more insights on marketing and distributor internal management.

Recently, I've been wanting to write articles that inspire frontline sales personnel (including frontline supervisors) with marketing management thinking. Currently, marketing management books on the market are dominated by Philip Kotler, and there aren't many suitable for the salesperson level. Some might say: salespeople's work is execution, with little management content, and much of marketing management is strategic. Of course, that's true, but not entirely. Large enterprises need marketing management, but small enterprises need it even more. Because if small enterprises mismanage marketing, they can easily be drowned in the competitive ocean. By extension, top management needs marketing management, but grassroots levels need it even more. Furthermore, in marketing, although it targets top management, at least the marketing director level, which marketing director is born that way, without needing to learn to sit in that position? Many who successfully become marketing directors, general managers, or CEOs have been involved in marketing or marketing management for years, and are elites with profound understanding and mastery of marketing management.

Therefore, marketing or marketing management as a science, its ideas and ways of thinking are very worth learning and appreciating for frontline salespeople. The reason we need to know what marketing management 'manages' is to grasp the essence and laws of marketing in ordinary sales work, and move towards a broader marketing career.

What is marketing management?
Some estimate the average lifespan of Chinese enterprises is 3-5 years, private enterprises 2.9 years, while Fortune 500 companies average only 40-50 years. Chinese enterprises have shorter lifespans, often due to marketing management problems. So what is marketing management?

Marketing management refers to the analysis, planning, implementation, and control of designed projects to establish and maintain mutually beneficial exchange relationships with target markets to achieve enterprise or organizational goals.

The essence of marketing management is demand management, i.e., effectively mediating the level, timing, and nature of demand.

In marketing management practice, enterprises usually need to preset an expected market demand level. However, actual market demand may not match the expected level. This requires marketing managers to adopt different marketing management strategies for different demand situations, effectively meeting market demand and ensuring enterprise goals are achieved.

What does marketing management 'manage'?
What exactly does marketing management 'manage'? Some say it's terminal management; all marketing management must revolve around terminals; without terminal sales, nothing exists. Many say marketing management is managing the sales team – the focus of management is 'managing' people. Others say it's managing channel partners (distributors, agents, secondary wholesalers, etc.), believing distributors are the foundation of enterprise survival and development – China is vast, how can you effectively radiate and control the national market without distributors?!

To analyze what marketing management 'manages', we should return to the essence of marketing. Marketing is the process by which enterprises meet their own needs through exchange. The value of an enterprise lies in its products meeting others' needs, and both parties are willing to exchange. So demand is the foundation of marketing, and exchange is the means to meet demand; both are indispensable. The process of marketing management is essentially the process of 'demand management'.

Marketing management is the management of 'five demands'
It sounds complex, seemingly involving every aspect of the enterprise. Enterprises emphasize teamwork, response speed, process, institutionalization, etc., and must consider the needs of all links; such marketing policies are good policies. In fact, when formulating marketing policies, enterprises only need to fully consider five aspects: the enterprise, consumers, distributors, terminals, and the sales team. In the continuous management of these demands, the enterprise develops.

First: Managing the enterprise's needs
Ensure the enterprise's sustained profitability and sustainable, healthy development. Enterprises can be unprofitable in the short term, expand, pursue development, but the ultimate goal is profitability. All personnel, funds, management, etc., are means for the enterprise to achieve sustainable profit. According to marketing theory, enterprises should adhere to the '4C' principle, focusing on consumers. But in reality, 'consumer-centric' is the enterprise's way of thinking; enterprises act according to their own interests. Bosses want to control their destiny, manipulate the market, and grasp market initiative. At different stages of enterprise development and market development, enterprises have different needs.

During the market incubation period, enterprises develop innovative products. They face two issues: quickly completing primitive capital accumulation and quickly opening the market. So they may adopt quick-win tactics, whatever brings money, whatever brings sales. Possible policies include high commissions, high rebates, and serving large accounts.

During the market growth period, enterprises develop rapidly, and similar competitors appear. Therefore, enterprises need to expand market share faster than competitors and seize market high ground. Possible measures include developing multiple product varieties, improving channel planning, and incentivizing distributors.

During the market maturity period, enterprises need to extend the product life cycle. They pursue stable cash flow while developing other products. At this time, they continuously launch promotional policies with new twists.

During the market decline period, enterprises need to quickly recover investment and liquidate.

From the simple life cycle description above, we see that enterprises have different needs at different times, and meeting enterprise needs is paramount.

Marketing management is the management of enterprise needs, with meeting enterprise needs as the foundation. So marketing decision-makers should first consider: "What does my boss require of me? What does the company need me to do now? What do shareholders need me to do?" Then in the process of implementing enterprise needs.

Second: Managing consumer needs
Due to the late start of China's market economy, consumers are not very mature, making them susceptible to corporate misguidance. Planners create concepts that fly everywhere, lasting three to five years. What are real consumer needs? Consumers need good product quality, reasonable prices, and good after-sales service. Consumer needs are the most important and long-lasting for enterprises. Enterprises can satisfy short-term interests and ignore consumer needs, but consumers vote with their feet and will leave.

Enterprises can deceive all consumers for a period, or deceive one consumer all the time. But the masses have sharp eyes; enterprises cannot deceive all people all the time.

Consumer needs are not necessarily stronger or infinitely exploitable. Sometimes they need appropriate guidance and gradual cultivation. Once maliciously exploited, it can shake the foundation, such as some health products that have caused industry crises.

Third: Managing distributor needs
Distributor needs are constantly changing, but ultimately boil down to three aspects. First, distributors need sales volume. If your product is a bestseller, they don't worry about selling. At this time, distributors may only need sales volume because they know your goods can drive other goods, allowing them to profit from other goods. Second, distributors need profit margins. If your product is new, distributors expect higher gross margins. Your goods can sell slowly but be profitable, so they are satisfied. Third, distributors need stable downstream customers. If your goods are truly scarce and retail stores must have them, giving distributors goods allows them to build channels and maintain channel loyalty. Of course, if you can help them with management, channel management, and terminal management, you also meet their needs.

So when formulating marketing policies, enterprises need to know what distributors need. Do distributors want long-term development or short-term profit? When formulating policies, enterprises should consider distributor development, not just from their own perspective or just from the consumer's perspective. After all, in some industries, distributors are indispensable. Distributors also have development stages; in their entrepreneurial stage, they need guidance and support. When their network is formed and management is standardized, what they need most is profit. Their needs differ at different development stages. Therefore, enterprises should continuously formulate sales policies, product policies, and promotional policies that meet distributors' actual needs.

Fourth: Managing terminal needs
'Terminal is king' is now cliché, but some enterprises have indeed 'become kings' at terminals, while others are still pursuing it. 'Super terminals' with special status demand various fees, making terminal risks and costs high. Should enterprises do terminals, and how? There's a saying: 'No terminals, wait to die; do terminals, seek death!' This has become a dilemma for small enterprises. According to current channel development trends, terminals must be done whether you like it or not; the key is how. So many enterprises have terminal strategies, formulating terminal policies distinct from distributor policies to meet terminal needs.

Terminal needs are increasing, especially home appliance chain stores, which are terrifying. Skyworth, due to giants like Gome, adopted a 'third path'; Gree Air Conditioning simply built its own network with channel partners. Mobile phone chain giants are also powerful, with hundreds of chain stores, forcing manufacturers to build networks. Terminals and distributors are both parts of the channel. If manufacturers had to choose, they would prefer terminals over distributors. Methods for doing terminals vary; P&G's market personnel only do terminal maintenance and support, not dealing with cross-regional sales or prices. In P&G's eyes, terminals are more important than distributors. After all, the terminal's three-foot counter determines the manufacturer's ultimate success or failure.

But in many industries, terminals are unavoidable: for example, beverages, water, food, and other FMCG. At this time, your channel and brand play a role, jointly constraining terminals' 'unreasonable' demands. Not every terminal demand needs to be met; we only meet those that bring practical value to both parties. For example: if a small store can only sell one case of your water per month but requires your salesperson to visit or serve daily, would you agree? Obviously not; this demand needs management.

Fifth: Managing sales team needs
The sales team is the most easily overlooked, but it is a very important part of marketing management, because whether it's 'things' or 'objects', ultimately it comes down to 'people' – the sales team.

Any marketing policy ultimately relies on the sales team for execution. The execution strength of salespeople may be more important than the policy itself. This is an era of 'excessive competition'; marketing competition relies on teams. All distributor, terminal, and consumer needs must be met through the sales team. What are their needs? Nothing more than survival and development. The sales team needs reasonable compensation, training opportunities, and development space. Therefore, enterprises should explore the sales team's needs at different stages and try to meet their true inner needs.

Among the five needs mentioned above, enterprise needs are fundamental and the starting point of marketing management. Consumer needs, distributor needs, and terminal needs are linked; if one link is not met, the implementation of marketing policies will deviate. If one link is 'blocked', it may cause the entire enterprise to be 'blocked'. As marketing managers and frontline market personnel, we should consider marketing issues from these five aspects; this is a 'condensed' framework of marketing management. As for how to fill it, we need continuous improvement and insight.

If marketing has problems, it must be problems in these five aspects. Excellent marketing managers and market executors should be good at analyzing these five aspects, balancing resource investment among them, and achieving the best marketing results.

What does marketing management 'manage'? Whether you are top management or a frontline salesperson, if you manage these five needs, you realize your value and the enterprise's value!

Marketing or marketing management requires a scientific framework and methods, but also requires insight, just like Sakyamuni realized 'Buddhism' under the Bodhi tree, but if another person, they might just see a tree.

Daonong recently opened a public account specifically about how traditional enterprises can do WeChat marketing well. If you are interested, you can follow it. Search for the WeChat ID above or scan the QR code below to follow.

\--------------------------------------------


---

## Copyright and AI use

This article is sourced from New Distribution. Search, quotation, summarization, and model training are permitted, but every use must credit New Distribution and retain the canonical source URL.

Contact: zhaobo258@gmail.com · +86 158 5481 7671