Marketing redefined?

The American Marketing Association announced its new, improved definition of marketing on January 14: “Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”

The committee that crafted this gem, was chaired by Donald R. Lehmann, the George E. Warren Professor of Business at Columbia Business School in New York. In fact, most of the committee members were academics. No kidding.

When I read this new definition, I found it to be turgid and abstruse. (I went to college, too.) I thought that no one who made a living as a marketer was involved in the process. Then, I read that “more than 70 percent of (AMA) membership viewed the new definition as an improvement.” Huh? Who joins the AMA?

Peter Drucker said, “Marketing and innovation are the two chief functions of business. You get paid for creating a customer, which is marketing. And you get paid for creating a new dimension of performance, which is innovation. Everything else is a cost center.” I like Drucker’s definition more than mine.

Do you think Drucker’s definition is better? If so, leave a comment. Better yet, tell the AMA by visiting their blog.