Does Marketing add value ?

We all have perceptions about marketing. Unless you are a cave man, chances are you come across marketing routinely. So the question is - does marketing add value ?

My early professional career was spent thinking that Marketing meant a department full of well dressed good looking people who knew only 1 thing i.e. talk that only other people in marketing could understand.

As with many other things, my perception about marketing has changed. Now I understand the broader context of marketing and that everyone does marketing. Sending resume to prospective employers is an example of marketing.

From an organization perspective, Marketing helps achieve various objectives such as brand identity, potential market identification etc.

I think Marketing adds most value by identifying potential growth avenues that are mainly achieved through Market Research. Exactly what Apple Computers did with iPod. They identified potential gap in the market i.e. PC users who listens to songs on computer and have a large collection of songs that could not fit easily in available formats at the time. Hence the iPod.

Apple did that by answering a simple questions i.e. Is there a Gap in the market ? And is there a market in the Gap ?

Hence, marketing can add value by helping organization answer this question to promote growth.