We often hear about marketing and some of its functions. But what does the term “marketing” actually mean? Various definitions have been suggested. In 1976, the Chartered Institute of Marketing described marketing as “the management process of identifying, anticipating, and profitably satisfying customer needs” (Watkis 2008). This definition suggests that research is vital in determining market needs. Marketers must be able to predict what consumers' future needs and wants will be to be in a better position to offer products and services that deliver complete customer satisfaction. A more recent definition states that "Marketing is a social and managerial process through which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through the creation and exchange of products and value with others" (Kotler & Armstrong 2004 ) This definition incorporates a number of fundamental marketing concepts, namely needs, wants, values, exchanges and transactions. Although marketing takes time and increases the costs incurred by an organization, it offers a number of significant benefits marketing practices help to gain recognition and attention of previously identified market segments or other parts of the market. Furthermore, marketing aims to increase profits through increased sales (Willings 2010). they also successfully identify real customers through research and retain them by building long-term relationships based on trust (Juliett 2011). Emerging in the early 1900s, marketing has gone through various developments before becoming what we know it today. Before the 1950s, marketers emphasized only production and sales, putting… at the center of the paper… ingtips.com/2011/03/21/what-is-relationship-marketing/  The Alternative Business Philosophies, 2007. [image online] Available at: http://courses.unt.edu/kt3650_1/sld004.htm [Accessed December 11, 2011]. The Marketing Mix, n.d. [image online]. Available at: http://howtomarkettoday.com/marketing-mix-1/ [Accessed 17 November 2011. Watkis, N 2008, So what is marketing?, Marketingweb, viewed 8 November 2011, http://www. marketingweb. co.za/marketingweb/view/marketingweb/en/page71654?oid=100694&sn=Marketingweb%20detail White, S 2010, The Evolution of Marketing, viewed 10 November 2011, http://dstevenwhite.com/2010/06/ 18 /the-evolution-of-marketing/ Willings, A 2010, Advantages and Disadvantages of Marketing, The Company Warehouse, viewed 9 November 2011, http://blog.thecompanywarehouse.co.uk/2010/11/02/ advantages-and-disadvantages-of-marketing/