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The traditional view of the marketing function in a manufacturing firm is to maximize the sales of its products. We would argue that in a team-orientated firm the role is modified to work with the rest of the organization to maximize the long-term stream of profits associated with sales. The distinction is not as subtle as it may seem. In the first case they would take production levels as given and work with price and advertising so that all product is sold. In the second they would work with production to decide price, advertising and production levels to maximize overall profits. To do this marketing must analyses markets, select target markets, determine the best marketing mix, and manage the process.
When considering the 4 P’s of marketing, we assume that the main functions of marketing are to decide on the positioning of new products, make pricing decisions, to advertise, and to arrange and support the distribution channels.
Note that these are some of the main determinants of demand. Two other areas affecting the demand for a product are its quality and delivery time or availability. For our purposes they are covered in the production function