Know-How Exchange : Other

In short, the main responsibility of the marketing is to act as the 'boundary-spanner' between the company and its (potential) customers. In other words, it should ensure the company creates value for customers ('exploration'), and captures this value for itself ('exploitation'), while sustaining it (eg through maintaining brand equity/customer retention)

If other company employees/departments do not share/have little time for a 'customer focus', the marketing department should bring customer input into the new product design process, detect changing customer preferences, company opportunities and competitive threats, regularly monitor customer satisfaction and retention, develop and execute marketing mix strategies, and the nitty-gritty of marketing research and mix tactics (eg price promotions). In companies in which most employees are truly customer focused, the marketing department could have more limited responsibility, such as the latter two above-mentioned activities.

Fred Webster (professor emeritus, Dartmouth) has written several articles on this topic, and on how marketing can 'regain its seat at the (CEO) table'