ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of the book. The book considers the wider human context which is the broad canvas of marketing, rather than the narrower marketing silo which often limits a more holistic approach. In marketing, the roots of much obscurity have been created by so-called definitions which, on closer inspection, reveal themselves to be no such thing. The American Marketing Association puts forward a definition for marketing as "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 book focuses on the crucial role that differentiation plays in marketing and the vital edge it gives in the competition, which is the nature of any market. Differentiation is at the root of many great marketing successes, but its potency should not obscure the elegance of some of the solutions it provides.
