I’m trying to underline that the customer view is often missing or under valued when marketing decisions, especially decisions around the product, are being made. It’s my opinion that the P’s, and especially the first “P,” as taught in formal marketing, are in large part at fault. A more contemporary way of thinking about marketing, one that isn’t steeped in turn of the 20th century circumstances, is required today. Something along the lines of Customer, Content, Contact and Value.

It’s not for nothing that the Product is the first ‘P’ of the marketing mix. You can’t separate the product from the customer, because whatever the solution is; whatever will satisfy the customer’s need or solve the customer’s problem; that is the Product!

My sense is that we’re on the same page, to the extent that you’re referring to the process of identifying the problem (what the customer actually wants or needs) in order to satisfy the customer’s need (or provide the solution).

I’m simply challenging your statement because every time I say “all successful marketing begins with the product” (which is rhetorically the opposite of what you said), I actually mean exactly what I think you mean. I don’t mean that you can have a product that nobody asked for or that doesn’t solve any problem and assume it will sell itself.

To give an example, every time people seek my help to market their product (or service) I often tell them if I wasn’t part of the product design phase or if their target customers didn’t inspire that product, there’s only so much I can do. Because my marketing role doesn’t start with promotion or selling; it should start with the product. Perhaps this process of starting by researching the customer’s needs is what you refer to as “marketing starts with the customer”, but I refer to it as “marketing starts with the product”, because I’m not trying to shape the customer – I’m trying to shape the product to the customer’s need.