Ethel and Jan have just started a new company, Jantel Inc., and are having trouble deciding which marketing path to take to drive sales. Ethel believes they should follow a make-and-sell philosophy that focuses on improving their product, whereas Jan believes they should be more customer-oriented and find the right products for their customers. Which of the following BEST describes this situation? Should Jantel, Inc., follow a product or marketing concept?

If Jantel Inc. is going to manufacture or produce some super groundbreaking mega exceptional product that every will want to have because of how good it is, then it´s ok to follow a make and sell philosophy. That´s the only reason why a company should only focus on how good your product is.

But if Jantel Inc. is not inventing something life changing as the Iphone or the internet, then they will have to be more consumer oriented. This has become a universal truth all around the world.

The world of full of thousands of great products that someone wants and needs to sell to you, but you only buy a tiny fraction of them. So as a customer you decide which product to buy based on the seller´s marketing actions.

The only possible exceptions to this rule are commodities, i.e. farmers grow soybeans and corn the best they can because someone will be willing to buy all they can produce.

So unless Janitel Inc. is a mining company, a farm or an oil company, or Ehtel and Jan are the reincarnations of Steve Jobs, then they should definitely focus on consumers.