Introduction To understand marketing it is necessary to first analyze the history of production and sales as it advanced towards a marketing-based approach to customer satisfaction. By definition according to rdi, “marketing is a business philosophy, the process responsible for anticipating, identifying and satisfying customers' current and future needs” (rdi, 2011). To adequately understand marketing, it is necessary to recognize the evolutionary progression that has occurred allowing the concept of marketing to establish existence. This progression began through trial and error focusing initially on product, then sales, then customer wants and needs; which brings us to the purpose of this dialogue. Marketing is simply an advancement of two other philosophies, the product philosophy and the sales philosophy. Product Philosophy According to Henley, (2011) this philosophy predates the industrial revolution (Henley, 2011) and is based on the assumption that if you create a high quality product it will sell itself regardless of the customer's wants and needs. This concept excludes the customer from the decision and revolves solely around the manufacturer's belief that the product is what the audience needs, so creation will only require the manufacturer to push the product to create sales. Within this approach, the customer is limited to what the manufacturer creates, thus forcing them to react to the manufacturer's decisions. Furthermore, it limits inventory levels set by manufacturing and allows profit only through production efficiency. Furthermore, in advertising, instead of customer benefits as seen in a marketing approach, the manufacturer is limited only to product features (RDI, 2...... half of the paper...... approach to budget from a small, dedicated team of marketing professionals and you will achieve your successful marketing goal. References Abrams, R. M. & Vallone, J. (2008 Successful Marketing: Secrets and Strategies from Palo Alto, California: Planning Shop. Henley, J .). n.d.). Marketing Concept and Philosophy: Encyclopedia of Management ENotes - Literature Study Guides, Lesson Plans, and More Retrieved August 7, 2011, from http://www.enotes.com/management-encyclopedia/marketing-concept-philosophyKotler. , P. (n.d.). Marketing Management by Philip Kotler (719 slides). Upload and share PowerPoint presentations and documents. Retrieved August 7, 2011, from http://www.slideshare.net/taquilla/marketing-management-by-. philip-kotler-719-slidesPhilosophy of Marketing (nd). Retrieved August 7, 2011, from www.rdi-usa.com/pdf/AdvCertInSalesAndMktg.PDF.