define marketing?

[J. P.]

Marketing is one of the terms in academia that does not have one commonly agreed upon definition. Even after a better part of a century the debate continues. In a nutshell it consists of the social and managerial processes by which products (goods or services) and value are exchanged in order to fulfill the needs and wants of individuals or groups. Although many people seem to think that "marketing" and "advertising" are synonymous, they are not. Advertising is simply one of the many processes that together constitute marketing.