This issue of the Ambient Newsletter has been devoted to the subject of marketing. There are several reasons for this. Primarily, it is that time of year when people's thoughts are becoming filled with the performance figures of the previous year and obsessed with business development plans for the year to come. A barometer of the business climate can be determined by where the finger of responsibility points. In a good economic climate, the sales development department will assume the lead. If business is difficult, then the marketing department comes more to the fore. But what is marketing? Ask a dozen people to come up with a definition and you will probably get a dozen different answers. Even the Chartered Institute of Marketing struggles to come up with something that is universally acceptable. The late, great management guru, Peter F Drucker hit the nail on the head with his own simple concept.

"Marketing", he said, "is not a function; it is the whole business seen from the customers point of view." He went on to assert that for the marketing concept to work, it has to permeate all areas of the business. This view was echoed by David Packard, founder of the computer hardware company that still bears his name, when he was quoted as saying, "Marketing is too important to be left to the marketing department." The customer is not interested in concepts, mission and vision statements or slogans; these are for internal consumption only. What they are interest in is a product or service that meets their needs and satisfies their requirements. It is easy to make bold claims in our marketing but the proof of the pudding comes in our ability to deliver the promise at every level of our business.