For many years the Bible of marketing, Kotler's text on the subject, held forth that marketing oriented firms responded to customers' needs and wants, while the less sophisticated product oriented firms were fixated on selling customers whatever it was that they were making.
In more recent years Kotler has made the subtle distinction and now also refers to 'market driving' firms, those whose products may not immediately be seen by customers as meeting a need or want, but which ultimately become successful.
The following story in the Guardian newspaper is a good example of an historical illustration of this. It's particularly useful since nowadays it is often technology businesses that are given the label of being market-driving.
“Innovative artists needed an innovative dealer and Durand-Ruel’s particular genius was not just to spot the talent of the young impressionists, but to promote them indefatigably and create a market for them where previously there had been none.
To gain them the recognition he was convinced they deserved, he developed a range of new ways of promoting them that redefined the relationship between dealers and artists.
He found himself and his charges “attacked and reviled by upholders of the academy and old doctrines, by the most established art critics, by the entire press and by most of my colleagues”.
Among the other methods used to bolster his artists, Durand-Ruel would sell works through other dealers on a profit-sharing basis, and he did this with collectors, too. He would lend works against business capital and buy his own artists’ paintings at auction to inflate the price. He also opened his own house to visitors on Tuesdays, when the main galleries were closed, so that his collection of impressionist works could be seen. ”
