Classically, the Marketing Mix has been viewed and taught to students as the 4 Ps; Product, Price, Place and Promotion. This is now changing and in some texts you will find as many as 11 or even 15 Ps.
Regardless of the terminology, Marketing is an integrated activity that aims ultimately to yield the best possible results for business organizations through understanding and satisfying consumer needs. In this context, every single marketing effort should be directed to the satisfaction of consumers' needs in an effort to reach a corporate objective. Business Marketing Objectives fall under a variety of categories from maximization of profits to survival. And the only way to reach any of these objectives is to stay focused on the consumer. This is valid in both the marketing of goods and services. Although in the service field it is much more crucial to both short-term and long-term business performance.

From this standpoint we can begin to appreciate a relatively new concept - Relationship Marketing. Here the focus is not just on the elements of Marketing as a given, but rather on the relationship the firm has with its existing & potential consumers.

In conclusion, any activity that can improve or forward a company's relationship with a consumer is directly related to the scope of Marketing. Human Resources, Customer Service, Internal Marketing thus fall under the marketing umbrella in the same way that the original elements & Marketing research do.

A focus on the long-term helps companies make better decisions and prevents the well known pitfall known as "Marketing Myopia" in which the decision maker sees only short-term results and thus makes decisions based on quick profit, rather than on building a strong brand name and customer loyalty.

The importance of maintaining strong relationships and loyalty among the consuming public is now becoming much more apparent as the marketplace is rapidly metamorphosing into a dynamic and fiercely competitive structure in which more and more monopolies disappear every day and even more vigorous new players appear.