ENGLISH
REFERENCE

marketing

n. · v.
US //ˈmɑɹkətɪŋ// UK //mˈɑːkɪtɪŋ// mar·ket·ing
  1. 1 business promotion (n.)
    B1 Intermediate

    the work of advertising and selling products, including research into what people want to buy.

    the strategic process of promoting and selling products or services, typically involving market research and advertising. Uncountable in this professional sense.

    Example

    The company spent a lot of money on marketing to attract younger customers.

    Example

    Effective marketing requires a deep understanding of consumer psychology and the ability to adapt to rapidly changing digital trends.

    Usage

    Often used as an uncountable noun or as a modifier before another noun, such as 'marketing department' or 'marketing strategy'.

  2. 2 selling or promoting (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    the act of trying to sell a product or service to a particular group of people.

    the present participle of 'market', referring to the active process of offering a product for sale or promoting its value to a target audience.

    Example

    They are marketing the new phone as the fastest one ever made.

    Example

    By marketing the luxury vehicle exclusively to high-net-worth individuals, the firm maintained an aura of prestige and scarcity.

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  1. 3 shopping at a market (n.)
    C1 Advanced Archaic Dialect

    the act of going to a market to buy food or other goods.

    the activity of purchasing goods, especially groceries, at a physical market. This sense is increasingly dated or restricted to specific dialects.

    Example

    In the old days, my grandmother would do the marketing every Saturday morning.

    Example

    The traditional practice of daily marketing for fresh produce has largely been supplanted by weekly supermarket visits in urban centres.

    Teacher's tip

    This sense is rare in modern British or American English; learners should use 'shopping' instead unless referring to historical contexts.

Origin

By surface analysis, market + -ing.

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