Marketing Groups a.k.a. Bacteria

Bacteria are everywhere, there’s no escaping them. They are present in the air we breathe, in the food we eat and on pretty much everything we touch. There isn’t just one kind of bacteria, you’ll find about seven different kinds on a class room floor and five different kinds on a door knob and on a public chair.
Bacteria are cells which rarely function alone in the environment. Often, cells interact in groups and if one of the cells is much larger than the other, the larger one is called the host. There are good bacteria that do not harm any organism; in fact it helps to keep us alive. And there are obviously bad pathogenic bacteria which cause infections, colds and the flu.
A marketing company first aims to find the most effective audience, for example a toy or cereal company would target the attention of kids. So the kids nag their parents into buying the product. In a similar way, bacteria specifically choose areas that will benefit them the most; where they will be able to fulfill their needs to survive.
When the bacteria have decided on the area they are going to target, they invade the hosts of the good bacteria colonies. This can be seen as a miniature battle between bacteria and host cells of the good bacteria. There are three possible outcomes: host wins and bacteria are removed so that the host can recover; bacteria win and kill their host; or an equilibrium is reached in which host and bacteria live involuntarily together and damage is minimized[1].
These outcomes portray the success of marketing groups’ advertisements. The bacteria winning signify that the ads had an impact on their audience and individuals are buying their products.
If it is the pathogenic bacteria that have won the battle, it can produce diseases in a variety of ways. One way is by secreting toxic substances that damage human tissues or they may become parasites inside human cells or they may form colonies in the body that disrupt the normal human function. Once one of the following occurs it may spread to other parts of the body, increasing the severity of the disease. It spreads through the tissue, the blood and the nerves[2]. Similarly once a few individuals start buying a companies product, others are influenced to buy it as well. The company is at a benefit by targeting the right group of individuals; from the previous example cereal companies are aware that if they target kids it will be more beneficial.
However, how will other companies allow such an influence on individuals? Competitors will come out with other more effective strategies to try to sell their products. This is where the role of researchers is crucial for finding antibiotics to fight the bacteria. The researchers signify the competitors and the antibiotics the new marketing strategy. Once researchers do find antibiotics and patients start to use it, the success of the effectiveness of the antibiotics on the bacteria also signifies the success of the competitor companies’ new marketing strategy.
Finally, the bacteria can become resistant to the antibiotics. When bacteria develop the ability to defend themselves against the effect of an antibiotic, then they are said to have acquired antibiotic resistance. Over the years, pathogenic bacteria have grown resistant to many antibiotics because of overuse or inappropriate use. The bacteria will either mutate by changing their structure which unables the antibiotic to recognize the bacteria. Or the bacteria acquire new genes which de-activate or destroy the antibiotic. As a result, instead of wiping out the infection altogether, the antibiotic kills only the weaker organisms and leaves their tougher parts to multiply and spread[3].
This tests the success between both companies. Which company was more influential in their strategies? If the bacteria mutates, the first company outsmarted the competitor and if individuals properly used the antibiotics without abusing the medication then it is the competitors company who was more effective.
As one may now be able to recognize the roles of both, bacteria and a companies marketing group can be similar. Pathogenic Bacteria is more powerful in the sense that it will do more harm to individuals but can be eliminated if taken medications properly. As for marketing groups, with proper and effective strategies, they can be very influential.
[1] http://www.bacteriamuseum.org/niches/pbacteria/pathogenicity.shtml

[2] http://njnj.essortment.com/bacteriumdiseas_rnqz.htm

[3] http://www.antibiotics-info.org/bact04c.asp