The present thesis aims at discussing what marketing is from three moments. In the first moment, a historical appreciation of the concept is presented, analyzing events that give us hints of how a marketing thought could have arisen, in order to understand the cultural root of the concept. The second moment occurs through concepts and theories proposed by recognized authors in the field of marketing studies. For this, were interviewed teachers in the area of marketing who pointed out a set of relevant authors and books. The research analyzes the works recommended by the specialists, problematizing the meanings and theoretical matrices of the marketing concept for these authors. Finally, in the third moment, the research proposes a marketing analysis in practice, whose objective is to note how companies understand marketing and what roles they play in organizations. For this, a case study of Coca-Cola Brazil will be developed, through interviews with employees and former employees of the company s marketing department. After promoting this triangulation - history of cultural marketing practices, concepts and theories of marketing and case study - the research points out the convergences and divergences between these three scopes. The conclusions suggest that marketing has as one of its main foundations the communicative processes and their cultural, social and historical representations. The concept of marketing converges in some respects in history, theory and practice and its application builds new theories as marketing changes.