F. Recent Developments Affecting the Strategic Role of Marketing
Globalization
oWhile global markets represent promising opportunities for additional sales
growth and profits, differences in market and competitive conditions across
country boundaries can require firms to adapt their competitive strategies and
marketing programs to be successful.
Increased Importance of Service
oA service can be defined as “any activity or benefit that one party can offer
another that is essentially intangible and that does not result in the ownership
of anything. Its production may or may not be tied to a physical product.”
oThe additional benefits can justify higher prices and margins in the short term
and help improve customer satisfaction, retention, and loyalty over the long
term.
Information Technology
oNew technologies are making it possible for firms to collect and analyze more
detailed information about potential customers and their needs, preferences,
and buying habits, and about their competitors’ offerings and prices.
oInformation technology opens new channels for communications and
transactions between suppliers and customers.
oNew information and communications technologies are enabling firms to
forge more cooperative and efficient relationships with their suppliers and
distribution channel partners.
Relationships across Functions and Firms
oNew information technologies and the ongoing search for greater marketing
efficiency and customer value in the face of increasing competition are
changing the nature of exchange between companies.
oCooperative relationships are emerging inside companies as firms seek
mechanisms for more effectively and efficiently coordinating across
functional departments the various activities necessary to identify, attract,
service, and satisfy customers.
G. The Future Role of Marketing
In light of the changes, it is apparent that firms in most, if not all, industries will
have to be market-oriented, tightly focused on customer needs and desires, and
highly adaptive to succeed and prosper in the future.
The effective performance of marketing activities—particularly those associated
with tracking, analyzing, and satisfying customers’ needs—will become even more
critical for the successful formulation and implementation of strategies at all
organizational levels.
V. Formulating and Implementing Marketing Strategy—An Overview of the Process
A. A Decision-Making Focus
Planning and executing a marketing strategy involves many interrelated decisions
about what to do, when to do it, and how.
B. Analysis Comes First—The Four “Cs”
The analysis necessary to provide the foundation for a good strategic marketing
plan should focus on four elements of the overall environment that may influence
its appropriateness and ultimate success:
oThe company’s internal resources, capabilities, and strategies
oThe environment context—such as broad social, economic, and technology
trends—in which the firm will compete
oThe relative strengths and weaknesses of competitors and trends in the
competitive environment
oThe needs, wants, and characteristics of current and potential customers
C. Integrating Marketing Strategy with the Firm’s Other Strategies and Resources
A major part of the marketing manager’s job is to monitor and analyze customers’
needs and wants and the emerging opportunities and threats in the external
environment.
There should be a good fit—or internal consistency—among the elements of all
three levels of strategy.
D. Market Opportunity Analysis
Understanding Market Opportunities
oUnderstanding the nature and attractiveness of any opportunity requires
conducting an examination of the external environment, including the
markets served and the industry of which the firm is a part.
oIt is necessary to examine the management team that will be charged with
implementing the developed strategy to determine if they have what it takes
to get the job done.
Measuring Market Opportunities
oPreparing an evidence-based forecast of the sales that can be achieved over
the short and intermediate term is a particularly difficult task for new
products, especially those of the new-to-the-world variety.
Market Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning Decisions
oNot all customers with similar needs seek the same products or services to
satisfy those needs.
oThus, one of the manager’s must crucial tasks is to divide customers into
market segments—distinct subsets of people with similar needs,
circumstances, and characteristics that lead them to respond in a similar way
to a particular product or service offering or to a particular strategic marketing
program.
oAfter defining market segments and exploring customer needs and the firm’s
competitive strengths and weaknesses within segments, the manager must
decide which segments represent attractive and viable opportunities for the
company; that is, on which segments to focus a strategic marketing program.
oThe manager must decide how to position the product or service offering and
its brand within a target segment; that is, to design the product and its
marketing program to emphasize attributes and benefits that appeal to
customers in the target segment and at once distinguish the company’s
offering from those of competitors.
E. Formulating Marketing Strategies for Specific Situations
The strategic marketing program for a product should reflect market demand and
the competitive situation within the target market.
Different strategies are typically more appropriate and successful for different
market conditions and different life cycle stages.
F. Implementation and Control of the Marketing Strategy
A final critical determinant of a strategy’s success is the firm’s ability to implement
it effectively.
This depends on whether the strategy is consistent with the resources, the
organizational structure, the coordination and control systems, and the skills and
experience of company personnel.
The final tasks in the marketing management process are determining whether the
strategic marketing program is meeting objectives and adjusting the program when
performance is disappointing.
G. The Marketing Plan—A Blueprint for Action
A marketing plan is a written document detailing the current situation with respect
to customers, competitors, and the external environment and providing guidelines
for objectives, marketing actions, and resource allocations over the planning period
for either an existing or a proposed product or service.
Written plans provide a concrete history of a product’s strategies and performance
over time, which aids institutional memory and helps educate new managers
assigned to the product.
The discipline involved in producing a formal plan helps ensure that the proposed
objectives, strategy, and marketing actions are based on rigorous analysis of the 4Cs
and sound reasoning.
Marketing plans vary in timing, content, and organization across companies.
There are three major parts to the marketing plan:
oFirst, the marketing manager details his or her assessment of the current
situation.
oThe second part of the plan details the strategy for the coming period.
oFinally, the plan details the financial and resource implications of the strategy
and the controls to be employed to monitor the plan’s implementation and
progress over the period.