MARKETING MATERIAL
9430 Marketing Chapter 1
Extracts from this material can also be found on Wikipedia
Preamble Theory_and_Practice Practical_Help Coverage Brief_History_of_Marketing Essence_of_Marketing Definitions_of_Marketing
RELATIONSHIP DIALOGUE CO-ORDINATION
Marketing_and_Internal_Resources Complexity_of_Interaction_and_Timescales
Structures_of_Marketing_Theory Organizational_Pigeon-holes
Product_or_Service Product_categories Differences_in_Theory
Marketing_Mix Criticism_of_the_4_Ps Selling_versus_Marketing
Customer_centred_versus_organization_centred Corporate_Strategy
Products_versus_Benefits Marketing_and_service_cultures
The first edition
and the US edition
INTRODUCTION
1 Introduction
Thank you for giving up your time to read what I have to say
about marketing. In return, I trust that you will find that it
will represent a worth-while investment of your time as well as
offering an interesting (and possibly enlightening) experience.
Marketing is perhaps the most fundamental activity of any
commercial organization and an essential discipline even in non-
commercial organizations. It is also a fascinating and hugely
enjoyable subject.
At the beginning of each chapter in this book there will be a
short introduction, which summarizes the main themes of the
chapter. Needless to say, in this first chapter much of the
material is taken up with explaining what the book is about, its
biases and, most importantly, how you should use it --together
with what you should aim to get out of it. It also offers some
words of wisdom about handling advice from experts, including
that published in textbooks such as this. Apart from this, the
main focus of the chapter is on getting to grips with exactly
what marketing is. What are the definitions of marketing? How
does it differ from economics, where the `market' has now been
espoused as a favourite term by politicians as much as by
marketers? The chapter comes to the simple, but important,
conclusion that the key focus of marketing must be the customer,
and the key activity the `dialogue' between supplier and that
customer.
There are some differences between the marketing techniques
employed by different types of organizations although the
similarities are usually more important. In particular, this
chapter explores the important differences between sales-oriented
and marketing-oriented organizations --and those between
product-based and service-based organizations (including those in
the non-profit-making sector). A section on the marketing mix
(often described in terms of the `4 Ps' --Product, Price, Place
and Promotion) introduces the sets of tools used by marketing to
address the needs of the customer and leads on to the specialized
chapters in the rest of the book, where these tools are described
in more detail.
This book is a comprehensive introduction to marketing. It covers all functions and all types of organization. Indeed, the wide
coverage is designed to allow material to be selected to meet
your specific, individual needs --across a very wide spectrum of
organizational situations. It also makes the basic assumption
that you may not be currently involved directly in the marketing
function itself, and may not previously have had any significant
exposure to the theory or practice of the subject. Even so, the
coverage is intended to be sufficiently comprehensive to also act as a
reference source even in the most demanding of contexts and
should equip you to meet most practical marketing requirements.
The book also allows for those who may be practising managers,
and who are learning about the theory of marketing in their spare
time. Such practising managers have the great advantage of
immersion in a real-life case study --the workings of the
organization in which they operate. To tap the power of such a
pragmatic approach in the book --which has been developed on the
basis of practical experience with many thousands of students who
have passed through the Open Business School marketing course --
a wide range of very practical exercises has been developed.
These exercises are based on continuous reference to a single
organization. This organization may be the one in which you are
currently working or one which you know about, or simply one
which has been well documented as a case study. The exercises are
of varying degrees of complexity, from the simplest of questions,
which requires only an immediate `yes or no' answer, through to
formulating a complete marketing plan.
In line with its emphasis on practicality, the book will offer
the various theories only as tools to be used when applicable; as
aids to understanding the customer's real needs, and what may be
done to satisfy them. It will critically examine the theories in
the context of what they may offer the practising manager.
Indeed, it will approach each subject as if you were a practising
manager.
In line with this philosophy, the book will, as far as possible,
suggest which of these tools might be of most use in a given
situation. However, it will stress that there are probably
several tools which are equally applicable to the
situation; each of which offers a different framework for your
own individual analysis.
Yoram Wind - 1- states that:
Marketing as a discipline can provide few generalizations,
`principles', or `laws'. The major contribution of the marketing
discipline is in its approach to problem identification
and solution.
This is a view with which I would concur. The essence of this
book is marketing practice, and theory is used to provide
no more than a useful framework.
Unfortunately, rather less than half a century after the birth of
marketing as a widely used practical tool of management, too many
marketing theorists appear to be hungering after academic
respectability and scientific accuracy; they are beginning to
adorn their work with esoteric mathematical approaches, although
the subject, as practised, remains just as determinedly `fuzzy'
as it ever was.
Quinn et al., - 2 - in the introduction to their
splendidly eclectic handbook on strategy, also make the point
that:
We do not apologize for contradictions among the ideas of leading
thinkers. The world is full of contradictions. The real danger
lies in using pat solutions to a nuanced reality, not in opening
perspectives up to different interpretations. The effective
strategist is one who can live with contradictions, learn to
appreciate their cues and effects, and reconcile them
sufficiently for effective action.
These contradictions will be explained, I hope productively,
throughout this book.
In any case, much of marketing practice is pragmatic (that is,
based upon what has been shown by experience to work) rather than
being what theory would prescribe. Lilien and Kotler -3-
report that:
Marketing people often say that marketing experience is the best
teacher, that planning and performing a diversity of marketing
activities --selling, pricing, advertising, servicing --create
sound judgment about what will work and what will backfire.
Unlike some other authors, I will not pretend that there are grand theories which will magically unlock the inner secrets of the subject and can be applied equally to any marketing situation. Indeed, the most important of contributions to marketing 'theory' have often been practical rules of thumb derived from observation of what really works; since these usually turn out to be the most useful guides of all - perhaps precisely because they are honest about their limited ambitions to offer a framework for investigation rather then a predicted solution! Thus, I believe such 'rules of thumb' typically offer the most useful help to practitioners because they are immediately of use in building upon those managers' existing skills and knowledge - whilst clearly highlighting the limitations behind their use:
PRACTICAL HELP - 'rules of thumb' are derived directly from practical experience, and aim only to help the reader benefit from that experience. They also have a history of working in practice, which reduces the risk involved in implementing them.
IMMEDIATE (EASE OF) USE - 'rules of thumb' are, and need to be, inherently simple. In general they should be no more than one or two sentences long (or a single diagram) - so that the reader can immediately understand what they are saying; and can quickly put them into practice.
EXISTING SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE - they build upon the practical skills and knowledge that the manager already possesses, rather than trying to override this, and typically develop a common-sense perspective - while still stimulating the development of real insight - which empowers the manager to deploy his or her own best judgment
SPECIFIC SOLUTION(S)- they directly relate to the unique situation facing the manager, which only he or she can solve and to which outsiders can only contribute general ideas, which is why they have to be empowered to confidently handle the related decision-making.
RECOGNISED LIMITATIONS - even more important, users recognise that 'rules of thumb' are not perfect (as traditional marketing theories often claim to be). They are, justifiably, seen as approximations which will probably help in most (but not all) situations. A realistic awareness of the limitations on what you may do is as important in marketing as that of recognising the potential awaiting develo0ment.
Such rules offer the most realistic approach to most marketing problems; but nobody should expect to apply each and every one of the rules to every situation facing t(em. They provide, in effect, an extended menu from which the user selects just those few rules which apply to a specific situation. This book offers many such rules - though they are too often called theories - to match the many situations which over time face marketers. To do otherwise would be to short-change the reader. Despite the hype generated by those selling simplistic panaceas which are claimed to have universal applicability, there are no universal rules in marketing. There are only the best rules of thumb for the specific situation. That is why it is such an endlessly interesting subject, and why marketing professors are not millionaires!
The book attempts to cover almost all of the most important
theory, and related practice, in the whole marketing discipline.
Where possible, it attempts to supplement this coverage at a
deeper level. This is because much of the understanding of
marketing comes from an in-depth appreciation of the individual
techniques --and the basic customer needs that they address.
As with almost all management education, the theory you learn
from this book will not alone make you a qualified marketing
manager. For that you will also need relevant practical
experience. However, it should give you a good feel for what
marketing is about, and help you to talk sensibly and
productively to marketers in their own language. Most important
of all, though, is that it should provide you with a set of
generally applicable tools which you can use in your own work.
AUDIT 1.1
At regular intervals through the book I shall ask a series of
questions in order to conduct an `audit' on an organization of
your choice. The prime objective in asking these questions will
obviously be to consolidate the theory which has just been
taught, by requiring you to apply it in practice.
How much effort you put into this depends on you. Some of the
questions will be easy to answer. Some may be very difficult
because of the way your organization operates. If a question
requires a disproportionate amount of work then ignore it or make
some reasonable assumptions instead. This `Audit' is fortunately
not a life-and-death exercise.
The questions will not, however, be totally independent. They
will gradually build up to give a picture of one aspect of the
organization, and ultimately of the whole organization, which may
be as valuable to you as the theory you have learnt in the
process. At times I shall suggest that you conduct more major
exercises, to bring together the material you have collected in
your answers to the previous questions, and to give a more formal
report on that aspect of the organization. This will eventually
lead to the complete marketing plan.
I suggest, therefore, that you write the questions and your
answers in a separate exercise book, with a page for each
question.
The first questions will be about you:
Why are you studying this book? (Alternatively, if the book forms
part of a taught course, why are you following the course?)
What are your objectives?
What will you hope to have achieved by the end of the book (or
course)?
What extra knowledge or skills do you want it to provide you
with?
Write down your answers. When you have finished this book come
back to these answers and see if the book has achieved not just
what I have set out to do but also what you wanted it to do. In
marketing the customer --in this case you --is king.
It is often quite difficult to put down in words exactly why you
are doing something and what your objectives are, but that is one
of the generally applicable lessons of marketing. Before you
invest considerable time and effort in anything, think through
your objectives fully. Here are some of the objectives that
students have previously had in studying such material:
to obtain a qualification
to understand what made marketing so important to their
organization
to be able to talk to those who carried out the marketing
functions
to be able to work in partnership with those in marketing
to be able to provide the best customer service
to add to their set of management tools
(Those of you who are in full-time business education will not,
of course, have the `luxury' of your own organization to study.
Fortunately you will, on the other hand, benefit from the support
of your marketing lecturer --who will more than compensate for
this shortfall. In this situation you may be advised to use
specific case studies for each set of `Audits', although such an
approach will not build up to the overall marketing plan.
Alternatively, you may be encouraged by your lecturer to use your
previous experience (with a previous employer, perhaps in
vacation employment) or to use one of the thoroughly documented
`single-case studies'. Whatever the outcome and whatever your
choice of approach, the later `Audits' will continue to refer to
`the organization'.)
Aims and Objectives
The aim of this book is to provide a comprehensive introduction
to the theory and practice of marketing, for both non-specialists
and newcomers to the discipline.
By the time you have completed the main sections, you should:
appreciate why marketing is so important for most organizations,
and what this means for their operations
understand the basic principles and main theories of marketing,
together with how these may be applied in practice
recognize the limitations of such theories, and the practical
remedies which may help overcome them
be able to understand the language used by marketing
practitioners, and assess the merits of their recommendations
be able to apply relevant marketing concepts and techniques to
the more general, departmental, problems elsewhere in the
organization
Marketing has been in existence for a number of millennia; ever
since people first started to barter the surpluses they had
accumulated. For most of that time, though, it has been seen as a
peripheral activity; because, in subsistence economies, such
surpluses represented a relatively small part of the total.
After the Industrial Revolution made such surpluses more
commonplace, the `marketing' of these became the province of the
`salesman', with his specialized skills.
Jones and Monieson - 4 - suggest that the first academic
discussions of `marketing' can be traced back to the turn of the
century; to, for instance, the E. D. James series of articles in
'Mill Supplies ' between 1911 and 1914.
However, in the wider sphere of 'practical ' business
management, it was only after 1945 that the newly fashionable
advertising agencies began to redefine the discipline in a way
which came close to the modern concept of marketing. The 1950s
may be seen as the decade of advertising: the influence of the
agencies peaked and their clients appointed advertising managers
to control this newly discovered resource.
Indeed, it was arguably only at the beginning of the 1960s that
marketing in its modern form, based upon a customer focus (in
particular, making extensive use of market research to
investigate customers' needs and wants), emerged on the scale
that we now witness. This decade represented the heyday of the
`pure' marketing manager -- and, especially, of the few pioneers
who became brand managers, at the pinnacle of a new profession.
Almost all of these pioneers, however, practised techniques which
had been learned by a practical apprenticeship, rather than by
the study of classroom theory.
The discipline matured in the 1970s as, led by Philip Kotler's
seminal text 'Marketing Management ',- 5 - first published
in 1967, the ideas which had developed from practical experience
were codified. Marketing became `routinized' as an increasingly
important function of management. Wolf and Smith- 6 - chart
another aspect of marketing's progress during this time: `... the
influence of the field waned in the turbulent 1970s when
strategic planning ascended. This change forced management to
concentrate on reacting to environmental changes and
consolidating competitive positions to conserve scarce
resources.' These are elements which have now been incorporated
into modern marketing.
In the 1980s, however, marketing lost much of its previous self-
confidence. Not least in terms of the new ideas being developed,
the attention moved to more aggressive techniques with a more
immediate payback; including derivatives of those developed by
Michael Porter - 7 - in his 'Competitive Strategy ' which,
however, conveniently ignored his longer-term perspectives.
We can summarize this historic progression diagrammatically:
as shown by Warren Keegan - 8 - who summarized the changes as follows:
By 1980 it was clear that the `new' concept of marketing was
outdated and that the times demanded a strategic concept. The
strategic concept of marketing, a major evolution in the history
of marketing thought, shifted the focus from the customer or
product to the firm's external environment. Knowing everything
there is to know about the customer is not enough. To succeed,
marketers must know the customer in a context which includes the
competition, government policy and regulation, and the broader
economic, social and political macro forces that shape the
evolution of markets.
As the recession at the end of the 1980s hit company profits, marketing activity - correctly seen as a long-term investment (but incorrectly seen as expendable in the short-term) - was often reduced as part of organisation-wide cost-saving measures. The attention, indeed, moved back to internal activities, where cost reductions - the new focus of senior management - could most easily be made. As the general loss of confidence continued into the 1990s - even after the recession itself had finished - marketing continued to take something of a back seat in many organisations.
Beneath the surface, however, there was significant activity at the leading edge; and support for some of the most cherished theories was being discretely downgraded. The battle for (management) minds had already been won; apart from a small minority (less than 20%) in the public sector who remained convinced that they knew what was good for their clients, the vast majority of managers accepted - without reservation - that the customer's needs and wants had to be paramount; even if - as was typically the case - they then did not know what to do to implement this philosophy!
In academic circles, at least, the leading edge researchers were questioning the viability of the main predictive models - including such basics as the Product Life Cycle[1] and Boston Matrix[2]. It was suggested that these were often misleading, and should be replaced by more practical, and pragmatic, theories which aimed to offer practitioners a framework for decision-making. Thus, when business confidence rebounds, as it inevitably will in the second half of the decade, it seems likely that this more practical approach may come to the fore; not unreasonably when, as our own research shows, managers want - above all - practical frameworks to help them take the decisions rather than predictions to usurp their role. It is, therefore, this philosophy - empowering managers to take their own decisions - which permeates much of the thinking in this book.
ACTIVITY 1.1
As we go through the book I shall occasionally ask less rigorous
questions which are independent of the organization, and which
will not build on one another.
The first of these `activities' will test your appreciation of
the relation between marketing and economics. The question to be
answered (without a great deal of research) is:
How would 'you ' define `the discipline of the market'?
Is it something remote, impersonal, which does not directly
affect your life; one of those grand phrases which you read in
the newspapers, but which seem to have no bearing on everyday
life? Or do you automatically think of a political explanation,
in terms perhaps of the traditional confrontation between right
and left? Or do you think of economics -- and, possibly, rather
esoteric theory? Or is it something which impacts directly upon
your business life?
We will return to address this question from the viewpoint of
economics in chapter 4.
What is Marketing?
Even so, despite wide acceptance of the overall concept, marketing is a widely used term which is often very misused and
misunderstood -- it has come to mean many things to many
different people.
ACTIVITY 1.2
To set the context for what follows, by getting you to appreciate
your preconceptions or prejudices, the second question is
deceptively simple:
What is marketing?
The definitive answer (or, as it will turn out, answers) to the
question `What is marketing?' will occupy several pages. But the
essence of what marketing is, even if it is not a complete or
definitive description, can be drawn out as follows.
'The key aspect of marketing is an attitude of mind. It
requires that, in taking `marketing' decisions, the manager looks
at these from the viewpoint of the customer. These decisions will
thus be driven by what the customer needs and wants '.
Much of what management does is concerned with taking decisions
which revolve around how the products or services of the
organization can be made to match the customer needs and wants;
the definitions which come in the next section allow for this.
But the most difficult part of marketing, the key to success, is
that of adopting that customer's viewpoint. Tom Peters, the co-
author of one of the best-selling management books of all
time - 11 - , puts it more dramatically. He states that if you
simply offer your customers the normal courtesies then you will
start out ahead of most other organizations.
The next section explores a range of the more complex definitions
of marketing. This at first may seem confusing. The intention,
though, is to illustrate the spectrum of opinions and by this
process to build up a picture of what marketing practice is
likely to cover.
The classic Western definition, summarized by Philip
Kotler - 12 - is:
Marketing is human activity directed at satisfying needs and
wants through exchange processes.
It is a complex issue, however. Even Kotler, who is one of the
acknowledged leaders of marketing theory, has found the subject
increasingly complex; for by the seventh edition of the book
(1991) his definition was elaborated to:
Marketing is a social and managerial process by which individuals
and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and
exchanging products and value with others.
In the UK a very similar definition was given by the Chartered
Institute of Marketing:
Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying,
anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.
Marketing theory, like much business theory, is far from an exact
science. There is always scope for different interpretations. For
example, Kenichi Ohmae - 13 - says of Japanese business
strategy in general:
What business strategy is about -- what distinguishes it from all
other kinds of business planning -- is, in a word,
'competitive ' advantage. Without competitors there would be
no need for strategy, for the sole purpose of strategic planning
is to enable the company to gain, as efficiently as possible, a
sustainable edge over its competitors.
To some Western ears this is a very aggressive interpretation
(even if it does chime with the widely accepted views of Michael
Porter) - 14 - and it does not directly mention the `customer'
at all. But even here `competition' implies that the customer is
king; since he, and he alone, can decide the 'winner ' of the
competition.
This is, however, probably an overstatement. Kotler and
Fahey - 15 - make the following important observation:
Japanese marketing strategy, strangely enough, is not based on
the discovery of new and fresh marketing principles. Japan's
secret is that they thoroughly understand and apply the existing
textbook principles. The Japanese came to the United States to
study marketing and went home understanding its principles better
than most US companies did.
A very different approach to the `competitive' Japanese view was
taken by some writers in the later 1980s, when `ethics' had
become a major subject at a number of leading business schools.
Peter Bennett - 16 - suggests development in this vein:
A 'societal marketing orientation ' adds an additional
consideration to the marketing concept: the impact of a firm's
activities on society.
Yet another approach defines it in terms of the `functions' that
marketing incorporates. Thus, for example, Lewis and
Erickson - 17 - illustrate this view by means of a diagram
(figure 1.2).
'The key element of all marketing is that, unlike almost all
other business activities, it is outward-looking; it is firmly
centred on the customer '. This is sometimes described as the
`outside-in' view. It is described particularly well in these
terms by Gareth Morgan, - 18 - who requires that the managers
involved should adopt the perspective of looking (with the
customer'3 eye-view) from the outside, inwards towards the
organization itself. We shall see that these concepts -ay be
applied to almost all types of organization; even those non-
profit-making organizations which have traditionally viewed
themselves as apart from normal commercial processes. The needs
and wants of the `customer' (/r `client') should almost always be
paramount: the difference -- and the difficulty -- for such
organizations, is deciding who their customers (or clients) are,
and what are their needs and wants.
Peter Drucker - 19 - stated the position even more
comprehensively:
Every business can be defined as serving either customers or
markets or end users.
Finally, Michael Baker - 20 - points out one frequent source of
confusion, when he states that `marketing is both a philosophy of
business and a business function ... a state of mind concerning
the optimum approach to business, and the activities whereby such
ideas are translated into practice ...'. We have, indeed, seen
examples of both in the preceding definitions. He also widens
coverage of the activities (though not the view-point) even
further - 21 - when he suggests that `real marketing has four
essential features', which he lists as:
1. Start with the customer.
2. A long-run perspective.
3. Full use of all the company's resources.
4. Innovation.
To simplify matters, I believe the best practical metaphor for
marketing is a 'dialogue ': this is a metaphor I shall
develop throughout the book. Like any sales professional who is
actually in face-to-face contact with his or her customer, the
marketer must communicate the sales points that need to be made,
even though it must often be by indirect means such as
advertising. More important, though, like any good sales
professional, the marketer should spend most of the time
'listening ' -- in this case probably through marketing
research: the marketer who listens to his or her customers (and,
indeed, understands their viewpoint) is the most effective
manager. If you have any doubt, therefore, as to what might be
good marketing, simply think of it in the context of this
dialogue: would it work face-to-face with the customer?
This is undoubtedly a gross simplification. Even so, it
represents a basic concept which encapsulates much of what
marketing is about -- whereas more detailed explanations often
obscure the underlying truth.
On the other hand, one thing that this simple definition, in
common with the other definitions above, fails to emphasize is
the long-term aspect of marketing: that of building enduring
relationships (or even partnerships) with customers.
Christian Gronroos - 22 - however, summarizes recent
European developments in his definition:
Marketing is to establish, maintain and enhance long-term
customer relationships at a profit, so that the objectives of the
parties involved are met. This is done by mutual exchange and
fulfilment of promises.
AUDIT 1.2
Does your own organization subscribe to any of these views? If
not, how would you describe its views? What are the implications
of its views for its marketing activities? What do you think its
view 'should ' be?
With its recognition of the long timescales and the involvement
of both sides in the process, this offers -- I believe -- a
richer starting point for future developments.
Indeed, successful marketing practice demands this quite specific attitude of mind; but even then it is useful to distinguish two separate levels of approach. Thus, marketing can be seen as simultaneously a relationship with the customer, based upon a series of transactions which - over time - should result in mutual benefit, and a parallel dialogue between you and the customer(s), which communicates the information necessary to define that 'relationship'.
These general processes may become clearer if I describe the special situation of a salesperson (in a shoe shop, say) making a sale of one product as a result of one face to face contact - the supposedly classical sales situation. Here the 'relationship' is abbreviated to a single transaction, where the product (a pair of shoes) is exchanged for a sum of money, and there are no more elements to that relationship. Accompanying this is the 'dialogue', which in this special case is the conversation between salesperson and customer that builds up to that transaction (the sale/purchase of the pair of shoes). Typically, much of this dialogue is devoted to finding out what the customer needs and wants (what size, what colour, what style etc) rather then being devoted to persuasion as might traditionally be expected.
In a more general description, this dialogue is more complex. More individuals, especially others who may influence the decision to purchase, may enter the process and other media (letters and proposals, or the mass media, such as advertising) may be used. Still, the principle of the two-way dialogue (exploring what the customer wants, even if this is by marketing research rather than face to face) is much the same.
Similarly, the single transaction, in evolving to the more general 'relationship', becomes more complex in two directions. In the first, the elements within it become more diverse. There will be a number of separate transactions involved, not just one. Some of these may be obviously 'physical' in nature; the archetypal product sale. Others, though, may revolve around intangible exchanges, including - most intangibly of all - the corporate/brand image which is needed to reassure the customer. One way in which the description presented in this book departs from most others is that it expects some of these other transactions to flow from the customer, who will not just pay money for the goods - which is traditionally all that is expected of him or her - but will also commit a range of other elements; such as the time and effort involved in buying the product and using it (and perhaps learning to use it), possibly even the purchase of related items to enable the product to be used (or to be used more effectively), a commitment to the supplier (loyalty) etc.
The second aspect is that of time. The traditional single transaction takes no more than the few minutes that the brief dialogue lasts. In the more general model the more complex relationship, extending over multiple transaction3, similarly extends over time; and also develops over time. At the most basic level this recognises that in most markets the customers place repeat purchases with the same supplier; in which process customer loyalty is a major factor. The essence of this on-going relationship is, however, more than this. It is the investment made by both sides - such that the 'natural state' of the relationship is continuity. It is only in the exceptional condition, when the relationship breaks down, that it briefly 2eturns to the traditional single transaction mode.
Surprisingly, in view of its importance to both sides, this relationship over time - and the mutual 'investments' associated with maintaining and developing it - is little debated in conventional marketing theory!
These two elements, 'dialogue' and 'relationship', are external elements. Thus, while they may be defined in an unconventional way, they will be quite recognisable to the most traditionally minded marketer - since they clearly represent marketing links with the outside world, especially with customers. There is, however, a third leg to marketing practice which is the antithesis of traditional marketing - since it is totally internally oriented. This is the cross-functional co-ordination of the organisation's operations;
This third element is not considered by, and is by most definitions excluded from, conventional marketing theory. Yet it is seen by many practising managers as the most important aspect of marketing. It should be noted, though, that members of marketing departments - who it might be expected would welcome such an empire building definition - typically take a much more isolationist view! But for most managers, I repeat, it is this element which is seen as ensuring that the organisation delivers what it has promised.
These three legs combine to make up what may be defined as marketing practice. This compares with the more traditional approach, which has concentrated more mechanistically on a narrower set of discrete topics. Recently these have been most popularly defined as the 4 Ps which generally fall within the 'dialogue' and 'relationship' sections of my own definition above, but only cover parts of these.
To differentiate the more general, three-legged, this model is called the 'marketing triad' (or TRIAD for short - not to be confused, though, with Kenichi Ohmae's 'triad' of international markets)
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The three key elements of marketing are thus;
DIALOGUE - to establish what are the customer needs and to negotiate suitable solutions to these
RELATIONSHIP - investment in the effective external exchanges necessary to optimise these solutions, in practice, to the mutual benefit of both sides
CO-ORDINATION - management of internal operational resources across the whole organisation in order to deliver this relationship
Marketing and Internal Resources
As we have seen, most marketing theory emphasizes the necessity of starting with
the customer/consumer/client, and with his or her needs as the
prime focus of all marketing activity. In theory, at least, there
is excellent justification for this, as we saw in the earlier
section. In practice there may be even greater justification for
it, because most organizations are so preoccupied with their
internal problems -- and it takes a great deal of effort to shift
their attention from internal problems.
What, on the other hand, gets lost in this single-minded
concentration on the customer is the relationship with the
organization's internal resources. Much as the organization
cannot exist in isolation from its market, neither can it exist
in splendid isolation from the rest of the organization; although
that is often what marketing departments attempt. Marketing's
role is, after all, primarily to serve the 'organization ', even if its first task may then be to remind the organization
that it is also there (secondarily) to serve the customer.
Marketing has to work with those resources that are available, no
matter what the market may demand. Indeed, some of the most
spectacular failures have arisen from very strong marketing
visions, which drove their adherents to commit their
organizations beyond any reasonable exposure of their resources.
Laker Airways was immensely popular with its customers, but lost
hundreds of millions of dollars of its investors' funds. BCCI
earned the gratitude of many in the Third World, as the first
bank to take notice of their special needs, only to become the
subject of even wider opprobrium when it crashed.
Paradoxically, therefore, the starting point for the expert
marketer is, as we will see, the organization itself. The
important qualification here is the term `expert'; it requires
considerable expertise to examine these internal requirements
without being swamped by them. However, if you can justifiably
lay claim to this level of expertise, the process then becomes:
1 'Develop an understanding of what resources the organization
has at its disposal '. This requires a considerable degree of
sophistication, for the important resources are not those shown
on the balance sheet. Above all, it demands an understanding of
what the `product package' is; where this includes all the
service, and image, elements as well as the physical ones -- and
in the widest sense. IBM managed the transition from punched card
tabulators to mainframe computers because even its name embodied
the concept that its market was (International) Business Systems.
It had the necessary skills (along with the culture), but Exxon,
which tried to jump from oil to IT, had not -- and failed.
2 'Develop a suitable filter for marketing data '. This is
one of the most difficult stages. It requires that the marketer
focuses his or her attention, when looking at the outside world,
on just those aspects which are relevant to the organization's
future. It poses problems of `marketing myopia' (described in
more detail later in the book) whereby the marketer simply does
not see changes emerging because they are outside his or her
frame of reference (the `filter'). On the other hand, a tight
focus is very necessary in order for the marketer to be able to
handle the mass of data -- too much of this will simply swamp the
systems (with data overload). More importantly, a tight focus
means that every bit of input is transformed so that it is
immediately useful to the organization.
3 'Using this `filter' the marketer can move to find out about
the customer '. This is the conventional starting point for
marketing theory, which we examined in the previous section. The
difference is that the expert marketer conducts this examination
in the context of the lessons about the organization's resources
which he or she learned in the first two steps. This means that
the search for information is `informed'.
4 'Review the processes to date '. The next step, which
requires an extraordinary degree of professional detachment, is
to repeat steps 1-3; this time taking into account the lessons
learned overall. This may mean that the filter developed in stage
2 has to be modified in the light of what has since been
discovered in step 3. This iteration needs to be conducted
continuously. It is the step that marks out the really great
marketers. It required Ray Kroc to understand that the marketing
formula developed by a small hamburger restaurant in the
backwoods could be turned intk a world-wide McDonald's chain; and
Thomas Watson to recognize that a meat-scale manufacturer could
eventually become International Business Machines.
5 'Manipulate the organization's resources to achieve the
resulting marketing objectives '. Marketing theory, once more,
tends to assume that only the resources specifically made
available to the marketing department should be taken into
account. Expert marketers, on the other hand, recognize that all
the resources must be brought into play. Capturing resources
which are traditionally the prerogative of other departments is
very difficult, and often hazardous to one's career. But it can
pay massive dividends.
In this way, the key to successful, but 'expert ', marketing
is a very close relationship with the rest of the organization.
For those less expert, and that is the great majority, the
reverse is true! 'Thus, the first need for the less expert is
to distance yourself from the organization -- and that is the
posture you should adopt for the next few chapters '.
Complexity of Interaction and Timescales
Much of marketing theory assumes very simple relationships. This
makes the teaching of it easier, but does not prepare you for
real life. This is particularly true of the following four main
features.
1 'Multiple decision-makers '. In many buying situations
there is more than one person involved in the buying decision.
This is especially true of those customers in `industrial
marketing', but it can as easily apply to those in consumer goods
marketing. Even the purchase of a can of baked beans may need the
tacit agreement of the whole family; God help anyone who buys
beans, no matter how cheap, that the children do not like. Much
of marketing theory, though, assumes that the purchasing decision
is nicely isolated -- taken by the `buyer' alone.
2 'Multiple factors '. The purchase decision is often bundled
together with many other decisions. Thus, the decision on whether
to buy baked beans may depend upon whether there is any bread
available; the family simply will not countenance beans on
anything other than toast! It may depend upon what budget is
available, or on what higher priority items have already made a
claim to that budget.
3 'Interaction '. Perhaps one of the most unrealistic
assumptions is that the buyer takes the purchase decision in
isolation from the supplier. In many industrial decisions, as
well as in services, the most able purchasers -- along with the
most perceptive marketers -- now employ partnership techniques.
'Both ' sides are actively involved in the decision-making
processes. This is best evidenced by how the Japanese
multinationals -- and especially Marks and
Spencer -- work so closely with their suppliers that it is often
difficult to know where the boundary line is.
4 'Timescales '. Almost all marketing theory, and most
marketing practice, assumes a purchase decision which stands by
itself; without any influence from previous experience. This is
usually an unduly simplistic viewpoint. Even the purchaser of the
can of baked beans has a rich history of exposure to advertising,
and personal experience. Yet watch television almost any night
and you will see some brand being promoted on a totally different
platform from that of a few months ago -- the marketers having
made the, usually incorrect, assumption that there is no
historical effect.
The Structures of Marketing Theory
The previous section defined marketing in global terms. It should
not be assumed, however, that there is one vast homogeneous mass
of marketing activity, any one bit of which can be interchanged
with any other. In practice, there are many differences between
the various approaches, and the activities involved, across a
wide range of organizations. Indeed, as we saw earlier, the essence of marketing is the specific nature of many of the practical 'rules' which need to be applied to equally specific situations.
On the other hand, one of the first things you should come to
appreciate about a genuine, practical marketing approach to
problems is that it abhors `pigeon-holing' any situation neatly
into categories. Rather, it prefers to look at the customers'
'specific ' needs and wants. You will, however, also find
that such `pigeon-holing' is one of the first things that most
marketing theory actually adopts!
Frameworks are often a valuable aid to organizing ideas. Much of
the structure of marketing theory is organized as ` 'trees ''.
Each level is subdivided into a number of sub-levels, and these
in turn may be similarly subdivided. To help understand the
complexity of these linkages it is often useful to use simple
diagrams. This is also a very useful memory aid. This book
therefore makes use of such diagrams, but you should recognize
that this is a simplification intended to illuminate the ideas
rather than to define them.
The danger only arises when this process of pigeon-holing is
over-indulged and the categories are allowed to replace the
ideas.
The parallel of the family doctor is useful here. When you tell
him or her your symptoms, he or she will usually follow a form of
tree structure as an aid to diagnosis. If you have a temperature,
with a headache, a cough, drowsiness and aching in the limbs, you
may have a bout of influenza. If the doctor checks further,
however, and finds that you also have a slow pulse and a rash on
the upper abdomen you might have typhoid. One moral from this
analogy is that the doctor, who has spent a number of years
learning how to use these `trees', applies his or her expert
judgement to all the factors observed. The use of `trees' as a
guide to 'marketing ' diagnosis can be just as valuable; but
the whole picture must always be kept in mind.
In this current context, the pigeon-holes, the categories of
`marketing organization', can be derived frkm a number of bases;
some of which are meaningful in more general terms. In this way,
a multidimensional matrix can be built to suit almost any aspect
of marketing that you are investigating.
The main dimensions, which have the widest application across the
breadth of marketing activities, are as follows.
The basic dimension is often thought to relate to the `product'
itself. Is it a tangible product, such as a refrigerator, which
is manufactured in a factory by the supplier? Is it an intangible
service, such as a hairdresser, where the customer has no
tangible product to take away in a carrier bag?
In practice, as we shall see later, there are difficulties in
allocating organizations even on this apparently simple
dimension. Some products, such as personal computers, have a
great deal of `service' attached to them; the total `package' of
these sometimes being described as the `extended product'. On the
other hand, there are services (even the hairdresser mentioned
above) which are dependent upon physical products; the hair-care
treatments used are very important, and are clearly physical.
There are differences in the way in which organizations might
market a 'product ', which will often be promoted on the
basis of its physical features, as against a 'service ',
where promotion may be more associated with the quality of the
organization providing it.
In general, however, we shall come to see that the basics of
marketing are shared by both sorts of organization (although some
of the names used to describe the activities are confusingly
different).
Even within this overall categorization, marketers often presume
that there are significant differences between the various
product types. In the general category of consumer goods, for
example, there may be:
FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods), sometimes called
`consumables'. These are the archetypal `marketed' goods (that
is, those goods heavily advertised to build awareness, trial and
preference) such as groceries.
Durables, sometimes further subdivided into `white goods'
(refrigerators and cookers, for example) and `brown goods' (such
as furniture, as well as electrical/electronic devices). As the
`capital' goods of the personal sector, these require more
personal selling and support.
Individual consumer or corporate customer
Just as fundamental a split is that between sales made to
individuals --the archetypal consumer in the television
commercials --or to organizations. The latter case is often
described as 'industrial sales ' or 'business-to-business
selling '. Once again, there may be significant differences in
approach.
Individual consumers who buy the product for themselves or their
families will typically spend less, but each individual will be
the sole decision-maker. Their suppliers, the mass-consumer goods
companies, will largely have to deal with such consumers by
indirect means. This requires that the suppliers listen to the
consumers, finding out about their needs as averages and in
groups, by market research, and talking to them via
advertisements in the mass media.
Industrial sales, however, will often be made by a face-to-face
sales call, which can be afforded where the value of the
individual sale is higher. The call will be made on someone who
merely represents the buying organization and may not even be the
only decision-maker. It is the nature (and extended length) of
these negotiations, and the technical demands on the sales
professionals involved, which frequently offer the most
characteristic difference from consumer goods marketing.
On the other hand, as Leslie Rodger - 23 - says:
There is no difference in principle between industrial and
consumer products marketing. The difference is rather one of
emphasis in the way in which the elements of the marketing mix
are blended together to meet the particular needs of customers
who may be a few specialized purchasers or a mass of consumers.
The basic distinction lies in the purpose for which the goods are
bought, i.e. goods bought for organizational purposes rather than
for personal or family consumption.
Profit or non-profit
One of the divisions which causes the most soul-searching is that
between profit-making organizations and non-profit-making sectors
such as the National Health Service or voluntary organizations.
The former are easy to deal with. They are, at least in theory,
driven by the sole motive of making a profit; and good marketing
is an excellent way of increasing the bottom-line (profit)
figures.
On the other hand, employees of the non-profit sectors frequently
have difficulty in seeing how marketing (which is too often
associated in the public mind with hardselling advertisements for
fast-moving consumer goods, such as baked beans) is appropriate
to their own organization. Exactly how it may be of use will
become more obvious as we progress, but at this stage it is
necessary to point out that 'all ' organizations necessarily
have links with the outside world; such links are the stuff of
marketing. The government department which wishes to influence
motorists not to drink and drive will use market research to
discover the motivations of those who do, and the most effective
means of influencing them. It then uses the mass media to convey
those messages --in the process often becoming one of the
largest advertisers. But even the smallest charity has to decide
who its clients are, and what are their needs, before
communicating with them.
Kotler and Andreasen - 24 - summarize the position as follows:
Although nonprofit organizations seek to influence exchanges of
money for goods and services just like for-profit organizations,
what makes them unique is their concentration on exchanges
involving non-monetary costs on the one hand and social and
psychological perspectives and modified techniques.
However, non-profit organizations are not always as unaware of
marketing as some might believe. For instance, Laura
Cousins - 25 - found that in the UK 62 per cent of the non-
profit organizations she surveyed claimed to produce a written
annual marketing plan; this is in contrast with 57 per cent of
for-profit organizations.
Capital goods or consumables
If the product (or indeed the service) represents a major
investment, such as a domestic appliance in the home or a new
production line in the factory, and has a life measured in years,
then it can usually be assumed that the decision-making process
will be an extended one --often the province of face-to-face
selling, even in consumer markets.
Consumables, cans of beer or typewriter ribbons, on the other
hand, will be repeat purchases which may be undertaken almost
automatically: the marketer's job will typically be to change
these repeat-buying patterns through the messages delivered in
the mass media.
Intermediaries or end-users
As we shall see later, many of the marketing processes use
intermediaries, such as retailers, to convey the product or
service to the end-user or consumer; these intermediaries
themselves represent a significant proportion of the whole
service sector, and they iake very different demands on the
product or service. They will be --at least according to Western
`capitalist' theory --seeking profit, together with a match to
their own marketing needs.
` 'High tech ''
Some experts claim that the markets for high technology are
rather different, particularly in that they are characterized by
rapid change and high uncertainty.
'Small firms '
It is arguable that small firms are just as susceptible to
marketing solutions as large ones. The difference is that they
usually do not have the resources or expertise to exploit
marketing in its most sophisticated forms and, in any case, would
be unlikely to have anything other than a limited impact on their
environment. Carson and Cromie - 26 - say that small firms have
a `distinctive marketing style':
There is little or no adherence to formal structures and
frameworks ... the marketing style can be described as an
`involved' one which relies heavily on intuitive ideas and
decisions and probably most importantly on common sense.
On the other hand, common sense is a very valuable commodity in
marketing; and the proprietors in such small businesses are
usually much closer to their customers than many marketing
managers.
There are other dimensions which may be particularly important to
specific sectors; for example, whether or not the sector is
largely controlled by government intervention or legislation, as
is the ethical pharmaceuticals industry. It should also be
apparent, from the five main dimensions, that a five-dimensional
matrix is needed to handle all of these; and this will have in
excess of 30 categories or pigeon-holes, ranging from the corner
grocer, an intermediary who provides very consumable products to
end-users, through to a government department, which is a
non-profit organization that uses a wide range of intermediaries
itself to provide a service to wide sectors of industry.
Fortunately, most of these different categories of organization
have more marketing theory and practice in common than that which
separates them. Indeed, most of the marketing activities
described in this book are widely applicable. Even `pricing',
which should surely have little relevance for non-commercial
organizations, turns out to offer them many lessons.
At this stage I shall introduce some theoretical material by way
of illustration. As with most of the subsequent theory, there is
no need to understand the exact details; you should simply get a
general impression of what is being laid out. In this case, I am
quoting Fern and Brown, - 27 - who conducted a very thorough
search of the literature to establish what various authors have
held to be the key differences between two supposedly very
different groups (individual consumers and industrial buyers).
They record that there are at least 27 different, expert, views
of what separates the groups. The conclusion they come to (albeit
a controversial one) is that the differences within the groups
(between, for example, consumers buying convenience foods and
those buying a car) are more important than those between the
groups (between, say, a consumer buying a packet of cornflakes
and a manager ordering a replacement stock of stationary).
Although this is somewhat controversial it is a view which I
would at least partially support.
The message is simply that there is probably more theory in
common than is often allowed for, even if the names applied to
the elements of the theory are different in different
industries.
Indeed, one aspect of conventional marketing theory which has
come in for some criticism in recent years is its relative
neglect of the timescales involved. There has been a tendency, at
least in the theory, to concentrate upon the single transaction.
It is argued by some theorists that the reality is that even
purchasing of `consumables' (FMCG, for instance) should be viewed
in the context of a whole series of such transactions. In this
context, the buyer is not isolated from historical experience,
but is well aware of, and possibly dominated by, the habits that
he or she has developed over time. This psychological investment
in `brand loyalty' may be high, comparable in influence with the
high financial investments involved in some industrial purchases.
Certainly, the longevity of the brand life-cycle - 28 -
indicates that there is high level of investment in the brand
itself. This investment is not easily displaced, as conventional
marketing theory might hold, by short-term promotional activities
in the marketplace.
Most marketing may, therefore, be more realistically viewed in
the context of the longer timescales, with relatively high
investment levels by purchasers as well as vendors. The
definition by Christian Gr<148>nroos,- 29 - quoted earlier,
hinted at this aspect of marketing, and this aspect of the subject will be investigated in some detail in later chapters.
AUDIT 1.3
Which of these categories, if any, does your own organization
fall into? How might this determine its specific marketing needs?
Does this categorization adequately describe the nature of your
organization? If not, why not? (If you have difficulty with the
second question because you are in one of the non-profit
organizations, then leave it until later.)
The Marketing Mix
Having determined what the customer needs or wants, what can the
marketer do to satisfy these requirements?
We can initially consider two aspects to this. The first is the
product, or service, itself. This is ultimately what the customer
will decide on; and then determine whether it matches his or her
needs. The marketer must, therefore, match the `product' to those
needs as closely as possible. This may be accomplished by
radically changing the product, or just changing its features or
its packaging, or even by describing it in a different way.
The second aspect is the delivery system. The producer must get
the product or service to the customer, and even before that he
or she must get the message of the product to the prospective
purchaser or client.
There are a number of ways in which these separate aspects may be
categorized; once again the potentially problematic pigeon-holing
tendency of marketing comes into play. Many business schools now
use the framework of the 4 Ps (as proposed by E. Jerome
McCarthy): - 30 -
The first two Ps are, in effect, the product-related elements.
Perhaps influenced by economics, Price is split off as an element
worthy of separate consideration; although this may, in many
cases, over-emphasize its importance.
The other two Ps are parts of the delivery system: `Place' is
about delivering the physical product or service; Promotion is
about delivering the `sales message'.
ACTIVITY 1.3
Think about some of your own recent purchases (for example, a
house, car, video, insurance policy, train tickets, newspaper
etc.). For each of these, what was the relative importance of
each of the 4 Ps, of the product itself, its price, the place
where you bought it and the way in which it was promoted? Rank
your estimates of importance in each case from 1 (not important
at all) to 5 (very important). What conclusions do you reach
about the different purchases, and what does it say about the 4
Ps?
If you are a typical consumer you should find that the factors
which played the most important part in each of these decisions
will have varied, depending on the nature of the purchasing
decision to be made. If you are honest with yourself you may even
find that the factors which mattered most were not the ones you
might have expected. For example, perhaps price was not the most
important: in a house purchase, place might be much more
significant. The deciding factor in the purchase of a hi-fi might
have been the product characteristics rather than price; or at
least, if you are honest, perhaps the product characteristics
(including the brand name) as promoted by the supplier might have
swung the balance.
It is worth repeating, however, that real life may be (and often
is) more complex than the 4 Ps allow for; and, as a result of the over-simplicity inherent in their use, many academics now question the use of the 4Ps for anything other than a very broad framework.
The over-simplicity of the 4 Ps approach is most obvious in the
services sector. Booms and Bitner- 32 - therefore suggest the
addition of a further three Ps:
(Fig 1.3 deleted)
'People '. People often 'are ' the service itself. This
is probably the most important difference across most of the
service sector.
'Process '. How the service is delivered to the consumer is
frequently an important part of the service. In particular, the
quality controls which are built in are typically the only
guarantee that the service will consistently meet the standards
the consumer demands.
'Physical evidence '. This could, with some justification, be
considered to be part of the `product package' (and, indeed, is
discussed in chapter 7). On the other hand, it is so important in
the case of services, adding the tangible (the design of the
retail outlet and its electronic facilities, say) to the
essentially intangible, that it is argued that it should be
considered separately by service providers.
Industrial markets
The differences between consumer markets and industrial markets
are usually more apparent than real. The balance of the marketing
mix is one factor which is likely, though, to be significantly
different for each. For example, more emphasis given to direct
contact (revolving around face-to-face selling) in industrial
markets, as opposed to the indirect techniques (of marketing
research and advertising) used in most consumer markets. Those
differences which remain arise largely because of the disparity
in the costs of contacting the customer personally --and not
because of any more basic differences in approach.
Criticism of the 4 Ps approach
It should be recognized, however, that the 4 Ps offer just one,
albeit frequently used, w!y of approaching marketing. Some
pundits may argue for less, as did Albert Trey, - 33 - who
proposed just two factors --the `offering' (product, price and
so on) and `methods and tools' (such as distribution and
promotion). Other writers argue for the need to subdivide these
categories further; differentiating, for example, between `sales'
and `advertising' as forms of `promotion'.
At the other extreme, Godley, - 34 - in the days before the
simplification offered by the 4 Ps became popular, identified ten
major factors in the marketing mix.
'Perhaps the most significant criticism of the 4 Ps approach,
which you should be aware of, is that it unconsciously emphasizes
the inside--out view (looking from the company outwards), whereas
the essence of marketing should be the outside--in
approach '. - 35 -
Having made these important caveats, the 4 Ps offer a memorable
and quite workable guide to the major categories of marketing
activity, as well as a framework within which these can be used.
It is an approach used in many business schools, and is the one
that this book will often adopt.
AUDIT 1.4
Which of the 4 Ps most preoccupies your organization? On the
other hand, which do you think its customers might regard as the
most important --and why? What might be the implications? How
would 'you ' rank each of the 4 Ps in importance, in the
context of your organization's needs and those of its customers
--and why?
`Selling' has long suffered from a tarnished image. It is,
indeed, true that dubious selling practices may occasionally
result in a sale if the customer is particularly gullible. But it
is arguable that, even then, only good marketing (which
encompasses a far wider range of skills, with an almost
diametrically opposed motivation) 'will lead the customer to
buy again from the same company '. Organizations seldom profit
from single purchases made by first-time customers. Normally they
rely on repeat business to generate the profit that they need.
Much of the selling effort of the well organized marketing
function will be directed towards keeping down the number of
dissatisfied customers. In such organizations, feedback from the
market will alert the company to the main reasons why customers
do not buy again; such feedback will lead if necessary to an
improvement or modification of the product or service. Effective
selling is not about half-truths or overrated claims --these
practices are almost always counter-productive in the longer
term.
This highlights the `contest' between marketing (or `market
orientation') and selling (or `product orientation'), which has
been a source of some controversy since the 1950s. Many of the
criticisms of selling are still valid, since there are many poor
salesmen and almost as many poor sales managers. But it is also
true to say that the good sales managers and salesmen,
particularly those involved in industrial selling (now often
called `sales professionals') have long recognized and supported
the basic tenets of sound marketing.
On the other hand, you should also be aware that the word
`marketing' is often used as an `honorary' title, adopted by
those who are in reality engaged exclusively in pure selling
activities. For example, over a number of years the term
`marketing executive was applied to salespeople in general. Even
as early as 1964, Peter Drucker - 36 - observed:
Not everything that goes by that name deserves it. But a
gravedigger remains a gravedigger even when called a `mortician'
--only the cost of the burial goes up. Many a sales manager has
been renamed `marketing vice-president' --and all that happened
was that costs and salaries went up.
The argument has, unfortunately, also become confused by being
associated with the use of certain techniques. In particular,
`marketing' has tended to be associated with market research at
one end of the spectrum and advertising at the other. This may
have some validity in the consumer field, but breaks down in
other areas. Thus, for example, in the mainframe divisions of IBM - at the height of that corporation's success - relatively little conventional market research or advertising was undertaken. On the other hand, its salesmen (often heading teams of support personnel) spent months finding out (in far more depth than any market research ever could) exactly what the
'individual ' customer wanted. Its technical teams then spent
as many months building the unique product that was exactly what
the customer wanted. It is arguable that there could be no closer
match to perfect marketing; even though everyone involved
believed that they were selling, not marketing.
Bower and Garda - 37 - suggest seven common elements which
distinguish marketing-based companies:
1. The use of market share, rather than volume, as the primary
measure of marketing success (although if they ignore the cost of
acquiring share, profits will be unsatisfactory).
2. The understanding and use of market-segmentation principles.
3. The process for monitoring customer needs, usage, and trends,
as well as competitive activity --that is, market research.
4. A structure or process for coordinating all nonmarketing
functions toward the achievement of marketing goals.
5. A set of specific marketing goals and targets.
6. A corporate style and culture where marketing plays a key
role.
7. A market-based business concept that provides unique value to
the customer.
All of these topics will be addressed in the later chapters.
'The key point is that `selling' is inward-looking, persuading
the customer to take what you have got (your product, hence the
`product orientation'). It also implies that product development
is detached from the marketplace. Only when the product is ready
is there a search for a market, for customers to persuade. On the
other hand, `marketing' is outward-looking, trying to match the
real requirements of the customer (or `market', hence the `market
orientation'). The company looks for market opportunities and
creates product solutions in response '.
The two approaches are contrasted by Philip Kotler - 38 -
(figure 1.4).
In practice, a mix of both approaches is often used. It is a very
poor salesman who does not, albeit instinctively rather than as a
matter of theory, use sound marketing principles when questioning
a customer to find out what he wants. Equally, it is a fortunate
marketer who can produce the new product to match exactly the
(Fig 1.4 near here)
discovered gap in the market; most new products emerge from non-
marketing processes and are only then opportunistically matched
to markets.
Customer centred versus organization centred
In the specific context of non-profit organizations, Kotler and
Andreasen - 39 - distinguish `customer-centred organizations'
(those that meet the `ideals' of marketing), defining them as
follows:
A 'customer-centred organization ' is one that makes every
effort to sense, serve, and satisfy the needs and wants of its
clients and publics within the constraints of its budget.
They contrast these with those which are `organization-centred',
in which a number of attitudes exist, including:
1. The organization's offering is seen as inherently desirable.
2. Lack of organizational success is attributed to customer
ignorance, lack of motivation, or both.
3. A minor role is afforded market research.
4. Marketing is defined primarily as promotion...
Fortunately, as our own research[3] shows, the great majority (more than 80%) of organisations have now learned the central lesson of marketing, and are 'customer-centred'.
AUDIT 1.5
Who `sells' and who `markets' in your organization? Does the
organization have a salesforce, and is this involved in the wider
aspects of marketing? Does it have a formal marketing department;
or is this function handled by another department; or is this a
courtesy title given to something that is really the sales
department?
How do their job functions and objectives differ? How are their
activities coordinated, if at all? Do you think the position
could be improved, and how?
(I shall often be asking you to think about how things might be
improved, since this is an excellent way of developing your
critical facilities.)
In setting the context for marketing it is important to
understand how it fits into the organization's overall corporate
strategy. The study of corporate strategy is now usually treated
as a separate academic discipline, although it is closely related
to the processes of marketing planning. Indeed, Bower and
Garda - 40 - comment:
We are now coming to see marketing as a business subsystem in
itself, encompassing product and market selection, product
strategy (the breadth and depth of the product line offered to a
given market, as well as the design of each product), pricing
policy, channel strategy, advertising and promotion, and after-
sales service. Beyond this we are beginning to recognize
marketing as an integrative function --a view of serving
customers that drives the entire organization's way of doing
business and influences decisions along the full range of
business activities.
In a very simplified form, the corporate planning process might
be represented as the figure opposite.
The input into the corporate strategy processes can thus be
conveniently separated into two streams. The first, the internal
elements (such as production and finance), are those upon which
many organizations, and many people within each organization,
concentrate their efforts.
The second element comprises the external elements, including
`marketing' in its broadest sense. There are a number of
external, environmental influences which can impinge on an
organization, such as the prevailing social and economic climate
and, more directly, the accompanying legislation.
In any organization which claims to be `marketing-oriented' the
market has to be the starting point for any process of strategic
planning. Indeed, the strategic planning process in such
organizations usually revolves around the marketing strategy and
planning processes. It is for this reason that marketing planning
processes are often almost indistinguishable from those of
corporate strategy itself.
At this stage all that you need to realize is just how intimately
the marketing planning process may be tied into the
organization's overall strategic processes. This will be
explained in considerably more detail in the final chapter.
Before we start to explore the complexities of the whole planning
process, however, we shall look at the separate components which
are integrated within it. We shall start with the processes
(typically revolving around marketing research) which reveal the
needs of the customer (and hence of the market), before moving on
to the `product/service' elements which build up to the offering
which is then tailored to meet those needs, and finally to the
promotional techniques used to communicate the messages to that
customer:
In the simple dialogue model that we looked at earlier these
elements can be considered to be first those related to
`listening' (to the customers), before considering what actions
are needed, and then `talking' (to them):
The chapter headings of this book, which broadly follow the above
scheme, are (in abbreviated form):
(diagram changed to reflect new chapter structure)
As you can see from this diagram, there is a logic to the
sequence of the chapters which should help you build a
comprehensive and understandable picture of marketing as a whole.
It is also broadly in line with the 4Ps approach which, after examining customer needs, moves through product decisions to those relating to pricing and promotion. However, you will also see that not all the chapters will be equally applicable to all readers.
In order to provide some context for later chapters, I shall now
briefly refer to the `product' (as well as the service), since it
is the demand for this which the marketer is trying to optimize.
On the other hand, it is a basic, and oft-quoted tenet of the
sales profession that `Customers don't buy products ... they seek
to acquire benefits.'
Behind this statement lies a basic principle of successful
marketing: when people purchase products they are not motivated
in the first instance by the physical attributes of the product,
but by the benefits that those attributes offer.
An indication as to what actually (tangibly and intangibly) makes
up a product can be found by looking closely at the difference
between what customers appear to buy and what they actually want.
To take an example --which is a favourite of many marketers --
when customers buy a 2 mm drill, what they really want is a 2 mm
hole. The drill vendor is in grave danger of losing his business
when a better means of making holes is invented --a phenomenon
which has led to the demise of many businesses. In the 1960s
Theodore Levitt described the problem memorably as `marketing
myopia'. - 41 -
ACTIVITY 1.4
Why did you or your organization decide to buy this book? What
benefits did it promise?
You, or your organization presumably bought this book because it
implicitly promised to offer certain insights about marketing;
perhaps, rather more indirectly, you bought it because (as part
of a course) it was a necessary part of obtaining a business
qualification. You almost certainly did not invest money in it
solely because it was smartly packaged or amusingly written. In
other words, you or your organization were seeking specific
benefits not limited to the physical materials. If those benefits
could be offered to you more efficiently and cheaply by some
other product (such as a video course) or by some other training
method (such as a residential course) then you would probably
switch to one or the other, on the basis of their `perceived
value'. The supplier is selling a physical product (or a
service), but the customer is usually buying a set of intangible
benefits.
'The solution to this problem of perception is for both sides,
supplier as well as customer, to look at the product in the same
way, through the eyes of the customer '.
Even then there are pitfalls. Many sales trainers, for example,
teach salesmen not to sell features (the technical aspects of the
product) but to sell the benefits (what these mean to the
customer). Unfortunately, too many salesmen and sales trainers
then happily feel free to decide for themselves just what these
`benefits' are. These supplier-decided `benefits' may, in
reality, be just as much product features as the physical ones.
What decides a genuine benefit is that it is the customer who
should think of it in those terms.
Product or Service
As with many marketing courses run by business schools, much of
this book is based on a framework which derives from the concepts
applying most directly to the sale of physical products --more
specifically, to consumer goods. There are good reasons for this.
One is that describing what happens to physical, tangible
products is rather easier than applying the same descriptions to
the intangible. Perhaps the most important reason, however, is
that 'all ' students have had some contact with such
products, and will appreciate their main characteristics, albeit
as consumers rather than as marketers.
I recognize that this approach can sometimes be disconcerting to
students who work in the service sector (in particular, to those
who work in nonprofit-making organizations). Theodore
Levitt - 42 - suggests that `instead of talking of "goods" and
of "services", it is better to talk of "tangibles" and
"intangibles"; but the issue is much the same'. It is necessary
to restate, therefore, that in many cases where the term
`product' is used in this book the term `service' (or `service
product') could just as easily replace it. As you will come to
appreciate, many of the concepts, as well as many of the specific
techniques, will work equally well whether they are directed at
products or services. In particular, developing a marketing
strategy is much the same for products and services, in that it
involves selecting target markets and formulating a marketing
mix.
'The relatively few exceptions will be highlighted as the book
progresses '. The main differences, some of which 'are '
important in terms of the practical details of marketing, will be
explored in more depth as part of chapter 7.
As Levitt's paper suggests, marketing a physical product is often
more concerned with intangible aspects (frequently the `product
service' elements of the total package) than with its physical
properties. Charles Revson made a famous comment regarding the
business of Revlon Inc.: `In the factory we make cosmetics. In
the store we sell hope.' Arguably, service industry marketing
merely approaches the problems from the opposite end of the same
spectrum.
In the marketing of `services', adaptations and adjustments to
the basic theory may be required; and the marketing mix may have
to be revised to incorporate `people' resources.
'In all sectors of marketing, the customer (together with his
needs and wants) is the focus of attention '.
Marketing and service cultures
In recent years some service-sector organizations have been at
the forefront of marketing --ahead, indeed, of the leaders in
other sectors. In general, though, it has to be recognized that
much of service-sector management has been antipathetic towards
marketing. There have been a number of alternative reasons for
this:
'Lack of tangibility '. As I have already described, the very
intangible nature of services makes them less immediately
responsive to unsophisticated marketing techniques. It requires a
quantum leap in marketing sophistication to apply many of the
techniques. As Theodore Levitt - 43 - says:
The most important thing to know about intangible products is
that the customers usually don't know what they're getting until
they don't get it. Only then do they become aware of what they
bargained for; only on dissatisfaction do they dwell.
Satisfaction is, as it should be, mute. Its existence is affirmed
only by its absence.
'Lack of `mass' marketing '. Many service suppliers have a
structure based upon a network of relatively small local
branches, which are almost autonomous in their face-to-face
contact with their customers. There is, apparently, less need for
marketing communications; and rarely any central marketing group
strong enough to develop them.
'Lack of direct competition '. Some organizations, such as
the high street banks, have not seen their role as having
`customers'. At times they have behaved almost as if they
themselves were the customers. (As if those visiting banks, for
instance, had to sell themselves before the bank would accept
their business.) Such organizations have often been in the
fortunate position where the supply of their offering was swamped
by considerably more demand than could be met; so that their role
was to ration this scarce supply. Some organizations, such as the
utilities and local government, enjoy a legal monopoly; since any
other solution would be hopelessly inefficient. Finally, many
`non-profit' organizations do not see their role in terms of
competition with any other provider.
'Professional status '. Other groups of service providers
have long been organized into professions (lawyers, accountants
or dentists, for instance). Their `profession' therefore is the
predominant force, the focus of their `business' thinking; and,
due to its monopoly power, it often effectively removes direct
competition in the conventional sense --and with it marketing.
(Indeed, several professions have enacted rules which
specifically bar their members from almost every form of
marketing activity.) In addition, as a justification for their
monopoly power (and as a protection from any pressure to weaken
this position) these professions impose `ethical' constraints
which act against marketing in the traditional sense.
'Lack of management '. For a combination of the above
reasons, many organizations in the service sector have not
stressed the importance of management. Indeed, many of them have
de-emphasized it, focusing instead on `professionalism'. It has
only been in relatively recent years that the `science' of
management has been seen to apply to the service sectors in
general.
However, the above reasons are mainly self-imposed limitations.
They do not relate to any genuine problems inherent in marketing
itself.
Non-profit-making Organizations
Perhaps the area where there is the greatest difficulty in coming
to terms with marketing is that of non-profit organizations.
Possibly the main reason for this is that most of marketing
theory is described in terms of improving profit performance.
This use of profit as the main measure of marketing effectiveness
allows for a practical (and measurable) approach in commercial
organizations; but it obviously poses major problems for those
organizations which cannot measure their performance in such
terms.
One resulting problem, therefore, may be that some non-profit
organizations simply do not recognize the requirement to meet
their customers' needs.
What can replace `profit' in the non-profit context? The measure
most frequently suggested appears to be `match'. Thus, the non-
profit organization seeks, or should seek, to make the best match
between use of its resources and the needs of its customers or
clients. In this context, marketing is a means of optimizing this
`match', of most productively matching the resources available to
provide what the users need and want --exactly as in any
commercial operation.
One complication in the case of non-profit organizations may be
that there will be several types of `customer'. There are the
`clients' for the service, as well as those who `decide' who the
`clients' will be, and the `donors' of the funds to provide that
service. Each of these groups will have a different set of needs
and will need to be marketed to separately. As a result there may
be multiple objectives; and, in particular, activities may be
subject to public scrutiny.
AUDIT 1.6
To what extent do you consider that your organization's product
(or service) range --and the benefits that each product offers
--suits the wants of today's customers?
What conclusions can you draw from this information?
At this stage it might be useful to describe one further feature
which is often associated with the larger, and most
sophisticated, marketing-oriented organizations --that of brand
or product management. In theory this need not be a
marketing-oriented function; indeed, one might perhaps expect it
to be more related to a product-oriented approach, for its focus
is on the individual product. On the other hand, many managers
see `marketing' as the function that integrates operations at the
level below corporate strategy; with 5%[4] even seeing this as marketing's most important role!
Each product (or brand/product group) is the responsibility of
one product manager who is personally responsible for
coordinating all activities to do with that product (from
production through to marketing). Wolf and Smith - 44 - record
that:
Early on, it was conceived that the role of the product manager
was somewhat like that of a `little president' or `little general
manager' with bottom line responsibility for the brand managed.
The classical definition of a brand manager thus used to be that
he or she was `to the brand what the managing director was to the
company'. More cynically, brand managers have been heard to
complain that they carry all the responsibility with none of the
authority. Wolf and Smith - 45 - again report that the position
has moderated in recent years:
Although product managers remain enthusiastic champions of their
products, their role is now more of making recommendations than
making decisions. The product manager may control marketing
research, special promotions and minor decisions involving
advertising, but major decisions are more likely to be made at
higher levels.
In practice there are two main benefits to the brand/product
management approach:
'Cross-functional coordination/management '. The most direct,
and perhaps the most important, result is that each brand has
'all ' its activities coordinated so that they are optimally
managed, in terms of the needs of that 'brand '. The more
normal, functionally oriented, organization manages the
activities in terms of what is optimal for the 'function ',
which may be counter to the needs of the individual brands. The
product manager's central position in relation to other groups is
illustrated by Steven Lysonski - 46 - (figure 1.5).
Figure 1.5
'Consumer orientation '. This diagram also shows that a most
important, though indirect, marketing outcome is that the brand
manager typically becomes well aware of the consumer's needs and
preferences since that brand manager is continually at the focus
of all the brand-oriented information (much of which originates
from consumers). The resulting activities, which will mainly be
in the marketing area, thus tend to be more consumer-oriented
than in most other management structures (often more so than in
other marketing-oriented structures). It is for this reason that
`brand management' often results in better marketing
management--and is so closely associated with it.
A development of the brand manager approach - to take account of the growing power of some retailers - has been that of 'category management'. In this context, the manager - who may now focus almost as much on retailer needs as on consumer needs - manages products and activities across the whole category which is of interest to the retailer; aiming to optimise the retailer's profits as well as those of the producer.
FURTHER READING
Throughout this book I shall suggest other books which will
provide further information, should you wish to delve into
specific topics. They are those I feel may be of most use to
readers in general. The best advice is perhaps to visit a good
library (preferably one with a specialized section on marketing),
glance through the books on offer and select those which best
suit your own needs.
As you will have gathered from the many references to it in this
chapter, the most important book in the whole field of marketing
is undoubtedly 'Marketing Management ' by Philip Kotler
(Prentice-Hall, 7th edn, 1991). This has influenced a whole
generation of marketers, myself included. His book covers much
the same material, on a slightly narrower front but often in
greater depth about specific topics. It is firmly rooted in the
approach of the 1970s, but is none the worse for that, especially
where the techniques it describes are now returning to favour.
Although it is directed at marketing specialists, it is well
written and easily approachable even by more general readers.
Philip Kotler has also written another, more general marketing
book, 'Principles of Marketing ' (Prentice-Hall, 4th edn,
1989), aimed at a wider audience; but for the general management
audience the original 'Marketing Management ' is still the
most suitable. There are many other well-illustrated books, but these do not generally extend the range pf material offered by this book, or by Kotler.
The best complement for Kotler is the 'Handbook of Modern
Marketing ', edited by Victor P. Buell (McGraw-Hill, 1986).
With more than 1000 pages, and 80 chapters written by leading
experts, it covers most aspects of marketing in considerable,
expert, depth. Its price, however, matches this comprehensive
coverage.
For the UK reader, Geoff Lancaster and Lester Massingham's book
'The Essentials of Marketing ' (McGraw-Hill, 1988) uses more
representative examples in a framework which has a market
research bias.
Some books usefully concentrate on marketing in specific
`industry' sectors. Philip Kotler, for instance, collaborated
with Alan Andreasen to produce 'Strategic Marketing for
Nonprofit Organizations ' (Prentice-Hall, 1987), offering an
excellent introduction to marketing in these organizations. In
the specific field of marketing services 'The Marketing of
Services ' by Donald Cowell (Heinemann, 1984) gives excellent,
if now rather dated, coverage of the factors which distinguish
marketing in this sector.
One academic, Theodore Levitt (Harvard Business School's most
famous marketer) has written a number of particularly influential
papers. These are gathered together in 'The Marketing
Imagination ' (Free Press, 1986).
For regular contemporary updates to the subject, in `global'
terms, the most useful general periodical is probably 'The
Harvard Business Review ' (as it is in so many fields of
management); the very similar 'Sloan Management Review ' also
regularly offers excellent articles, as does 'Management
Decision '. For a more specialized approach the best vehicle is
likely to be the 'Journal of Marketing ' (the influential
marketing periodical of the American Marketing Association), but
be warned that this has at times described marketing in very
technical terms in recent years.
REFERENCES
In addition to the books recommended at the end of each chapter,
throughout the text you will also find references to material
from other books. At the simplest level these are simply an
indication that the fact or idea is derived from the work of that
person, but they are also intended as a starting point if you
wish to explore that topic further. Where possible, I have given
credit to those who have influenced my own thinking. I have not
been able to give equal credit to the many more whose work has
been subconsciously just as influential. The text is liberally
larded with quotations. This is partly because, where a reference
is made, I have tried to use the original author's own words,
without distorting them by my own prejudices. A full reference is
given in the first footnote; subsequent references within the
same chapter are given in abbreviated form. The first reference
can be located by referring to the index.
SUMMARY
The key components of this chapter, which you may wish to revise,
have been:
'Theory versus practice '. Marketing is a particularly
practical business `discipline'. Managers have to be very careful
in their use of the many theories on offer. 'What is
marketing? ' There are many definitions of marketing, but most
of them centre on the customer as the important focus of
decision-making and describe the `dialogue' between the producer
and the customer.
'Organizational structures '. Marketing varies somewhat,
depending upon the different circumstances within which it is
practised. The main dimensions or the factors which lead to these
differences are:
In reality there are very few significant theoretical, or even
practical, differences between the various groups; although the
balance within the promotional mix may favour more personal
selling in the case of industrial goods.
'Marketing mix '. The various elements of marketing which are
employed in marketing campaigns are often described in terms of
the 4 Ps:
This is a very simplistic framework, however, and can lead to
distorted perspectives if adopted too enthusiastically.
'Selling versus marketing '. Much of the popular stereotype
of marketing revolves around the excesses of `selling', which
does not as fully take into account the viewpoint of the
customer. Many organizations, however, have yet to adopt the true
marketing approach.
'Service versus product '. There are some genuine
differences, in detail, where marketing relates to services
rather than products, and these are described in later chapters.
There are, however, many more similarities even in the details,
and the principles are almost identical.
REVISION QUESTIONS
1. What is the definition of marketing as put forward by the UK's
Chartered Institute of Marketing? How does it differ from those
of Kenichi Ohmae or Michael Baker? How does it differ from that
of Christian Gronroos?
2. When did modern marketing evolve? What came before it? How has
it changed in the past two decades?
3. In marketing terms, what are the main differences between
individual consumers and corporate customers, and those between
purchases of capital goods and consumables?
4. What are the elements of the marketing mix? Into what four
categories are they traditionally grouped? What problems does
this grouping pose?
5. What differences are there in the case of services, and of
non-profit organizations?
6. How is marketing different from selling?
7. How does marketing relate to corporate strategy?
- 1 - Y. J. Wind, 'Product Policy: Methods and Strategy '
(Addison-Wesley, 1982).
- 2 - J. B. Quinn, H. Minzberg and R. M. James, 'The
Strategy Process ' (Prentice-Hall, 1988).
- 3 - G. L. Lilien and P. Kotler, 'Marketing Decision
Making ' (Harper & Row, 1983).
- 4 - B. D. G. Jones and D. D. Monieson, Early development of
the philosophy of marketing thought, 'Journal of Marketing ',
vol. 54 (1990).
- 5 - P. Kotler, 'Marketing Management ' (Prentice-Hall,
1st edn, 1967).
- 6 - J. Wolf and W. R. Smith, Market needs and market
changes, 'Handbood of Modern Marketing ', ed. V. P. Buell
(McGraw-Hill, 2nd edn, 1986).
- 7 - M. E. Porter, 'Competitive Strategy ' (The Free
Press, 1980).
- 8 - W. J. Keegan, 'Global Marketing Management '
(Prentice-Hall, 4th edn, 1989).
- 9 - G. Morgan, 'Riding the Waves of Change '
(Jossey-Bass, 1988).
- 10 - R. A. Garda, Comment [on the AMA Task Force on the
development of marketing thought], 'Journal of Marketing '
(October 1988).
- 11 - T. J. Peters and R. H. Waterman, 'In Search of
Excellence ' (Harper & Row, 1982).
- 12 - P. Kotler, 'Marketing Management ' (Prentice-Hall,
3rd edn, 1976).
- 13 - K. Ohmae, 'The Mind of the Strategist ' (McGraw-
Hill, 1982).
- 14 - Porter, 'Competitive Strategy '.
- 15 - P. Kotler and L. Fahey, The world's champion marketers,
'The Japanese Journal of Business Strategy ', vol. 3, no. 1
(1982).
- 16 - P. D. Bennett, 'Marketing ' (McGraw-Hill, 1988).
- 17 - R. Lewis and L. G. Erickson, Marketing functions and
marketing systems: a synthesis, 'Journal of Marketing ', vol.
33 (1969).
- 18 - G. Morgan, 'Riding the Waves of Change '.
- 19 - P. F. Drucker, 'Managing for Results ' (Heinemann,
1964).
- 20 - M. J. Baker, 'Marketing Strategy and Management '
(Macmillan, 1985).
- 21 - M. J. Baker, Organizing for planning; Marketing, 'The
Marketing Book ', ed. Michael J. Baker (Heinemann, 1987).
- 22 - Ch. Gronroos, Marketing redefined, 'Management
Decision ', vol. 28, no. 8 (1990).
- 23 - L. Rodger, The marketing concept, 'The Marketing of
Industrial Products ', ed. Norman A. Hart (McGraw-Hill, 2nd
edn, 1984).
- 24 - P. Kotler and A. R. Andreasen, 'Strategic Marketing
for Nonprofit Organizations ' (Prentice-Hall, 1987).
- 25 - L. Cousins, Marketing planning in the public and non-
profit sectors, 'European Journal of Marketing ', vol. 24,
no. 7 (1990).
- 26 - D. Carson and S. Cromie, Marketing planning in small
enterprises: a model and some empirical evidence, 'Journal of
Marketing Management ', vol. 5, no. 1 (1989)
- 27 - E$ F. Fern and J. R. Brown, The industrial consumer
marketing dichotomy: a case of insufficient justification,
'Journal of Marketing ', vol. 48 (Spring 1984).
- 28 - D. Mercer, Brand life cycles: intimations of immortality
(1992: research paper to be pubdished).
- 29 - Gronroos, Marketing redefined.
- 30 - E. J. McCarthy, 'Basic Marketing: a Managerial
Approach ' (Richard D. Irwin, 1981).
- 31 - J. Stapleton, 'How to Prepare a Marketing Plan '
(Gower, 4th edn, 1989).
- 32 - B. H. Booms and M. J. Bitner, Marketing strategies and
organisation structures for service firms, 'Marketing of
Services ', ed. J. Donnelly and W. R. George (American
Marketing Association, 1981).
- 33 - A. Trey, 'Advertising ' (Renold Press, 1961).
- 34 - C. G. A. Godley, Overall marketing management, 'The
Principles and Practice of Management ', ed. E. F. L. Brech
(Longman, 1975).
- 35 - Morgan, 'Riding the Waves of Change '.
- 36 - Drucker, 'Managing for Results '.
- 37 - M. Bower and R. A. Garda, The role of marketing in
management, 'Handbook of Modern Marketing ', ed. V. P. Buell
(McGraw-Hill, 2nd edn, 1986).
- 38 - P. Kotler, 'Marketing Management ' (Prentice-Hall,
7th edn, 1991).
- 39 - Kotler and Andreasen, 'Strategic Marketing for
Nonprofit Organizations '.
- 40 - Bower and Garda, The role of marketing in management.
- 41 - Th. Levitt, Marketing myopia, 'Harvard Business
Review ' (July--August 1960).
- 42 - Th. Levitt, Marketing intangible products and product
intangibles, 'Harvard Business Review ' (May--June 1981).
- 43 - Levitt, Marketing intangible products and product
intangibles.
- 44 - Wolf and Smith, Market needs and market changes.
- 45 - Wolf and Smith, Market needs and market chnages.
- 46 - S. Lysonski, A boundary theory investigation of the
product manager's role, 'Journal of Marketing ' (Winter
1985).
[1] Mercer, D (1993), A Two Decade Test of Product Life Cycle Theory, British Journal of Management, Vol 4, 269-274
[2] Armstrong, J Scott (1994), Effects of Portfolio Planning Methods on Decision Making: Experimental; Results, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Vol 1173-84
[3] D Mercer - research to be published
[4] D Mercer - research to be published
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