The Concept Of Strategic Marketing

Article Written By: paulabs

In its strategic role, marketing focuses on a businessandrsquo;s intentions in a market and the means and timing of realizing those intentions. The strategic role of marketing is quite different from marketing management, which deals with developing, implementing and directing programs to achieve designated intentions. To clearly differentiate between marketing management and marketing in its new role, a new term andndash; strategic marketing has been coined to represent the latter.

Within a given environment, marketing strategy deals essentially with the interplay of three forces known as the strategic three Cs: the customer, the competition and the corporation. Marketing strategies focus on ways in which the corporation can differentiate itself effectively from its competitors, capitalizing on its distinctive strengths to deliver better value to its customers. A good marketing strategy should be characterized by:

1.A clear market definition.

2.A good match between corporate strengths and the needs of the market.

3.Superior performance, relative to the competition, in the key success factors of the business.

Together the strategic three Cs form the marketing strategy triangle. All three Cs are dynamic, living creatures with their own objectives to pursue. If what the customer wants does not match the needs of the corporation, the latterandrsquo;s long-term viability may be at stake. Positive matching of the needs and objectives of the customer and corporation is required for a lasting good relationship. But such matching is relative and if the competition is able to offer a better match, the corporation will be at a disadvantage over time. In other words, the matching of needs between the customer and corporation must not only be positive, it must be better or stronger than the match between the customer and the competitor. When the corporationandrsquo;s approach to the customer is identical to that of the competition, the customer cannot differentiate between them. The result could be a price war that may satisfy the customerandrsquo;s but not the corporationandrsquo;s needs.

Marketing strategy, in terms of these three key constituents, must be defined as an endeavour by a corporation to differentiate itself positively from its competitors, using its relative corporate strengths to better satisfy customer needs in a given environmental setting. Thus marketing strategy is the creation of a unique and valuable position, involving a different set of initiatives. Thus, development if marketing strategy requires choosing activities that are different from rivals.

Strategic marketing did not originate systematically. The difficult environment of the early 1970s forced managers to develop strategic plans for more centralized control of resources. It happened that these pioneering efforts at strategic planning had a financial focus. Certainly, it was recognized that marketing inputs were required, but they were gathered as needed or were simply assumed. For example, most strategic planning approaches emphasized cash flow and return on investment, which of course must be examined in relation to market share. Perspectives on such marketing matters as market share, however, were either obtained on an ad hoc basis or assumed as constant. Consequently, marketing inputs, such as market share, became the result instead of the cause: a typical conclusion that was drawn was that market share should be increased in order to meet cash flow targets. The financial bias of strategic planning systems demoted marketing to a necessary but not important role in the long-term perspective of the corporation.

After only a few years, as strategic planning became more firmly established, corporations began to realize that there was a missing link in the planning process. Without properly relating the strategic planning effort to marketing, the whole process tended to be static. Business exists in a dynamic setting, and by and large, it is only through marketing inputs that perspectives of changing social, economic, political and technical environments can be brought into the strategic planning process. In brief, while marketing initially got lost in the emphasis on strategic planning, currently the role of marketing is better understood and has emerged in the form of strategic marketing.

About the Author

Dr. Paul Ulverston DBA MBA MA MSc BBA is an accomplished global marketing specialist who has led various blue-chip marketing teams within the FMCG, information technology, internet, media and telecommunications industries. He now works within the professional education industry and is a registered Professor at The Academy of Business Strategy URL LINKS The Academy of Business Strategy

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