Marketing management is the strategicorganizational discipline that focuses on the practical application of marketing orientation, techniques and methods inside enterprises and organizations and on the management of marketing resources and activities.[citation needed][1][2][3] Compare marketology,[4] which Aghazadeh defines in terms of "recognizing, generating and disseminating market insight to ensure better market-related decisions".[5]
In competitor analysis, marketers build detailed profiles of each competitor in the market, focusing on their relative competitive strengths and weaknesses using SWOT analysis. Marketing managers will examine each competitor's cost structure, sources of profits, resources and competencies, competitive positioning and product differentiation, degree of vertical integration, historical responses to industry developments, and other factors.
Marketing management often implies market research and marketing research to perform a primary analysis. For this, a variety of techniques are implemented. Some of the most common ones include:
A brandaudit is a thorough examination of a brand's current position in an industry compared to its competitors and the examination of its effectiveness. When it comes to brand auditing, six questions should be carefully examined and assessed:
How well the business's current brand strategy is working,
What the company's established resource strengths and weaknesses are
What its external opportunities and threats are
How competitive the business's prices and costs are
How strong the business's competitive position in comparison to its competitors is
What strategic issues are facing the business
When a business conducts a brand audit, the goal is to uncover the business's resource strengths, deficiencies, best market opportunities, outside threats, future profitability, and its competitive standing in comparison to existing competitors. A brand audit establishes the strategic elements needed to improve the brand position and competitive capabilities within the industry. Once a brand is audited, any business that ends up with strong financial performance and market position is more likely than not to have a properly conceived and effectively executed brand strategy.
A brand audit examines whether a business's share of the market is increasing, decreasing, or stable. It determines if the company's margin of profit is improving, or decreasing, and how much it is in comparison to the profit margin of established competitors. Additionally, a brand audit investigates trends in a business's net profits, the return on existing investments, and its established economic value. It determines whether the business's financial strength and credit rating are improving or worsening. This kind of audit also assesses a business's image and reputation with its customers. Furthermore, a brand audit seeks to determine whether a business is perceived as an industry leader in technology, offering product or service innovations, along with exceptional customer service, among other relevant issues that customers use to decide on a brand of performance.
A brand audit usually focuses on a business's strengths and resource capabilities because these are the elements that enhance its competitiveness. A business's competitive strengths can exist in several forms. Some of these forms include skilled or pertinent expertise, valuable physical assets, valuable human assets, valuable organizational assets, valuable intangible assets, competitive capabilities, achievements and attributes that position the business into a competitive advantage, and alliances or cooperative ventures.
The basic concept of a brand audit is to determine whether a business's resource strengths are competitive assets or competitive liabilities. This type of audit seeks to ensure that a business maintains a distinctive competence that allows it to build and reinforce its competitive advantage. What's more, a successful brand audit seeks to establish what a business capitalizes on best, its level of expertise, resource strengths, and strongest competitive capabilities, while aiming to identify a business's position and future performance.
Two customer segments are often selected as targets because they score highly on two dimensions:
The segment is attractive to serve because it is large, growing, makes frequent purchases, is not price sensitive (i.e. is willing to pay high prices), or other factors; and
The company has the resources and capabilities to compete for the segment's business, can meet their needs better than the competition, and can do so profitably.[7]
A commonly cited definition of marketing is simply "meeting needs profitably".[8]
The implication of selecting target segments is that the business will subsequently allocate more resources to acquire and retain customers in the target segments than it will for other, non-targeted customers. In some cases, the firm may go so far as to turn away customers who are not in its target segment. The doorman at a swanky nightclub, for example, may deny entry to unfashionably dressed individuals because the business has made a strategic decision to target the "high fashion" segment of nightclub patrons.
In conjunction with targeting decisions, marketing managers will identify the desired positioning they want the company, product, or brand to occupy in the target customer's mind. This positioning is often an encapsulation of a key benefit the company's product or service offers that is differentiated and superior to the benefits offered by competitive products.[9] For example, Volvo has traditionally positioned its products in the automobile market in North America in order to be perceived as the leader in "safety", whereas BMW has traditionally positioned its brand to be perceived as the leader in "performance".
Ideally, a firm's positioning can be maintained over a long period of time because the company possesses or can develop, some form of sustainable competitive advantage.[10] The positioning should also be sufficiently relevant to the target segment such that it will drive the purchasing behavior of target customers.[9] To sum up, the marketing branch of a company is to deal with the selling and popularity of its products among people and its customers, as the central and eventual goal of a company is customer satisfaction and the return of revenue.
The Marketing Metrics Continuum provides a framework for how to categorize metrics from the tactical to strategic.
If the company has obtained an adequate understanding of the customer base and its own competitive position in the industry, marketing managers are able to make their own key strategic decisions and develop a marketing strategy designed to maximize the revenues and profits of the firm. The selected strategy may aim for any of a variety of specific objectives, including optimizing short-term unit margins, revenue growth, market share, long-term profitability, or other goals.
After the firm's strategic objectives have been identified, the target market selected, and the desired positioning for the company, product, or brand has been determined, marketing managers focus on how to best implement the chosen strategy. Traditionally, this has involved implementation planning across the "4 Ps": product management, pricing (at what price slot does a producer position a product, e.g. low, medium, or high price), place (the place or area where the products are going to be sold, which could be local, regional, countrywide or international) (i.e. sales and distribution channels), and promotion.
Taken together, the company's implementation choices across the 4 P's are often described as the marketing mix, meaning the mix of elements the business will employ to "go to market" and execute the marketing strategy. The overall goal for the marketing mix is to consistently deliver a compelling value proposition that reinforces the firm's chosen positioning, builds customer loyalty and brand equity among target customers, and achieves the firm's marketing and financial objectives.
In many cases, marketing management will develop a marketing plan to specify how the company will execute the chosen strategy and achieve the business's objectives. The content of marketing plans varies for each firm, but commonly includes:
An executive summary
Situation analysis to summarize facts and insights gained from market research and marketing analysis
The company's mission statement or long-term strategic vision
A statement of the company's key objectives often subdivided into marketing objectives and financial objectives
The marketing strategy the business has chosen, specifying the target segments to be pursued and the competitive positioning to be achieved
Implementation choices for each element of the marketing mix (the 4 Ps)
Effective execution may require management of both internal resources and a variety of external vendors and service providers, such as the firm's advertising agency. Marketers may therefore coordinate with the company's Purchasing department on the procurement of these services. Under the area of marketing agency management (i.e. working with external marketing agencies and suppliers) are techniques such as agency performance evaluation, scope of work, incentive compensation, ERFx's and storage of agency information in a supplier database.
Reporting, measurement, feedback and control systems
Marketing management employs a variety of metrics to measure progress against objectives. It is the responsibility of marketing managers to ensure that the execution of marketing programs achieves the desired objectives and does so in a cost-efficient manner.
Globalization has led some firms to market beyond the borders of their home countries, making international marketing a part of those firms' marketing strategy.[11] Marketing managers are often responsible for influencing the level, timing, and composition of customer demand. In part, this is because the role of a marketing manager (or sometimes called managing marketer in small- and medium-sized enterprises) can vary significantly based on a business's size, corporate culture, and industry context. For example, in a small- and medium-sized enterprises, the managing marketer may contribute to both managerial and marketing operations roles for the company brands. In a large consumer products company, the marketing manager may act as the overall general manager of his or her assigned product.[12] To create an effective, cost-efficient marketing management strategy, firms must possess a detailed, objective understanding of their own business and the market in which they operate.[7] In analyzing these issues, the discipline of marketing management often overlaps with the related discipline of strategic planning.
Marketing is the act of satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of business management and commerce.
Positioning refers to the place that a brand occupies in the minds of the customers and how it is distinguished from the products of the competitors. It is different from the concept of brand awareness. In order to position products or brands, companies may emphasize the distinguishing features of their brand or they may try to create a suitable image through the marketing mix. Once a brand has achieved a strong position, it can become difficult to reposition it. To effectively position a brand and create a lasting brand memory, brands need to be able to connect to consumers in an authentic way, creating a brand persona usually helps build this sort of connection.
In the field of management, strategic management involves the formulation and implementation of the major goals and initiatives taken by an organization's managers on behalf of stakeholders, based on consideration of resources and an assessment of the internal and external environments in which the organization operates. Strategic management provides overall direction to an enterprise and involves specifying the organization's objectives, developing policies and plans to achieve those objectives, and then allocating resources to implement the plans. Academics and practicing managers have developed numerous models and frameworks to assist in strategic decision-making in the context of complex environments and competitive dynamics. Strategic management is not static in nature; the models can include a feedback loop to monitor execution and to inform the next round of planning.
A marketing plan is a plan created to accomplish specific marketing objectives, outlining a company's advertising and marketing efforts for a given period, describing the current marketing position of a business, and discussing the target market and marketing mix to be used to achieve marketing goals.
In marketing, market segmentation or customer segmentation is the process of dividing a consumer or business market into meaningful sub-groups of current or potential customers known as segments. Its purpose is to identify profitable and growing segments that a company can target with distinct marketing strategies.
Brand equity, in marketing, is the worth of a brand in and of itself – i.e., the social value of a well-known brand name. The owner of a well-known brand name can generate more revenue simply from brand recognition, as consumers perceive the products of well-known brands as better than those of lesser-known brands.
In business, a competitive advantage is an attribute that allows an organization to outperform its competitors.
Competitive analysis in marketing and strategic management is an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and potential competitors. This analysis provides both an offensive and defensive strategic context to identify opportunities and threats. Profiling combines all of the relevant sources of competitor analysis into one framework in the support of efficient and effective strategy formulation, implementation, monitoring and adjustment.
Porter's Five Forces Framework is a method of analysing the competitive environment of a business. It draws from industrial organization (IO) economics to derive five forces that determine the competitive intensity and, therefore, the attractiveness of an industry in terms of its profitability. An "unattractive" industry is one in which the effect of these five forces reduces overall profitability. The most unattractive industry would be one approaching "pure competition", in which available profits for all firms are driven to normal profit levels. The five-forces perspective is associated with its originator, Michael E. Porter of Harvard University. This framework was first published in Harvard Business Review in 1979.
Marketing warfare strategies represent a type of strategy, used in commerce and marketing, that tries to draw parallels between business and warfare and then applies the principles of military strategy to business situations, with competing firms considered as analogous to sides in a military conflict, and market share considered as analogous to territory in dispute. This view of marketing argues that in mature, low-growth markets, where real GDP growth is negative or low, commerce operates as a zero-sum game. One participant's gain is possible only at another participant's expense. Success depends on battling competitors for market share.
Porter's generic strategies describe how a company pursues competitive advantage across its chosen market scope. There are three/four generic strategies, either lower cost, differentiated, or focus. A company chooses to pursue one of two types of competitive advantage, either via lower costs than its competition or by differentiating itself along dimensions valued by customers to command a higher price. A company also chooses one of two types of scope, either focus or industry-wide, offering its product across many market segments. The generic strategy reflects the choices made regarding both the type of competitive advantage and the scope. The concept was described by Michael Porter in 1980.
Marketing strategy refers to efforts undertaken by an organization to increase its sales and achieve competitive advantage. In other words, it is the method of advertising a company's products to the public through an established plan through the meticulous planning and organization of ideas, data, and information.
The target audience is the intended audience or readership of a publication, advertisement, or other message catered specifically to the previously intended audience. In marketing and advertising, the target audience is a particular group of consumer within the predetermined target market, identified as the targets or recipients for a particular advertisement or message.
Marketing effectiveness is the measure of how effective a given marketer's go to market strategy is toward meeting the goal of maximizing their spending to achieve positive results in both the short- and long-term. It is also related to marketing ROI and return on marketing investment (ROMI). In today's competitive business environment, effective marketing strategies play a pivotal role in promoting products or services to target audiences. The advent of digital platforms has further intensified competition among businesses, making it imperative for companies to employ innovative and impactful marketing techniques. This essay examines how various types of advertising methods can be utilized effectively to reach out to potential consumers
In marketing, a customer value proposition (CVP) consists of the sum total of benefits which a vendor promises a customer will receive in return for the customer's associated payment.
Global marketing is defined as “marketing on a worldwide scale reconciling or taking global operational differences, similarities and opportunities to reach global objectives".
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to marketing:
Market environment and business environment are marketing terms that refer to factors and forces that affect a firm's ability to build and maintain successful customer relationships. The business environment has been defined as "the totality of physical and social factors that are taken directly into consideration in the decision-making behaviour of individuals in the organisation."
A target market, also known as serviceable obtainable market (SOM), is a group of customers within a business's serviceable available market at which a business aims its marketing efforts and resources. A target market is a subset of the total market for a product or service.
Product marketing is a sub-field of marketing that is responsible for crafting the messaging, go-to-market flow, and promotion of a product. Product marketing managers can also be involved in defining and sizing target markets. They collaborate with other stakeholders including business development, sales, and technical functions such as product management and engineering. Other critical responsibilities include positioning and sales enablement.
References
↑ Compare: D.David Winster Praveenraj; B. Nandini; Bushra Tasleem (2023). "Marketing Management". Marketing Management. Bangalore: Archers & Elevators Publishing House. p.4. ISBN9789394958241. Retrieved 26 July 2024. Marketing management is defined as the process of overseeing and planning new product development, advertising, promotions and sales.
↑ Compare: Baker, Michael John (16 September 2017). "Marketing and corporate strategy". Marketing Strategy and Management (5, reviseded.). London: Palgrave. p.52. ISBN9781137342133. Retrieved 26 July 2024. [Philip] Kotler originally defined marketing management as 'the analysis, planning, implementation, and control of programs designed to bring about desired exchanges with target audiences for the purpose of personal or mutual gain.'
↑ Compare: Botter, Ferna Maria Patricia (2010). "5.6: Maatschappelijke ondernemingen en marketing". Maatschappelijke ondernemingen: Naar een andere benadering van maatschappelijk ondernemen (in Dutch). Delft: Eburon Uitgeverij B.V. p.167. ISBN9789059724556. Retrieved 26 July 2024. Zo luidt de definitie van marketing management van de American Marketing Association uit 1985: 'Marketing (management) is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives.'
↑ Hollander, Stanley C (15 October 2011) [1980]. "Let us contemplate our navels: the need for a sociology of marketers and marketologists". In Lamb, Charles W.; Dunne, Patrick M. (eds.). Theoretical Developments in Marketing (reprinted.). Chicago: Marketing Classics Press. p.55. ISBN9781613112342. Retrieved 26 July 2024. Marketology (and that ungainly term will help distinguish between study and practice) has and can draw substantially from sociology, anthropology and social psychology.
↑ Aghazadeh, Hashem (29 April 2016). "Sphere of Marketology: Spectrum, Scope, Nature, Stakeholders, Features, and Functions". Principles of Marketology. Vol.1: Theory (reprinted.). Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. p.94. doi:10.1057/9781137379320_6. ISBN9781137379320. Retrieved 26 July 2024. The core concept of marketology involves 'recognizing, generating and disseminating market insight to ensure better market-related decisions for providing superior value to key stakeholders' [...].
Patterson, Laura (2008). Marketing Metrics in Action: Creating a Performance-Driven Marketing Organization. Racom Communications. ISBN978-1-933199-15-3.
Klein, A. S.; Masi, R. J.; Weidner II, C. K. (1995). "Organization Culture, Distribution and Amount of Control, and Perceptions of Quality: An Empirical Study of Linkages". Group & Organization Management. 20 (2). doi:10.1177/1059601195202004. S2CID145719140.
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