Advancing marketing strategy in the marketing discipline and beyond: from promise,to neglect,to prominence,to fragment (to promise?)

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to advance the field of strategic marketing within the marketing discipline, which will in turn, the author argues, contribute to enhancing the discipline’s impact beyond the narrow confines of its own journals. Towards this goal, certain aspects of the history of marketing strategy need to be reviewed. However, though this article draws extensively on historical sources, it is not a history of marketing strategy. Rather, this article uses historical materials and arguments concerning the four ‘Eras’ of marketing thought to advance five major claims: the area of strategic marketing (1) had significant promise when the marketing academic discipline was founded in Era I (1900–1920), (2) was neglected in Era II (1920–1950), (3) rose to prominence in Era III (1950–1980), (4) has become a ‘fragment’ in Era IV (1980–present) and (5) has prospects that are both promising and problematic in the future ‘Era V’. Finally, a tentative prognosis for strategic marketing and the marketing discipline is suggested.     

Social media marketing: Who is watching the watchers?

The ready access to and availability of social media has opened up a wealth of data that marketers are leveraging for strategic insight and digital marketing. Yet there is a lack of professional norms regarding the use of social media in marketing and a gap in understanding consumers’ comfort with marketers’ use of their social media data. This study analyzes a census-balanced sample of online adults (n = 751) to identify consumers’ perceptions of using social media data for marketing purposes. The research finds that consumers’ perceived risks and benefits of using social media have a relationship with their comfort with marketers using their publicly available social media data. The research extends the applicability of communication privacy management theory to social media and introduces marketing comfort—a new construct of high importance for future marketing research. Marketing comfort refers to an individual's comfort with the use of information posted publicly on social media for targeted advertising, customer relations, and opinion mining. In the context of the construct development, we find that targeted advertising is the strongest contributing component to marketing comfort, relative to the other two dimensions: opinion mining and customer relations. By understanding what drives consumer comfort with this emerging marketing practice, the research proposes strategies for marketers that can support and mitigate consumers’ concerns so that consumers can maintain trust in marketers’ digital practices.     

Business marketing in France: can the case be made for “French exceptionalism” or is it just a slight variation?

Purpose: The aim of this article is to elucidate the state of B-to-B marketing research in France by conducting a review of theoretical and empirical studies in this field that have been published over the last three decades.

Methodology/approach: Authors identified relevant literature sources, and proceeded with classifying the publications according to their main theme of study (as determined by reviewing the topic, the abstract, and/or keywords). To extract the main articles, authors explored multiple electronic databases, including Source Premier (EBSCO), Elsevier Science Direct, Google Scholar, and Cairn.info. This methodology has allowed comparisons both in time and in relation to similar works done in other countries. The analysis focuses on the main contributions of French literature in the B-to-B domain and establishes that progress has been made in understanding the issues of B-to-B marketing in France, as well as in the development of the theory in this field.

Findings: The review shows that B-to-B marketing research in France, although under-represented in relation to its B-to-C counterparts, is gradually emerging from the shadows and covers important topics that are increasingly diverse and varied. By identifying the main topics studied by French B-to-B marketing researchers, this work advances this academic discipline while also providing valuable information.

Originality/value: This study is the first attempt to conduct an in-depth examination of the state of B-to-B marketing research in France. Findings yielded by this literature review would be beneficial to both B-to-B marketing researchers and practitioners and promotes this research field.     

The future of marketing: brightest star in the firmament,or a fading meteor? Some hypotheses and a research agenda

Excellent marketing has always emanated from a deep understanding of consumer needs and expectations, combined with their right to be informed, protected and their right to quality of life. Evidence for this fundamental bedrock of marketing is provided. The problem is that in 2009 "marketing" just doesn't mean "good marketing", or even "honest marketing" and is widely seen as "mismarketing" in practice, largely the result of marketing's demotion to promotion and puffery. Evidence is provided for this view. The paper then makes some suggestions about possible new initiatives/directions for the discipline. These are:

? the name marketing itself

? making the discipline truly professional

? making marketing fully accountable for its expenditure

The accountability issue, however, is, in the author's view, the principal way to rescue the discipline from demise, so the bulk of the paper concerns this issue and sets out an agenda for research.     

‘The knowledgeable marketing practitioner’: practice and professional knowing in marketing work

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the knowledge constructs that professionals draw upon when engaging in marketing work. Our conceptual approach stems from a critical analysis of marketing work foregrounding the practitioners’ professional knowledge and practice of marketing work. We identify 13 pertinent knowledge constructs–some of which are illustrated by vignettes–showcasing the shared and multifaceted nature of professional knowledge in a small- and medium-sized enterprise. By exploring how practitioners deploy their knowledge of marketing in practice, we conclude what the marketing discipline can learn from professional knowing. We contribute to the marketing work literature by considering the ontological role of professional knowing in dereifying marketing work from textbook knowledge along with its implications for the critical understanding of the perceived gap between marketing theorising and practice.     

The role and function of the chief marketing executive and the marketing department: A study of medium‐sized companies in the UK

The unification of “marketing” functions under the control of a chief marketing executive has long been regarded as central to implementing the marketing concept. While not accepting the logic that suggests that marketing orientation implies any particular set of organisational arrangements, this article examines new empirical data concerned with the role and status of the chief marketing executive and the marketing department, in a sample of manufacturing firms, to suggest that they function very differently in different companies.

Such distinctions have important implications for our understanding of how marketing operates in organisations, and the different ways in which it may be developed, both in manufacturing and in other sectors.     

The marketing message: Being broadcast loud and clear?

Communication lies at the very heart of marketing; but how well do marketers and marketing academics communicate? Academics, including those in marketing, have been criticized for putting their ideas across in a complex and unclear way. Marketing academics may have some valuable new ideas to “sell” to practitioners; but are they so product orientated that they are ignoring the communications needs of their potential customers? This paper tries to explore the importance of clear communications for academics and practitioners; and to survey how clearly we are communicating through the channel of marketing journals in particular.     

Rethinking the boundaries of social marketing: Activism or advertising?

In some areas of public health concern, corporate marketing activities may negate social marketing messages targeting individuals. Traditional social marketing campaigns may be ineffective when commercial marketing activities create an environment that encourages and maintains unhealthy behaviors. This article explores the role of social marketing in these instances.     

When do firms invest in offensive and/or defensive marketing?

Market conditions may lead firms to increase offensive marketing activities aimed at attracting new customers, and/or to enhance defensive relationship building intended to retain current customers. Characteristics of the marketing environment are examined, including firms' interest in technology adoption and perceived need to apply it to provide structure for the supply chain, product development, quality control, and social impact. Such indicators relate to the firm's perception of “competitive intensity” in the marketplace. Survey results from 196 manufacturing companies show that technology adoption propensity and competitive intensity are associated with greater investments in offensive marketing activities as well as customer and employee engagement.     

Credit lender–borrower relationship in the credit card market – Implications for credit risk management strategy and relationship marketing

Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in 2008, precipitating the international financial crisis. Many questioned the banks’ risk-taking credit system. Understanding credit risk and how the credit system functions may provide knowledge on managing credit, to avoid another such international crisis. We study the credit card field and present a pricing decision model for managing credit risk. Recent credit lenders’ portfolio re-pricing practices call for immediate attention to the credit lender–borrower relationship and relationship marketing. A literature review and recent phenomena in the credit card industry reveal that the lenders’ re-pricing strategy negatively affects the credit lender–borrower relationship and relationship marketing. Thus, we introduce a pricing decision model incorporating the lenders’ re-pricing strategy and the credit lender–borrower relationship. Further, we discuss the implications of, and the role of marketing in, credit risk management and the implications of relationship marketing for credit lenders in foreign markets, including the US market.     

Personal privacy and Internet marketing: An impossible conflict or a marriage made in heaven?

With the decline of print media and network television, marketing strategy is changing. As these advertising vehicles are slowing down and more individuals turn to the Internet for daily functioning, marketers are following in kind. Technology offers businesses and marketing specialists the ability to collect immense amounts of private data about individuals’ interests or characteristics as they surf the Internet and input personal information. Data collection falls into one of two categories: a user's voluntary sharing of such information, or involuntary/uninformed collection by other parties. The threat posed by invasion of personal privacy is real. At the same time, Internet users can benefit in several ways from the sharing and collection of personal information. For example, much online content is funded by advertising, and would otherwise only be available to consumers for a fee. Additionally, valuable information regarding trends and happenings (e.g., flu outbreaks) are detected by aggregated Internet tracking. Finally, many Internet users value and enjoy targeted advertising geared to their particular interests or needs. Laws regarding this matter are currently limited, but are developing in order to protect individuals from unscrupulous data collection, especially involving children. Fortunately, there are ways marketers can legally and ethically collect and use personal information. Ultimately, regulation needs to be developed, and the marketing profession can aid itself by expanding self-regulation and policing in order to stave off additional—and potentially onerous—regulation.     

Best for baby? Framing weaning practice and motherhood in web-mediated marketing

The aim is to illustrate how web marketing frame commercial baby food as a value-adding part of weaning practice and discuss how various ways of framing relate to contemporary mothering ideals. Drawing on “practice” and “frame analysis,” we illustrate how four baby food producers’ web marketing frame commercial baby food and weaning as “medical,” “fun” or “convenient.” The analysis shows that the web material offers a range of images and ideals that could function as discursive resources in mothers’ everyday feeding practices, while at the same time providing a good fit with several, rather than one specific mothering ideal. Besides adding to our knowledge on mothering this work illustrates the role that marketing play in configuring consumer practices. As a form of representation of consumer practice marketing involves a range of images offering discursive resources and supports consumers in negotiating actual and ideal practices linked to cultural ideals on consumption.     

Seek or destroy? Examining value creation and destruction in behaviour maintenance in social marketing

This article presents an empirical investigation of how behaviour maintenance is supported or hindered through value creation and destruction in social marketing. Using a longitudinal, netnographic approach, we identify and examine the key facilitators and barriers encountered during the maintenance of physical and mental health behaviours. Data were collected over a 12-week observation period via Twitter from a sample of 242 participants. A total of 5212 tweets were analysed using content and thematic analysis facilitated by NVivo software program. The findings identify key barriers to and facilitators of behaviour maintenance at the individual level (downstream), meso level (midstream), and policy level (upstream) that have an influence on value creation and destruction in social marketing. These findings demonstrate the importance of employing a strategic and integrated approach to social change management.     

Ambush marketing: Is confusion to blame for the flickering of the flame?

Previous studies about the use of ambush marketing during major global sports events like the Olympics concentrated on the battle between ambush marketers versus official sponsors, and their success or failure to create a high level of recall or recognition. Almost no attention has been paid to the role event organizers are playing in this battle. This article presents the view that the Olympic event organizers are partially to blame for the growing use of ambush marketing, and the indifference that consumers exhibit to the use of ambush marketing. Data collected from a random sample of 1,500 consumers following the conclusion of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games reveal that consumers exhibit a lack of knowledge and confusion about the rights of official sponsors, the different levels of sponsorship, and the commitment to the event that is associated with each sponsorship level. Furthermore, the results demonstrate consumers' apathy to the use of ambush marketing. Some implications and actions that event organizers should take to improve consumer knowledge about the role of sponsors and to increase consumer public opinion against ambushers are suggested. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.