International Journal of Economy, Management and Social Sciences, 2(8) August 2013, Pages: 668-675

TI Journals

International Journal of Economy, Management and Social Sciences

ISSN
2306-7276

www.tijournals.com

The Harmony between Marketing and Advertising Strategies

Muhammed Krad zlen *1, Semir Zijadic 2
1
2

Ishik University, Business and Management Department, Erbil, Iraq.

Faculty of Economics, International Burch University, 71000, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

AR TIC LE INF O

AB STR AC T

Keywords:

This study mainly aims to identify to what extent Bosnian companies established marketing
strategies and the fit between their marketing and advertising strategies and possible benefits
gained from the existing fit. Therefore, a developed survey is conducted on 132 employees through
Bosnian enterprises. The gathered data is analyzed descriptively. The results suggested that
companies have slightly well established marketing strategies. Furthermore, they seem to satisfy
the harmony between their existing marketing strategies and advertising strategies. However, it is
observed that companies could not get much benefit out of this fit. This study also identifies the
influencing factors on marketing and advertising strategies of the firms and most preferred tools in
advertising.

Marketing strategies
Advertising strategies
Benefits; Survey
Descriptive analyses

2013 Int. j. econ. manag. soc. sci. All rights reserved for TI Journals.

1.

Introduction

As a result of huge production and fast change in the customer behavior and therefore their demand, companies have been seeking the ways
of altering appeared difficulties by setting up proper marketing strategies and employing the most efficient/effective advertising methods.
Therefore, the importance of the harmony between company marketing strategies and advertising strategies becomes important. The
objective of this study is to identify whether Bosnian companies have well established marketing strategies and the fit between their
marketing and advertising strategies, and accordingly, whether they have gained benefits from the existing fit. This study also explores the
influencing factors on marketing and advertising strategies of the firms and most preferred tools in advertising. So, a survey is developed
by considering the relevant literature and applied on 132 employees in Bosnian companies. The gathered data is analysed descriptively, the
results are presented and the paper is concluded with the final section.

2.

Literature review

Many researches emphasize the importance of marketing, advertising and advertising strategies. Since advertising is the key element for a
successful marketing, the companies should determine their advertising strategy well. This section provides the relevant literature about
marketing and advertising.
Sharma (2011) focused on the classification of the advertising strategies, the most crucial stages in an advertising strategy and the
importance of media selection in such a strategy by considering mainly the Tyre industry. He reported the importance of the modern media
in advertising which creates ideas in peoples heads about the necessity of the products. He suggested selecting advertising objectives
according to the market in order to be effective.
Krishnan and Bhandare (2011) stressed on the importance of retailers among the main factors in the modern market in order to reach the
customer by developing new marketing strategies. They suggested the product/service with the better quality and the lower price in order to
win the attention of the customer competition by innovative ideas. They suggested the capability of mixing strategic, management and
advertising strategies.
Fruchter (1999) focused on advertisement depending on market development level as a result of expanding market and suggested
developing advertising strategies in order to enhance profit especially for oligopoly markets where the competition is very high. The author
suggested strategies depending on the time-variant closed-loop and time-invariant feedback Nash equilibrium strategy. He suggested the
influence of considering either the market growth rate or the sales return rate of a company on these two strategies. He mainly analyzed the
optimal level of investments in marketing activities.

* Corresponding author.
Email address: kozlen@ibu.edu.ba

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Internat ional Jour nal of Economy, Mana ge ment and Social Sciences , 2(8) Au gust 2013

Boudreau and Watson (2006) suggested the positive influence and the necessity of internet on advertisement because of its worldwide
effect and low costs. However, they reported its negative influence on that it reduces the interaction between people. They furthermore
suggested deal with advertising strategies in multinational companies.
Avesani and Hayes (2005) reported the competition on the internet which causes developing new advertising strategies and game strategies
to be conducted in such environments by providing information about changing modern market and the internet. They also reported the
ways of bringing people on the web-sides such as spam mails, directing the people to some internet links, etc. They describe the
corporation of two firms and their competitiveness.
Oliveira and Scopinho (2012) studied the perfumery industry and personal feelings about some perfume. They suggested perfumery
advertising strategies based on fundamental human needs and the willingness to attract the other site as a clever strategy to illusioning
customers about their appearance after using their product. The authors suggested psychological approach of such advertisements to
enhance product influence.
Rehman (2012) claimed that advertising is important in the airplane business (the Kingfisher Airlines Company/India) which offers the best
possible services with a guaranteed high quality to the customers. They reported that Company advertising strategies were focused on
customers who wish to have the best quality flight services. He suggested an easy but successful strategy by giving value to the customer.
Besides using for both services and products, Stead and Eadie (2007) suggested the use of advertising strategies to aware the people about
some problems in the society or to indicate a harmful program. They described a strategy program to reduce speeding and therefore to save
the people by reaching the drivers through commercials and a new specially developed brand. They developed a proven strategy based on
the principle that people remember better, if they appear on commercials.
Hibbard (2010) studied how the marketing is the most influencing factor in the communication between the company and the customers by
presenting the communication strategy selection. He suggested finding the right way to communicate in order to correctly send the
advertising message.
Donelson (2001) advised the ways in the period of financial crisis in order to be survived in hard this period. He reported that the sale in
crises period falls rapidly and if the company dont act appropriate. He suggests innovative ideas and the right price to differentiate success
and failure.
Russell (2012) studied about the modern environment, using Facebook and peoples interaction in this social network in terms of
advertising. He illustrated how Facebook makes money and the hidden advertising strategies which link people to websites.
Bass, Krishnamoorthy, Prasad and Sethi (2004) reported that the most common strategies among different advertising strategies are the
generic and the branding advertising strategies. They reported that the main goal of the generic advertising strategy is to increase the
demand for a certain category of product while the branding advertising strategy is normally based on tradition and experience from
customers who can recognize a brand.
Ahamed, Mahesh and Saravanan (2010) complained about the modern technology but suggested it as the best location to set commercials
and the best place to evaluate advertising strategies. By stressing on different influences of an advertising strategy in the real and in the
online world, they suggested reaching more customers with fewer costs by using the technology. However, they suggested the competition
as the biggest problem in this environment. The authors also reported the main differences between the online marketing and the real world
marketing in the new market environment.
Hoegg and Lewis (2011) described the ways of using advertising strategies in both market environments and in elections to attract
customer/voter attention. They also provided the definition of political branding.
Forker and Ward (2010) focused on the generic advertising strategy in order to increase the demand for a certain category of a product.
They suggested the farming industry as the best market where this strategy can be successful. They suggest consulting with marketing
agencies so that they prepare a strategy to sell the product in a fast way when they have excess product. They stressed mainly the influence
of advertising strategies on the production rate and generic demand for a product in the farming industry.

3.

Research methodology

3.1. Scale development

While developing the survey items, most of the articles have been used. The used articles for scale development are provided in Table 1.

Muhammed Krad zlen and Semir Zijadic

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Int ernational Journal of Ec onomy, Mana ge me nt and Soci al Sc iences , 2(8) Au gust 2013

Table 1. List of variables and sub-items

No

Variable Name

Sub-items
Media influence
Market expansion

Degree of influences on marketing

strategy

Competition
Consumption
Innovation

References
Sharma (2011); Krishnan and Bhandare (2011);
Fruchter (1999); Avesani and Hayes (2005); Oliveira
and Scopinho (2012); Stead and Eadie (2007);
Donelson (2001); Ahamed; Mahesh and Saravanan
(2010); Hoegg and Lewis (2011)

Focused marketing
Successful strategies
2

Marketing strategies

Promotions

Rehman (2012); Bass; Krishnamoorthy; Prasad and

Sethi (2004)

Market time
Customer based strategies
Attention
Generic advertising
3

Degree of influences on advertising

strategy

Cultural differences

Rehman (2012); Bass; Krishnamoorthy; Prasad and

Sethi (2004)

Non profitability
Branding
Objectives
Promotion
4

Advertising strategies

Changing strategies

Rehman (2012); Bass; Krishnamoorthy; Prasad and

Sethi (2004)

Manipulation
Specification
Internet advertising
Social networks
5

Advertising tools

New technologies

Boudreau and Watson (2006); Russell (2012); Ahamed;

Mahesh and Saravanan (2010)

Online marketing
Internet
Profitability
Overproduction
6

Benefits

Competition

Oliveira and Scopinho (2012); Hibbard (2010); Forker

and Ward (2010)

Efficiency
Risk analysis

3.2. Variables & measuring items

In order to get closer insight into the aspects of Advertising strategies, six variables and for each variable, a few measuring items with
thirty-nine questions were identified after the literature review. The list of variables and brief explanation of them are provided below.
External Factors of Marketing Strategies provides the degree of influences of considered factors on marketing strategies of the firms.
Marketing strategies includes the questions in order determine whether firms have marketing strategies and how they sustain their
strategies.
Influencing factors of Advertising strategy measures the importance degree of selected factors on the advertising strategies of the firms.
Advertising strategies is designed to measure whether the companies have advertising strategies and some points related to advertising
strategies.
Advertising tools provides the preference degree of the selected tools while the companies are advertising.
Benefits section is designed to detect the impact of fit between marketing and advertising strategies.

4.

Data and Methodology

Data was collected from different locations but mostly from Bosnia and Herzegovina by conducting a survey through online survey system
in order to achieve fast response. The online survey was developed, and its link was sent via e-mail of social networks to potential
participants. 132 survey forms were filled out online. The respondents cover highly ranked employees such are CEOs, managers, directors,
supervisors as well as other levels of employees such as sales managers, marketing managers, project manager, engineers etc.
Collected data is numerical except demographics part. The survey employed Seven point Likert scale in order to test the agreements of the
respondents. The gathered data was then inserted into an excel spreadsheet and descriptively analyzed.

The Harmony between Marketing and Advertising Strategies

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Internat ional Jour nal of Economy, Mana ge ment and Social Sciences , 2(8) Au gust 2013

5.

Results

5.1. Demographics
This survey is responded by 98 males and 34 females. Their education level is found to be high (6 PhD, 27 master, 49 undergraduate and 50
other). The positions of the respondents were grouped according to their similar characteristics. It is observed that most of the respondents
have clerical positions (94/132) (Table 2).

Table 2. Positions of the Respondents

Positions

Frequency

CEO

10

Manager

23

Clerical Workers

94

Engineer

Total

132

It is identified that company-marketing strategy is mainly shaped by consumer behavior and the competition outside. Moreover, high
influences of changing technology, suppliers and media are detected. The influence of financial crises is found to be weak. However, there
are identified slight negative influence of international market changes and moderate negative influences of national market changes and
government. The results show that companies do not consider ethics while forming up their marketing strategies. Finally, political
environment is observed to have high negative influence on the marketing strategy (Table 3).

Table 3. Influencing Factors of Company Marketing Strategy

Influencing Factors of Company Marketing Strategy (4.19)

Mean

Std. Deviation

Media

4.87

1.007

National Market changes

3.10

0.995

International Market changes

3.83

1.008

Competition

5.95

1.006

Political environment

1.95

1.018

Changing Technology

5.13

1.051

Financial Crises

4.42

0.996

Consumer Behavior

6.16

1.040

Suppliers

4.99

1.023

Ethics

2.68

1.014

Government

3.02

1.034

The results revealed that the surveyed companies have a well developed marketing strategy in general and they continuously control their
strategy. However, they dont seem to be adopting new ways in their marketing strategy. Moreover, they are not observed to be changing
their marketing strategy (Table 4).

Table 4. Marketing strategy

Marketing strategy (4.81)

Mean

Std. Deviation

We have a well developed marketing strategy

5.69

1.005

We are continuously tracking our marketing strategy

5.37

1.022

We are continuously changing our marketing strategy

3.86

0.982

We are adopting new ways in our marketing strategy

4.33

1.001

According to the results, it is identified that advertising strategy is mainly determined by consumer behavior, company marketing strategy,
competition, company budget and available tools. It is also observed that company activities, government and available advertising
channels are slightly influential on company advertising strategy. On the other hand, companies are identified to have no consideration of
company operations and ethics while developing their advertising strategies (Table 5).

Muhammed Krad zlen and Semir Zijadic

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Int ernational Journal of Ec onomy, Mana ge me nt and Soci al Sc iences , 2(8) Au gust 2013

Table 5. Influencing Factors of Advertising Strategy

Influencing factors of advertising strategy (4.89)

Mean

Std. Deviation

Company Marketing strategy

5.92

1.009

Company budget

5.78

1.021

Available tools

5.55

1.043

Available advertising channels

4.27

1.034

Company operations

3.89

1.009

Company activities

4.43

1.005

Customer behavior

5.98

0.996

Government

4.35

1.004

Ethics

2.91

1.015

Competition

5.86

1.002

The respondents are observed to be very much agreed that company advertising strategies are determined and changed with respect to their
marketing strategy. However, they are slightly checking the harmony between their advertising and marketing strategies (Table 6).
Table 6. Fit between Advertising Strategies and Marketing Strategies
Fit between Advertising strategies and Marketing Strategies (5.73)

Mean

Std. Deviation

We are defining our advertising strategy with respect to our marketing strategy

6.00

1.011

We are continuously checking the harmony of our advertising strategy with our marketing strategy

5.16

1.003

We are changing our advertising strategy immediately after changing our marketing strategy

6.03

0.996

It is observed that surveyed companies choose social media, websites and smart phones as the tools for their advertising. It is identified that
they less frequently use advertising agencies. However, they do not prefer TV, journals and newspapers. They are detected to be very
negative to use newspapers for their advertising activities (Table 7).
Table 7. Tools of advertisement
Advertising Tools (4.19)

Mean

Std. Deviation

Newspapers

1.99

1.023

Journals

3.11

1.001

TV

3.30

1.048

Websites

5.48

1.007

Social Media

5.73

1.042

Advertising Agencies

4.37

1.014

Smart Phones

5.36

0.991

When the benefits as a result of the fit between marketing and advertising strategies are considered, it is detected that companies have
moderately increased their profits. They furthermore are observed to have enhanced their efficiency/effectiveness and competitiveness.
However, their costs seem to be not decreased (Table 8).
Table 8. Benefits
Benefits (4.55)

Mean

Std. Deviation

The fit between marketing strategies and advertising strategies has increased our profitability

5.14

1.049

The fit between marketing strategies and advertising strategies has decreased our costs

3.86

1.039

The fit between marketing strategies and advertising strategies has increased our efficiency/effectiveness

4.58

1.004

The fit between marketing strategies and advertising strategies has increased our competitiveness

4.61

1.017

The Harmony between Marketing and Advertising Strategies

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Internat ional Jour nal of Economy, Mana ge ment and Social Sciences , 2(8) Au gust 2013

6.

Conclusion

This study mainly aims to identify whether Bosnian companies have well established marketing strategies and the fit between their
marketing and advertising strategies. Accordingly, whether they have gained benefits from the existing fit. The results suggested that
companies have slightly well established marketing strategies. Furthermore, they seem to satisfy the harmony between their existing
marketing strategies and advertising strategies. However, it is observed that companies could not get much benefit out of this fit (Table 9).

Table 9. Overall Variables

Measures

Mean

Marketing strategy

4.81

Fit between Advertising Strategies and Marketing Strategies

5.73

Benefits

4.55

Total

4.73

In line with the expectations, the results revealed that the main determinants of company-marketing strategy are consumer behavior and the
competition outside. The results also show that companies do not consider ethics while forming up their marketing strategies. Future
studies may consider ethical issues in advertising and marketing activities. It is also identified that political environment has high negative
influence on the marketing strategy.
In line with the assumptions from the literature, the results revealed that advertising strategy is mainly influenced by consumer behavior,
company marketing strategy, competition, company budget and available tools. However, companies seem to be not considering company
operations and ethics while developing their advertising strategies.
According to the results, surveyed companies are observed to be using social media, websites and smart phones as the tools for their
advertising. Because these tools are easy to use and reach people easily, companies should adopt them more in their marketing and
advertising activities. On the other hand, companies do not prefer remaining old methods such as advertising agencies, TV, journals and
newspapers in order to run their marketing and advertising activities.

References
Ahamed, S. R., Mahesh, D., & Saravanan, M. O. (2010). An Analysis of the Effects of Advertising Strategies on the Web. International Journal of
Engineering Science, 2. Retrieved from http://www.ijest.info/docs/IJEST10-02-03-06.pdf
Avesani, P., & Hayes, C. (n.d.). Advertising Strategies: Learning Competence through Cooperative Game Playing. Computer Gaming and Simulation
Environments, 165.
Banciu, M., Gal-Or, E., & Mirchandani, P. (2007). A mixed-bundling pricing strategy for the TV advertising market. Working paper, Katz School of
Business, University of Pittsburgh. Retrieved from http://www.pitt.edu/~esther/papers/MixedBundling_Advertising_may%202009.pdf
Boudreau, M.-C., & Watson, R. T. (2006). Internet advertising strategy alignment. Internet Research, 16(1), 2337. doi:10.1108/10662240610642523
Fruchter, G. E. (1999). SHORT COMMUNICATIONS-Oligopoly Advertising Strategies with Market Expansion. Optimal Control Applications and
Methods, 20(4), 199212.G
Gardner, M. P., Mitchell, A. A., & Russo, J. E. (1985). Low involvement strategies for processing advertisements. Journal of Advertising, 14(2), 412.
Hartline, J., Mirrokni, V., & Sundararajan, M. (2008). Optimal marketing strategies over social networks. In Proceedings of the 17th international conference
on World Wide Web (pp. 189198). Retrieved from http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1367524Hoegg, J
Hoegg & Lewis, M. V. (2011). The impact of candidate appearance and advertising strategies on election results. Journal of Marketing Research, 48(5), 895
909.
Krishnamoorthy, A., Prasad, A., & Sethi, S. (2008). Generic and Brand Advertising Strategies in a Dynamic Duopoly. Retrieved from
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1087615
Krishnan, M., & Bhandare, U. (n.d.). Retail Advertising and Promotional Strategies in Growing Consumer Market. Management Issues & Options, 170.
Stead, M., & Eadie, D. (2007). CASE STUDY 3 A social advertising strategy to reduce speeding. Social Marketing: Why Should the Devil Have All the
Best Tunes?, 245.

Muhammed Krad zlen and Semir Zijadic

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Int ernational Journal of Ec onomy, Mana ge me nt and Soci al Sc iences , 2(8) Au gust 2013

Appendix
Advertising Strategies Survey
Please answer all questions
For each numeric question, circle the number that best reflects your opinion of the factor judged 1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=slightly disagree, 4=neither, 5=slightly
agree, 6=agree, 7=strongly agree
Circle only one number for each scale

Demographics
Your department/unit:
Your current position/role in dept/unit:
How long have you been in current position/role?:
Your highest education level: Doctorate Master
Gender:
Male
Female
Age:
30
31-40 41-50 51-60 61

a
b
c
d
e
f

Undergraduate

Other______

Determine the degree of influences of the followings on your marketing strategy

a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k

Media
National Market changes
International Market changes
Competition
Political environment
Changing Technology
Financial Crises
Consumer Behavior
Suppliers
Ethics
Government

Marketing Strategies of your company

a
b
c
d

We have a well developed marketing strategy

We are continuously tracking our marketing strategy
We are continuously changing our marketing strategy
We are adopting new ways in our marketing strategy

Determine the degree of influences of the followings on your advertising strategy

a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j

Company Marketing strategy

Company budget
Available tools
Available advertising channels
Company operations
Company activities
Customer behavior
Government
Ethics
Competition

Advertising strategies of your company

a
b
c

We are defining our advertising strategy with respect to our marketing strategy
We are continuously checking the harmony of our advertising strategy with our marketing strategy
We are changing our advertising strategy immediately after changing our marketing strategy

Which of the following tools do you use in your advertisements?

a
b
c
d
e
f
g

Newspapers
Journals
TV
Websites
Social Media
Advertising Agencies
Smart Phones

Disagree
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2

3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3

Agree
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4

5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5

4
4
4
4

5
5
5
5

4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4

5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5

Disagree
1
1
1
1

2
2
2
2

3
3
3
3

2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2

3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3

7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7

Agree

Disagree
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6

6
6
6
6

7
7
7
7

Agree

Disagree

6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6

7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
7

Agree

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Disagree
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

2
2
2
2
2
2
2

3
3
3
3
3
3
3

Agree
4
4
4
4
4
4
4

5
5
5
5
5
5
5

6
6
6
6
6
6
6

7
7
7
7
7
7
7

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Internat ional Jour nal of Economy, Mana ge ment and Social Sciences , 2(8) Au gust 2013

Benefits
a
b
c
d

Disagree
The fit between marketing strategies and advertising strategies has increased our profitability
The fit between marketing strategies and advertising strategies has decreased our costs
The fit between marketing strategies and advertising strategies has increased our efficiency/effectiveness
The fit between marketing strategies and advertising strategies has increased our competitiveness

Part II: Please add here any positive /negative comments regarding the issue

Online survey links:

h t t p s :/ / w w w . e s u r v e y c r e a t o r . c o m / s / 6 e 6 f 0 7 e
h t t p s :/ / w w w . e s u r v e y c r e a t o r . c o m / s / 0 5 5 1 8 6 d

1
1
1
1

2
2
2
2

3
3
3
3

Agree
4
4
4
4

5
5
5
5

6
6
6
6

7
7
7
7