Strategic Marketing

Planning
MK4S34

Dr Paula Stephens

2016 - 17

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 Learning Outcomes
• Be able to compare the different definitions of
marketing strategy and its importance for
marketing success
• Be able to discuss the possible orientations of
marketing strategy
• Be able to understand and evaluate a model
of strategic market management

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 Current Perspectives on Marketing
Strategy
•The subject of considerable research for four decades
•A primary concern to organisations relying on subtle
understanding and analysis of the market
•Great importance in today’s ever-challenging and fast-
changing business environment (Crittendon and
Crittendon, 2012)
•Relies on a strategic vision and targeting and positioning
strategy for each target market (Cravens et al. 2009).

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 Marketing Strategy in a Changing
Environment
•Historical reliance on trends for making sound decisions but trends not
what they used to be: -
• Demographics have long been a foundation of marketing
planning
• And population growth a key macro component of
demographics
•But future demographic trends are unlikely to follow this historic path: -
• Lower fertility rates and decline in population
• Also changes in consumer spending (global recession and the
value conscious consumer)
•A re-think needed on the sources of competitive advantage (‘what else
can we make?’ replaced by ‘what else can we do for our customers?’

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 Strategy Concept and Definitions
•Originally from the Greek word strategos having
an ancient military meaning
•Horton (2003): the discourse and practice of
strategy is distinctively a mechanism of power
•Today a profusion of literature on strategic
planning, corporate strategy, business strategy
and marketing strategy, but in short, it’s the
means used for an organisation to achieve its
goals.

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 Pause for Thought
• How would you describe Apple’s decision to adopt
a business module of selling directly to
consumers? A strategic decision….?

 
 

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 Marketing Strategy: Nature and definitions

•In the 1970s, marketing strategy was about the use of

the elements of the marketing mix to achieve marketing
objectives
•Later broadened to incorporate other marketing
concepts(e.g. segmentation, positioning, product life
cycle)
•Then - differentiated, undifferentiated and concentrated
strategies
•And not to forget…the Ansoff matrix (‘products to offer’
and ‘market to target’)

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 Marketing Strategy Orientation:
customer or competitor?
•Customer oriented marketing strategy (in
turbulent environments)
•Competitor oriented marketing strategy (in
placid environments). See Ward and
Lewandowska, (2008)
•Recent emergence of value co-creation as a
marketing orientation

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 Marketing Orientation and
Corporate Success
•The core of marketing is simply ‘exchange’ - the social
process of offering and exchanging products and
services of value with others.
•Or: marketing is the organisational activities that
facilitate exchange relationships through the creation,
distribution, promotion and pricing of goods etc (Dibb et
al. 2012)
•Or: marketing at product-level significantly impacts upon
strategy at business and corporate levels due to the
boundary-spanning nature of the marketing function.

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 Competitive Marketing strategy:
various perspectives
•Marketing-oriented competitive strategy:-
• Marketing decides business direction
• Marketing helps match firms to their
environment (by consideration of product,
price, promotion and distribution and how to
position the firm in a competitive market)
• Pause for thought: IKEA’s transformation
from local mail order furniture business to a
key world wide furnishing retailer.

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 Competitive Marketing strategy:
various perspectives, cont
•Technology-oriented competitive strategy: -
• Serving high-income markets with new,
unique, high-performance and high-
technology
• Pause for thought: Apple and Samsung
as typical examples of large corporations
pursuing technological leadership

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 Overview of Strategic Market Management
(Source: Aaker and McLoughlin, 2010, Strategic Market
Management, John Wiley and Sons)

EXTERNAL ANALYSIS SELF-ANALYSIS

• Customer analysis • Performance analysis

• Competitive analysis • Determinants of strategic options
• Industry analysis
• Environmental analysis

Opportunities, threats and strategic questions Strategic strengths, weaknesses,

problems, constraints and questions

Strategy identification and selection

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 References
•Cravens, D.W., Piercy, N.F. and Baldauf, A. (2009), ‘Management
Framework Guiding Strategic Thinking in Rapidly Changing Markets,’
Journal of Marketing Management, 25(1/2), pp.31-49
•Crittendon, V.I. and Crittendon, W.F. (2012), ‘Strategic Marketing in a
Changing World,’ Business Horizons, 55, pp.215-17
•Didd, S., Simkin, L., Pride, W.M. and Ferrell, O.C. (2012), Marketing
Concepts and Strategies, 6th edition, Cengage Learning
•Ward, S. and Lewandowska, A. (2008), ‘Is the Marketing Concept always
Necessary? The Effectiveness of Customer, Competitors and Societal
Strategies in Business Environment Types,’ European Journal of Marketing,
42 (1/2), pp.222-37

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