HOLISTIC MARKETING CONCEPT &

UPDATING 4Ps
‘The whole is more than the sum
of its parts’.
Greek Philosopher, Aristotle

SESSION 2
HOW MANY PARTS MAKE UP A CAR?
 EVOLUTION OF MARKETING
PHILOSOPHY

“ Over the years Marketing thinking has changed in

response to the evolving marketing environment,
“
and customers’ expectations.
 MARKETING EVOLUTION: STAGE 1

1. ‘PRODUCTION CONCEPT’ – Oldest concept of

Marketing: based on the idea that customers prefer
products that are widely available & inexpensive.
 Business had to focus on efficient production, low
cost & mass distribution. Low labor coat helped.
 Idea still acceptable in low-income countries.
 MARKETING EVOLUTION: STAGE 2
2. ‘PRODUCT CONCEPT’ - ‘Consumers started to favor
products that offered better quality, performance, or
innovative features’.
 BUT, when products started becoming similar,
companies had to focus more on price, distribution,
advertising became important.
 MARKETING EVOLUTION: STAGE 3
3. ‘SELLING CONCEPT’: people were attracted more
towards products that were pushed, promoted, or sold
aggressively.
 BUT, “HARD or AGGRESSIVE SELLING” led to
overstocking of goods, with distributors & trade. Sales
forecasts became unreliable.
 MARKETING EVOLUTION: STAGE 4

4. ‘MARKETING CONCEPT’: Starting in the 1950s

more customer-centered ‘sense-and-respond’
philosophy became important for companies.
 Purpose of Marketing became finding the right
customers, understanding their needs, & creating
the right products.
 MARKETING EVOLUTION: STAGE 5
5. ‘MARKET-VALUE CONCEPT’: This more recent
approach calls for a holistic approach to marketing,
focused on building customer relationships, rather than
“push-selling”.
 This concept calls for a more holistic approach to
marketing and a strong customer-oriented corporate
culture.
 WHAT IS “HOLISTIC” MARKETING?

Holistic marketing is an “integrative* marketing

paradigm*” that considers the full scope of a business
as opposed to narrowly focusing on the development or
execution of particular marketing activities.

* Integrative = combining two or more things to form an effective unit

* Paradigm = a pattern or model
 HOLISTIC MARKETING CONCEPT
• As Philip Kotler puts it…
• “The holistic marketing concept is based on the
development, design, and implementation of marketing
programs, processes, and activities that recognize
breadth & interdependencies.”
• Simply put, it calls for all departments/ functions
contributing towards the company’s marketing effort.
 4 COMPONENTS
OF HOLISTIC MARKETING
Internal
marketing

Performance Holistic Integrated

marketing marketing marketing

Relationship
marketing
 RELATIONSHIP MARKETING

• Objective: build deep & enduring relationships with

key stakeholders to earn & grow the business.
• Four key stakeholders: customers, employees, external
partners (channels, suppliers, distributors, dealers,
agencies), and the financial community.
 RELATIONSHIP MARKETING:
WHAT DOES THIS LEAD TO?

• The creation of a unique company asset i.e. a ‘marketing

network’ with key stakeholders.
• More companies today subcontract activities to firms that
can do them better & more cheaply…
• BUT, core brand activities at retained ‘at home’.
 RELATIONSHIP MARKETING:
THE EXAMPLE

evolved from being a manufacturer of mainframe

computers when Lou Gerstner was President to become
“a solutions company”…
…solving problems for its customers (mainly - financial
institutions & government organizations).
 INTEGRATED MARKETING

• Objective: to create, communicate, and deliver value for

consumers, by integrating design, implementation, and
communication activities across the company.
• The GE Advantage: GE provides complete packages & not
just products customers: Equipment purchased comes with
installation, maintenance, training of manpower.
INTEGRATED MARKETING FOR TOURISM
“INSPIRED BY ICELAND”
• With tourism generating 20% of country’s forex earnings
and a sharp decline in bookings after volcanic eruption in
2000, Iceland Tourism Department launched an
outstandingly successful campaign “Inspired by Iceland”.
WHY a success?
• Insight: 80% of visitors to Iceland recommend the
destination to friends & family, who then visit Iceland.
INTEGRATED MARKETING FOR TOURISM
“INSPIRED BY ICELAND”

>>The “Inspired by Iceland” campaign harnessed

social media power of citizens, visitors and
celebrities to overcome the negative publicity
caused by a volcanic eruption that decimated both
air travel and Iceland’s image.
 INTEGRATED MARKETING
“INSPIRED BY ICELAND” CAMPAIGN
• Insight for the campaign:
• 80% of visitors to Iceland recommend the destination to friends and family.
 INTERNAL MARKETING

• Objective: to ensure that all departments fully understand,

and are aligned to achieve the company’s “customer
goals”.
• Internal marketing requires both vertical and horizontal
alignment and support of departments for each other.
 INTERNAL MARKETING
• BUT HOW?
• Companies like Apple, Disney, Southwest Airlines “weave
the brand messages into employees’ everyday
experiences…
• …i.e. make them part of managers work practices and
behavior.
ACING INTERNAL MARKETING
 PERFORMANCE MARKETING

• Objective: going beyond the financial and nonfinancial

returns to business…
• …nonfinancial returns aimed at addressing customers’
social/ environmental concerns.
• Customers’ satisfaction & market share are widely
impacted by these concerns today.
 INSTANT QUIZ!
Internal marketing

Holistic
Performance marketing marketing Integrated marketing

Relationship marketing

Q. What is HOLISTIC MARKETING? Explain its four

key components.
UPDATING 4P-MARKETING
 UPDATING 4Ps MARKETING
• 1960: Jerome McCarthy proposed the 4Ps or
“marketing-mix” Product, Price, Place, and Promotion, in
his book “Basic Marketing”.
• For over five decades Marketing Guru Philip Kotler
championed the idea & popularized it.
• In today’s complex, customer-centric Marketing the
original 4Ps concept requires updating.
 UPDATING 4Ps MARKETING

• Advancements in affordable digital technology & wider

access to companies big & small disrupting hegemony of
larger firms.
• Arrival of smart consumers, with information at their
fingertips, demand superior value & better experiences –
not just ‘products and services’
 ONE ALTERNATIVE…

• UPDATE 4PS WITH 4AS OF MARKETING?

1. Acceptability: extent to which a firm’s product/ offering
exceeds customer expectations.
2. Affordability: the customers’ ability and willingness to
pay the price of the product/ offering.
 ONE ALTERNATIVE…
3. Accessibility: extent to which the product/ offering is
available conveniently.
4. Awareness: extent to which customers are informed
about product/ offering, persuaded to try it, and
reminded to repurchase it.

 YET, 4As IS AT BEST AN ATTEMPT TO FIX 4Ps.

4Ps OF ‘HOLISTIC MARKETING’: AN
ALTERVATIVE
 4Ps OF ‘HOLISTIC MARKETING’
• Holistic Marketing [based on “Design Thinking”, a non-
linear, iterative process] re-describes 4Ps as:
1. People: Marketers view consumers as people & try to
understand their lives more broadly; and also consider
employees as people, who are critical to marketing
success.
2. Processes: Creativity, discipline, & structure brought to
marketing management.
 4Ps OF ‘HOLISTIC MARKETING’
3. Programs: Firm’s consumer-directed activities , both
offline & online. Encompasses all old 4Ps under
programs.
4. Performance: Outcome measures (financial &
nonfinancial) & their implications (social, legal,
environmental).
 These new 4Ps, in a sense, apply to the work of all
functional areas in a company.
END OF SESSION 2
 USES OF THE WORD “HOLISTIC”

 In architecture: “you need to take a holistic approach

to design”.
 In environmental sciences: “Ecological problems
usually require holistic solutions.”
USE OF “HOLISTIC” IN EDUCATION
USES OF “HOLISTIC” IN HEALTH