A Summary of Key Concepts Story of Marketing Management

MARKETING MANAGEMENT

Story of Marketing Management

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Companies capitalize on their core competencies to and competitive advantage and realize their responsibilities towards society and stakeholders. They have the power to use their knowledge and competencies to strengthen their stakeholder relations, keeping it as a tactic for empowering the dynamic capabilities they already possess. Not only this, but also core competencies give extra control to the company when changes are to be implemented, and adjustments are to be handled carefully. 

The external marketing situation is the image of the company that it has established over the years for the competitive industry and its loyal customers so that the company’s relationships within the value chain are facilitated for further profit-making and value enhancement for all the participants. In this process, quantitative and qualitative data help the company make sensible and informed decisions related to its products (Evolve, n.a.), so that failure of a product does not affect its relationship with the supply chain members as well as does not lose their connections with its customers. 

For developing an effective marketing image in the industry and the target market, external marketing largely relies on strategic marketing that involves initiating a mission statement, segmentation, targeting, positioning, and sustainable global value chain. In the contemporary times of globalization, it has now become imperative to deeply consider the investment in advanced production technologies so that being a part of upstream segments of the global value chain (GVC) enables the contribution as a key supplier in regional integration of production based on segmentation and positioning (Kano, Tsang & Yeung, 2020). 

Communication and negotiation play an integral part in making the buyer-seller relationship strong and reaching decisions that could be considered collaborative, reflecting the leadership practices. In other words, when a marketing plan is applied, the short and long-term goals are set that should be achieved within the set time limit. This would allow the company to build a connection with its buyers by communicating company values to assess its costs associated with customer acquisition. For this, leadership needs to be envisioned and invigorate its people with the energy needed for achieving both short and long-term goals. 

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Relationship marketing is entirely vested in customer relationship management (CRM) since it emphasizes building customer loyalty and long-term customer commitment by establishing strong or sometimes emotional associations with them for profit-making purposes (Gummerus, von Koskull & Kowalkowski, 2017). The networks and chain of relations made with relationship marketing are most beneficial in the service sector; however, as the need has grown in the globalized arena, it has been widely used for all industry types. 

The three features of core competencies that companies vigorously make use of for building customer loyalty, fortifying value chain relations, and capitalizing on networks inculcate the creation of perceived value for the buyers, wider pertinence to the entire market, and blocking the competitors from imitating (Business Jargons, n.a.). The presentation of core competencies depends on whether the company wants to make profits only or wants to sustain its long-term relations that would be relying on its strategic decisions, importance giving to the stakeholders, and leadership values. 

A company’s competitive advantage is shaped by its internal characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses to help in the facilitation of strategy formulation. The internal economies support the company in making better cists decisions. Cost-cutting can make it stronger against its competitors, giving it the rightful grip over its competitive advantage. 

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The three categories of customers could be distinguished based on their types of needs: functional, social, and emotional needs (Stobierski, 2020). Each type of customer has the same single type of buying process that has primarily five stages: identifying the need for buying, conducting research for gathering information, evaluating the available options and solutions, the actual purchase, and post-purchase evaluations (Nicasio, 2019). The consumer buying process is now taking place online, which is referred to as B2B and B2C marketing. These are the contact points that the customer can make with the company to find solutions for their product-related problems. For example, the internet plays a significant role in helping the customer make these contacts with the companies by sending emails, asking help questions on web forums, and providing them with practical information. 

The key issues in researching competitors and their competitive advantage might include the credibility of sources from where the information is obtained. Clues can be gathered from certain sources such as local business directories, press reports, internet search, marketing literature, and flyers, etc. (Info Entrepreneurs, 2009); however, making their correct use and ensuring that these sources are not outdated is the key concern. The knowledge of their competitive advantage is required, and information about their products and services, what are they planning to do in the future by getting information what kind of customers they are targeting, their product development and financial resources, etc. 

Since relationship management helps establish long-term relations with the customer and adds to customer loyalty for a lifetime, the business units work together to deliver quality products and services to the buyers. The employees and functional departments are responsible for performing their designated duties and held accountable when something does not go according to its strategic plan. Also, buyer partnership shapes the method a business takes place as the partnership between the buyer and seller is either weak or strong, leading to the profitability conditions of the whole business. 

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Certain phases in the marketing planning process are analyzing the situation, outlining the objectives, creating a strong strategy, action and developmental programs, application and regulation, and analysis and evaluation (Monash University, n.a.). The three decisions that comprise the company’s strategic marketing are a great part of the marketing mix, our product and customer mix, geographical areas and limits, and competitive advantage in line with the set goals (Hansen & Juslin, 2018). 

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the name for business practices that help the firm be more responsible towards society, its wellbeing, and sustainability (Fernando, 2021). With the help of this concept, the companies learn to be socially responsible and develop corporate citizenship, which is mandatory for operating in society and gain economic benefits. The three P’s of corporate social responsibility are people, planet, and profit. Valuing people and prioritizing their health and safety is included in the company’s CSR strategy along with having a “lean” process approach in waste reduction processes with the support of partnerships and value chain members that would result in lesser greenhouse emissions and more recycle, beneficial for the planet (Smith, 2016). 

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Customers are an asset because it is they based on whom the business is running. If there is no customer to buy a company’s products and services, there would be no profits. Moreover, a customer satisfaction index guarantees any business thrives. Its lifetime value could guide the firms to strategize their business processes with the right resources for enhanced customer profitability and cost-cutting (Prince, 2004). Further, the technical quality of the service process is what the customer gets as an outcome of communications with the service firm (Ali et al., 2017, p. 362), such as getting a haircut at the salon. 

The pricing and marketing strategies have to be well-thought for the above two concepts since they would decide the management of international distribution channels and logistics. For example, if the technical quality of a luxurious hotel service that recruits its culturally competent employees who have to serve its customers coming from all directions of the world, it would have to scrutinize the costing and relationship management of its international distribution channels of recruitment and logistics for training and education of these employees. 

The significance of mass communication cannot be overemphasized as man is a social animal and needs to interact for various purposes such as gaining knowledge, sharing thoughts, and making people aware of certain social issues. The five aspects of communication are listening, simple talking without complexities, non-verbal cues, managing stress through communication, and controlling emotions (Smarp, 2020). For this very purpose, the social media mix needs to be strong enough to communicate messages to meet the marketing objectives by creating worth. In today’s world, where messages travel faster on social media platforms, viral marketing is a new effective way to communicate messages faster than any communication medium. The spreading rate over the internet is expeditious as compared to television, radio or newspaper, etc.