CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN MARKETING:

WHAT IS MARKETING COMING TO?

Marketing Practice

Session Objectives

Examine the proposed new CIM definition of marketing

Discuss what this new definition says about how marketing has evolved

Explore perceptions of marketing

Introduction

Chartered Institute of Marketing is proposing a debate on the future of marketing

In order to start the debate they have suggested a new definition of marketing

Current Definition

The current CIM definition of marketing is: 'The management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably’. Chartered Institute of Marketing (2001), Baines, Fill & Page (2008)

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Definition 2Marketing is an organizational

function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders (AMA,2005)

http://www.marketingpower.com/mg-dictionary-view1862.php

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Definition 3

Marketing is the process by which the companies create value for customers and build strong customer relationships in order to capture value from customers in returnKotler and Armstrong (2010, p.28), Armstrong and Kotler (2009)

What about this definition?

“'The strategic business function that creates value by stimulating, facilitating and fulfilling customer demand. It does this by building brands, nurturing innovation, developing relationships, creating good customer service and communicating benefits. By operating customer-centrically, marketing brings positive return on investment, satisfies shareholders and stakeholders from business and the community, and contributes to positive behavioural change and a sustainable business future.’” Charles (2007)

So What Has Changed?

Definition concentrates on functions/activities of marketing. Definition is driven by what marketers do

Therefore, because what marketers do has changed, the definition has to change

Remember process centric definition?

This Means?

New elements of “definition” Creating value Building brands Nurturing innovation Developing relationships Good customer service Communicating benefits ROI and shareholder value Stakeholders Sustainability

What Else is New in Marketing?

Some things that have changed are not in the “definition”…

Services

Technology

Globalisation

General opinion of marketing

Broad Areas of Change

A number of areas have affected the thinking behind this new definition, including

Marketing now not a management function?Expansion of marketing into new areasIncreasing complexity of marketing rolesAttitudes towards marketingEthics, sustainability and social aspects

Now we will look at some of these

Reasons for Changes

Short definition is 30 plus years old

Marketing has changed, evolved and grown In the past 10 years the number of people working

in marketing has increased by 80% (Thorp, 2007) Now more that half a million people working in

broad area of marketing (Thorp, 2007)

Long definition is suggested as a beginning point for a debate on what marketing is

Marketing as a “Business Function”

Previously marketing was seen as a “management function”

i.e. something done by managers

Now “everyone in a company acts as a marketer to a lesser or greater degree” (Thorp, 2007, p. 9)

Marketing as a “Business Function”

Originally a service marketing concept, Coined by Evert Gummesson (e.g., see Gummesson,

1997) “part-time marketers typically outnumber

several times the full-time marketers,” Gronroos (1997)

Now has moved to general marketing There is a recognition that “quality is marketing”All employees, customer facing or not, service

or not, have a role to play in improving the quality of the organisation’s offering

Expansion of Marketing

Not just growing in terms of numbers of participants

Also expanding into new areas and opening new job roles

Some reasons for thisIncreasing specialisation (Thorp, 2007)Improvements in technology (Reynolds

2007)Marketing being used in new contexts,

e.g., services, not for profit (Thorp,2007)

Marketing’s Growing Pains

This growth and self examination of marketing is not new

Has been a continual process, maybe always will be “symptomatic of an inherent insecurity and

concern for intellectual vindication” (Woodall, 2007, P. 1284)

In the early 1990’s marketing experienced a “mid-life crisis” (Brady and Davis, 1993 cited by Denison and McDonald, 1995).

Holbrook and Hulbert (2002) even suggested that “specifically the marketing function is dead” (citing Fitzroy, 1998; Lehmann and Jocz, 1997)

Expansion of Marketing

Now marketing “…creates value by stimulating, facilitating and fulfilling customer demand. It does this by building brands, nurturing innovation, developing relationships, creating good customer service and communicating benefits.”

These, and other (?), areas are becoming increasingly important and separate in marketing. In fact these areas can often be sub-divided even more

Is There Such a Thing as Marketing?

Does marketing exist as a single definable element within an organisation?

Thorp (2007, P.6) argues that “increasingly it’s difficult for a marketer to attempt to be expert in all the areas we currently define as ‘marketing’.”

In past marketing was more straightforward, easier to be expert in many areas

“Renaissance Men”/Polymaths

Leonardo da Vinci Artist, engineer, anatomist, scientist

Lower levels of knowledge etc, made this easier

Jack of All Trades?

Definition highlightsBrand buildingInnovation Relationship marketingCustomer serviceCommunications

Each can be seen as a very specialist role – requiring specialist skills and training

Expansion of Marketing

The CIM suggest that “in the future, marketers could follow one of three broad paths: Science…Arts…Humanities” (Thorp 2007, P. 6)

No one would be expected to be an expert in all three

Specialising in one of these areas allows more time to study how the rest of the business works

Attitudes Towards Marketing

Second half of definition almost a defence of marketing

“By operating customer-centrically, marketing brings positive return on investment, satisfies shareholders and stakeholders from business and the community, and contributes to positive behavioural change and a sustainable business future.”

Remember “inherent insecurity” (Woodall, 2007, P.1284)

Whose Attitude is it Anyway?

Definition refers to several groups Customers Shareholders “Stakeholders from business and the community”

And highlights value to each Customer centric operations “Positive return on investment” “Positive behavioural change and a sustainable business

future”

We will explore how the attitudes of stakeholders inside and outside the organisation might be formed

Within Organisations

The value of marketing to organisations is debated (Simms, 2008; Thorp, 2007)

Marketers seen as more loyal to marketing than to organisations (Simms, 2008; Thorp, 2007)

Marketers seen as having too little knowledge about the organisation as a whole (Simms, 2008; Thorp, 2007)

General Attitude to Marketing

“The cumulative impact of billions of corporate dollars spent marketing their products, year after year after year, stimulating, reinforcing and exacerbating people’s consumerist fantasies, is almost wholly pernicious” (Jonathon Porritt cited by Thorp, 2007, P. 4)

Marketing stimulates greed and excess consumption

Marketing is purely about communications, all flash and no substance

General Attitude to Marketing

If your product is not good enough, lie about it to convince people it is

General Attitude to Marketing

Also “consumers believe that, rather than ‘active, rational decision-making people’ they are perceived as ‘Passive sentimental lightweights’” (Kanter, 1988/89, P.33 cited by Woodall, P. 1290)

Instead consumers now actively seek relevant marketing (Holbrook and Hulbert, 2002) and will reject and actively avoid irrelevant marketing (Fry, 2008)

Also consumers actively communicate with each other concerning their experiences with marketing communications, products, etc… “Trialogue” (Walmsley, 2007)

Six Blind Men and the Elephant

Six Blind Men and the Elephant

Six learned blind men go to ‘see’ an elephant

Each experiences only a small part of the whole, a leg or a tusk or the trunk or tail

• Each believes and argues that the whole of the elephant is what they have experienced

So?

The beliefs of people outside of marketing are influenced by what they experience of marketing

Adverts for loans and HFSS (high fat, sugar and salt) food

Junk mail Silent calls Pushy salespeople

As population becomes more educated and sophisticated, they see through bad/badly targeted marketing more easily

Social Aspects of Marketing

Another aspect of marketing that people are increasingly aware of is the impact on society

Negative impact receiving more attentionBinge drinking (McAlinden, 2007)Childhood obesity (Online junk food… ,2008)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vSoax7OX6U

Increasing personal debt (Marshall, 2007)

Ironically, first two are a result of PR from pressure groups trying to get their point across!

Ethics and Sustainability

Marketing industry reactions to issues include Fair trade Organic Green Save today, Save tomorrow, EDF Energy Ethically sourced

Could be driven by: Consumers (Darmon, 2005) Industry Expansion of marketing into new areas

Things to Think About

Marketing is an evolving changing definition

It is growing in terms of numbers of marketers and areas in which marketing appears

Attitudes to marketing are worseningMainly driven by “bad” uses of marketing

References

Charles, G. (2007) News Analysis: Fit for purpose?”, downloaded from http://www.brandrepublic.com/login/Research/740535/ on January 22nd 2008.

Darmon, R.Y., (2005), Is Ethical Marketing a Myth? In D. Daianu and R. Vranceanu (Ed) Ethical Boundaries of Capitalism [Electronic version], 175-197, Aldershot; Ashgate.

Denison, T. & McDonald, M., (1995), The role of marketing past, present and future [Electronic version], Journal of Marketing Practice: Applied Marketing Science, 1 (1), 54-76.

Fry, A., (2008, January, 16th), Avoidance tactics gather pace, Marketing, 19

Gronroos, C., (1997) From marketing mix to relationship marketing – towards a paradigm shift in marketing [Electronic version], Management Decision, 35 (4), 322-339.

References

Gummesson, E. (1997) Relationship marketing as a paradigm shift: some conclusions from the 30R approach [Electronic version}, Management Decision, 35 (4), 267-272.

Holbrook, M.B. & Hulbert, J.M., (2002) Elegy on the death of marketing: Never send to know why we have come to bury marketing, but ask what you can do for your country churchyard [Electronic version], European Journal of Marketing, 36 (5/6), 706-732.

Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G. (2010). Principles of Marketing. 13 ed. Pearson

Kotler, P. & Keller, K. (2009) Marketing Management. 13th ed. Pearson McAlinden, M., (2007) Shop alcohol offers 'unethical' downloaded from

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7155825.stm on January 24th, 2008 Marshal, B., (2007), The Hard Sell, downloaded from

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/aug/18/advertising.comment on February 11th, 2008

Online junk food adverts ban call, (2008), downloaded from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7199236.stm on January 24th, 2008

References

Reynolds, J., (2007), Editorial [Electronic version], Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing, 15, 199-200.

Simms, J., (2008, January 16th) ,Marketing 2008 – a discipline in crisis, Marketing, 26-28.

Thorpe, D. (2007), Tomorrow’s Word [Electronic version], Shape the agenda, Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Walmsley, A., (2007, June 13th), Democracy overpowers deific brands, Marketing, 17.

Woodall, T., (2007) New marketing, improved marketing, apocryphal marketing: Is one marketing concept enough [Electronic version], European Journal of Marketing, 41 (11/12), 1284-1296.