Development of a strategic approach to marketing: its culture; internal macro- and external micro-environmental issues

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After reading this chapter you will:

• understand the meaning, importance and the evolution of the marketing concept
• appreciate the factors which have given rise to the need for a more strategic approach to marketing management
• be familiar with the steps in strategic marketing planning
• appreciate contemporary developments in understanding and applying marketing ideas and their implications for strategic marketing

Over the past 50 years we have witnessed at first a gradual and then an increasingly rapid recognition that effective marketing is the keystone of organizational success. Having said this, for some companies this recognition came too late. For others its meaning and implications have not been adequately understood or accepted. More important is the fact that at the same time as some companies struggle to come to terms with the basic concepts and meaning of marketing (i.e. the marketing concept), markets (and marketing itself) are evolving and changing. With respect to the practice of marketing, the most significant of these changes is that, increasingly, marketing has become more strategic in nature. The significance and implication of this shift, along with the concepts, tools and frameworks needed to achieve such an approach, are the focus of this text. We start by tracing the origins, development and meaning of marketing as this is essential to understanding the second part of the chapter; namely, factors that have given rise to the growth of strategic marketing.