Samsung could produce products that were as good as Sony’s, What is a Strategy?

but because of the brand’s down-market image, their TV’s Fundamental pattern of present and planned objectives,
would sit at the back of the stores. resource deployments, and interactions of an organization with
Building an image of Samsung as a stylish, high-quality brand markets, competitors, and other environmental factors.
worthy of a premium price:
 R&D Into Innovative Tech
 Product Development & Design
 Brand Building Campaigns

Strategy Pyramid/Hierarchy:
Corporate Strategy
Provides direction concerning the organization’s overall mission, the businesses it should be in, and its growth policies.
At the corporate level, managers must coordinate the activities of multiple business units and, in the case of corporations, even
separate legal business entities. Decisions about the organization’s scope and resource deployments across its divisions or
businesses are the primary focus of corporate strategy.
 Attempts to develop and maintain distinctive competencies at the corporate level focus on generating superior human,
financial, and technological resources (overall mission)
 Designing effective organizational structures and processes
 Seeking synergy among the firm’s various businesses. Synergy (cooperation) can provide a major competitive advantage for
firms where related businesses share R&D investments, product or production technologies, distribution channels, a common
salesforce, and/or promotional themes
Example: Samsung’s decision to increase the resources devoted to R&D in order to become a pioneer in digital technology reflected
the chaebol’s overarching
Business Strategy:
This level of strategy primarily addresses how a business will compete in its industry in order to attain a sustainable advantage over
its rivals.
 A major issue in a business strategy is that of sustainable competitive advantage.
What distinctive competencies can give the business unit a competitive advantage? Which of those competencies best
match the needs and wants of the customers in the business’s target segment(s)?
For example, a business with a strong marketing department and a competent salesforce may compete by offering
superior customer service.
 Another important issue a business-level strategy must address is appropriate scope: how many and which market segments
to compete in and the overall breadth of product offerings and marketing programs to appeal to these segments.
Example: Samsung establishing a unique competitive position for its products by using technical innovation and cool design to
appeal to younger and relatively upscale customer segments around the world reflect Samsung Electronics
Functional Strategy:
The primary focus of marketing strategy is to effectively allocate and coordinate marketing resources and activities to accomplish
the firm’s objectives within a specific product- market. Therefore, the critical issue concerning the scope of a marketing strategy is
specifying the target market(s) for a particular product or product line.
 Next, firms seek competitive advantage and synergy through a well-integrated program of marketing mix elements (primarily
the 4 Ps of product, price, place, and promotion) tailored to the needs and wants of potential customers in that target market.
How to divide the market into segments
 which segments to target
 what products to offer each target segment
 what promotional tools and appeals to employ
 what prices to charge
 Strategies contain five components, or sets of issues (five basic dimensions are part of all strategies.)
1. Scope The scope of an organization refers to the breadth of its strategic domain—the number and types
of industries, product lines, and market segments it competes in or plans to enter. Decisions about
an organization’s strategic scope should reflect management’s view of the firm’s purpose or
mission.
2. Goals and objectives Strategies also should detail desired levels of accomplishment on one or more dimensions of
performance—such as volume growth, profit contribution, or return on investment—over
specified time periods for each of those businesses and product-markets and for the organization
as a whole.
3. Resource deployments Formulating a strategy also involves deciding how those resources are to be obtained and
allocated across businesses, product markets, and functional departments and activities within
each business or product-market.
4. Identification of how the organization will compete in each business and product- market within its domain.
sustainable competitive Managers must examine the market opportunities in each business and product-market and the
advantage company’s distinctive competencies or strengths relative to its competitors.
5. Synergy Synergy exists when the firm’s businesses, product-markets, resource deployments, and
competencies complement and reinforce one another.

Types of diversification techniques:

1. Concentric diversification (business level): involves adding similar products or services to the existing business.
For example, when a computer company that primarily produces desktop computers starts manufacturing laptops.
2. Conglomerate diversification (corporate level): adding new products or services that are significantly unrelated
and with no technological or commercial similarities.

Why do not marketing managers play an equally extensive strategic role in every firm?
A. Variations in Marketing’s Strategic Influence
 marketing managers tend to have greater strategic influence in firms that spend relatively heavily on R&D and seek a
competitive advantage based extensively on innovative product and service offerings.
 marketing is more influential in firms that have strong “customer-connecting” capabilities,
B. Market-Oriented Management
Market-oriented organizations tend to operate according to the business philosophy known as the marketing concept. The
marketing concept: planning and coordination of all company activities around the primary goal of satisfying customer needs is
the most effective means to attain and sustain a competitive advantage and achieve company objectives over time. Market-
oriented firms also adopt a variety of organizational procedures and structures to improve the responsiveness of their decision-
making, including:
1- using more detailed environmental scanning and continuous, real-time information systems;
2- seeking frequent feedback from and coordinating plans with key customers and major suppliers;
3- decentralizing strategic decisions; encouraging entrepreneurial thinking among lower-level managers;
4- using inter-functional management to analyze issues and initiate strategic actions outside the formal planning process.
C. Do Customers Always Know What They Want?
 How to resolve the conflict between the views of technologists and marketers.
First there is basic research, most consumers have little knowledge of scientific advancements and emerging technologies.
Therefore, they usually don’t play a role in influencing how firms allocate their basic research dollars.
Then there is development—the conversion of technical concepts into actual salable products or services.
D. Does Being Market-Oriented Pay?
market-oriented firms should perform better than others. By paying careful attention to customer needs and competitive threats,
organizations should be able to enhance, accelerate, and reduce the volatility and vulnerability of their cash flows.
Profitability is the third leg, together with a customer focus and cross-functional coordination, of the three-legged stool known as
the marketing concept.
Guidelines for Market-Oriented Management

Factors that Mediate a Firm’s Market Orientation. Reasons firms are not always in close touch with their market
environments are:
1) Competitive conditions may enable a company to be successful in the short run, without being particularly
sensitive to customer desires, suppliers, distributors, or other organizations in their market environment.
o New industries:
 Few competitors, high demand, production focus.
 Businesses make what they want, little marketing.
o Growing industries:
 More competition, focus on selling existing products.
 Price promotions, more salespeople, not very effective.
o Mature industries:
 Competition fierce, differentiation needed.
 Lower prices, better service, unique features are key.
 Strong customer focus becomes crucial for success.
o Global markets:
 Responding to competitors might be even more important than understanding customers.
 Market orientation is still essential for long-term success.
2) Different levels of economic development across industries or countries may favor different business
philosophies.
The way companies approach their markets can vary greatly, influenced by the industry they're in and their global
landscape. Here's the breakdown:
Industry Stage Matters:
 Young industries: Fewer competitors, less focus on understanding customer needs. Think of early
healthcare or finance—regulations limited competition, so companies made what they thought was best.
 Growing industries: Competition heats up, companies turn to selling what they already have (more
salespeople, promotions). It's still not about the customer yet.
 Mature industries: Standing out is key! Companies finally realize understanding and serving customers is
crucial for success (lower prices, better service, unique features).
Global Differences:
 Development gap: Different countries are at different stages, so their business philosophies differ. What
works in one might not work in another.
 Challenges and opportunities: Globalizing your marketing strategy can be tricky due to these differences.
However, it also opens doors for strategic partnerships and joint ventures.
 Remember, understanding the market you're in and the broader global context is key to crafting a
successful business strategy.
3) Firms can suffer from strategic inertia—the automatic continuation of strategies successful in the past,
even though current market conditions are changing.
Strategic Inertia - a phenomenon where businesses persistently stick to established strategies, processes, and
mindsets, even when external environments undergo rapid transformation.
Recent Developments Affecting the Strategic Role of Marketing
In the future, strategic inertia will be even more dangerous in many industries because they are facing increasing
magnitudes and rates of change in their environments. These changes are rapidly altering the context in which
marketing strategies are planned and carried out and the information and tools that marketers have at their
disposal. These developments include:
(1) the increased globalization of markets and competition,
International differences in infrastructure, culture, legal systems, and the like often mean that one or more
elements of the marketing program—such as product features, promotional appeals, or distribution channels—
must be tailored to local conditions for the strategy to be effective.

(2) the growth of the service sector of the economy and the importance of service in maintaining customer
satisfaction and loyalty,
A service can be defined as “any activity or benefit that one party can offer another that is essentially intangible
and that does not result in the ownership of anything. Its production may or may not be tied to a physical product.

(3) the rapid development of new information and communications technologies

The computer revolution and technological developments are changing the nature of marketing management in
two important ways.
First, new technologies are making it possible for firms to collect and analyze more detailed information about
potential customers and their needs, preferences, and buying habits, and about their competitors’ offerings and
prices.
A second impact: open new channels for communications and transactions between suppliers and customers.

(4) The growing importance of inter-functional relationships for improved coordination and increased efficiency of
marketing programs and for capturing a larger portion of customers’ lifetime value.
Consequently, new business school graduates who both understand the marketing management process and are
savvy with respect to one or more of these ongoing developments can play an important role—and gain a potential
competitive advantage—within even the largest firms. Such newly minted managers can bring fresh perspectives
and valuable insights concerning how these emerging trends are likely to impact their organizations’ customers,
competitors, and marketing strategies.

Formulating and Implementing Marketing Strategy—An Overview of the Process

1- A Decision-Making Focus
Every chapter details either the decisions to be made and actions taken when designing and implementing
strategies for various market situations or the analytical tools and frameworks you will need to make those
decisions intelligently.
2- Analysis Comes First—The Four “Cs”
Successful strategic decisions rest on an objective, detailed, and evidence-based understanding of the market and
the environmental context. The analysis necessary to provide the foundation for a good strategic marketing plan
should focus on four elements of the overall environment that may influence its appropriateness and ultimate
success:
(1) the company’s internal resources, capabilities, and strategies;
(2) the environmental context—such as broad social, economic, and technology trends
(3) the relative strengths and weaknesses of competitors and trends in the competitive environment; and
(4) the needs, wants, and characteristics of current and potential customers.
Marketers refer to these elements as the 4Cs:
Company’s resources, capabilities, and strategies Environmental Context
4Cs
Current and potential Customers’ need, wants,
Competitors’ strength and weaknesses characteristics
3- Integrating Marketing Strategy with the Firm’s Other Strategies and Resources (CH 2&3) - There should be a
good fit - internal consistency- among the elements of all three levels of strategy -

4- Market Opportunity Analysis

 Understanding market opportunities (CH4)
 Measuring market opportunities (CH5)
 Market segmentation, targeting, and positioning decisions (CH6&7)
5- Formulating marketing strategies for specific situations (Ch 8-11)

The strategic marketing program for a product should reflect market demand and the competitive situation within
the target market. But demand and competitive conditions change over time as a product moves through its life
cycle. Therefore, different strategies are typically more appropriate and successful for different market conditions
and at different life cycle stages.

6- Implementation and control of the marketing strategy (CH12&13)

Strategy-organization fit
Performance evaluation

7- Marketing Plan- A Blueprint for Action (CH 12)

A marketing plan is a written document detailing the current situation with respect to customers, competitors, and
the external environment and providing guidelines for objectives, marketing actions, and resource allocations over
the planning period for either an existing or a proposed product or service.
There are three major parts to the plan.
 First, the marketing manager details his or her assessment of the current situation. This is the homework
portion of the plan where the manager summarizes the results of his or her analysis of current and
potential customers, the company’s relative strengths and weaknesses, the competitive situation, the
major trends in the broader environment that may affect the product, and, for existing products, past
performance outcomes. This section typically also includes forecasts, estimates of sales potential, and
other assumptions underlying the plan, which are especially important for proposed new products or
services. Based on these analyses, the manager also may call attention to several key issues—major
opportunities or threats that should be dealt with during the planning period.
 The second part of the plan details the strategy for the coming period. This part usually starts by detailing
the objectives (e.g., sales volume, market share, profits, customer satisfaction levels, etc.) to be achieved
by the product or service during the planning period. It then outlines the overall marketing strategy, the
actions associated with each of the 4 Ps (the product, price, promotion, and “place” or distribution)
necessary to implement the strategy, and the timing and locus of responsibility for each action.
 Finally, the plan details the financial and resource implications of the strategy and the controls to be
employed to monitor the plan’s implementation and progress over the period. Some plans also specify
some contingencies: how the plan will be modified if certain changes occur in the market, competitive, or
external environments.