Selling, Marketing, Strategic Marketing, Maturity of Strategic Marketing

Strategic Marketing Course at IMT Feb 2018 for Div B and C

Feb 12 – 16 :  6 Sessions 7,8,9,10,11,12

Done previous month Jan 2018 (1) Everwrite Pens (2) Sony Cybershot (3) Wallace Fort Hotels.

Now planning in Feb 2018  (4) Elegant Furniture (5) Adani Televisions (6) Blue Weiss Chairs

Let us revisit the whole course of “Strategic Marketing”. Is it just a different and fancy name or is it really different from ordinary marketing? Is the practice different of strategic marketing or only the name is different?

Let us review some basic terms .

Selling is focused on the needs of the seller to make profit hence the focus of selling is on contacting and convincing more customers and convincing them to buy more quantity at a higher price. The key output expected through selling is more revenue and more profit. The sales effort is usually of more and better customer contacts,  better persuasion and salesmanship.

Marketing is focused both on making selling more efficient and effective by focusing on the needs of the seller as well as on the needs of the customers. Marketing aligns what it offers to the customers’ needs and tries to do it better than what the  competition is doing. The key output expected through marketing is more revenue, more customer satisfaction, having a better perception among the customers than of the competitors, and of course making more profit.

Strategic Marketing  is a practice that enables a business to simultaneously achieve attractive returns for both its customers and itself over a long period of time over time in such a way that it is  difficult for others (potential competitors) to imitate. Such businesses can create longer lasting success by being able to create value propositions that satisfy specific markets / needs better than the others and in a lasting way because of their distinct capabilities which are VRIO (Value creating, Rare, Inimitable, Organized to exploit it ). Strategically good marketing companies identify the few things they need to be  good at and then they develop these few complex capabilities until they’re world-class and interlocking. They get good returns because they carefully balance their strengths (what they do incredibly well) against their opportunities (what the market will reward). 

Maturity Model based on the stage they’re at in developing and executing a strategically correct strategy. Although many companies recognize the value of taking a strategic approach it is not easy for them to move from today’s incoherence to tomorrow’s focused strategy.

11 Ways of undertaking strategic marketing

1. No strategic direction. You have no clear view where you want to be and how to get there. The market does not see you as “advantaged”.  
2. No identity : Your products and services are effective but they lack a focused identity that sets you apart than your competitors. Your individual products are relatively easy to copy and their advantage is short lived.
3. You are unable to follow one direction : You understand what should be your  strategic direction but in reality you follow multiple directions which fit together poorly. You can be attacked by a focused competitor.
4. You have too many priorities :You have a diverse array of products and services that you cannot get an internal agreement on priorities
5. Jack of many;  master of none. You are not superior to any competitor and struggle to choose when you want to decide what your priorities should be.
6. Distracted :  You have  an identity in mind but cannot resist  diversions which may take you away for the stated objective.
7. You do not have resources to build capabilities that can differentiate you in the eyes of the customers from your competitors.
8. You lack the knowledge, skills, or technology needed to build your capabilities to a market leading level, or to scale it throughout the company,
9. Your desired status is so far away from that your  customers, employees, and investors find your plans incredulous.
10. Coherent : You have a powerful value proposition and a system of a few differentiating capabilities that support your value proposition. You can grow successfully because of the strengths you consistently bring to bear.
11. Super-competitor You use your coherence to shape the future, to apply your capabilities to a broader range of challenges and loftier goals, serve the fundamental needs and wants of your customers and adjacent markets. You not only play the game well but can also change the rules.

Where are you? Where to invest your resources and attention in order to move closer to the coherent strategy?