Strategic Marketing: An Introduction

Citation

Miles, M. (2002), "Strategic Marketing: An Introduction", European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 36 No. 11/12, pp. 1441-1444. https://doi.org/10.1108/ejm.2002.36.11_12.1441.2

Introduction

Routledge’s exciting new book Strategic Marketing: An Introduction, by Tony Proctor is a well organized, concise, straightforward introduction to the topic of marketing strategy for the UK market. This book positions itself well as a text for students who are new to the area of marketing strategy and towards practitioners who are faced with the need to use marketing in a more strategic manner. This book contributes to our understanding of the interrelationship between marketing and strategy by summarizing the major traditional and contemporary concepts of strategic marketing and illustrating applications with short integrative cases.

Proctor implicitly defines strategic marketing around the process of competitive market analysis. As a consequence, the book is organized into modules for the analysis of the:

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  business enterprise;

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  industry;

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  market;

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  competition;

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  business environment; and

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  customer.

In addition, the book offers highly practical advice on the specifics of segmentation, targeting, positioning, the strategic use of the marketing mix, and control issues in marketing management.

Unique features

One of the most appealing aspects of the book is the integration of consumer behavior and treatment of postmodernism in the development of marketing strategy. This is a topic often neglected in marketing strategy texts, and Proctor provides a meaningful difference with this addition. His premise is that without a clear understanding of the consumer, effective strategy and efficient implementation are impossible. This emerging postmodern perspective suggests that the tremendous wealth in the developed world results in an overwhelming array of products; creating consumer confusion, with the task of consumption being made increasingly more complex. Proctor suggests that the “consumers’ main choice at the beginning of the twenty‐first century is one of how to spend their money or wealth”. This postmodern marketing perspective purports that the consumer is increasingly fragmented and decentered such that:

… this would lead one to conclude that the strategic tools of marketing are too crude to be of any effective use. Since segmentation, targeting and positioning make up the centerpiece of modern marketing strategy, marketers should accept that the target may be moving, that target consumption may be changing and thus that target positioning is inconstant.

Proctor integrates postmodern marketing with other aspects of consumer behavior, including social marketing, to provide a more complete understanding of consumers and their preferences. This knowledge is then used to help better understand the consumer in a practical manner and create a sustainable competitive advantage through strategic marketing.

Another unique feature of this text is the extensive assessment of portfolio models and their utility in creating shareholder value enhancing strategy. While many academics have discounted portfolio models, managers often conceptualize opportunities using some type of portfolio analysis. Proctor provides an excellent summary of the models from a practitioner perspective, discussing both their advantages and disadvantages; and integrating their use in the creation of competitive marketing strategy.

The third notable feature of this book is the emphasis on the implementation of marketing strategy. Implementation and control are often the neglected partners of strategy making, without which strategy is ineffective. Proctor provides numerous checklists, diagrams, and figures to help the reader better understand the strategy making/strategy implementation linkage.

Market drivers such as Proctor’s PEST framework: political, socio‐cultural, and technological forces are discussed as well as the importance of internal marketing. In addition, the importance of fully integrating strategic marketing efforts to create a strong marketing orientation is emphasized throughout the text. The value of customer marketing, internal marketing directed towards employees, and the marketing orientation are made clear through the use of cases and applications.

Limitations

This is a book designed to be kept on the office shelf and used by practitioners, without un‐needed bulk and color illustrations. While this may be perceived as a weakness by some faculty when considering this as a text for adoption, the forthright nature of the book can also be viewed as an advantage as it reduces the cost of production and enhances the book’s utility as a reference.

Summary

In summary, this concise, well‐written text is useful to both students and practitioners of strategic marketing. Proctor provides a comprehensive overview of strategic marketing through a managerial useful framework. In addition, the book is well organized with chapter summaries and exhibits, making it all the more valuable for practising managers. In short, the author does an excellent job in creating a useful text for students that is also a highly practical reference book for managers.