Keywords
Citation
Karpati, L. (2003), "Smart Things to Know about Marketing", European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 37 No. 1/2, pp. 330-334. https://doi.org/10.1108/ejm.2003.37.1_2.330.2
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
At first glance
The book itself resembles the title: Smart Things To Know About Marketing, the content can really be called “smart”, too. On the cover of the book the publisher nicely quotes the most important principles set by the author about the challenges of marketing for the next century, namely:
- 1.
(1) you must have a plan;
- 2.
(2) get close to your customers;
- 3.
(3) do your homework;
- 4.
(4) remember relationships;
- 5.
(5) use the speed and reach of technology.
These five “smartest” principles are applied throughout the whole text, but it cannot be considered as a “forced” endeavor. A single principle or two are emphasized at the beginning of each part and according to the characteristics of that specific part, showing the importance of the specific principle(s) for the given chapter.
Structure of the book
The structure of the book is clear, relevant to the topic and directs the reader well. The volume starts with an introductory part and four discussion parts, as follows:
- 1.
(1) Part one: the role of marketing in business steps of companies.
- 2.
(2) Part two: reviewing the fundamentals of marketing.
- 3.
(3) Part three: description of different markets.
- 4.
(4) Part four: present (and future) tendencies of marketing.
This structure serves the aim of the book well and makes the orientation of the reader quite easy.
Pros and (a few) cons
First impressions of the reviewer about the book is very positive and this feeling does not change considerably after a more scrutinized reading of its different chapters, either.
The professional content of the book is relevant, convincing, illustrative and well‐supported by examples. When the reviewer intentionally looked for any deficiency, he found only a few ones that the author did not deal with enough – at least by the taste of the reviewer.
One of the areas the author hardly dealt enough with is the determination of the prices. Practically a few sentences can only be found in the 300+ pages about setting the prices although it would deserve certainly much more. Of course, in some chapters indirect references can be discovered in connection with prices, but the methodical discussion is missing.
Another “P” (from the four Ps) is placing, that is channel management, which did not get space enough in the book either, although somewhat more than the price issue. With these two cons the main deficiencies of the book have been listed, the rest of this point is for the appraisal only.
This is the very marketing book in which the complex use of a relatively new branch of informatics, the Internet, is discussed intensively in really every chapter. The author stresses the importance of new technologies in the “new economy” with a strong reference to marketing and more generally the conduction of business. He calls the attention of the reader to the opportunities of the new economy on the marketing activities of companies or even more importantly: the future requirement for those companies which want to stay in competition with others within a totally new theatre of business of the new century.
First part: the new role of marketing
The reviewer likes the idea of the author of starting the book by emphasizing the importance of planning. In order to develop a business a well‐elaborated strategy is more and more important – including the information management strategy. Incorporation of different areas (products, services. R&D, etc.) into regular business activities should be carried out as integrated parts of future strategy endeavors. This – evidently – requires creation of such a marketing plan that is supportive towards the whole business strategy.
In connection with planning, Philip Kotler – who deals quite a lot with this issue in his classical book Marketing Management – is not referenced by the author, but a framework marketing plan shown by him can also be used for that purpose, namely: to serve as a guideline for the blueprint of a concentrated marketing effort. A remark: in the book there are quotations from Kotler, but his works cannot be found in the Bibliography. The Bibliography itself otherwise is good, there are enough items to cover the most important books and articles, but not too much to discourage the average reader.
It is in this part (or more exactly the introductory part) that the reader meets first with those “icons” that serve as support items and add something extra to the “regular” text of the chapter in question.
These are:
- •
smart things (inside tips and tricks);
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smart quotes (“what the experts say”);
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smart answers to tough questions (avoiding trouble and staying ahead of the game);
- •
smart voices (real people from companies); and, what I liked the best,
- •
killer questions (“ideas to make your colleagues jump”).
The “killer questions” are those ones that a marketing man really has to raise in a company if he/she wants to improve the marketing activities of the firm. The “smart” icons and “killer questions” are applied throughout the whole volume and support the message of the author well. The “killer questions” would anyway deserve a summary (or repetition) at the end of the book. In addition to the “smart icons”, the book contains a lot of cases that also support the “regular” text very well and shows the author’s excellent talent of information management and systematization for the sake of reader.
Second part: the fundamentals
In this chapter the author deals with some of the marketing theories, for example: theory of life‐cycle and BCG matrix. Reviewing this part it can be established that the author emphasizes basically the product and communication policies and how it is mentioned above, the price and channel management policies were put somewhat in the back.
In the other parts of the book there are some pages about channel management problems, but the price issues are definitely missing. Fortunately there is, however, a description of some financial indicators that indirectly support the reader in solving the price issue.
Third part: the markets
Authors deals in this part of the volume separately with industrial and consumer marketing. A table showing the rank of top 20 companies during the last decades (based on the Business Week) is very spectacular. It shows how the importance of different industries changes with time. The message is clear: in order to stay ahead of competitors one always has to use the leading edge technology and incorporate it into the everyday business life of the company.
The chapter itself dealing with industrial marketing is not very spectacular, however. In the consumer market chapter a lot of excellent cases are included that have at least as much value for the reader as the “regular” text of the chapter.
Fourth part: tendencies
The author deals with tendencies in this part of the book that shape the present and future marketing steps of companies. The author is seemingly in his element here since he writes about the new – mainly informatics – means that presently influence marketing, but taking into account the situation, too, that we are now just at the beginning of this new era. He quotes other authors, as well, who share the same viewpoint in connection with it. The big breakthrough is still to come – that is the message and also a warning: who does not make urgent steps for the development in the new economy will disappear or be pushed back during the new, fierce competition game. The author mentions at the same time those doubts, as well, that regard security issues, especially the payments.
There is a chapter in this part dealing with relationship marketing. Of course, it cannot be considered as a new field, but it becomes more and more important in every part of business life, and experts of marketing should always be in the forefront of this effort.
The last chapter is about the new era, entitled: “The future: marketing in the new economy”, and it summarizes the most important trends that have already been characterized in the previous chapters in a more detailed way. These are:
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importance of technology;
- •
role of planning;
- •
getting closer to the consumer;
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importance of background analyses (“home work”);
- •
importance of relationships;
- •
integrated development of informatics and marketing.
Although not any of them can be considered as a brand new idea, their integrated development spreading over the leading companies of the new economy – based on the opportunity offered by the new technologies – would mean that in the future one should give new answers to the questions of the past and present.
Overall
Even a reader, who is somewhat experienced in the marketing profession, puts this book down at least modestly more enthusiastically, in comparison with his/her state before the reading. The reviewer considers it as the most positive effect of the book since it literally makes a mood to create something new in our individual or group marketing efforts, encourages us to utilize the new opportunities offered by technology and also tries to convince us to make a big leap into the new economy – joining the ranks of the first entering.
In addition to this “encouraging” message, a very enjoyable writing style of the author, the well‐chosen cases and quotations as well as the clear structure and nice typesetting of the volume also contribute to the success of the book. The author, let’s repeat his name again, John Mariotti, uses plain English without hurting the vocabulary of marketing and this makes the book valuable not just for (the beginners and experienced) marketing people, but for those who are working in other aspects of business life, or even for everybody interested in marketing. We have to congratulate him again. Although professionally the book does not deal with a lot of still not verified and complicated theories, everybody will certainly find at least “one piece of pearl” worth to review this book. And also for the basic philosophy of the author: marketing in the future has to serve the consumers’ real long‐term interests even better.
The final recommendation of the reviewer therefore: read it first fully, then occasionally use the book as a reference guide. The book is a bargain for this price.