The Relationship Marketer: Rethinking Strategic Relationship Marketing

Citation

Glynn, M. (2011), "The Relationship Marketer: Rethinking Strategic Relationship Marketing", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 85-85. https://doi.org/10.1108/10610421111108067

This book takes the reader on a journey starting with a traditional marketing perspective and finishes with an enhanced understanding of relationship marketing. The book differentiates itself against other marketing texts as it adopts a practitioner's understanding of marketing and leads the reader through the complex world of relationship marketing. There are two aspects of relationship marketing that are typically discussed in marketing texts: customer relationship marketing and business‐to‐business marketing. While authors Hougaard and Bjerre attempt to combine both customer and business‐to‐business marketing, the emphasis throughout is on how the organization should look out for the customer. As a result, this volume has a business‐to‐business flavor.

Given the emphasis on relationships and their value within the marketing literature, what does this book add that has not already been covered by other texts? The first point is that the text is not long at just over 200 pages. The conciseness of the text means that it is suitable for marketing practitioners looking to critically analyze their firms' relationship marketing approach. Second, there is a solid theoretical grounding for each chapter that would appeal to both executive and postgraduate students.

The first chapter discusses how marketing management can be viewed from a relationship perspective, comparing and contrasting the classical marketing approach with the relationship marketing view. For students this approach succinctly highlights and explains the theoretical grounding of relationship marketing in an accessible way. Many other business‐marketing texts do not provide the broad theoretical overview that was evident in this book. For the practitioner reader this book has a more systematic research‐based approach in contrast to many marketing “self‐help” books aimed at practitioners. The second chapter explores these approaches in more detail and explains the different units of relationship analysis that is dyads, triads or larger marketing systems.

The third chapter explains the economic basis of customer relationships, discussing the importance of resource mobility and exchange friction. In addition, there is coverage of lifetime customer value, which leads to a discussion of the economics of customer loyalty in the following chapter. Customer loyalty is often regarded as a good thing for marketers, however, the authors also discuss instances where loyalty can be disadvantageous.

To illustrate the forces behind marketing relationships, the authors use an analogy “relationship DNA” (p. 85). This analogy is useful, as it focuses on the components of the customer relationship within the cell as well as how these cells are linked together. The relationship cell is likened to a biological system, consisting of forces such as competitors, customers, suppliers and facilitators (inhibitors), which affect the structural or embedded aspects of a relationship such as the category, type of exchange and stage of the customer lifecycle.

Next, the authors outline the consequences of relationships from the key account management perspective, and the discussion includes the involvement of customers in the relationship process. The authors remind marketers never to assess their own value to a supplier or customer. Rather marketers should be wary of the aspects of their offering that can be duplicated by the competition and focus more on the relationship aspects that cannot be copied when dealing with customers.

Relationship marketers should also consider the impact of the external environment. This external analysis considers the attractiveness of an industry, value creation and competitor analysis. The authors also explore how relationships can be affected by the digital environment. Strategic behavior is also emphasized particularly the entrepreneurial and defensive postures of firms. The authors also point out that it is important to assess both the internal and external risk of customer relationships. There is an important chapter on selling and roles within the sales center in developing customer relationships. A useful summary is provided at the end of the book, which presents some generic relationship marketing strategies, emphasizing relationship quality versus relationship economy.

While the book is titled The Relationship Marketer: Rethinking Strategic Relationship Marketing, the emphasis seems to be more on relationship management as much use is made of strategic management and organizational theory. Thus, the book would appeal to industrial marketers as well as business‐to‐business specialists. The book does an excellent job of explaining marketing without relying on a traditional 4Ps perspective. The authors make extensive use of tables to explain the text. However, one or two tables needed more explanation because of their complexity. In addition, some figures and graphs are a bit small. The chapters lacked an end‐chapter summary, and the inclusion of some end‐of‐chapter questions with a practitioner perspective would have been appreciated. However, there is an extensive reference list for those who wish to read further on individual topics. The book is also a useful primer to those practitioners and consultants wishing to update their knowledge of marketing and become acquainted with relationship perspectives as the chapters and text are not lengthy.

In contrast to many business texts, the use of examples was sparing. However, the problem with using too many examples and cases is that these can become out of date and would lengthen the book considerably. Wisely, the authors have limited the number of examples and as a result, the concepts presented can be understood in a few pages, which is a bonus for the time‐poor executive or student. The book would seem to have some longevity as the theories and ideas discussed have been evident in the marketing and management literature for two decades at least. While students would benefit from the concise approach of the authors, this book is highly recommended for the key account or business‐to‐business marketer.