Small Firm Marketing

Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship
Small Firm Marketing Theory and Practice: Insights From The Outside
Ian Fillis
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Small Firm
Marketing Theory
SMALL FIRM MARKETING
and Practice: THEORY AND PRACTICE:
Insights
from the Outside INSIGHTS FROM THE OUTSIDE
134 - 157
Ian Fillis
Department of Marketing
Faculty of Management
University of Stirling, Scotland
Abstract: Previous work by the author has focused on examining the limitations of the
marketing concept and its associated frameworks, processes and prescriptions focusing on a
planned, strategic, linear, lower risk future for the firm. Emerging research has shown that
such frameworks are now dated, despite being continually taught at business schools.
Recent research at the interface between Marketing and Entrepreneurship has shown that,
as a result of the inadequacies identified, there is hope for the entrepreneurial marketer
(practitioner and academician alike) through the generation of alternative perspectives, and
ultimately the formation of competing paradigms of marketing enquiry. Small firm
marketing research shows that theories of networking, creativity, opportunity recognition
and word of mouth marketing are much more valid in terms of their explanation and
understanding of how such a firm behaves, rather than to endeavour to fit the square pegs
of traditional marketing theory into the dynamic holes of the smaller firm operating
environment. Drawing on alternative methodologies from outside the realms of marketing,
this paper presents some thoughts on the merits of embracing the philosophy of researchers
and practitioners in the arts and other creative fields in order to reach a more valid
understanding of smaller firm behaviour.
INTRODUCTION
Globalisation effects, shorter and shorter industry, product and technology

life cycles, increased opportunity for new business ventures, and the impact
of the emerging knowledge economy mean than in today’s marketplace,
there are now businesses operating successfully that were never previously
expected to do so. Barriers to small firm growth traditionally relate to
severe resource limitations, ranging from the financial to the human
resource and managerial competency dimensions. Research by the author
and others investigating the interface between Marketing and
Entrepreneurship in the United Kingdom, the rest of Europe, North
America, Australia and beyond has identified that the type of marketing
ultimately practiced by the typical small firm owner/manager tends to be
Small Firm Marketing Theory and Practice: Insights from the Outside: 134 - 157
© Journal of Research in Marketing & Entrepreneurship, Volume Four, Issue 2, 2002
134
informal, unplanned, chaotic, non linear and therefore at odds with general
frameworks of marketing which depend heavily on linear, stepwise
responses to uncertainty (Carson et al. 1995; Gilmore et al. 2001; Fillis,
2002b). The application of the Marketing and Entrepreneurship interface
paradigm (Carson et al., 1995) enhances understanding of the smaller firm
by focusing on entrepreneurial marketing competencies which result in
competitive advantage. The link between marketing competencies,
organisational performance and entrepreneurial orientation is positively
oriented (Smart and Conant, 1994). The Marketing and Entrepreneurship
interface deals with the overlap between the disciplines, focusing on factors
such as analytical skills, judgement, positive thinking, innovation and
creativity. Day and Reynolds (1998) argue for the promotion and
acceptance of the Marketing and Entrepreneurship interface as a recognised
paradigm of research, tracing its origins to Hills (1987) and the first
UIC/AMA workshop. Morris and Lewis (1995) identify the three key
characteristics of entrepreneurial activity which can also be regarded as

integral to the successful marketing oriented firm: innovation, risk-taking
and proactiveness. Following this paradigm should result in a more creative
approach to investigation of smaller firm behaviour: marketing and
entrepreneurship share common conceptual and practical ground and that
this commonality can be made sense of in the context of a conceptual
framework which emphasises the applied creative problem solving
dimension of each field. Thus to the extent that creative (or innovative)
behaviour is a significant feature of radical marketing success, it might also
be said to lie at the heart of much successful entrepreneurial endeavour
(Hackley and Mumby-Croft, 1998:505)
The following three propositions demonstrate how conventional marketing

theory fails to adequately account for small firm behaviour generally, and
more specifically within the remit of internationalisation and in the arts and
crafts sector.
Proposition 1: Small Firm Marketing is essentially different from its

Larger Firm Counterpart.
Researchers of the larger firm are now beginning to question the validity of
accepted marketing theory. Brownlie (1998) identifies the shortcomings of
stepwise formal marketing planning and strategy since such processes will
always be carried out under conditions of imperfect knowledge about the
future. Instead, managerial judgement and creativity are presented as more
appropriate analytical planning and strategy tools (Kotler 1991; MacDonald
1999; Wensley, 1999). Brownlie and Spender (1995) call for an
experimental form of marketing management, where judgement is central to
135
decision making. Piercy (1991) identifies ambiguity and uncertainty as
uncontrollable variables in any marketing process. Uncertainty exists
because of attempts to rationalise and analyse. Creativity and judgement act
to minimise unsureness about decision making. Brownlie (1998) believes
that any marketing practice must be socially located and, as such, multiple
rationalities are possible. Piercy (1986) argues that despite widespread
usage of rational methods, there is lack of evidence that such approaches
produce better results than creative, judgemental approaches. If there are
problems with larger firm marketing, then the situation is compounded
when examining the smaller firm, where higher levels of uncertainty are
expected. Brownlie (1998) views the creative, judgemental response as the
result of the managerial blindness experienced from continued loyalty to the
linear-rational process. Given the increasing impact of globalisation (Levitt
1983), and the accompanying increasing levels of uncertainty, there is more
need than ever to consider creative responses to marketing opportunities.
Since many smaller entrepreneurial firms grow successfully under these

conditions of unsureness, this growth must be facilitated by creative,
managerial judgement. There are strong corollaries in what Brownlie
identifies as a more appropriate larger firm response to marketing decision
making and what the author has found in the entrepreneurial smaller firm
(Fillis, 2000a; 2000b; 2001). Interestingly, Brownlie suggests that
managerial creativity can be seen as an act of theory construction.
Smaller firm owner/managers can derive their own form of marketing by

examining successful creative practice outside the traditional boundaries of
marketing. The creative metaphor (Henry, 2001) can rationalise
uncertainty, resulting in creative solutions to marketing problems.
Marketing decision tools such as SWOT analysis and portfolio analysis still
have their role to play, but such tools should be utilised in conjunction with
a more creative approach to ‘doing’ marketing. The smaller firm is more
flexible, closer to customers and more capable of adaptation and
implementing creative change through exploitation of core competencies,
than traditional marketing frameworks recognise (Hill, 2001). Gilmore et
al. (2001) believe that the SME cannot follow formal marketing
conventions because of the limited resources at its disposal, and because of
the different way in which the SME manager thinks. The process is
haphazard, chaotic and non-linear. Networking theory is offered as an
alternative and more appropriate explanation of SME marketing, with
networking viewed as a central competence and mode of behaviour which
must be considered when formulating marketing plans and strategies. As
the SME grows in experience the nature of managerial judgement changes
from acting mainly on intuition to a more considered, planned and yet still
incomplete view of future strategy.
136
Proposition 2: Small Firm Internationalisation is essentially different
from conventional modelling of the process.
Extending the remit of small firm marketing research to the international

activities of the smaller firm, the author has identified a range of
inadequacies in conventional international marketing theory in general and
in internationalisation theory in particular (Fillis, 2000b). More and more
smaller firms are becoming involved in international activities and are
exhibiting behaviours not previously seen before (Bell 1995; Knight and
Cavusgil, 1996; McAuley, 1999; Cummins et al., 2000). This is at odds
with existing frameworks of explanation (Johanson and Wiedersheim-Paul,
1975; Reid, 1980; Johanson and Mattsson, 1986; Anderson and Gatignon,
1986; Dunning, 1988). Internationalisation research originally focused on
the activities of the multinational enterprise before shifting attention to an
extent to the behaviour of the small and medium sized enterprise (Johanson
and Vahlne, 1977; Bilkey, 1985; Coviello and Munro, 1995). One of the
key issues dominating internationalisation research is the effect of firm size
on internationalisation behaviour (Culpan, 1989; Moen, 1999; Wolff and
Pett, 2000). A review of the literature indicates that perceptions among
researchers vary as to what constitutes a small, medium or large firm. The
majority of the literature is derived from studies in the United States of
America, where perceptual and industry definitions of size differ from the
United Kingdom and Europe (Walters and Samiee, 1990; Eroglu, 1992;
Cavusgil and Zou, 1994). The transferability of findings and replicability of
studies is therefore difficult to achieve, given these differences. Much of the
existing theory today is still dominated by early conceptualisations, with
many textbooks still promoting the use of these frameworks as an aid to
understanding internationalisation of the firm some thirty five to forty years
after the initial research was carried out (Czinkota and Ronkainen, 1995;
Doole and Lowe, 1999).
In order to move theory forward, both testing of existing conceptualisations

and forming of new frameworks based on industry specific studies is
needed. Much of the theory developed so far has examined industries where
larger experienced firms can progress to carrying out mass production and
mass specialisation. However, the small firm can exist in tandem with the
larger player through its ability to offer a flexible, customised product and
service, enhanced by intuitive networking and other entrepreneurially-based
competencies linked to creativity and innovation (Fillis, 2000a; 2000b;
Fillis, 2000). The conceptualisations, modelling and frameworks which
have been constructed in much of the literature have tended to focus on the
firm passing through a number of stages or phases as it develops from the
137
small domestic based firm to the multinational enterprise. These stages may
relate solely to firms in various states of export development alone (Bilkey
and Tesar, 1977; Cavusgil, 1984; Ortiz-Buonafina, 1991; Crick, 1995), or as
part of a greater progression from domestic-based production to large scale
overseas production (Aijo,1977; Morgan and Katsikeas, 1997).
A number of authors have begun to examine the phenomenon of ‘instant’ or

‘born global’ internationalising firms in a number of sectors, from hi-tech
industries (Jolly et al., 1992; Knight and Cavusgil, 1996; Madsen and
Servais, 1997) to the entrepreneurial arts and craft firm (McAuley, 1999;
Fillis, 2000b). Jolly et al. (1992:71) focus on the ability of
entrepreneurially inclined start-up companies to pursue global strategies ‘by
leapfrogging some of the traditional intermediate stages of
internationalisation (to become) significant global players…in a relatively
short time.’ They identify sets of entrepreneurial competencies as drivers of

competitive advantage, such as having a global vision, a focused approach
to doing business, the ability to recognise technological opportunities and to
capitalise on them, together with the insight of the founder of the
organisation. The resultant internationalisation behaviour experienced by
these hi-tech firms is described as ‘a functionally specialised global
network’ which needs careful management. Knight and Cavusgil (1996) see
this ‘born global’ phenomenon as a challenge to accepted
internationalisation theories where:
“small, technology-oriented companies…operate in international markets from the

earliest days of their establishment…and tend to be managed by entrepreneurial
visionaries who view the world as a single, borderless marketplace from the tie of
the firm’s founding” (Knight and Cavusgil, 1996:11-12)
This can be similarly compared with findings in an industry that can not be
described as high-tech (McAuley, 1999). A large number of arts and crafts
firms rely heavily on manual methods of production, sometimes based on
manufacturing techniques spanning several centuries. Yet some of these
firms do internationalise rapidly by developing international networks,
offering adapted and customised products and generally being much more
flexible and faster in their approach to business than their larger
competitors.
By operating in niche markets and utilising their distinct sets of

competencies, the smaller firm can compete with larger organisations,
despite resource limitations (Madsen and Servais, 1997). The authors
examine the usefulness of the network approach and evolutionary
138
economics in order to provide an improved explanation of ‘born global’
behaviour. In addition, they draw on the work of Oviatt and McDougall
(1994) who identify the International New Venture as an organisation which
may initially have one or a few employees (the micro enterprise) but has a
proactive international strategy from inception of the business. Madsen and
Servais also promote the need to understand the background characteristics
of the founder of the organisation in shaping internationalisation behaviour.
Taking this further they call for an integration of the literatures on
internationalisation and entrepreneurship in order to improve understanding
of the ‘born global’ firm while also understanding the particular behaviour
of firms by size:
“Perhaps it would be a good idea to separate the analysis of internationalisation

processes of … very small firms from processes of larger firms…When analysing
small Born Globals it is necessary…to draw upon the literature on entrepreneurship
as well…there seems to be a need for integration of the research streams in the

areas of internationalisation processes and entrepreneurship” (Madsen and Servais,
1997: 579, 580).
This suggests that there are clear merits for examining the contribution of
the Marketing and Entrepreneurship Interface Paradigm to understanding
smaller firm internationalisation. In line with the findings of Fillis (2000b)
in his investigation of the internationalisation process of the smaller craft
firm, Boter and Holmquist (1996) recommend that industry, company and
personnel specific issues should be considered when formulating an
understanding of the internationalisation process of any company.
Comparing high and low technology firms, ‘knowledge-intensive or high
tech small firms behave very differently and that the process of
internationalisation can be instant and less organised’ (Boter and Holmquist,
1996:473; Lindqvist, 1991). This might help explain why both the craft
firm with a firmly rooted production tradition but with a high degree of
knowledge pertaining to both the product and production technology can
internationalise just as readily as a small hi-tech firm.
Proposition 3: There is little degree of fit between conventional marketing

theory and Arts Marketing practice.
There is little, if any, meaningful, critical thinking within the arts marketing
literature. The work of Hirschman on the poor degree of fit of the
marketing concept within the artistic individual and organisational
environment (Hirschman, 1983) is one of a very few pieces of works which
recognise this gap. Those writing in the field of arts marketing persist in
prescribing the implementation of the traditional marketing concept, with its
n x p framework. This lack of recognition of a key sectoral difference only
139
leads to inadequate theory development. Whether the art organisation is run
for commercial profit or is publicly funded, it tends to suffer from similar
barriers to growth as the smaller firm in general. In addition, one industry
dimension not present in the majority of other businesses is the dichotomy
of art for art’s sake versus art for business sake where creative ideals clash
with the realities of operating in an increasingly competitive marketplace
(Fillis, 2000). Despite this clash of interests, the art organisation does
possess large amounts of creative resources which, if harnessed and
exploited appropriately, will result in competitive advantage and growth.
As formal models of marketing fail to recognise the idiosyncrasies of
smaller firm behaviour in general, so these same frameworks do not account
for the artistic, creative, entrepreneurial behaviour of the art marketer. One
solution is to develop a more appropriate framework of art marketing
through adaptation of existing marketing concepts alongside the particular
needs of the sector in order to instil creative entrepreneurial marketing as the
alternative, and more suitable, approach. A starting point in stimulating a

creative marketing philosophy can be established by studying the creative
practice of successful artists, architects, designers and other creative
producers both from within and out with the arts sector (Fillis, 2000c;
2002a).
Several recent studies identify the importance of achieving a balance of

creative entrepreneurial and business competencies within the art museum
and other cultural organisations (Rentschler and Creese, 1996; Rentschler,
1997; Rentschler, 2001). Although art organisations are influenced by
market forces (DiMaggio, 1985) it is interesting to note that the more
entrepreneurially minded ones are successful at creating demand for the
avant garde niche artistic product, rather than following customer wishes as
with the marketing concept. Creative entrepreneurial behaviour mirrors the
behaviour of avant garde art movements over several centuries, where
groups have successfully challenged conventional thinking, created demand
for alternative artistic thinking and practice and ultimately become part of
mainstream artistic production. Some interesting examples include the
Impressionists, Expressionists, Cubists and Surrealists who, through their
manifestos and proactive stance on moving art forward, have become
accepted as key movements in art history (Harrison and Wood, 2000).
Examining the contribution to successful creative practice, artists as

individuals can offer a refreshing perspective on how to operationalise
meaningful and effective entrepreneurial marketing. Recent newspaper
articles such as ‘King of Kitsch Turns to Oils and 40 Helpers’(Sunday
Times, 2001) and ‘French Artists Left Out of the World Picture’ (The
140
Times, 2001) suggests that British and American artists are now leading the
art marketing world order through their adoption of particular forms of
marketing. Such artists can offer an approach to marketing which can
benefit both the art industry in particular and the wider economy in general.
The choice for art organisations appears to be to continue following
marketing practices originally intended for application in other industries
which do not display strong philosophical clashes (the Establishment way)
or to instead reject in part such teachings, and develop and adapt marketing
within their entrepreneurial artistic environments for their own purposes (the
Avant Garde way). The key issue then is how to persuade those working
within the art environment to embrace wider and more appropriate creative
business practices, given the conservative nature of many of the key
decision makers involved.
ALTERNATIVE METHODOLOGIES FOR

RESEARCHING THE SMALLER FIRM:
“The study of creativity, as no other subject, brings into a single arena the many
characters of psychology, biography, literature and art. In trying to understand
how man’s greatest achievements come about, the initial focus is…upon the
creative product…such as great works of art or science…The study of creativity
need not limit itself to the eminent, the extraordinary. There are kinships between
the small and the great and perhaps even between the creativity of everyday life
and that of a great scientist or artist” (Gruber et al., 1962)
Existing marketing theory can only go so far in its usefulness and

applicability. This paper offers some thoughts about alternative approaches
to researching the smaller firm in general, while also offering some insights
into particular small firm situations in the arts and within the process of
internationalisation. Research at the Marketing and Entrepreneurship
interface is offered as a refreshing alternative and more viable paradigm of
small firm marketing. Within this overlapping research discipline, creativity
is a potential answer to overcoming severe resource constraints and the
ineffectiveness of current marketing principles to account for actual small
firm behaviour. Within the context of the owner/manager and the smaller
firm, incremental creativity, both in terms of developing new products and
services within niche markets, and in terms of providing the necessary
environment for the stimulation of new ideas and knowledge is a better
alternative to existing ineffective prescriptions.
Creativity occurs as an artistic competency (Fillis, 2000c), a psychological

trait (Guilford, 1950) and a managerial skill (Amabile, 1988). It has been
firmly positioned by researchers at the Marketing and Entrepreneurship
141
interface as a key success factor in growing the smaller firm (Hackley and
Mumby Croft, 1998; Fillis, 2000a; Fillis, 2000). Creativity is viewed as
both a paradigmatic shift in thinking, with links to genius and discovery and
incrementally, where small steps lead to change (Rampley, 1998). The
Marketing and Entrepreneurship interface paradigm is promoted as a more
appropriate avenue for understanding smaller firm behaviour, and is
especially relevant to the art marketer since much of the research carried out
relates to analytical skills, judgement, positive thinking, innovation and
creativity (Carson, 1995). Examples of shared creative characteristics and
behaviour found across industry sectors such as the sciences (Roe, 1963;
Bohm, 1998), marketing and entrepreneurship (Bridge et al., 1998) and arts
marketing (Fillis, 2000c) include risk-taking, controlling, independent
thinking, unafraid of failure and self belief. Not only is creativity an
important factor which transcends industry sectors, it has been identified as
a central competency which results in competitive advantage for the
organisation (Kao, 1989; Carson et al., 1995). The author has developed a
model of creativity, focusing on its encouragement at individual, group and
organisational levels (Fillis, 2000; 2002a). Unlike the majority of stepwise
marketing planning and strategy procedures, this model focuses on
developing creative competencies which then feed directly into future
strategic thinking. The model takes into account the impact of the social
environment, since each marketing action has some degree of social
embededness, other environmental factors, cognitive skills, personality
characteristics, as well as inputs from the Marketing and Entrepreneurship
interface. The final sections of this paper embrace a creative approach to
smaller firm marketing research by drawing on methodologies found in the
disciplines of art theory, sociology and other areas outside the tired
convention of survey research in order to present a set of fresh and
challenging viewpoints for discussion.
SEMIOTICS, ART AND SMALLER FIRM

MARKETING RESEARCH:
In marketing, the use of semiotic theory has been used by researchers in

consumer behaviour and advertising research (Hackley, 1999), but little has
been carried out at the firm and owner/manager level. Hackley focuses on
Sebeok’s definition of semiotics as the capacity for containing, replicating
and extracting messages and of extracting their significance. Investigating
the link between marketing communications and semiotics, marketing
messages are composed of strings of signs. These sign strings then
constitute messages whose promotional success depends on how meaningful
they are to the targeted consumer. The degree of meaningfulness contains
an element of subjective evaluation and is open to interpretation. In the
142
author’s work as a marketing lecturer, in order to convey meaning and
metaphor from creative sources such as paintings, images are chosen to
impart marketing management meaning to a particular situation. This
involves extracting appropriate messages and metaphors relating to creative,
entrepreneurial marketing theory and practice with respect to SME
marketing. The combination of SME practices and cross disciplinary
methodological approaches, such as semiotics, results in the ability to
rationalise uncertainty and give shape to the dynamic and chaotic nature of
the smaller firm environment. Deleuze and Guattari (1994) call for the
joining together of key thinkers from across disciplines in their treatise on
the creation of concepts as philosophy. This draws to the surface the issue
of truth in marketing research. While many marketing researchers are intent
on investigating the one single reality they are sure exists, there is similar
merit in investigating the world of multiple realities, where competing, rival
paradigms of marketing theory can result in a healthier, progressive working
environment for the marketing researcher.
Creative media such as language, art, music and film are composed of signs,
embedded within the culture from which they are derived (Adams, 1996).
Each sign has a meaning beyond its literal self (Bal and Bryson, 1991).
Structural semiotics attempts to identify universal mental structures found in
social structures, in literature, philosophy, mathematics and in unconscious
psychological patterns which motivate human behaviour (Kurzweil, 1980).
It is perhaps this last element which is of prime interest when researching
the motivations of the smaller firm and its owner/manager with respect to
growth. There are, of course, conflicts in such thinking, with the ‘death of
the author’ notion (Foucault, 1977; Barthes, 1977), placing less importance
on the individual artist in giving meaning to a text or image. Saussure
(1966) believed that language was a closed system whose main purpose was
the communication of ideas. Language is viewed as the grammatical
structure of verbal and written communication agreed jointly by a particular
culture. Speech, however, is individual and variable. Translating this into
the realms of art, popular art as language is determined socially, but
individual, creative, avant garde art is then a form of speech, with the
creative, entrepreneurial artist speaking via the picture. In semiotics, the
signifier is the sounded or written element of a word, while the signified is
the word’s conceptual element; so for example, with the word Surrealism, it
contains both a sounded signifier element and a signified meaning. With
Pierce’s semiotics (Krauss, 1977), the sign is constructed of an icon, an
index and a symbol. The icon relates the sign to something we recognise,
the index can relate to something from within a wider range of possibilities;
for example, the social, political and economic contexts of a work of art.
The symbol depends on conventional, agreed meanings. Translating
143
semiotics visually, the syntagm is a combination of signs on a linear plane,
such as a sentence (the x axis). The y axis visualises the associated
relationships, with words related to each other by a principle beyond the
literal context. An example which the author uses in a semiotic sense is Van
Gogh’s painting The Potato Eaters when imparting artistic, creative and
marketing meaning within a variety of associated relationships (Exhibit
One).
EXHIBIT ONE:
SEMIOTIC RELATIONSHIPS AND METHODOLOGICAL
IMPLICATIONS
e.g. Van Gogh's 'Potato Eaters':

artistic meaning
associated meaning for marketers
relationships wider creative connotations
methdological gloom
replication of ideas
syntagm
Jakobson (1974) identifies the subject matter of semiotics as the

communication of any message whatever, or the exchange of any messages
whatever and of the system of signs which underlie them. Metonymy and
metaphor are identified as important semiotic ingredients. Metonymy
applies to narratives set in linear time while metaphor relates to associated
substitutions. In painting, metonymy is the formal arrangement of its
elements, and metaphor is the content and its associative allusions to what is
outside the painting itself. In the author’s own teaching and research, this is
taken further than just relating metaphor to the artwork and is in addition
applied in a creative, entrepreneurial marketing sense. Jakobson also
applied the semiotic system to music, film, dreams and language in order to
feed into the language of the artist’s paintings. He also called for the
fostering of inter-disciplinary semiologies. This supports the author’s own
attempts at widening the applicability of semiotics.
Some artistic semioticians object to the notion of artist as genius (Merleau-
Ponty, 1964). Ponty felt that instead of attempting to deify the genius artist,
144
it was more important to realise that the artist’s life followed that of his art,
with a strong linkage to his social surroundings. The author has developed a
model of creativity for the smaller firm and its owner/manager, where
recognition of the social environment is considered as important, if not more
so at times, as other factors traditionally modelled within existing marketing
conceptualisations (Fillis, 2002a; Fillis, 2000).
Merleau-Ponty remarks that change within systems such as painting should

be viewed as dynamic, rather than as an exact point in time. The language
of painting occurs on several levels, with the first or empirical level
concerns the actual words, creative act and gesture. The second level relates
to the sign structure. So, for example the first level might relate to the
painter Jackson Pollock and his paintings (Collings, 1999), while the second
level could concern the drips of paint as signs of his artistic presence, with
painting as a language. Bryson (1983) viewed the work of art as a visual

system of signs, with art being constructed of cultural signs. When these are
decoded, they unveil the level of art’s role in the wider society. This
decoding offers the marketer an endless supply of data within a single
painting, with messages and implications for consumer researchers and
researchers of the firm. Bryson also draws on signs outside the work of art
within the wider cultural environment, thereby facilitating the connection
between art and other disciplines such as business and marketing.
There are criticisms of the use of semiotics. Barthes (1969) originally

believed that semiology could not impact meaningfully on art since he felt
that artistic creation could not be reduced ultimately to a system. He later
relents somewhat (Barthes, 1981) with the example of photography, where
he identifies the operator as the person who frames reality and takes the
photograph, the spectator who observes the picture, and the spectrum as the
subject of the picture. This can be compared similarly to the painter who
paints the picture, the viewer who consumes the painting and the spectrum
as the subject of the painting. Heidegger and Derrida (Adams, 1996:162)
suggest that semiotics should be viewed dynamically, rather than with a
closed system, giving further weight to the applicability of semiotics to
other areas of enquiry. Derrida believed that meanings are not fixed but
instead vary depending on the context. In ‘The Truth in Painting’
(Derrida, 1887), the title of the first chapter ‘Passe Partout’ is a metaphor for
opening up the boundaries of thought, again promoting the extension of
semiotics to other disciplines. Semiotic interpretation allows for a variety of
representations. Picasso has said that he did not paint symbols, he only
painted what he say and that it was up to others to seek meaning
(Richardson, 1992; 1997). This serves as a challenge to researchers across
145
disciplines to use semiotics and other methodologies to elicit meaning from
his paintings. The view can be taken that these comments from Picasso
were deliberately provocative and that he knew absolutely what every
brushstroke and pencil line meant to him as an artist, and entrepreneurial
marketer. His seminal work, Les Demoiselles D’Avignon, challenged
artistic convention to its very limits when it was first exhibited and is seen
today by many as the first cubist painting. Picasso’s creativity does not
seem to have been consciously planned. He describes how the process is
instead a matter of ‘stumbling across what you are looking for’. Together
with George Braque, Picasso fashioned cubism into a commercially
successful artistic product with high public demand, but yet which still
remained controversial and confusing to many. Jean Cocteau described how
Picasso appeared ‘to be spraying genius everywhere’, a creative genius not
content with relaxing within one particular style but was instead prepared to
develop and experiment with a range of styles over time. Picasso even
became involved in political marketing, when asked by the exiled Spanish

Government to produce Guernica as a promotional, propaganda device
against fascism. The entrepreneurial Picasso was eager to exploit new
forms of media and was eager to perform on film, painting on glass,
something that Jackson Pollock also did, but with a large degree of
introvertedness and lack of showmanship. With Salvador Dali’s painting
‘The Endless Enigma’, the possible range of meanings derived from it are
endless (Fillis, 2000c). Thus, semiotics allows for the parasitizing of
systems which interact with each other. There is an immense opportunity to
adopt alternative research methodologies in order to construct more
meaningful, contextual marketing theory using semiotics and other
approaches. This can result in the derivation of a rival paradigm of creative,
entrepreneurial marketing suitable for the smaller firm, the individual
practitioner and the creative, entrepreneurial marketing academic.
BIOGRAPHY, ART AND SMALLER FIRM

MARKETING RESEARCH:
A more appropriate framework of sector specific marketing can be elicited

by drawing on the successful creative behaviour of the artist. Through the
examination of published biographies, observation and other sources, the
author has identified a particular type of artist who can be described as an
entrepreneurial marketer (Fillis, 2000a; 2000c; 2002a; 2002b; 2002c). A
series of conceptualisations of how the smaller firm researcher and
practitioner can learn from researchers at the Marketing and
Entrepreneurship interface (Day and Reynolds, 1998; Collinson, 2002) and,
more specifically, how the arts organisation can embrace a more appropriate
form of creative, entrepreneurial marketing which fits more comfortably
146
with a sector with a clash of ‘art for art’s sake versus ‘art for business’
philosophies (Fillis, 2002b; 2002c).
This paper demonstrates that reading from a much wider range of sources
than is traditionally the case within marketing produces innovative
perspectives and potential solutions to firm level marketing problems. In
researching the activities of the smaller firm, increased insight can be gained
by drawing on both traditional sources of research from within marketing,
business and social science literatures, but also from sources in creative
disciplines such as art. Researching aesthetics and art, for example,
uncovers relationships between the artist, the work of art and the audience,
with direct parallels easily made between the marketer, the product or
service and the customer (Edwards, 1999; Harrison, et al. 1998).
Investigating the potential for informing marketing theory from the
methodologies found within art, the artistic biography and autobiography

are valuable sources of data (Dali, 1993; Roskill, 2000). The works of art
produced by the artist are inextricably linked to the artist’s personality and
everyday life. Translating this into the wider remit of marketing, a product
or service is ultimately derived from the social and economic environment.
The biographical method relies on the availability of texts on the artists’
lives. The philosophy of some historical artists will never be understood
completely due to the dearth of material concerning their lives and work, but
others such as Van Gogh have a much more complete documentation. The
author has adopted this approach in order to develop a framework, or
manifesto, of marketing artistry for marketing theorists and practitioners
alike (Fillis, 2000c).
The earliest artistic biographies related to artists as gods, as almost mythical

characters. The reason behind this elevated thinking was that art was
thought to be divinely inspired. In ancient Greece, when artists respected
the gods and acknowledged them as sources of artistic inspiration, they were
allowed to pursue their creativity. Early accounts of artists and their patrons
appeared in Ovid’s “Metamorphoses” and Pliny’s “Natural History” where
the artist Zeuxis adopted an early form of advertising, helping to promote
his value as an artist (Barolsky, 1995). Nothing much of value appeared
from then until the 14th Century, with the focus of writing on hagiography
(the lives and miracles of the Saints). However, in 1550 one of the central
works of artistic biography appeared, alongside the development of the
Renaissance. Giorgio Vasari’s ‘Lives of the Artists’ was commissioned by
Bishop Paolo Giovio in an attempt to document a ‘Who’s Who’ in the arts
(Vasari, 1998), including artists such as Brunellesco, Donatello, Fra
Angelico, Botticelli, Da Vinci, Titian, Michaelangelo and Giotto, the
147
pioneer of three dimensional picture space and the constructor of the perfect
circle.. Vasari, although generally famous for this biographical work, was
also a son of a minor painter and showed his wider creative strength through
his designing of the Uffizi in Florence. Vasari’s biographical work was
written without the aid of any real written reference materials, relying
mainly on oral accounts and whatever documentation existed. Therefore
some mistakes were inevitable but as a major biographical work, it is not
disputed. Since the Renaissance, the artistic biography has grown to include
a number of related genres, from short anecdotal commentaries,
autobiographies, notebooks, poetry, memoirs, journals, letters, fictional
biographies to multimedia output such as videos of artists at work, taped
interviews, film biographies and use of the Internet to disseminate pertinent
information.
The author draws from a number of these sources, including the letters of
Van Gogh (Roskill 2000), the writings by and about Salvador Dali (Gibson,
1997; Dali, 1998), Pablo Picasso (Ashton, 1972), as well as more general
books and television material on artistic movements (Collings, 1999). The
imagery of the artistic work can also be construed as a form of
autobiographical text. Van Gogh’s ‘Potato Eaters’, for example, is a
painting about suffering and the frugality of living in a peasant setting
(Exhibit Two). This imagery can be extended in a semiotic sense to convey
an alternative meaning to marketers. The dark tones of the paints used in
the construction of the work, together with the fact that the various
characters are sitting around a table with a dimly lit light hanging above it,
serve to act as a metaphor for the uncreative state. The darkness conveyed
in the painting is used to mean that we, as marketing practitioners and
theorists, will be destined to a failure to stretch our knowledge, construct
new conceptualisations of marketing and generally remain in the dark about
new opportunities, unless we move forward, search for more appropriate
frameworks of understanding and willingly promote the merits of creative,
entrepreneurial marketing.
Schopenhauer (Harrison et al., 1998:15) believed that art is a form of

knowledge which is distinct from science. Through the investigation of art,
interested parties are able to rise above knowledge of specific issues to a
more holistic plane of ideas through the relinquishing of ordinary ways of
considering things:
“(Artistic) genius is seen as the ability to leave entirely out of sight our own
interest (subjectivity)…and to consequently discard our personality for a time in
148
order to remain a pure knowing subject, the clear eye of the world (objectivity)”
(Harrison et al., 1998:18).
EXHIBIT TWO:
THE POTATO EATERS AND METHODOLOGICAL GLOOM
Imagination, although an important element of genius, is not identical to it.

Only a few individuals can ever hope to reach a state of genus but we can all
use our imagination and increments of creativity in order to question the
status quo and test the boundaries of marketing knowledge. Theodore
Gericault (Harrison et al., 1998:23) believed in the creative power of the
individual genius although he identified that this may be linked to the
economic wellbeing of the surrounding environment. Gericault identifies
the success of David (Harrison et al., 1998:24) as attributable to his own
abilities rather than because of the artistic establishment of his time.
Jacques-Louis David was central to the Neo-classical movement, reacting
against the Rococo period. He became the leading painter of the French
Revolution. David studied the old masters and absorbed their creative
methodologies, but in addition travelled to Italy where he drew inspiration
from his surroundings and he subsequently became a role model and leader
of a new artistic school. This exposure to other cultures, systems and
processes can be compared similarly to the entrepreneurial marketing
149
researcher who is willing to experiment with alternative methodologies in
order to construct more meaningful theories. There is also some useful
discussion from the Journal of Eugene Delacroix (Harrison et al., 1998:29)
in terms of the merits of revisiting past processes of creative elimination in
order to inform the present and the future:
“…it must not be thought that just because I rejected a thing once, I must ignore it
when it shows itself today…I think that it is imagination alone…that makes one
see what others do not see, and which makes one see in a different way.”
This demonstrates the benefits of the willingness to embrace a previously

unattractive concept or idea as circumstances change. The author embraces
a creative philosophy in teaching marketing, where students are encouraged
to think creatively about how entrepreneurial artistic practice by historical
and contemporary artists, designers, architects and engineers can inform the
process of new product development. Instead of adopting a narrow,

textbook, view of how creativity impacts upon the process (usually only
conceptualised at the idea generation stage), students are encouraged to
think instead in terms of generating a wider creative, entrepreneurial
marketing philosophy to their work. Use of the metaphor, interpretation of
imagery, the sign and other semiotic devices are used to stimulate creative
thinking and inform smaller firm marketing research.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS:
This paper has identified a number of shortcomings in the ability of

conventional marketing frameworks, conceptualisations and theories to
understand and explain smaller firm behaviour. A review of the literature
has shown that, in reality, the non –linear, sometimes chaotic nature of SME
behaviour does not mirror the stepwise, linear, formal prescribed approaches
as found in the majority of marketing management texts. However, research
has shown that many of these firms can grow successfully in domestic and
international markets by exploiting sets of creative entrepreneurial
marketing competencies. In order to gain an improved appreciation of the
central processes involved, the smaller firm marketing researcher is
encouraged to embrace the philosophy, and practice, of researchers at the
Marketing and Entrepreneurship interface where understanding of
knowledge, creativity, opportunity recognition, networking and word of
mouth communication are viewed as central to rationalising the uncertainty
found in the SME environment. Examples of contemporary research into
internationalisation and arts marketing has also identified a void in
understanding smaller firm behaviour.
150
Given this knowledge gap, it seems appropriate to suggest that an
alternative paradigm of smaller firm marketing research be created using
non-conventional marketing research methodologies. One of the key central
constructs is that the smaller firm entrepreneurial marketer uses creativity in
order to establish competitive advantage and to overcome severe resource
constraints. In additional, the entrepreneurial marketing researcher can be
creative in the use of alternative research methodologies in order to generate
improved understanding. The paper has demonstrated that there are merits
in carrying out investigations of successful, and unsuccessful, creative
practice and in endeavouring to understand how creative philosophies are
formed. Investigation of art history methodologies in combination with
contemporary arts marketing research provides a creative research arena for
small firm marketing research. Future research need not be limited to the
SME; several marketing researchers of the larger firm have identified
weaknesses in conventional marketing techniques. Creative approaches to
understanding are equally relevant there.
The study of creativity provides a natural linkage between marketing, art,

science, psychology, biography and other areas of enquiry. This paper has
focused on particular approaches such as biography, semiotics and metaphor
in order to understand creative behaviour, rationalise uncertainty and to
convey an entrepreneurial marketing message to those researchers of the
firm interested in testing the boundaries of conventional thought. Future
research will examine additional art history methodologies and continue to
embrace a cross-disciplinary approach. By combining this with
contemporary research at the Marketing and Entrepreneurship, an improved
understanding of the creative process will be reached and a heightened
appreciation of entrepreneurial smaller firm marketing obtained.
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Small Firm Marketing

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Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship

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Globalisation effects, shorter and shorter industry, product and technology

characteristics of entrepreneurial activity which can also be regarded as

The following three propositions demonstrate how conventional marketing

Proposition 1: Small Firm Marketing is essentially different from its

Since many smaller entrepreneurial firms grow successfully under these

Smaller firm owner/managers can derive their own form of marketing by

Extending the remit of small firm marketing research to the international

In order to move theory forward, both testing of existing conceptualisations

A number of authors have begun to examine the phenomenon of ‘instant’ or

short time.’ They identify sets of entrepreneurial competencies as drivers of

“small, technology-oriented companies…operate in international markets from the

By operating in niche markets and utilising their distinct sets of

“Perhaps it would be a good idea to separate the analysis of internationalisation

as well…there seems to be a need for integration of the research streams in the

Proposition 3: There is little degree of fit between conventional marketing

alternative, and more suitable, approach. A starting point in stimulating a

Several recent studies identify the importance of achieving a balance of

Examining the contribution to successful creative practice, artists as

ALTERNATIVE METHODOLOGIES FOR

Existing marketing theory can only go so far in its usefulness and

Creativity occurs as an artistic competency (Fillis, 2000c), a psychological

SEMIOTICS, ART AND SMALLER FIRM

In marketing, the use of semiotic theory has been used by researchers in

environment for the marketing researcher.

e.g. Van Gogh's 'Potato Eaters':

Jakobson (1974) identifies the subject matter of semiotics as the

Merleau-Ponty remarks that change within systems such as painting should

painting as a language. Bryson (1983) viewed the work of art as a visual

There are criticisms of the use of semiotics. Barthes (1969) originally

became involved in political marketing, when asked by the exiled Spanish

BIOGRAPHY, ART AND SMALLER FIRM

A more appropriate framework of sector specific marketing can be elicited

methodologies found within art, the artistic biography and autobiography

The earliest artistic biographies related to artists as gods, as almost mythical

Schopenhauer (Harrison et al., 1998:15) believed that art is a form of

Imagination, although an important element of genius, is not identical to it.

This demonstrates the benefits of the willingness to embrace a previously

process of new product development. Instead of adopting a narrow,

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS:

This paper has identified a number of shortcomings in the ability of

understanding are equally relevant there.

The study of creativity provides a natural linkage between marketing, art,

Adams, L.E. (1996), The Methodologies of Art: An Introduction, New York,

European Journal of Marketing, 29(8):60-75.

Day, J. and Reynolds, P.L. (1998), The Marketing/Entrepreneurship Interface: A

paper presented at Bridging the Divide, Proceedings of AM2000 Academy of

Reid, S.D. (1980), A Behavioural Approach to Export Decision-Making, in: R.

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