MARKETING STRATEGY

SESSION -1 INTRODUCTION MBA 2011-13

Sun Tze on Strategy

Know your enemy, know yourself, and

your victory will not be threatened. Know the terrain, know the weather, and your victory will be complete.

WHAT IS STRATEGY
Strategy in a firm is the pattern of

objectives, goals and essential policies to achieve the stated goals in such a way as to define what business the company is in or is to be in .

The Role of Strategy in Corporation

Corporate Mission & Objectives

Strategy: Corporate Business Functional

Operatin g Plans

 Corporate strategy seeks to unify all

business lines of a company and point them toward an overall goal. Business strategy focuses on defining the manner of competition in a given industry or product/market segment.

What is strategic planning

Strategy specifies direction. A strategic statement

includes the description of new competitive equilibrium to be created, the cause and effect of relationships that will bring it about, and the logic to support the course of action. A strategic plan specifies the sequence and timing of steps that will alter competitive relationships

Strategic planning scorecard

Is our planning really strategic Do our plans leave room to explore strategic alternatives Do we have time and incentive to investigate truly

important things Have we ever seriously evaluated a new approach to an old market Do our plans critically document and examine strategic assumptions Do we consistently make an attempt to examine consumer, competitor, and distributor responses to our programmes?

MARKETING STATEGY
Marketing Strategy is an endeavor by a

Corporation to differentiate itself positively from its competitors using its relative corporate strengths to better satisfy customer needs in a given environmental setting.

Marketing strategy (contd..)

Marketing Strategy is a series of integrated actions leading to a sustainable competitive advantage.

John Scully

Key Elements of Marketing Strategy Formulation

The strategic 3 Cs Customers, Competitors & the Corporation Environment analysis -- PEST

Strategic Marketing Decisions

Where to compete How to compete When to compete

Three 3 Cs of Marketing Strategy

Customer
Competition Corporation

What is Competitive Advantage?

Competitive advantage is a companys

ability to perform in one or more ways that competitors cannot or will not match. Philip Kotler If you dont have a competitive advantage, dont compete.
Jack Welch, GE

Other Characteristics of Competitive Advantage

Substantiality Is it substantial enough to make a difference?
Sustainability Can it be neutralized by competitors quickly? Ability to be leveraged into visible business

attributes that will influence customers

(Source: Strategic Marketing Management, Aakers)

Seeking Competitive Advantages

Positions of advantage Superior customer value Lower relative total cost Performance advantages Customer satisfaction, Loyalty, Market Share, Profit Sources of advantages Superior skills & knowledge, Superior resources, Superior business process

Left-handed and right handed organization and their strategies

Left-handed organizations are financially driven

and work with financial plan, ROI, cost , expenses debt and assets. Right-handed organization are market driven with the primary focus of satisfying the customers. The business decisions flow back from an understanding of customers rather than from a financial requirement.

Strategic Review Process

Challenges of the next millennium

Decline of mega-brands as the result of

attacks from low-branded and low priced competitors. Disappearance within many organizations of staff marketing departments and emergence of more focused functions with specific line responsibilities

 Decline in the demand of certain specialist

marketing skills, including collection and analysis of data. Emergence of GENX consumers who demand a far high value added offer. Markets which are characterized by infinitely more aggressive and desperate levels of competition.

 Emergence of new markets and

segmentation and rapid increase in new product innovations. European integration and growing power of distribution channels

 All these factors (challenges) have resulted

in need of managers revisiting the traditional terms and practices of marketing by asking themselves the following questions.

Questions that modern day marketers should ask themselves

Is marketing and its focus on meeting and

anticipating customer needs is still a widely accepted business philosophy? Are the strategies focused on creating value to all stakeholders and customer satisfaction? Is marketing function integrated with other functions of the organization as a part of value creating strategy?

 Is the Marketing strategy global in scope? Does significant part of the marketing effort

constitute innovative practices not previously used by the organisation and its competitors? Are strategic alliances for co-marketing activities being formed and are marketing strategies based on the development of long term relationships with the clients?

Thank You