“Do You Feel Like You’re Herding Cats?”

As I was spending my days, and nights, going through the MBA program two very interesting insights became extremely clear.

• I enjoy the heck out of doing research.

• I simply enjoy learning, and sharing it with others.

I encountered many textbooks for various courses I was required to take…and believe me there were a lot!  All of the courses, from Organization Behavior to Managerial Finance, had the same general premise – – to give us hungry students needed structure and insight to be leaders in the world of business. I mean, they really didn’t have a choice we the students were paying them…and they had to “put out”. So, I determined quickly that the MBA program is there to help us managers or future managers to adapt to the business environment that can sometimes feel like “herding cats” …so I sucked in every bit of knowledge that was thrown my way. Good thing I have a long reach

So, are you wondering where I’m going with this?

Would you like some material to help in the world of “herding cats”…or maybe some marketing strategies to separate your business from the competition?

I can’t hear you! Ah, I heard you say yes.

I strongly suggest that you keep the following book on hand as a valuable reference…and read it for goodness sake. “Marketing: Planning and Strategy” by Subhash Jain. Mr. Jain must know something about marketing. He is a marketing professor in the School of Business Administration at the University of Connecticut. This book brings forth fantastic strategies (pricing, distribution, product and promotion) to be used for your business. The concepts are there for you to adapt to your business…and who knows your business better than you?

Now to provide you with a little taste of Mr. Jain’s knowledge, let’s take into consideration Mr. Jain’s vision of strategic marketing in the future.

The 1970’s saw the advent and benefit of strategic planning. This led to the concept of strategic marketing. Strategic marketing took over marketing management as the preferred planning strategy. There will be more about the fundamental differences between strategy marketing and marketing management in the future. The object of strategic marketing is perfect for today’s dynamic business environment.

That would be the environment you are experiencing right now!

There are 9 reasons why strategic marketing will have increasing importance in the future (Jain 1999):

• Market share – due to the decreasing growth rate of attaining and maintaining market share, this effect intensifies competition. Strategic marketing may provide the leverage to win these battles.

• Deregulation – this factor causes the environment to be very fluid. Deregulation can also bring about competition where it did not exist previously.

• Companies from competitive markets have purchased companies from traditionally low-competitive industries. This can cause increased competition in the traditionally low-competitive markets battling for market share.

• The onset of computer distribution systems has made the buying process more sophisticated, and the buying power is distributed among fewer entities. This has incredible impact on small business owners.

• Globalization has increased the dynamic nature of business. Globalization has intensified competition, but at the same time globalization can also provide more channels for small businesses to utilize for marketing their product and/or service.

• Higher per-capita incomes combined with consumers becoming more savvy and sophisticated, markets are being what are referred to as segmented. These consumers need to be identified in order to reach that market, such as through the use of internet marketing and social media.

• Technology has created another interesting effect on business. Firms must introduce products and/or services much more quickly. Companies that are able to introduce their offering tend to be able to command a premium price. This factor can cause some small businesses to rise rapidly in the market

• Diversification and partnering – These 2 factors bring about the need for strategic marketing by all firms large and small. Firms’s benefit from economies of scale, and hence gain efficiencies too. In a dynamic economy diversification and partnering can help to maintain and/or gain profitability and market share.

• Demographic shifts – Over the past 30 years the traditional American society has changed. As we are all well aware the one-income family is a rarity and the necessity for a two-income household is now the norm. Over 55% of all household have two-incomes. Also the percentage of consumers over 65 is increasing. This demographic is projected to peak in 2030. Small businesses need to adapt to just such changes.

These 9 factors make it glaringly obvious to business owners of all sizes that there is a need to regularly take stock of the company’s position in the marketplace in reference to:

• Consumers
• Competitors
• Social factors
• Regulatory factors
• Technological factors

Address these factors, and that is strategic marketing in practice!

When you put strategic marketing into motion you will constantly be assessing pricing, product, distribution and promotion strategies to make your business as effective in the market as possible.

A well-conceived strategic marketing plan will help your business be well-positioned for long-term sustainable growth…Hey, and who wouldn’t want that?

References

Jain, S. (1999). Marketing: Planning and Strategy. Cincinnati, OH: South-Western College Publishing.Tweet