rate their own operations, lack objectivity and independence.^35 The 3M Com-
pany has made good use of a corporate auditing office, which provides mar-
keting audit services to divisions on request.^36 Generally speaking, however,
the best audits come from outside consultants who have the necessary objec-
tivity, broad experience in a number of industries, some familiarity with the
industry being audited, and the undivided time and attention to give to the
audit.- Periodic:Typically, marketing audits are initiated only after sales have turned
down, sales force morale has fallen, and other problems have occurred. Com-
panies are thrown into a crisis partly because they failed to review their mar-
keting operations during good times. A periodic marketing audit can benefit
companies in good health as well as those in trouble.
A marketing audit starts with a meeting between the company officer(s) and the
marketing auditor(s) to work out an agreement on the audit’s objectives, coverage,
depth, data sources, report format, and time frame. A detailed plan as to who is to be
interviewed, the questions to be asked, the time and place of contact, and so on is
prepared so that auditing time and cost are kept to a minimum. The cardinal rule in
marketing auditing is: Don’t rely solely on company managers for data and opinion.
Customers, dealers, and other outside groups must also be interviewed. Many com-
panies do not really know how their customers and dealers see them, nor do they
fully understand customer needs and value judgments.
The marketing audit examines six major components of the company’s market-
ing situation. The major questions are listed in Table 6.11.
The Marketing Excellence Review
Companies can use another instrument to rate their performance in relation to the
best practices of high-performing businesses. The three columns in Table 6.12 distin-
guish among poor, good, and excellent business and marketing practices. Management
can place a check on each line as to its perception of where the business stands. The
resulting profile exposes the business’s weaknesses and strengths, highlighting where
the company might move to become a truly outstanding player in the marketplace.
The Ethical and Social Responsibility Review
Companies need to evaluate whether they are truly practicing ethical and socially re-
sponsible marketing. Business success and continually satisfying the customer and
other stakeholders are intimately tied to adoption and implementation of high stan-
dards of business and marketing conduct. The most admired companies in the world
abide by a code of serving people’s interests, not only their own. See the Marketing
for the Millennium “Marketing Fair Labor Practices.”
Business practices are often under attack because business situations routinely pose
tough ethical dilemmas. One can go back to Howard Bowen’s classic questions about
the responsibilities of businesspeople:
Should he conduct selling in ways that intrude on the privacy of people, for exam-
ple, by door-to-door selling...? Should he use methods involving ballyhoo, chances,
prizes, hawking, and other tactics which are at least of doubtful good taste? Should
he employ “high pressure” tactics in persuading people to buy? Should he try to has-
ten the obsolescence of goods by bringing out an endless succession of new models
and new styles? Should he appeal to and attempt to strengthen the motives of ma-
terialism, individious consumption, and “keeping up with the Joneses”?^37Clearly the company’s bottom line cannot be the sole measure of corporate per-
formance: Ethical issues must be dealt with in many aspects of its business. There are
selling issues such as bribery or stealing trade secrets; advertising issues such as false
and deceptive advertising; channel issues such as exclusive dealing and tying agree-
ments; product issues such as quality and safety, warranties, and patent protection;
packaging issues such as accurate labeling and use of scarce resources; price issues such
as price-fixing, discrimination, and resale price maintenance; and competitive issues
such as barriers to entry and predatory competition.
chapter 22
Managing the
Total Marketing
Effort^709