Core Concepts of Marketing

MARKETING:DEFINITIONANDJUSTIFICATION 9

CompanyCapabilities
Allmarketingorganizationstrytoobjectivelycomparetheirexistingcapabilitieswiththeir
abilitytomeettheconsumer'sneedsnowandinthefuture.Moreover, whendeficiencies
arefound,a goodmarketingorganizationmustbewillingtomakechangesasquicklyas
possible.WhenToyotarealizedthattheirproductswerenotconnectingwithconsumersaged
35 andyounger,it decidedtotakedirectaction.In1999,itgatheredeightpeopleintheir
20sand30sfromaroundthecompanyintoa new, ethnicallydiversemarketinggroupcalled
"genesis."Theirfirstassignmentwastolaunchthreecarsmeanttopullinyoungerbuyers:
theentry-levelECHOsubcompact,a sportynewtwo-doorCelica, andtheMR2Spyder,a
racyconvertibleroadster.^2
Althoughassessingcompanycapabilitiesoftenbeginsinthemarketingarea,allthe
businessfunctionsmustbeassessed.Dowehavethetechnicalknow-howtoproducea com-
petitiveproduct?Dowehavetheplantcapacity?Dowehavethenecessarycapital?Dowe
havegoodtopmanagement?A"no"toanyofthesequestionsmaystymiethemarketing
effort. Conversely, a strongadvantageincostcontrolordynamicleadershipmayprovide
thecompanywitha competitive marketingadvantagethathaslittletodowithmarketing,
buteverythingtodowiththebusinesssucceeding.

Communication
Fewdoubtthatthesecretofsuccessinanyrelationshipiscommunication.Thisisespe-
ciallytrueina marketingrelationship,wheretheattitudeofbothpartiesisfrequentlyskep-
tical,thenatureofthecontactishardlyintimate,andthemessagedeliverysystemtendsto
beimpersonalandimprecise.It'sbecauseofthese factorsthatcommunicationplayssuch
animportantroleina marketingorganization.
Marketersknowthatconsumersareconstantlypickingupcuesputoutbytheorgan-
ization, orabouttheorganization,thattheyusetoformattitudesandbeliefsabouttheorgan-
ization.Manyofthesemessage-ladencuesarecontrolledbytheorganization,including
factorssuchasproductdesign,productquality,price,packaging,outletselection,adver-
tising, andtheavailabilityofcoupons.Inthiscase,marketersfollowbasiccommunication
principlesthatarediscussedthroughoutthisbook. Mostnotably, thereis a constantattempt
tomakesurethatalloftheseelementsdelivera consistentmessage,andthatthismessage
is understoodandinterpretedinthesamewaybythevariousconsumers.
Ontheotherhand, therearemanymessage-ladencuesthatarenotunderthecontrol
ofthemarketer,yetmaybemorepowerfulinthemindsofconsumers,andthatmustbe
anticipatedanddealtwithbythemarketers.ArecentreportthatUnitedAirLineshadthe
worstcustomersatisfactionscorescreateda downturninbothUnited'sstockandcustomer
reservations.Althoughtherearemanysourcesdeliveringsuchinformation,thethreemost
prominentareemployees,competitors,andthemedia.
Employees,fromthepresidentondown, areallconsideredrepresentativesoftheorgan-
izationforwhichtheywork.Consumersoftenassumethatthebehavior,language,ordress
ofanemployeeisanaccuratereflectionoftheentireorganization. Makingemployees-
andpossiblyevenformeremployees-positiveambassadorsoftheorganizationhasbecome
soimportantthata newtermhasemerged-internalmarketing.
Competitorssaya greatdealaboutoneanother,sometruths, someboldfacelies.A
marketingorganizationmustbecognizantofthispossibilityandbepreparedtorespond.The
automobileindustryhasusedcomparisonmessagingforoverthirtyyears.CokeandPepsi
havebeenattackingandcounter-attackingforaboutthesamelengthoftime. Negativepolit-
icalmessagesappeartobeveryeffective,eventhoughfewpoliticiansadmittothestrategy.