10 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCINGMARKETING
Finally, themedia(editorsandreportersworkingfornewspapers,TVandradiosta-
tions,andmagazines)loomsasoneofthegreatestcommunicationhurdlesfacedbymar-
keters,Ina largemarketingorganization,theresponsibilityofcommunicatingwiththemedia
isassignedtoa publicrelationsstaffPublicrelationspeoplewritepressreleasestoriesabout
theirorganizationthattheyhopethemediawilluse,Ifthepressreleasesarenotused,the
marketerattemptstoensurethatwhateverthemediasaysabouttheorganizationisaccu-
rateandascomplementaryaspossible.Forsmallercompanies,dealingwiththemedia
becomeseveryone'sresponsibility, Manybusinessesnowfacea newmedia,theInternet:
chatrooms,websites,andpropagandacampaignsintendedtodestroya businesshavebecome
commonplace,Companiesthatarewillingtofocusoncommunicationasa meansofdoing
businessengageinrelationshipmarketing-atypeofmarketingthatbuildslong-standing
positiverelationshipswithcustomersandotherimportantstakeholdergroups,Relationship
marketingidentifies"highvalue"customersandprospectsandbondsthemtothebrand
throughpersonalattention,Competition
Wehavealreadymentionedtheimportancethatcompetitionplaysina marketingorgani-
zation,Ata minimum,marketingcompaniesmustthoroughlyunderstandtheircompeti-
tors'strengthsandweaknesses.Thismeansmorethanmakingsweepinggeneralizations
aboutthecompetitors.Itmeansbasingirtelligentmarketingdecisionsonfactsabouthow
competitorsoperateanddetermininghowbesttorespond.
Oftentheidentificatior.ofcompetitorsisfairlystraightforward.Itisthesupermar-
ketonthenextblock,orthethreeothercompaniesthatmanufacturereplacementwind-
shields.Thereareinstances,however,whentheidentificationofa competitorisnotclear.
MarketingexpertiheodoreLevittcoinedtheterm"marketingmyopia"severalyearsago
todescribecompaniesthatmis-identifytheircompetition,3Levittargued,forexample,that
themistakemadebythepassengertrainindustrywastorestricttheircompetitiontoother
railroadsinsteadofallmasstransittransportat;onalternatives,includingautomobiles,air-
lines,andbuses,Todayweseethesamemistakebeingmadebycompaniesintheenter-
tainmentindustry(movietheaters, restaurants, andresorts),whoassumethattheironly
competitionislike-titledorganizations.
Sincepracticallynomarketeroperatesasamonopoly,mostofthestrategyissuescon-
sideredbya marketerrelatetocompetition,Visualizea marketingstrategyasa hugechess
gamewhereoneplayeris consta;1tlymakinghisorhermovescontingentonwhattheother
playerdoes.Somepartners,likeCokeandPepsi,McDonald'sandBurgerKing,andFord
andGeneralMotors,havebeenplayingthegamesolongthata stalemateisoftentheresult.
Infact,therelativemarketshareownedbyCokeandPepsihasn'tchangedbymorethana
percentageortwodespitethebillionsofdollarsspentbyeachonmarketing,
Thedesireofcompaniestoaccuratelygaugecompetitorshasledtothegrowingpop-
ularityofa separatediscipline-competitiveintelligence,Thisfieldinvolvesgatheringas
muchinformationaboutcompetitorsthroughanymeanspossible,usuallyshortofbreak-
ingthelaw,MoreissaidaboutthisprocessintheIntegratedMarketing(1M)boxthatfollows,Cross-Functiona l Contact
Oneofthefirstmistakesanorganizationmightmakeistoallowthevariousfunctionalareas
tobecomeproprietary,Whenevera marketingdepartmentconsidersitselfmostimportant
tothesuccessoftheorganizationandself-sufficientwithoutneedforaccounting,manu-
facturing,orhumanresources,it ceasestobea reliablemarketinggroup,Truemarketers
knowtha~theycannotbeanybetterthantheirweakestlink. Lackofunderstandingandtrust
between marketingandmanufacturing, forinstance,couldmeanthata productsoldbymar-