TOPIC: Marketing Planning and Strategy

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OCTOBER 2003


SEPTEMBER 2004

1. IS IT TIME TO SAY GAME OVER?
   Examines Electronic Arts' (EA) dominance of video games. Background on EA, the dominant player in the multi-billion dollar video-game software industry; Financial details; Comments of Chief Executive Officer Larry Probst; Sales growth; Views of analysts; Reasons for the industry's success; Plans for expansion; EA's strategy; Possible sources of revenue, including in-game advertising; Expected increase in sales from next generation consoles; Competition; Outlook.
   
2. ENVIRONMENT AL SCANNING: RADAR FOR SUCCESS.
   The article discusses environmental scanning. It is the internal communication of external information about issues that may potentially influence an organization's decision-making process. In essence, environmental scanning is a method for identifying, collecting and translating information about external influences into useful plans and decisions. There are many important reasons to do environmental scanning. Relationship among markets, strategic planning and the environmental external to an organization is what defines an organization's success. The focus of environmental scanning is on strategic thinking and planning. External environments that may impact an organization can be grouped into categories including social, regulatory, technological, political, economic and industry. Emergence of new technologies can impact organizations' overall business and production processes. Internal information includes organization-specific information that can be compared to the findings of external scanning in order to maximize organizational responsiveness. Managers prefer to receive information that is presented in person rather than through reading. There are also problems with environmental scanning related to interpretation of the information that has been gathered. In addition, an overemphasis on scanning could have negative effects on an organization.
   
3. The Dynamic Effect of Innovation on Market Structure.
   Product innovation is endemic among consumer packaged goods firms and is an integral component of their marketing strategy. As inno-vations affect markets, there is a pressing need to develop market response models that can adapt to such changes. The authors' model copes with the challenges that dynamic environments entail: nonstation-arity, changes in parameters over time, missing data, and cross-sectional heterogeneity. They use this approach to model sales response in the frozen pizza category, in which the introduction of rising-crust pizza brands represents a major innovation. The model is directly applicable to other domains in which market structure might be nonstationary, such as changes in promotion strategy, shifts in the retail environment, and movements in macroeconomic factors. The authors find that innovation (1) makes the existing brands appear more similar, as indicated by increasing cross-brand price elasticities; (2) decreases brand differentia-tion for the existing brands, as indicated by an increase in the magnitude of own-brand price elasticities; and (3) increases the variance of the sales response equations temporarily around the time of the introduction of the innovation, indicating increased uncertainty in sales response. The authors discuss the managerial implications by presenting maps of how clout and vulnerability evolve over time, assessing the effect of new brands on cannibalization, and considering the strategic implications of the introduction of a flanker innovation to facilitate an extant brand's ability to attack an incumbent leader.
   
4. Penney's markets way to turnaround.
   Reports on the five-year marketing plan of J.C. Penney Co. CEO and Chairman Allen Questrom for the JCPenney department stores in Dallas, Texas. Problems with the promotional strategy of the company; Plan of Questrom to centralize merchandising operations; Agreement of J.C. Penney to sell its Eckerd drugstore chain.
   
5. New Line, Wal-Mart unite for promo.
   Deals with the partnership of New Line Cinema with Wal-Mart in a sales promotion program for the film "The Notebook." Partnership of New Line with Kimberly-Clark Corp. for retail exposure; Promotional activity plans for the program.
   
6. Monster Partners.
   Reports on the cross-pollinating marketing alliance between internet companies Monster and eBay in order to capture more business. How the alliance will work to draw people who are on eBay's site into the Monster web site.
   
7. COMMUNICATI ON KEY.
   Reports on the results of a survey conducted by researcher Joanne Davis in 2004 regarding effective marketing strategies in the field of business. Most valued characteristic of agency-client relationship; Definition of good communication according to respondents; Way to determine a marketing campaign's efficacy.
   
8. Ikea courts buyers with offbeat ideas.
   Reports on the approach being used by Ikea to market its products. Use of nontraditional media in the company's marketing strategy; Performance of the company's television and print advertisements; Information on some of advertising campaigns of Ikea.
   
9. Broadcast Networks Need to Shift Promotion Strategy.
   Focuses on the need for a change in the promotional strategy of television broadcast networks in the U.S. Percentage of the market share decline experienced yearly by the broadcast networks; Approach employed by the broadcast networks to offset their revenue shortfall; Prime examples of television sitcoms that exhibit good promotional strategy.
   
10. Toyota's the carmaker to beat.
    Reports on the performance of Toyota Motor Co. in the automobile market in 2003. Expected sales of Tundra Double Cab full-size pickup truck; Improvement in the sport utility vehicle line of Toyota; Challenges faced by Toyota in maintaining its marketing momentum.
    
11. VW tries branding to stem slide.
    Reports on the marketing plan of Volkswagen of America to prevent the decline in the sales of its automobiles. Focus of the company on lease deals and financing; Television advertising campaign of the company; Cause of the declining sales of Volkswagen. INSET: VW Touareg.
    
12. The Player: Being first, moving fast is Burwick's strategy for Pepsi.
    Focuses on the marketing strategy of Pepsi-Cola chief marketer Dave Burwick. Background of Burwick; Competition between Pepsi-Cola and Coca-Cola Co.; Information on the marketing strategies devised by Burwick and his team at Pepsi-Cola; Advertising agency of Pepsi-Cola.


13. Let's get this show on the road.
    Deals with roadshows as a marketing strategy. Experience of Yellow Submarine in making a national campaign for COI Communications; Importance of liaising with local councils and shopping outlets for planning roadshows; Effectiveness of roadshows as a means of promoting brand awareness; Comment from Will Mould, director of the events division for Slice, on the appreciation of people for roadshows.


14. Bands and Brands Need Loyal Fans.
    Suggests apparel companies to implement a marketing strategy similar to that of rock bands. Creation of a fan base which goes beyond being just customers of apparel; Development of an emotional connection with users; Importance of understanding the culture the company is appealing to.


15. Haagen-Dazs goes for mass, not class.
    Reports on the return of Haagen-Dazs to the mass advertising medium of television with a repositioned, more mass-appeal message. Plan of advertising agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners for the brand; Competitors of Haagen-Dazs in the market; Views advertising executives on the repositioning of the brand image of Haagen-Dazs.

OCTOBER 2003

1. Assessing the Impact of Negative Marketing Strategies: The Application of Market Signaling Metrics. Rothe, James T., Ferguson, Jeffrey M., Harvey, Michael, Condemi, Bruce A., Winter 2003.
   One important issue to entrepreneurs is whether or not a great idea or product is the most significant ingredient necessary for success in today's business environment. A new market metric for assessing marketing strategies is developed in the paper that allows marketing managers to better understand the stock markets reaction to their marketing strategic thrust. This market metric is then applied to the marketing cast of Boston Chicken, Inc. and an provides the basis for an assessment of critical marketing components utilized in the initial success and bankruptcy of Boston Chicken, Inc. This new metric/analysis provides valuable insights to marketers on how and under what conditions an organization can grow rapidly and continue to prosper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
   
2. A Configuration Theory Assessment of Marketing Organization Fit with Business Strategy and Its Relationship with Marketing Performance. Vorhies, Douglas W., Morgan, Neil A., January 2003.
   Theory posits that organizing marketing activities in ways that fit the implementation requirements of a business's strategy enhances performance. However, conceptual and methodological problems make it difficult to empirically assess this proposition in the holistic way that it is theoretically framed. Drawing on configuration theory approaches in management, the authors address these problems by assessing marketing organization fit with business strategy as the degree to which a business's marketing organization differs from that of an empirically derived ideal profile that achieves superior performance by arranging marketing activities in a way that enables the implementation of a given strategy type. The authors suggest that marketing organization fit with strategic type is associated with marketing effectiveness in prospector, defender, and analyzer strategic types and with marketing efficiency in prospector and defender strategic types. The study demonstrates the utility of profile deviation approaches for strategic marketing theory development and testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
   
3. Strategic Bundling of Products and Prices: A New Synthesis for Marketing. Tellis, Gerard J., January 2002.
   Bundling is pervasive in today's markets. However, the bundling literature contains inconsistencies in the use of terms and ambiguity about basic principles underlying the phenomenon. The literature also lacks an encompassing classification of the various strategies, clear rules to evaluate the legality of each strategy, and a unifying framework to indicate when each is optimal. Based on a review of the marketing, economics, and law literature, this article develops a new synthesis of the field of bundling, which provides three important benefits. First, the article clearly and consistently defines bundling terms and identifies two key dimensions that enable a comprehensive classification of bundling strategies. Second, it formulates clear rules for evaluating the legality of each of these strategies. Third, it proposes a framework of 12 propositions that suggest which bundling strategy is optimal in various contexts. The synthesis provides managers with a framework with which to understand and choose bundling strategies. It also provides researchers with promising avenues for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
   
4. The Effects of Ingredient Branding Strategies on Host Brand Extendibility. Desai, Kalpesh Kaushik, Keller, Kevin Lane, January 2002.
   A decision of increasing importance is how ingredient attributes that make up a product should be labeled or branded, if at all. The authors conduct a laboratory experiment to consider how ingredient branding affects consumer acceptance of a novel line extension (or one that has not been introduced before) as well as the ability of the brand to leverage that ingredient to introduce future category extensions. The authors study two particular types of novel line extensions or brand expansions: (1) slot-filler expansions, in which the level of one existing product attribute changes (e.g., a scent in Tide detergent that is new to the laundry detergent category) and (2) new attribute expansions, in which an entirely new attribute or characteristic is added to the product (e.g., cough relief liquid added to Life Savers candy). The authors examine two types of ingredient branding strategies by branding the target attribute ingredient for the brand expansion with either a new name as a self-branded ingredient (e.g., Tide with its own EverFresh scented bath soap) or an established, well-respected name as a cobranded ingredient (e.g., Tide with Irish Spring scented bath soap). The results indicate that with slot-filler expansions, a cobranded ingredient facilitates initial expansion acceptance, but a self-branded ingredient leads to more favorable subsequent category extension evaluations. With more dissimilar new attribute expansions, however, a cobranded ingredient leads to more favorable evaluations of both the initial expansion and the subsequent category extension. The authors offer interpretation, implications, and limitations of the findings, as well as directions for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
   
5. Segmentation as a Business Strategy Does Work. Marketing Research, Summer 2001.
   Comments on an article written by Larry Gibson in the 2001 spring issue of `Marketing Research' which demonstrates that market segmentation is not essential to strategic marketing. Ways to view the marketplace; Significance of segmentation and the analysis of segments to the strategic market planning process; Agreement on the issue of segment homogeneity.
   
6. Customer retention: a potentially potent marketing management strategy. Journal of Strategic Marketing, March 2001.
   The traditional marketing approach advocates the marketing mix principles and the quest for market share dominance through mass marketing techniques and a focus on new customer acquisition. This approach has guided managers for decades in planning and implementing their marketing strategies. However, several authors have drawn attention to the inadequacies of the traditional marketing approach, which led to the birth of relationship marketing (RM). RM advocates supplier-customer interaction and maintaining long-term relationships with a focus on customer retention. Customer retention, in the traditional marketing approach, is however seen as the 'end' rather than the means to delivering long-term profitability to firms. This paper discusses key issues pertaining to customer retention management, namely its definition, forms of measure, benefits and potential strategies for application. It uses examples from a variety of contexts. It is proposed that customer retention should be part of the strategic marketing planning process. Customer retention, we envisage, is a potentially potent marketing management strategy. Further research is also recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
   
7. Market orientation, innovation and competitive strategies in industrial firms. Vazquez, Rodolfo, Santos, Maria Leticia, Alvarez, Luis Ignacio, March 2001.
   Market orientation promotes the satisfaction of market needs with a higher degree of excellence than competitors. However, its potential effects on the companies' innovation strategy are discussed. The question is whether or not market orientation, due to an excessive customer focus, leads mainly to the development of incremental innovations and, consequently, to reactive innovation strategies. To obtain further insight into this topic, a market orientation measurement scale is first developed, taking into account the instrument proposed in the last decade. Then, the scale psychometric properties are evaluated. Once it proves to be a solid instrument of measurement, the relationship between market orientation and the following variables is analysed: firms' commitment to the innovation activities, effective innovation rates, degree of innovativeness of the new products developed, firms' competitive strategy and companies' performance. The study supports the beneficial effects of market orientation on the innovation strategy, providing empirical evidence in a research field where contributions of this nature are very scarce.In addition, the convenience of incorporating market orientation into industrial firms' management is reinforced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
   
8. The contribution of marketing to business strategy formation: a perspective on business performance gains. Morgan, Robert E., McGuinness, Tony, Thorpe, Eleri R., December 2000.
   Focuses on the contribution of marketing to business strategy formation. Investigation on medium and large, high-technology, industrial manufacturing firms; Differences between high business performance firms and low business performance firms concerning marketing contribution; Findings indicating the benefit of critical marketing input.
   
9. The Effects of Strategy Type on the Market Orientation-Performance Relationship. Matsuno, Ken, Mentzer, John T., October 2000.
   Prior research has been equivocal on the role that competitive environment plays in moderating the relationship between market orientation and a firm's business performance, even though such a moderating effect is conceptually quite plausible (Slater and Narver 1994). In this article, the authors empirically examine the role of business strategy type as an alternative, potential moderator of the market orientation-performance relationship. By using an improved version of Kohli and Jaworski's market orientation scale (Jaworski and Kohli 1993; Kohli, Jaworski, and Kumar 1993), the authors find evidence that supports the moderating effects of business strategy type on the strength of the relationship between market orientation and business performance. The authors also offer implications and future research questions based on the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
   
10. Customer Knowledge and Business Strategy. Almquist, Eric, Pierce, Andrew, Spring 2000.
    Focuses on the field of marketing research which promised to connect business strategy to knowledge of the customer marketplace. Information on strategic risk; How a firm loses shareholder value; What is value stagnation.
    
11. Environment and strategy as antecedents for marketing effectiveness and organizational performance. Mavondo, Felix T., December 1999.
    Investigates the impact of environment and functional strategies on marketing effectiveness and organizational performance. Significance of marketing effectiveness to financial performance; Competition within the business sector; Association of organizational strategy with market orientation.
    
12. Trappings versus substance in the greening of marketing planning. Peattie, Ken, June 1999.
    Focuses on the fundamental incompatibilities between the philosophy of sustainability and strategic marketing planning process. Function of marketing planning to ensure environmental business strategies; Reformulation of products and processes; Reposition of environmental pressure as a potential source of competitive advantage.
    
13. Subtle strategic insights from strategic groups analysis. Flavian, Carlos, Haberberg, Adrian, Polo, Yolanda, June 1999.
    Focuses on the longitudinal analysis of the food retailing industry in Great Britain and Spain using an identical strategic group methodology. Identification of the strategic groups through cluster analysis; Comparison on the different strategies developed in the two countries; Complement of the strategic group to the techniques in the strategic marketing.
    
14. Customization as a business strategy-a barrier to customer integration in product development? Tollin, Karin, July 2002.
    Although it is evident that product development (PD) within most companies does not take place in a vacuum, little is known about the influence that other core company processes may have on the way PD activities are carried out. In the study presented in this paper, we focus on an analysis of the relationship between marketing strategies and the way customers are integrated in PD. An exploratory analysis of three medium sized companies acting in the interior design and the software industries (IT), represent the empirical base. The result of the analysis shows that customization as an overall business strategy may act as a barrier to customer integration in PD, due to the nature of companies' strategies for innovation and for customer relationship management, respectively. Additionally, motivation and capabilities are identified and discussed as two core constructs related to, and antecedents for, customer integration in PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
    
15. 'One brand, three ways to shop': situational variables and multichannel consumer behaviour. Blakemore, Michael, April 2002.
    To counter the growth in online retailing, high street retailers are increasingly adopting multichannel distribution strategies, seeking to target individual consumers via both physical and electronic channels as multiple routes to purchase. In order to develop successful marketing strategies within this environment, however, an understanding of consumer selection between available purchase channels is clearly needed. This paper explores the issue of shopping mode selection from an environmental psychology perspective, applying a traditional Belkian analysis of situational variables in a longitudinal study of consumer channel selection decisions. Preliminary findings from an empirical study of consumers of a leading UK fashion retailer are reported which reveal significant differences in the prevalence of different Belkian variables between shopping modes, suggesting a major role for situational influence during the channel selection process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
    
16. Building value-based branding strategies. Doyle, Peter, December 2001.
    Marketing professionals oversimplify the problem of building successful brands. As companies such as Xerox and Procter & Gamble have learned, brands can have strong consumer franchises yet still not generate value for investors. Brands that create shareholder value have to meet four requirements: (1) a strong consumer proposition, (2) be effectively integrated with the firm's other value-creating assets, (3) be positioned in a sufficiently attractive market and (4) be managed in order to maximize the value of the brand's long-term cash flow.This paper shows that, when managers attend to all four determinants, they can enhance brand values and develop more effective marketing strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
    
17. Generic marketing strategies for small and medium-sized enterprises - conceptual framework and examples from Asia. Khai Sheang Lee, Guan Hua Lim, Soo Jiuan Tan, Chow Hou Wee, June 2001.
    Although the existing literature discusses strategies available to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), they do not address the plight faced by SMEs, namely resource limitations in their strategy formulation. Drawing on deductive logic, this paper identifies and conceptualizes three marketing strategies which are generic to SMEs and which specifically take into consideration the competitive reactions of bigger incumbent firms. These three generic marketing strategies are substitution, free riding and strategic deterrence. Successful substitution calls for the SME to offer differentiated yet substitutable products to that of an incumbent so as to force accommodation by the latter. Free riding allows the SME to enter a served market segment without having to incur market development expenses. Finally, strategic deterrence aims to deter a bigger incumbent firm from embarking on aggressive counteractions against the SME. This can be achieved by the formation of strategic alliances and/or incurring sunk costs in order to signal the SME's commitments to stay in the market credibly. Examples from Asian SMEs are given to illustrate the three generic strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
    
18. Strategic Interdependence in Organizations: Deconglomeration and Marketing Strategy. Varadarajan, P. Rajan, Jayachandran, Satish, White, J. Chris, January 2001.
    Although strategy exists at multiple levels in a firm (corporate, business, and functional), there is a dearth of research in marketing literature that focuses on the dependency among strategy at different levels. The authors address this issue by examining the relationship between deconglomeration and marketing strategy. Deconglomeration refers to the divestiture behavior of a conglomerate firm and the transformation of its business portfolio from one that is largely composed of several unrelated businesses to one composed of fewer and related businesses. Drawing on multiple theoretical perspectives, the authors propose a conceptual model delineating the environmental and organizational drivers of deconglomeration and its outcomes for marketing. The authors suggest that after deconglomeration, (1) a firm can be expected to be more competitor and customer oriented, (2) multimarket contact with competing firms and seller concentration will increase, (3) businesses retained by the firm will be more innovative and place greater emphasis on advertising compared with sales promotion, and (4) the firm's culture may become more externally oriented. Furthermore, the locus of decision making for marketing strategy may shift more toward senior management levels. In summary, changes in a firm's corporate strategy could lead to significant changes in the marketing strategy of its business units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
    
19. Value-based marketing. Doyle, Peter, December 2000.
    Examines the marketing contribution in the creation of value and the shareholder value analysis to the development of marketing strategies. Determinants of shareholder value; Creation of marketing assets; Significance of marketing assets to determine shareholder value.
    
20. The implementation of marketing planning: a case study in gaining commitment at 3M (UK) Abrasives. Lane, Stuart, Clewes, Debbie, September 2000.
    Presents a case study of a successful marketing planning process delivering improved business performance. Presentation of a real-life case example of a successful planning process; Implementation of a marketing plan; Importance of utilizing segment action teams and cross-functional groups for the implementation success.
    
21. Strategic Marketing Planning for Radically New Products. Cooper, Lee G., January 2000.
    In this article, the author outlines an approach to marketing planning for radically new products, disruptive or discontinuous innovations that change the dimensionality of the consumer decision. The planning process begins with an extensive situation analysis. The factors identified in the situation analysis are woven into the economic webs surrounding the new product. The webs are mapped into Bayesian networks that can be updated as events unfold and used to simulate the impact that changes in assumptions underlying the web have on the prospects for the new product. The author illustrates this method using a historical case regarding the introduction of videotape recorders by Sony and JVC and a contemporary case of the introduction of electric vehicles. The author provides a complete, numerical example pertaining to a software development project in the Appendix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
    
22. SWOT Analysis from a Resource-based View. Valentin, E.K., Spring 2001.
    Focuses on the importance of a resource-based strengths, weakness, opportunities, threats (SWOT) analysis in business strategy. Assessment of the SWOT of an organization; Reanalysis of the developing business plans of an organization; Strategic implications of SWOT analysis.