Marketing Strategy

An Overview
A marketing strategy serves as the foundation of
a marketing plan.
A marketing plan consists of a list of specific
actions required to successfully implement a
specific marketing strategy.
A strategy is different from tactics .a marketing
plan has no foundation without a sound
marketing strategy.
Marketing strategies serves as the fundamental
underpinning of marketing plans designed to
reach marketing objectives.
It is important for these objectives have
measurable results.

A good marketing strategy should
integrate an organizations marketing
goals, policies and action sequences
into cohesive whole.
The objective of a marketing strategy
is to provide a foundation from which
a tactical plan is developed.
This allows organization to carry out
its mission effectively &efficiently.

Any organization requires strategy:

When resources are finite
When there is uncertainty about
competitive strengths & behavior
When commitment of resources is
irreversible
When decisions must be coordinated
between far-flung places & over time,
When there is uncertainty about
control of the initiative

Marketing strategy deals essentially
with the interplay of three forces
known as the strategic three Cs
The customer,
The competition, &
The corporation.

All three Cs are dynamic, living creatures with own
objectives to pursue.
Based on the interplay of the strategic three Cs
formation of marketing strategy requires three
decisions:
Where to compete definition of market
How to compete -in terms of product either new
product or existing
When to compete- timing of market entry either first
in market or waiting for primary demand to be
established

Marketing strategies focus on
ways in which the corporation can
differentiate itself effectively from
its competitors, capitalizing on its
distinctive strengths to deliver
better value to its customers.

Marketing strategy- Definition

A strategy that integrates an
organization's marketing goals into a
cohesive whole. Ideally drawn from
market research, it focuses on the
ideal product mix to achieve
maximum profit potential.
The marketing strategy is set out in a
marketing plan.

Types of Marketing Strategy

One of the most important concepts of
the marketing planning process is the
need to develop a cohesive marketing
strategy that guides tactical programs for
the marketing decision areas.
In marketing there are two levels to
strategy formulation:
General Marketing Strategies
Decision Area Strategies

General Marketing Strategies
These set the direction for all marketing efforts
by describing, in general terms, how marketing
will achieve its objectives. There are many
different General Marketing Strategies, though
most can be viewed as falling into one of the
following categories:
Market Expansion
Market Share Growth
Niche Market
Status Quo
Market Exit

Market Expansion
Market
Expansion
Grow Sales
with Existing
Products
Grow Sales
with New
Products
Market Expansion

With this strategy marketers look to grow overall
sales in one of two ways:
Grow Sales with Existing Products With this
approach the marketer seeks to actively increase
the overall sales of products the company
currently markets.
This can be accomplished by:
Getting existing customers to buy more
Getting potential customers to buy (i.e., those
who have yet to buy)
Selling current products in new markets.

Grow Sales with New Products With this
approach the marketer seeks to achieve objectives
through the introduction of new products. This can
be accomplished by:
Introducing updated versions or refinements to
existing products
Introducing products that are extensions of current
products
Introducing new products not previously marketed.

Market Share Growth

This strategy looks to increase the marketers overall
percentage or share of market.
In many cases this can only be accomplished by
taking sales away from competitors.
Consequently, this strategy often relies on
aggressive marketing tactics.

Niche Market

This strategy looks to obtain a
commanding position within a certain
segment of the overall market.
Usually the niche market is much smaller
in terms of total customers and sales
volume than the overall market.
Ideally this strategy looks to have the
product viewed as being different from
companies targeting the larger market.

Status Quo

This strategy looks to maintain the
marketer's current position in the
market, such as maintaining the same
level of market share.

Market Exit

This strategy looks to remove the product from the
organizations product mix. This can be
accomplished by:
Selling the product to another organization
Eliminating the product the company's product
offerings

Decision Area Strategies

These are used to achieve the General Marketing
Strategies by guiding the decisions within important
marketing areas (product, pricing, distribution,
promotion, target marketing).
For example, a General Marketing Strategy that
centers on entering a new market with new products
may be supported by decision marketing strategies.

Decision Area Strategies that
include:
Target Market Strategy employ
segmenting techniques
Product Strategy develop new product
line
Pricing Strategy create price programs
that offer lower pricing versus competitors
Distribution Strategy use methods to
gain access to important distribution
partners that service the target market
Promotion Strategy create a plan that
can quickly build awareness of the product

Achieving the Decision Area
Strategies is accomplished through
the development of detailed Tactical
Programs for each area.
For instance, to meet the Pricing
Strategy that lowers cost versus
competitors products, the marketer
may employ such tactics as: quantity
discounts, trade-in allowances or
sales volume incentives to
distributors.