Coatings World - August 2016

Strategies & Analysis

Marketing’s main functions have three important interelated components: to develop a plan for a product/service which supports the firm’s strategy and will bring the firm a strategic ROI and provides coverage for the investment in both time and funding.

by Phil Phillips, PhD

Contributing Editor phillips@chemarkconsulting.net

Ever since I took several MBA courses, at Northwestern, I’ve been a fan of Dr. Philip Kotler (Professor of International Marketing at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management). So when he discusses anything about marketing, I listen. Kotler said “ marketing as a practice is in bad shape,” I believe it. Especially since, I share this position. Kotler does not mean the theory of marketing but the PRACTICE is in bad shape.

At present, many of our value chain participant companies (feedstock, raw material, formulator and distributor) do not successfully handle this entire process. We do a great deal of talking about the importance of “ bundling, CRM, competing globally, the “ WAL-MART syndrome,” and differentiation, while we cut marketing during times of down turns when it is exactly the time to function on all cylinders efficiently and effectively in marketing your products.

So, if marketing is so important, what are marketing’s key functions? Marketing’s main functions, I believe, have three important interrelated components: (1) to develop a plan for a product/service which supports the firms’ strategy; and (2) will bring the firm a strategic ROI and ( 3) provides coverage for the investment in both time and funding.

Additionally, I believe marketing must “pull” the firms resources through the strategic plan and “push” it (a total systems package) through sales by creating a “must have” acceptance within the targeted market segments.

Professor Kotler has listed “ 10 Deadly Sins
of Marketing” in his book of the same name. I
would like to suggest there are 5 critical mis-
takes, left unchecked, could be catastrophic to
the firm:
Your firm may be making these mistakes if
you are:

1. Lacking total value chain efficiencies and end-user focus.

2.Deficient in detailed understanding of your competitors and their strategic impact on your business if their plans are successful.

3. “Backroom,” stakeholder relationships are not managed well

4. Failure to understand “branding,” how to develop and use it successfully in combination with all offering components

5. Lacks market plans and planning process efficiencies.

Let’s discuss each one of these mistakes and how to make them go away.

Lacking total value chain
efficiencies and end-user focus

There are two extremes impacting this issue . . . either the firm has NOT gained succinct insight into its market opportunities or it is NOT well-organized to serve and deliver what the target users expect. To resolve these issues one must diligently determine a market by specific needs within a segment and not simply by demographic or descriptive definition levels alone.

Sub-tactics to this segment analysis issues that will assist you in successful marketing, are: • Segment prioritization, seeking customized compelling offerings at each level.