Strategic marketing’s global challenges and opportunities

Abstract

PurposeStrategic marketing is confronted with an array of global challenges and opportunities at the beginning of the twenty‐first century. Some opinion leaders question the role and importance of marketing strategy. Others are convinced the discipline is more vital than ever before.Design/methodology/approachSeveral important trends and issues have been articulated by leaders in the marketing discipline concerning how marketing thought and practice are expected to change in the future. Interestingly, opinion leaders offer very different interpretations concerning the role and importance of marketing in organizations today. FindingsThus, it is apparent that a complete vision about the future of marketing strategy has not emerged, although several challenges are indicated. Our objective is to identify these strategy challenges and their implications regarding marketing thought and practice. Importantly, the challenges highlight several marketing strategy opportunities which are relevant to scholars and managers.Research limitations/implicationsMarketing Science Institute interviews with CEOs and top marketing executives from a diversified sample of 12 corporations indicate “The strategic influence of marketing, as previously understood, appears to have diminished as short‐term revenue goals become more dominant and the role of the sales force is strengthened”. McGovern and Quelch in their survey of 120 companies and 18 interviews with CMOs and/or CEOs from global companies indicate that large corporations are “looking for strategic and operational leadership from the marketing organization more than ever before. The result is the increasing prominence of a senior executive whose title didn’t even exist ten years ago: the chief marketing officer or CMO”. Interviews with more than 40 CMOs from a range of companies around the globe by McKinsey & Company indicate that the top priority concern “is that an explosion of customer segments, products, media vehicles, and distribution channels has made marketing more complex, more costly, and less effective”. Vargo and Lusch propose that “marketing thought is not so much fragmented as it is evolving toward a new dominant logic – the exchange of intangibles, specialized skills and knowledge, and processes”.Originality/valueSeveral forces are expected to impact the strategic marketing decisions of a wide range of companies throughout the world. Moreover, these forces need to be addressed in managerial initiatives, course design, and several offer promising research opportunities.