Senior Marketing Executives Research Articles

Understanding the link between an IMC technology capability and organisational integration and performance

PurposeDespite many years of academic research into organisational integration and effectiveness, organisations still struggle to successfully implement strategy and achieve competitive advantage. However, the rapid evolution of marketing technologies such as big data, marketing analytics, artificial intelligence and personalised consumer interactions offer potential for an integrated marketing communication technological capability that aligns and integrates an organisation. Programmatic advertising is one such integrated marketing communication (IMC) technology capability, applying and learning from customer information and behaviours to align and integrate organisational activity. The literature on programmatic is embryonic and a conceptual framework that links its potential to organisational effectiveness is timely. This paper aims to develop a framework showing the potential for programmatic advertising as an IMC technology capability to enhance organisational integration and performance.Design/methodology/approachAn exploratory methodology gained insight from 15 depth interviews with senior marketing executives from both organisations and external advertising agencies.FindingsFour elements of a programmatic integrated organisation were identified and aligned with seven marketing activity levers to deliver firm performance measures.Research limitations/implicationsThis research contributes to theory, affirming IMC as a capability and positioning programmatic as a means of organisational integration.Practical implicationsThe model also offers guidance for practitioners looking to integrate programmatic into their organisation.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to look at programmatic from an IMC perspective and as a means of organisational integration. It is also the first to apply Moorman and Day’s (2016) model to explore organisational integration and programmatic, developing a new model, specifically contextualised for programmatic advertising.

Inclusive marketing: Muslims’ influence on marketers' behaviour in non-Muslim majority country: evidence from New Zealand

PurposeEmerging public discourses on Islam and Islamophobia in Western countries have led to religious discrimination among this group. This exploratory study aims to understand how marketers promote anti-discrimination efforts against Muslims on the notion of future collective unity.Design/methodology/approachThis exploratory study uses Social Identity theory to explain the behaviour and attitude of vulnerable Muslims. The dimension of racialisation, the Whiteness theory, the oppression model and the ethnocentrism theory were synthesised to explain the practice of racism and oppression. The theory of customer diversity, equity and inclusion was synthesised to understand the importance of inclusive marketing. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews with 15 senior marketing executives.FindingsThis study observed how the minority Muslims had influenced the marketers' behaviours in combating anti-religious discrimination through various tactics such as extending the corporates' products and services offerings, being inclusive and avoiding stereotyping in their marketing communication styles and shifting the company's processes and systems to meeting this group's cultural needs.Research limitations/implicationsWhile this study sample's demographics were motivated by senior marketing executives' profiles, most of the participants were highly educated, had similar cultural backgrounds and were mainly from the West.Originality/valueThis study attempts to shed light on the understanding of Muslims’ discrimination or Islamophobia in non-Muslim majority countries. It is hoped that this study acts as a catalyst for collective unity and would galvanise communities, including marketers to tackle discrimination through a better understanding of a targeted group like Muslims in the marketplace. In this current time of racial and religious tension, business leaders and marketers can act as mediators of social change to normalise more positive relations between minority and mainstream consumers.

Application of Porter's Strategic Concept: Study of Awareness and Application by Senior Marketing Executives in Pune, India

Application of Porter's Strategic Concept: Study of Awareness and Application by Senior Marketing Executives in Pune, India

An Integrated Procedure to Pretest and Select Advertising Campaigns for TV

Current practice of TV advertising campaign generation usually starts with a small number of concepts and ends up with a final copy on TV, a funneling process that narrows down quickly without reliably testing the ad concepts’ effectiveness in market. Is this practice optimal? Should more ad copies be generated for testing? We propose a model and evaluation procedure to improve the ad copy generation and evaluation process. We conceptualize the process as first generating a number of alternative advertising campaigns from advertising creative and production sources, screening those campaigns with some advertising pretest methodologies which have specified validity and reliability, and then picking the best campaign based upon the screening. Our method involves variability and distribution of campaign profits, which makes it possible for ad executives to take the risk of investment into consideration. As an empirical illustration, based on estimates of the variability of profitability of alternative TV campaigns by a small sample of senior marketing executives for consumer products, we show a large sum of incremental profit could potentially be obtained if TV advertisers would screen alternative TV campaigns with pretests of modest reliability and validity. We also show how the pretesting community can estimate the validity and reliability of their tests.

B2B service brand identity and brand performance

Purpose– This paper aims to apply the business-to-business (B2B) Service Brand Identity (SBI) scale to empirically assess the influence of service brand identity on brand performance for the first time.Design/methodology/approach– Based on data collected from 421 senior marketing executives, this paper applies the B2B SBI and structural equation modeling to fulfill the above purpose.Findings– Brand personality and human resource initiatives have a positive and significant influence on brand performance. Corporate visual identity, in addition to an employee and client focus, has an insignificant impact on performance. Consistent communications have a negative and significant influence on brand performance.Research limitations/implications– Data were only collected from executives in the UK. This research would benefit from replicative studies.Practical implications– This research empirically establishes the brand management activities that drive brand performance.Originality/value– This is the first empirical study to assess the influence service brand identity has on brand performance.

Senior marketers’ insights into the challenges of social media implementation in large organisations: assessing generic and electronic orientation models as potential solutions

The unique characteristics of social media (SM) have made it difficult to implement this tool within many large organisations. This paper seeks to identify the implementation challenges and evaluate alternative organisational orientations that may provide solutions. We aimed to reconcile theory with current practice by integrating the extant literature with data from three focus groups involving 27 senior marketing executives. The managerial discussions identified additional challenges to those previously discussed in the literature, which appear to result from SM’s unique characteristics. These include: interactivity, the integration of communication into distribution channels, collaborative media and information collection. Using both broad orientation models (market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation) and a specific digital orientation (e-marketing orientation), guidelines and research propositions for effective implementation are put forward.

Marketing executive development in a changing world: the needed executive skills

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the challenges and marketing executive development needs of the future as revealed in surveys of senior marketing executives, chief marketing officers and CEOs of major corporations in the USA and globally. Design/methodology/approach – A historical analysis of the marketing function, its importance and emerging needs was conducted. Findings – Within this paper, the two questions of key importance that will be explored to manage marketing in tomorrow's world are as follows: what emerging trends present challenges to the marketing executive of the future? And what skills and knowledge trends and changes demand that the effective marketing executive acquire? The conclusion of this study indicate that the marketing executive of the future must have the needed skills in managing innovation and change, educating and developing leaders, understand technology, formulate and implement strategy, apply new leadership concepts, collaborate with government, anticipate social and technological advances, become more customer oriented and be more flexible. Originality/value – The paper is valuable in that it highlights the challenges and needs of senior marketing executives going forward in a changing world.

Profiting from customer relationship management

Purpose – This study aims to examine the direct and moderating effects of generative learning on customer performance. Design/methodology/approach – The authors test the relationships between customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities, generative learning, customer performance, and financial performance with a cross industry survey of CEOs and senior marketing executives from 199 firms. Partial least squares are used to estimate the parameters of the resulting model. Findings – The results reveal that generative learning affects customer performance directly. Moreover, the interaction of CRM capabilities and generative learning contributes to customer performance. This finding suggests that firms need a well-developed generative learning orientation to fully benefit from translating new insights resulting from CRM capabilities into establishing, maintaining, and enhancing long-term associations with customers, and vice versa. Research limitations/implications – The main limitations are those that typically apply to cross-sectional surveys. Although several steps were taken to reduce the concern of key informant bias and common method variance, dependent and independent variables were collected from the same source at a single moment in time. Practical implications – Ceteris paribus, an increase of generative learning orientation by one unit (seven-point scale) can command an increase of up to 7 percent of the average customer performance due to its direct and interaction effect. Because even small changes in customer performance have a strong impact on financial performance, this finding indicates a remarkable and substantial result for managers. Originality/value – Though previous research provides evidence of the adaptive learning consequences of CRM, a review of the literature reveals a lack of studies that analyze the importance of generative learning orientation for successful CRM.

The Effects of Experience on Managerial Decision-Making Uncertainty

An important contribution to the literature on perceived environmental uncertainty (PEU) is Milliken's (1987, 1990) distinction between state uncertainty, effect uncertainty and response uncertainty. Although much is known about their conceptual underpinnings and measurement, there has been no empirical investigation of their antecedents. The purpose of this study is to begin to understand their antecedents by exploring the role of decision-maker experience in influencing state, effect and response uncertainty. There is also investigation as to how two personality variables – locus of control and tolerance for ambiguity – moderate the relationships between experience and decision-maker uncertainty. Data were obtained from a sample of senior marketing executives in New Zealand. Results suggest that decision-maker experience has a differential impact on the types of uncertainty experienced by managers as they scan, interpret and respond to change in the external environment. This study advances theoretical knowledge about uncertainty by revealing that locus of control and tolerance for ambiguity moderate the relationship between decision-maker experience and response uncertainty. The research findings are interpreted and future research opportunities discussed.

The Survey of Proactive Marketing Strategies Impacts on Business Performance during Recession; Study of Active Iranian Companies in Abbasabad Industrial Park

The performance of businesses and organizations and even their survival can be severely affected by recessions. However, all firms are not equally affected by a recession. In fact, some firms even experience better conditions in markets during recessions. Past studies and investigations about marketing in economic turbulent times and especially in proactive marketing suggest that some firms view a recession as an opportunity and develop an aggressive marketing reaction, while others cut back, waiting for the recession to pass. We use the term proactive marketing, to represent the strategic reaction of companies to a recession, or more generally, to a turbulent environment. We show that proactive marketing is an important factor for a company to view and react to recessions. Specifically, we develop and test a model of the antecedents and consequences of proactive marketing during a recession. The results of a survey of 45 senior marketing executives in Abbasabad Industrial Park in Iran reveal that some companies do accept and execute proactive marketing during recessions. Our results indicate that if companies have a strategic emphasis on marketing, embody an entrepreneurial culture, possess slack resources, they will more likely to have a proactive marketing reaction during turbulent times especially recessions. Also, results show that proactive marketing plays a significant role in improving both market and business performance during the recession. The implications of our results can be discussed for both marketing theory and managerial practice.

Alliance competence

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate alliance formation competence and attitudes toward brand alliances as antecedents of the firm's propensity to brand ally. It aims to test the hypothesis that the relationship between alliance experience and alliance competence is moderated by the relative quality of the experience, which the authors call valence of alliance experience.Design/methodology/approachResearch hypotheses were empirically tested with a national sample of senior marketing executives and brand managers.FindingsThe firm's propensity to engage in brand alliances is a function of well‐developed strategic alliance capabilities and positive managerial attitudes toward brand alliances. Importantly, when the firm's prior experience in alliances is relatively more positive the relationship between alliance experience and alliance competence is strengthened.Originality/valueNot all alliance experience is the same. This study, one of the first studies to examine the relative quality of alliance experience, confirms that the relationship between alliance experience and alliance competence is significantly stronger when that experience has been relatively more positive. This study also contributes to the strategic alliance literature by providing empirical evidence for the importance of managers' attitudes toward brand alliances in driving the firm's propensity to brand ally. By choosing brand alliances as the context for the study the paper contributes to the brand alliance literature by investigating the brand alliance phenomenon from the firm's perspective.

The future of destination marketing: the case of Cyprus

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to extend the understanding about the augmented destination marketing process that has resulted from the introduction of electronic marketing methods. It attempts to identify the factors that contribute to the process of destination marketing by introducing an integrated marketing model. This study aims to expand the domain of knowledge about the tourist buying behavior by putting forward a framework to manage the destination marketing process for Cyprus.Design/methodology/approachThe research design adopted for this study is an exploratory one, deploying the open‐ended approach of grounded theory. A number of expert interviews are performed with senior marketing executives at the Cyprus Tourism Organization (CTO), while an extensive study of the existing procedures that are being followed in carrying out the CTO's marketing department's functions facilitated further information analysis. The actual users' expectations are derived from a web‐user behavior analysis, reflecting upon relevant marketing theories and information systems approaches.FindingsThe paper provides insights into the augmented process of destination marketing planning and suggests specific ways through which National Tourism Organizations can manage it efficiently. The contribution of this study towards building on the body of knowledge is significant as the process of destination marketing planning is characterized by complexity due to the diverse interests of the stakeholders involved.Originality/valueThis paper successfully introduces the concept of integrated marketing as the sole enabler for the CTO to maximize the effectiveness of its marketing efforts worldwide.

Enterprise marketing management (EMM) systems: Current use and future prospects

To gather data on current and future use of enterprise marketing management solutions in Europe, Unica and Ovum conducted an online survey of 300 senior marketing executives in December 2005–January 2006. Respondents represented a range of industry sectors and were equally divided among France, Germany and the UK. Most respondents expressed confidence about the strategic value of marketing in supporting the organisation, and good practice in marketing was said to be widespread. In contrast to the pervading optimism, UK respondents in particular were pessimistic about their ability to achieve the organisation's marketing objectives, due to a lack of marketing expertise. Technology, in particular the internet, was central to marketing, with e-mail and the web being the most popular channels, but traditional approaches such as direct mail and word-of-mouth marketing were continuing to play an important role. The majority of organisations had no immediate plans to implement innovative new technology-related channels, such as blogs and Really Simple Syndicate (RSS) feeds. Nearly three quarters of organisations measured marketing performance, the most popular metrics being customer satisfaction and the number of new clients. Return on investment (ROI) was the most popular new metric planned for implementation in 2006. Exactly half the respondents claimed to have heard of EMM, which was better known in France than elsewhere. Several point solutions were in use, the most popular being real-time marketing and marketing resource management (MRM). None of these solutions was, however, used by more than 40 per cent of the organisations. In general, planned implementation of new EMM solutions reflected the current usage levels, but there were indications of strong growth in lead management solutions. Lack of awareness was cited as the main reason for not investing in EMM, but concern with costs and budgets was also widespread among the organisations surveyed. In conclusion, the survey demonstrated that holistic EMM solutions are not in common use, and although they are likely to become more widespread in future, several factors hinder the spread. Despite these findings, the survey did indicate that elements of EMM — such as personalised e-mail marketing and MRM — are becoming increasingly common among European marketers. For example, 32 per cent of the respondents indicated that they are using MRM technology to manage their marketing functions. The figures reflecting lack of plans for blogs and RSS feeds suggest that businesses are investing their budgets in core, enterprise-level technology to support the marketing function, rather than spending it on less proven tactics.

Strategic marketing in action

PurposeTo contrast the role and practical application of strategic marketing in higher and lower‐performing firms.Design/methodology/approachIn‐depth personal interviews with senior marketing executives in three matched high/low performing manufacturing firms in the UK were recorded, transcribed and analysed. The interview agenda was derived from the authors' own previous research studies, plus precedents in the literature.FindingsThese are structured around four key strategic marketing activities previously found to be characteristic of higher performing firms. They clearly show that such companies implement them with a far greater degree of skill, sophistication and ingenuity than do their lower performing counterparts. Above all, for the higher performers, strategic marketing is a truly cross‐functional activity.Research limitations/implicationsThe methodology of this study indicates a fruitful approach to further research aimed at extending and refining the findings and recommendations, though details requiring methodological attention are identified.Originality/valueAs an aid to marketing practitioners and educators alike, these findings and conclusions identify and describes a number of specific, applicable characteristics of successful strategic marketing.

Marketing resource management: Making the most of investments through more efficient DAM, marketing operations and marketing-related business processes

For many companies, the marketing department is the last business function to use information technology to automate processes. Without a comprehensive platform approach, applications designed for marketing departments are really point solutions. Some focus on tracking the results of marketing activities such as printed direct mail. Some focus on collaboration. Others focus on web-based marketing. In the past few years, senior marketing executives have taken a step back and realized that ad-hoc point solutions aren't the answer. What they need is a long-term, integrated IT strategy designed for marketing: marketing resource management (MRM).

Turning adversity into advantage: Does proactive marketing during a recession pay off?

Recessions can severely affect the performance of firms, and even their very survival. However, all firms are not equally affected by a recession. Some firms view recessions as opportunities to strengthen their businesses, invest aggressively and establish their advantage over their weaker competitors, whereas others cut back, waiting for the recession to pass. Why do some firms view the recession as an opportunity and develop an aggressive marketing response to it? What are the effects of such a marketing response on the performance of the firm? These are the two central questions we address in this paper. We propose a new construct, which we call proactive marketing in a recession, as the firm's interpretation of the recession as an opportunity (opportunity interpretation) and development and execution of a response to capitalize on the perceived opportunity created by the change (offensive response). We develop and test a model of the antecedents and consequences of proactive marketing during a recession. The results of a survey of 154 senior marketing executives show that some firms do indeed adopt proactive marketing during a recession. Both organizational and environmental contexts influence firms' proactive response to a recession. Firms that have a strategic emphasis on marketing, an entrepreneurial culture, and slack resources are proactive in their marketing activities during a recession, while the severity of the recession in the industry negatively affects proactive marketing response. In addition, firms that have a proactive marketing response in a recession achieve superior business performance even during the recession. Our results suggest that not all firms do, or should, respond in a proactive manner during a recession. Those firms with a strategic emphasis on marketing already have programs in place (e.g., well-recognized brands, differentiated products, targeted communications, good support and service, etc.) that enable them to derive benefits from a proactive marketing response during the recession.

Market orientation in a multiple stakeholder orientation context: implications for marketing capabilities and assets

Does a market orientation approach focus too heavily on customers at the expense of other stakeholders? Managers also need to address the interests of other stakeholders when making marketing decisions. This gives an orientation to each stakeholder group, which exist simultaneously, giving a multiple stakeholder orientation profile (MSOP). In the reported empirical study of senior marketing executives, this weakness is addressed, by taking a simultaneous multiple stakeholder orientation approach. The study identified where marketing capabilities and assets are both different and similar among executives with a market focus in their MSOPs, and those with other MSOPs.

Marketing's contribution to the implementation of business strategy: an empirical analysis

AbstractThis paper describes a study that assesses the performance implications of matching marketing strategy to business strategy. In order to conduct this study we first reviewed the literature on marketing strategy to identify its key dimensions. We then conducted a survey of 1000 senior marketing executives about the strategic marketing practices adopted in their respective firms or business units, and developed scales to describe 11 strategic marketing activities. We next performed a K‐means cluster analysis using these scales to develop a taxonomy of marketing strategy types consisting of: Aggressive Marketers, Mass Marketers, Marketing Minimizers, and Value Marketers. We then observed that superior performance at the firm or SBU level was achieved when specific marketing strategy types were matched with appropriate Miles and Snow (1978) business strategy types. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Defining the Domain of Perceived Environmental Uncertainty: An Exploratory Study of Senior Marketing Executives

At the very core of Marketing Information Systems (MkIS) design is the identification of the marketing information needs of decision-makers. Information needs can be defined as the user specifications of information characteristics involved in information seeking, and refer to those qualities of information perceived by managers to be 'useful' to facilitate their decision-making. Building upon previous qualitative research examining the information needs of senior marketing executives, the authors present the findings of a second qualitative research phase seeking to define the domain of one construct reported by Ashill and Jobber (1999), namely Perceived Environmental Uncertainty. The results, based on interviews with 20 senior marketing executives suggest that this construct may be multidimensional and associated with three different types of uncertainty conditions.

Defining the information needs of senior marketing executives: an exploratory study

At the very core of Marketing Information Systems (MkIS) design is the identification of the marketing information needs of decision‐makers. Information needs can be defined as the user specifications of information characteristics involved in information seeking, and refer to those qualities of information perceived by managers to be “useful” to facilitate their decision making. Drawing on empirical results from three sets of literature and from studies of information systems design (particularly management and accounting information systems design), the authors review a framework for exploring the design of an MkIS. A qualitative study examining the information needs of senior marketing executives is also reported and discussed. The results, based on interviews with 20 senior marketing executives, indicate that marketing information needs can be defined using six information characteristics.