Believe it or not, this is the first blog I have ever setup. The primary focus of this blog will be to document my learnings for C570 - Strategic Marketing Management through Indiana University Kelley School of Business.
Week 1 - Setup the blog - check! (now if I can only remember my new credentials later!) Contribute a thought on "What is Marketing" to Professor Talbot's WIKI, check!
Materials - Chapter 1: Marketing Planning: New Urgency New Possibilities, Marketing Myopia - an HBR article by Theodor Levitt, Jeff Bezos Amazon/Zappos video, and Prof Talbott's introductory video.
Goals for this week - The mechanics of the course: Understand the syllabus, meet my team members (I am on Team 6), understand what I am individually accountable to deliver and what projects for which I need to work with my team. Oh, and get an idea from the introductary materials on whether my view of "what is marketing" is an accurate representation.
Reflections on Marketing Myopia -
My company's product for the consumer is "power". Whether that be from the power to move materials for transport, to move dirt for construction, to do heavy lifting, or to generate electricity, our products revolve around this essential aspect of customer desire. Our primary portfolio consists of engines that produce this power. I have always had a nagging notion in the back of my mind that our society's reliance on non-renewable energy sources, such as fossil fuels, is not a sustainable long term solution. Thus comes the conundrum of a company that is so reliant on the existence of fossil fuels for its existence.
The company is also very focused on emerging markets at the present time, capitalizing on the key watchouts outlined in the article, such as a more affluent customer base to buy the product, no cost effective viable alternatives to conventional engine products, and reliance on economies of scale for mass manufacturing. In the short term, this strategy should be incredibly successful in achieving growth targets. However, as world demand for limited resources grows, there will come a point of ecomomic adjustment that will require us to think about how to provide power to meet customer needs in more innovative ways.
A key point in this article is the difference between "selling" and marketing. I had always associated the two together, so one misconception has been exposed. The fact that selling focuses on the needs of the seller, and marketing focuses on the needs of the buyer is a key learning point.
Reflections on The Marketing Plan Handbook, Chapter 1 -
Chapter 1 of the text provides a good overview of various fundamental aspects of marketing when considering the creation of a marketing plan. In the text, the four Guiding principles in building a marketing plan are described: Anticipate Change, Engage Everyone, Seek Alliances, and Make Marketing Meaningful. I was particularly struck by the Engage Everyone principle, as I have not often seen this principle in action, but see the potential benefits. My role is in the technical aspect in my company, and most of us "nerds" spend our days developing and supporting products for which we have little visibility as to the value niche these products are targeted. Imagine how much more effective we could be if in addition to understanding the company mission, values and goal trees related to the technical work, the technical community was given a strategic overview of the marketing plan for a particular product development. Sure, someone takes the marketing info to develop a package of requirements for the designers to go about their work, but connecting these designers to the face and voices of the customer would be very powerful in inspiring innovation and meeting these needs much more effectively.
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