Summary Complete exam overview Marketing Strategy: Summaries of lectures, readings & videos

Table of Contents
What Is Strategy?.....................................................................3
Goals..............................................................................................3
Strategies.......................................................................................3
Actions / Tactics...............................................................................4
What Is Marketing?...................................................................4
Misconceptions...............................................................................4
Marketing philosophy......................................................................5
Competitive advantage (CA).............................................................5
What Is Marketing Strategy?.....................................................6
Strategic vs. Operational Marketing Decisions..................................6
What Is Marketing Strategy? (Final Answer)......................................7
Defining the Relevant Market (The Playing Field)........................7
Two Dimensions of Market Definition................................................7
Approaches to Define the Relevant Market.......................................8
Market Segmentation......................................................................8
Customer Segmentation............................................................................................. 8
Competitor Segmentation: Strategic Groups............................................................11

Market cultivation.........................................................................12
Steiner et al. (2016) - Platform Adoption in System Markets......12
Price leadership......................................................................14
Objective Price Leadership: Cost-Based Advantage..........................14
Perceived Price Leadership: Price Image Management.....................15
Quality leadership...................................................................15
Strategic decision process of quality leadership..............................16
Hybrid strategies....................................................................17
Misconception: “Stuck in the Middle”.............................................17
Time leadership......................................................................17
Two forms of Time Leadership:.......................................................18
Pioneer Advantage and Network Effects..........................................18
Value proposition....................................................................19
Ritson (2024) - Distinctiveness versus Differentiation...............20


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,Hamilton and Chernev (2013) - Low Prices Are Just the Beginning:
Price Image in Retail Management...........................................22
Effects of price image on consumer behavior..................................24
Strategic Implications for Retailers.................................................24
Hingston and Noseworthy (2018) - Why Consumers Don’t See the
Benefits of Genetically Modified Foods, and What Marketers Can
Do About It.............................................................................25
Managerial Implications for Marketing GM Foods.............................26
Siebert et al (2020) - Customer Experience Journeys: Loyalty
Loops Versus Involvement Spirals............................................27
Calyx & Corolla case................................................................29
Ethics in business...................................................................29
Foundational Ethical Theories (Moral Reasoning).............................29
Corporate Strategy and Ethics........................................................31
Moral Framing and Justification......................................................31
Sandel (2013) - Market Reasoning as Moral Reasoning..............32
Finch, Geiger, Harkness (2017) - Marketing and compromising for
sustainability.......................................................................... 33
The rules of the game.............................................................33
Sustainable competitve advantage..........................................34
McGrath (2013) - Transient Advantage.....................................36




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,What Is Strategy?
Strategy = connection between goals and actions

 Strategy bridges where you want to go (goals) and what you do
(actions/tactics).
 Provides a medium- to long-term, flexible plan.
 Must be adaptable to environmental change (e.g., competition, politics,
technology).

Key components:

 Goals
 Strategy (flexible game plan)
 Actions / Tactics (short-term and specific)

Goals
Strategy goals are:

 Goals specify what the organization wants to achieve.
 Must be clear in content and time horizon.
 Can be:
o Absolute (e.g., lose 10 pounds)
o Relative (e.g., beat competitor’s NPS by 4 points)

Levels of goals

1. Corporate goals
o For the entire company
o Examples: shareholder value, overall growth rate
2. SBU goals
o For strategic business units
o Example: increase market share, enter X new markets
3. Functional goals
o For specific areas (marketing, finance, production, etc.)
o Example: increase newsletter penetration by 10%
o Note: Conflicts between goals across levels are possible.

Strategies
Strategies are:

 A medium- to long-term flexible plan for future actions.
 Not the same as goals — goals are reference points.
 Requires adaptation (e.g., policy changes, competition).

Levels of strategy

1. Corporate strategy
o Applies to the company as a whole.
o Deals with decisions that cannot be decentralized.


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, o Examples:
 Synergies between SBUs
 Market and brand portfolio choices
 Building a market-oriented culture
2. SBU (Business) strategy
o Defines how an SBU will achieve competitive advantage.
o Must align with corporate strategy.
o Examples:
 Netflix: offer exclusive, high-quality content
 Borussia Dortmund: build team around young talent
3. Functional strategy
o Fundamental decisions within specific functions.
o Examples:
o Pricing below main competitor
o Forming advertising alliances with retailers
o Streamlining production processes

Actions / Tactics
Actions/tactics are:

• Short-term, concrete, measurable tasks.
• Turn strategy into real behavior.
• Example:
o Netflix:
 Invest $15B in production (2018)
 Build recommendation algorithms
 Enable account sharing/mobile apps


What Is Marketing?
Marketing = management of the competitive market.

• Creating a value proposition
• Delivering this value competitively to the market




Misconceptions
Too narrow:

• “To creatively attract attention”
• “To sell people stuff they don’t need”
• Marketing = sales

These ignore value creation and customer needs.

More accurate:




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