Strategic marketing: the basis for successful company development. Encyclopedia of Marketing

22.09.2019

In the domestic literature, the term “strategic marketing” became widely known in the second half of the 1990s. after the release in Russian translation of the famous textbook by J.-J. Lambena " Strategic Marketing". In particular, he points out that "the role of strategic marketing is to trace the evolution of a given market and to identify various existing or potential markets or their segments based on an analysis of the needs that need to be satisfied."

The shift in the focus of attention of scientists and practitioners towards strategic marketing, as noted by J. Day and R. Winsley, occurred in the 1980s, and, according to G. Assel, the concept of strategic marketing began to take shape in the 1970s. (Fig. 1.1).

Rice. 1.1. Marketing orientation past and present 3

According to G. Assel, the strategic concept of marketing is to satisfy consumer needs and at the same time maintain an advantage over competitors to ensure long-term profitability. This concept combines customer orientation and competition orientation.

The goal of strategic marketing, according to D. Crevens, is “to create exceptional customer value by combining corporate and marketing strategies in comprehensive program market orientation of the company." Overall in early period During the development of strategic marketing, the discussion about the role of marketing strategy went in the directions of whether it is a philosophy or a function. Proponents of the latter concept include elements of the marketing mix in the field of strategic marketing to a greater extent than problems of consumers and relationships in distribution channels. Other researchers (GL. Bagiev, M. Baker, J.-J. Lambin, M. MacDonald, X. Meffert) believe that in modern conditions Marketing is a business philosophy based on mission, vision, value principles, social obligations, and customer satisfaction. Therefore, a company that embraces this philosophy must have a structure that meets the requirements of society, the market and is capable of creating value for consumers. As M. Baker noted, the marketing philosophy is aimed at taking into account the interests and desires of consumers and establishing a long-term system of relationships with them. In Fig. Figure 1.2 depicts a matrix that shows the relationship between the application of marketing as a philosophy and the levels of marketing skills in a company.

Cell 1 may include companies that have a developed marketing philosophy and at the same time have high skills in using marketing. Cell 2 contains companies that have recognized the need to focus on market needs, but do not yet have the necessary marketing qualifications. Cell 3 contains companies with low market orientation, and high level marketing skills are implemented as operational activities (most often for organizing advertising). Cell 4 represents the worst position of a company that does not use marketing as an active management function. Such companies include those that occupy a monopoly

Rice. 1.2.

philosophy 1

market position (raw materials, energy sectors of the economy). Essentially, in companies in Cells 3 and 4, marketing is expressed in the form of sales functions.

According to J.-J. Lambin, “strategic marketing is too important for the organization as a whole to be reduced only to the activities of commercial services.” The main components of market orientation that express the essence of strategic marketing include:

focusing on the end consumer by creating values, understanding and anticipating their needs;
orientation towards the intermediate client in order to take into account his specific requirements;
orientation towards competitors, which involves studying their strengths and weaknesses, the strategies used, in order to carry out a quick response to the actions of competitors;
cross-functional coordination, which means the participation of all divisions of the company in the formation of strategy;
environmental monitoring - constant analysis of alternative technologies, social changes, legislative framework that represent opportunities or threats to the company.

Strategic marketing has become widely used in the study of competition, in the development of new markets and products, in branding, in particular, for the creation and promotion by retail enterprises of their own brands. At the same time, many authors note certain problems in the widespread use of strategic marketing theory, which are often associated with the human factor and manifest themselves among both managers and ordinary employees. In a review conducted Renaissance Worldwide and magazine "CFO Magazine" Among the 200 largest Western companies, the following problems of developing and implementing strategies are emphasized:

1. Vision and strategy do not provide guidance for action. Less than 40% of middle managers and 5% of lower-level employees clearly understand the vision and act on the strategy.
2. Employee goals, achievements and initiatives are not related to strategy. As a rule, they are set in accordance with the annual financial plan. Only 50% senior managers, 20% of middle-level managers and 10% of lower-level employees implement their actions and use reward systems focused on strategy execution.
3. Resource allocation is not linked to strategy. Only 43% of companies have strategies that are clearly linked to the annual budget.
4. Feedback is tactical in nature. Evaluation systems focus on monitoring short-term operational performance rather than long-term strategy. On average, 45% of managers do not spend a minute of time discussing and adopting strategic decisions 85% of management teams spend less than one hour per month.

J.-J. Lambin, considering the problem of using strategic marketing, notes that no one denies its importance, but in practice, companies “limit themselves only to operational marketing, leaving strategic marketing in the realm of good intentions.”

Thus, the data obtained from different sources, confirm the fact that strategic management has not yet become the dominant function in the activities of many companies, despite the opinion of experts about the importance of developing and implementing strategies. For example, G. Mintzberg regarding the need to develop strategies provides such arguments in their favor as reducing uncertainty, preventing the creation of unforeseen situations, determining the direction of development, and concentrating efforts on the highest priority areas.

R. Winsley believes that marketing strategy can only be viewed from a development perspective competitive advantages directly related to the marketing function, such as consumer loyalty and control of distribution channels. He formulates the basic principle of marketing strategy as follows: achieving a stable position in the market in a competitive environment. Methods for creating a sustainable competitive advantage, according to the researcher, include: an advantage for the company as a whole, an advantage in such functional areas as R&D, production, supply and marketing. Cost and technology advantages are often linked to a firm's market advantage, as evidenced by the success of such retail companies, like "Magnet", Х5 Retail, Wal-Mart and etc.

It should be noted that one of the reasons for the rare use strategic management Based on the scientific principles of marketing, there is an ambiguity in the interpretation of key definitions: strategic marketing, marketing strategies and marketing strategies. To understand the semantic and lexicographical differences between such important categories, we present the opinions of experts in this subject-conceptual field.

Alfred Chandler, one of the first to interpret the term “strategy,” expressed the opinion that strategy is the most important factor determining the structure of an enterprise and consists “of setting long-term goals and objectives, determining directions of activity and allocating resources to achieve set goals.” J. Day emphasizes that strategy is a factual statement of direction, not a fixed position; it describes the set of choices a company can make to deliver its value proposition to its target group of customers. Directions of action, according to J. Day, are set in four ways:

defining the scope of activity: the markets to be served and the consumer segments to be reached;
identification of advantages: a position that distinguishes this business from competitors;
establishing access: communications and distribution channels used to enter a given market;
identification of activities: the appropriate scale and scope of activities to be carried out.

Concerning marketing strategies, then there are many different interpretations this concept. Thus, marketing strategy is defined by F. Kotler as “a rational logical structure, guided by which an organization expects to solve its marketing problems,” which include specific strategies for target markets, the marketing mix and the level of marketing costs. The scientist moves away from the concept of “mass” marketing and draws attention to the fact that the company must first segment consumers, select a target market, each of which has individual needs, preferences, purchasing criteria, and, finally, position its product in the most attractive way.

Marketing strategy, as defined by renowned marketer J. O'Shaughnessy, is a broad concept of how product, price, promotion and distribution must function in a coordinated manner to overcome obstacles to achieving marketing objectives. Moreover, if any of the elements of the marketing mix are not well thought out or are poorly coordinated, the strategy can lead to failure. Thus, the scientist draws attention to the need for coordination marketing strategies. Note that the issue of coordination of strategies is not fully outlined in scientific literature in marketing, especially from the point of view of building a hierarchical system of marketing strategies.

E.P. Golubkov understands marketing strategy as “the main direction of marketing activities, according to which the SHE (strategic economic unit) of the organization strives to achieve its marketing goals.”

Note that some scientists do not see much difference between marketing strategy and marketing strategy (M. MacDonald, F. Kotler, B. Rosenbloom, etc.). In our opinion, a marketing strategy should give a more specific idea of the position occupied by a company in relation to competitors, its partners and consumers to whom it conveys its values, and a marketing strategy is the company’s strategic actions in a specific functional area of marketing.

Thus, a marketing strategy can be formulated as a concept that reflects the company's point of view on its interaction with the external environment. This is where they appear various options marketing strategies that a company can choose:

marketing strategy based on “classical” concepts (production, product, sales, marketing, socially responsible);
a marketing strategy based on short-term interactions, when long-term cooperation goals are not set;
a marketing strategy based on long-term partnership interactions (relationships).

Despite the fact that the marketing concept is defined by many researchers as a philosophy, a general plan, its choice, in our opinion, represents a strategic decision, in fact, about the use of one or another marketing strategy. Thus, a marketing strategy based on short-term interactions involves conducting transactions with such market agents from whom the maximum benefit can be obtained in this moment time.

A marketing strategy based on long-term interactions (relationships) places emphasis on creating conditions for long-term cooperation with its business partners. As Russian markets are structuring, a marketing strategy based on long-term cooperation is the most important and promising from the point of view of obtaining a sustainable competitive advantage and stabilizing financial results.

Summarizing what has been said, we propose the following definition of a marketing strategy that is most appropriate to modern economic conditions: Marketing strategy is the concept of a company’s interaction with business partners and consumers, implemented in the form of marketing strategies that allow the formation of long-term partnerships and thereby obtain sustainable competitive advantages.

It can be said that the organization of market-oriented long-term interaction is a functional area of strategic marketing, and marketing strategies are an instrumental part of the latter.

In other words, unlike marketing strategy as a general concept, marketing strategies represent a specific toolkit with the help of which a plan of action is formed in the field of product, price, distribution, promotion, branding, segmentation and positioning in such a way as to achieve a certain competitive advantage.

R. Winsley formulates the basic principle of marketing strategy as follows: achieving a stable position in the market in a competitive environment. R. Winsley's point of view in assessing the role of marketing strategy is fully shared by J.-J. Lamben and P. Dixon, highlighting the concept of obtaining a sustainable competitive advantage as a constructivist paradigm that ultimately allows one to achieve profitability indicators above the market average.

E.P. Golubkov defines marketing strategies as “ways and means of achieving marketing goals and covers the four main elements of the marketing mix: product, price, product promotion and bringing the product to consumers.”

Thus, after analyzing the opinions of various experts regarding marketing strategy and marketing strategies, the following conclusion can be drawn:

Marketing strategy is the concept of a company's market behavior, and marketing strategies are the tools with the help of which the marketing strategy and the marketing and financial goals set for the company are implemented.

Finally, let's move on to clarifying the concept "strategic marketing" The actualization of problems of the company's market behavior in the conditions of modern economic relations, primarily related to competition, led to the formation of strategic marketing as the leading functional area of company management. At the same time, understanding the essence of strategic marketing and its relationship with strategic management is still an area of uncertainty and is interpreted differently by specialists.

One of the first concepts of strategic marketing in foreign literature given by G. Assel, who defined it as “a concept according to which the basis for marketing planning is the identification of a marketing opportunity, emphasizing the role of marketing in the development of new products, as well as its broader and long-term importance in determining the direction of growth of enterprises.”

D. Crevens defines strategic marketing as “the process of developing a strategy that takes into account the variability of factors external environment and aimed at increasing the degree of satisfaction of consumer needs. Strategic marketing is aimed not so much at improving indicators such as sales volumes, but at increasing the efficiency of the company as a whole.”

J.-J. Lambin sees the task of strategic marketing in the constant and systematic analysis of market needs, leading to the development of effective products intended for specific groups of buyers and having special properties that distinguish them from competing products, and thus creating a sustainable competitive advantage for the manufacturer. At the same time, he quite rightly draws attention to the underestimation by specialists of the analytical aspect of strategic marketing.

If we analyze the genesis of strategic marketing in national science, then almost until the mid-1990s. it has not been the subject of research by scholars who have focused primarily on strategic management. Noticeable interest in strategic marketing in Russia has emerged since the late 1990s, when competitive conditions were created in many product markets and the struggle for consumers began.

GL. Bagiev considers strategic marketing as the process of developing a strategic complex-mix, the main directions of the company’s strategic policy in the field of goods, prices, communications, distribution and sales, taking into account the factors of the constantly changing marketing environment. IN in this case emphasizes that strategic marketing decisions must take into account environmental variables.

Summarizing the points of view of various experts on the essence of strategic marketing, we can draw the following conclusions:

strategic marketing contains analytical, managerial and ideological functions aimed at solving the strategic marketing and corporate goals of the company;
strategic marketing consists of marketing strategies, primarily in the field of the “classic mix”: product, price, distribution and communication;
decisions in the field of strategic marketing must take into account the state of the company’s external environment;
The main task of strategic marketing is to obtain a sustainable competitive advantage, primarily in the field of product innovation.

At the same time, it should be noted that researchers have not directly expressed an opinion whether market and competitive strategies are the focus of strategic marketing or whether this relates to strategic management. The definitions do not mention positioning and branding strategies, which currently play a large role in the market management of a company.

Despite the great importance of strategic marketing that scientists attach to it, from the point of view of practical use, this important tool for market management of a company is not yet widely used. This is especially true for Russian companies, whose private mistakes are the price to pay for saving money necessary for organizing a system of strategic planning of marketing activities. In order to identify the reasons for the lack of attention on the part of Russian companies to strategic marketing, surveys were conducted among representatives of middle and senior management of Russian companies from various industries that do not use strategic marketing. The question was formulated in an open form: “Name no more than three reasons why strategic marketing is not used in the company where you work.” The response data is given in table. 1.1.

The identified 13 reasons for the lack of attention to strategic marketing were then ranked using ABC- analysis. To the main group "A", which accounted for 67% of all specified reasons, included six, among which the first place is the lack of sufficient competence of the company’s employees and especially their managers. The following three reasons - focus on production, insufficient attention to marketing and knowledge of the market situation - are still a characteristic problem Russian business. This confirms that many companies do not have a market approach, which involves focusing all efforts on understanding customers and satisfying them. Finally, the sixth significant reason for the lack of strategic marketing in enterprises is the orientation of their owners to obtain short-term profits. This is a manifestation of the mentality of many Russian entrepreneurs who do not believe in the stability of the economic and political situation in the country. The inability of the management of many companies to implement strategies is also confirmed by data that, for example, in the United States, 70-90% of companies fail in implementing their long-term programs. Mistakes are the price to pay for “saving” the funds necessary to organize a strategic marketing structure in a company.

Table 1.1

Reasons for the lack of strategic marketing at Russian enterprises

Causes	Frequency of mentions in replies	Relative frequency of mention, %	Ranking of answers according to ABC analysis
Insufficient manager qualifications
Unqualified personnel
Production orientation
Marketing in general is not a strategic direction
Lack of market information
Making short-term profits
Backward control system
Small company size
Lack of long-term goals
We have not accumulated sufficient experience
Savings on Marketing Costs
Lack of financial resources
Weak competition in the market

The data presented in table. 1.1, allow us to summarize the following reasons for the lack of attention on the part of many enterprise managers to strategic marketing:

insufficient level of understanding by company management of the importance of marketing, especially its strategic functions;
prioritizing short-term financial gain over long-term results;
In many Russian industry markets, conditions for real competition have not been created, which is facilitated by factors such as imperfect antimonopoly legislation, administrative barriers, acquisition processes and mergers of companies. The study also found that the problems identified depended

not so much on the industry, but on the size of the company.

We can point out a number of circumstances that complement what was said above regarding the insufficient level of implementation of strategic marketing at domestic enterprises. One of them is that many Russian companies have successfully developed and continue to develop due to dynamic growth in demand, and there is no need to make any strategic efforts. The matter is limited to operational marketing activities, and the main role is given to the sales department. The second circumstance is the shortage of specialist analysts. In many companies where there are analyst positions, they are often filled by people who do not have the appropriate training and who are learning the theory of strategic management “as they go.” The data presented indicate the problems of Russian companies in relation to long-term planning and implementation of strategic goals of companies.

On the other hand, the role of strategic marketing is increasingly growing due to the establishment of long-term relationships between participants in distribution channels: between manufacturers and their distributors, between distributors and dealers, etc. Considering the distribution channel as a single vertical marketing system, each participant must coordinate marketing strategies with other participants in the supply chain in such a way as to help build value for consumers. Coordination of marketing strategies occurs as a result of interaction between companies, taking into account their strategic goals and interests, and is carried out by the “owner” of the channel, i.e. the company with the greatest market power. To do this, you need to know what functions are necessary for strategic marketing to develop strategies that ensure successful market development, and what are their features from the point of view of studying interaction in the sales system (Table 1.2).

Table 1.2

Functions of strategic marketing for the formation of interaction between market subjects in the sales system


Long-term forecasting Goal: developing long-term development goals for the company by developing new markets or introducing new products to the market	Identification of trends in changes in the external environment (P^AT analysis); identifying trends in changes in final demand (global demand, regional demand, demand for products of various companies); identifying trends in the distribution system, sales, distribution, logistics; identifying trends in changing consumer behavior; identifying trends in resource cost changes
Market analysis Goal: identifying new segments or unmet needs, identifying potential business partners to create added value	Determining the boundaries of the basic sales market; market segmentation (intermediaries and consumers); analysis of strategies of distributors and dealers as potential partners; analysis of the market power of distributors and dealers; analysis of intermediary positioning; selection of target segments
Competition Analysis Goal: developing strategic advantages in competition	Determination of the group of strategic competitors; analysis of the strategies of the most dangerous competitors; analysis of the strategies of leading firms (strategic benchmarking); analysis of the market power of competitors; analysis of competitors' sales systems and channel management strategies; analysis of interaction concepts in competitors’ distribution channels
Portfolio analysis Goal: development of product strategy and investment directions	Strategic analysis of the company's product range; analysis of the “overlapping” range of business participants in the marketing channel; analysis of the possibilities of co-investment in expanding the “overlapping” range
Developing marketing strategies aimed at building power or trust in distribution channels Goal: selection of strategic alternatives	Identification of factors influencing the formation of power in the channel of their mutual trust; development of alternative marketing strategies; defining evaluation criteria for selecting strategies; assessing the possibilities of adapting strategies to those of business partners; choice of strategies

End of table. 1.2

Strategic Marketing Functions

Development of action programs

Goal: development of a strategic marketing plan

Determining the budget based on the set strategic goals;
development of an action plan;
organization of strategic controlling;
forecast of the effectiveness of strategy implementation

Formation of the ideology of companies included in the distribution channel

Goal: developing a company image that creates mutual trust

Development of missions of companies included in the distribution channel;
development of principles that form the same approaches to the corporate culture of channel participants and form the basis for the formation of trust;
development of strategies for interaction with partners and consumers

Considering those presented in table. 1.2 functions of strategic marketing, it can be noted that the first five functions are analytical in nature; they precede the stages of decision-making on the choice of strategy and their implementation. The decision to adopt a particular strategy is the most important problem of strategic management, ultimately affecting the success of the task. If the necessary set of techniques, models and matrices are available to perform the analysis, then strategic decision-making, although it may rely on some formal procedures, still largely relates to the psychology of the person choosing one or another strategy option. The problem of choosing strategies is further aggravated by the fact that the data for making a decision are based on past and present events, and the decision itself must be made taking into account the future state of the external and internal environment of the company. Vision of the future is possible only from a probabilistic point of view, therefore, the decision contains an element of risk. At the same time, there is a strong point of view that competent strategic planning reduces the risk of wrong decisions and negative consequences For the company.

For example, M. MacDonald cites research data from 20 large American firms, which indicate that companies that were preparing for possible changes found themselves in better position than being caught off guard by changes in markets, products and practices.

Special role strategic marketing is to implement the function of forming the ideology of a trading company in terms of the maximum possible convergence of values and corporate culture, rules and norms of interaction with other partner companies and with consumers, ultimately contributing to the creation of mutual trusting relationships.

When using strategic marketing, the question must be considered: how the functions of strategic marketing and strategic management? The role of strategic management is especially important when making decisions about investing in tangible and intangible areas of enterprise growth. The importance and at the same time uncertainty of the roles of strategic management and strategic marketing is explained by the fact that a company may have different decision-making centers for marketing and management.

The formation of a company's corporate strategy must be considered taking into account what elements of strategic marketing can be involved. Issues of interaction between marketing and strategic management from the perspective of different approaches (industrial-economic and resource approaches) are considered by Thomas Jenner. According to the industrial-economic paradigm, the contribution of marketing to a company's strategy is to evaluate the market in terms of its profitability. An important place is given to such specific marketing strategies as segmenting the market and gaining stable positions in it. In contrast to the industrial-economic point of view, supporters of the resource approach believe that the company's internal resources can be considered as success factors and serve as the basis for the formation of strategies. We are talking not only about material resources, but also about intangible factors: reputation, know-how, brand, human resources, specific skills and experience. In the resource approach, the analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the enterprise comes to the fore. Further research by E. Lernda, R. Christensen, K. Andrews and V. Guth showed that both the industrial-economic approach and the resource point of view, taken separately, cannot manifest themselves in full force. Moreover, both of these approaches not only do not compete with each other, but, on the contrary, complement each other and, in principle, are “two sides of the same coin.” A number of publications by these authors led to the emergence of a widely known model strategic analysis the company's strengths and weaknesses, external opportunities and threats. Thus we come to important issue interaction between strategic marketing and strategic management, since it is the latter that is responsible for the use of the company's resources, while strategic marketing, penetrating all levels of management, serves to translate the company's strategic market goals into reality.

Strategic management covers all areas of the company's activities - from shaping the global direction of business development, developing strategies for obtaining and distributing resources to increasing its market value. The use of strategic marketing tools is inextricably linked with the establishment of a strategic management system in the company, of which it is organically included (Fig. 1.3).

Rice. 1.3.

It can be considered that in the decision-making hierarchy, strategic marketing is, on the one hand, “under strategic management”, and on the other hand, it is the methodological basis for the strategic management of the company’s development. This idea is actually confirmed by P. Doyle, who considers marketing an integral part of management and views it as “a management process aimed at maximizing shareholder returns by developing the company’s relationships with valuable customers and creating competitive advantages.” The tasks within the competence of strategic management are related to the choice of direction for the company's development, the distribution of resources in these areas and the organization of the implementation of decisions. The focus of strategic marketing is on the external environment in which the company operates. The definitions expressed above are quite consistent with the model proposed by N. Piercy and his colleagues (Fig. 1.4).

Rice. 1.4.

In accordance with the one shown in Fig. 1.4 model, the scope of marketing competence extends both to operational planning and management, and to the development of market strategies. In the first case, we can talk about operational marketing, and in the second case, about strategic marketing. The main issue of interaction between the blocks of market strategy and portfolio decisions is to determine the priority of the influence of corporate decisions on the choice of market strategy, or, on the contrary, market strategy determines the choice of future portfolio decisions. To make decisions on developing marketing strategies, it is necessary to approve the market development strategy of a trading enterprise. This is especially important for large diversified companies, the number of which is constantly increasing in Russia and which have a complex organizational structure. Corporate strategy is the overall management plan of a diversified company. I. Ansoff attributes the analytical formulation of corporate strategy to the competence of strategic management. In addition, according to I. Ansoff, organizational issues remain behind strategic management.

Business strategy is a plan of action for managing one type of business. It is aimed at establishing and strengthening the company's long-term competitive position in the market for a specific product. In developing a business strategy, strategic marketing tools are actively used in relation to the selection of territorial and product boundaries of markets, and the design of channels for delivering goods to consumers. The general model of interaction between strategic marketing and strategic management of a trading enterprise is presented in Fig. 1.5.

Rice. 1.5.

Please note that sales channels refer to all possible ways offering goods to consumers, for example, the Internet, vending machines, sales on TV and, finally, stationary retail outlets of various formats, ranging from stalls to supermarkets and hypermarkets.

As can be seen from Fig. 1.5, strategic marketing is a “subordinate” function of strategic management, acting, on the one hand, as a tool for the development of existing sales channels and deeper implementation of a trading enterprise in developed territories, and, on the other hand, is included in the development and implementation of new corporate strategies aimed at expansion of the enterprise's activities. To formulate marketing strategies, it is first necessary to formulate the strategic goals of a trading enterprise and develop corporate development strategies.

Example 1. Growth strategies for chain retail "Magnit".

Main stages and types of company strategies:

2001-2005: Intensive development with the aim of gaining a strong position in the market through rapid regional development.
2006-2009. Further development traditional format. Transition to multi-format. During this period, the company opened 24 hypermarkets and 636 convenience stores (the total number of stores as of December 31, 2009 was 3,228).

Strategic goals and strategies of the company:

further expansion of the network due to increased coverage density in key markets of presence, as well as development in the least developed regions. Increasing the number of retail outlets in the Urals and Siberia;
annual opening of at least 500 convenience stores and at least 250 cosmetics stores in settlements with a population of 5,000 people and about 50 hypermarkets in settlements with a population of 50,000 or more;
development of a multi-format business model to meet the needs of customers with different income levels;
further improvement of logistics processes and investments in the IT system for maximum effective management stocks and transport flows;
development of own imports: increasing the share of direct supplies of fresh vegetables and fruits to minimize costs.

Example 2. Strategies in the field of branding and the formation of sales channels for Rostelecom services.

Currently, more than 2 thousand stores operate under the Rostelecom brand, and about 1 thousand more retail outlets operate under the brands of former interregional communications companies that were merged with Rostelecom. Now the holding intends to transfer all salons under one common brand, close low-profit outlets and transfer about half of the salons to partners in the regions under a franchising scheme.

Strategic marketing, penetrating all levels of management, serves to translate the company's strategic market goals into reality. Thus, we can consider that in the decision-making hierarchy, strategic marketing is under strategic management, and strategic planning is a function of management. The tasks within the competence of strategic management are related to the choice of direction for the company's development, the distribution of resources in these areas and the organization of the implementation of decisions. Strategic marketing is more related to the external environment of the company. Thus, marketing and management have both similar (convergent) and different (divergent) functions of the enterprise (Fig. 1.6).

Marketing is a social process aimed at satisfying the needs and desires of people and organizations by facilitating the free, competitive exchange of goods and services of value to the buyer.

The company's marketing policy is based on two complementary approaches - strategic and operational. Strategic marketing is the systematic and ongoing analysis of the needs and requirements of key consumer groups, as well as the development of concepts for effective products or services that allow the company to serve selected customer groups better than competitors, and thereby provide the manufacturer with a sustainable competitive advantage.

Rice. 1.

Operational marketing is the organization of sales, sales and communication policies to inform potential buyers and demonstrate the distinctive qualities of a product while reducing the cost of finding buyers. Operational marketing is an active process with a short-term planning horizon, aimed at existing markets. It is the classic commercial process of achieving a given sales volume through the use of tactics related to product, distribution, price and communication.

The main goal of operational marketing is to generate sales revenue, i.e. target turnover. The goal of achieving a certain sales volume is translated into a production program for the operations department and a storage and physical distribution program for the sales department. Thus, operations marketing is the determining element that directly affects the short-term profitability of the firm. The activity of operational marketing is a decisive factor in the activities of a company, especially in those markets where competition is intense. Any product, even if it is of superior quality, must have a price that is acceptable to the market, be available through a distribution network tailored to the habits of the target consumers, and have communications support that promotes the product and emphasizes its distinctive qualities.

Operational marketing is the most dramatic and most visible aspect of marketing, mainly due to the important role played by advertising and promotion activities. However, it is clear that without a solid strategic base, there is no completely profitable operational marketing. No matter how powerful an operations marketing plan is, it cannot create demand where there is no need, and it cannot sustain a business that is doomed to extinction. Therefore, to ensure profitability, operational marketing must be based on strategic thinking, which in turn is based on the needs of the market and its expected evolution.

Strategic marketing is primarily a needs analysis individuals and organizations. From a marketing perspective, the buyer does not so much need the product as desire the solution to a problem that the product can provide. The solution can be found using various technologies, which themselves are constantly changing. The role of strategic marketing is to trace the evolution of a given market and identify various existing or potential markets or their segments based on an analysis of the needs that need to be satisfied.

The identified product markets represent economic opportunities whose attractiveness should be assessed. The attractiveness of a product market is quantitatively measured by the concept of market potential, and is dynamically characterized by the duration of its existence, or life cycle. For a particular firm, the attractiveness of a product market depends on its competitiveness, in other words, on its ability to satisfy customer needs better than its rivals. Competitiveness will exist as long as the firm maintains a competitive advantage, either due to special qualities that distinguish it from rivals or due to higher productivity that gives it a cost advantage.

The role of strategic marketing is to target the firm to attractive economic opportunities, i.e. capabilities tailored to its resources and know-how, providing potential for growth and profitability.

The strategic marketing process has a medium to long term horizon; its purpose is to clarify the company's mission, define goals, develop a development strategy and ensure a balanced structure of the product portfolio; these two functions are mutually complementary in the sense that the structure of the strategic plan should be closely linked with operational marketing. Operational marketing focuses on variables such as price, distribution, advertising and promotion, while strategic marketing focuses on choice commodity markets areas in which the firm has a competitive advantage, and the forecast of overall demand in each of the target markets. Based on this forecast, operations marketing sets goals for gaining market share, as well as the marketing budget needed to achieve them. Some firms limit strategic thinking to a management team surrounding the managing director and located at headquarters, away from operational work. But to be effective, a strategy must be based on deep knowledge of the market, and its implementation requires appropriate market penetration plans, as well as sales, pricing and advertising policies. Without this, even the most best plan has little chance of success. The chosen marketing organization must therefore, through interfunctional coordination, ensure participation in the strategic marketing process at all levels of the company.

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1.1.1. The place of strategic marketing in the structure of company and marketing management

R.A. Fatkhutdinov gives the following definition of the concept strategic marketing– a type of activity to develop standards for the strategic competitiveness of managed objects based on the functions of strategic marketing, focused on meeting the needs of the buyer. It is the first stage of the object's life cycle and the first general management function.

Strategic Marketing Functions:

forecasting values and needs; strategic market segmentation;

analysis of competition parameters in sellers' markets and

buyers; forecasting the competitive advantages of strategic marketing objects (personnel, product, organization, industry, region, country); standardization of competitiveness.

The place of the discipline among other sciences is determined as follows: at the stage of strategic marketing, standards are developed that are subsequently used to develop a specific strategy for the operation and development of an object at the stage of strategic management. Further, at the stage of innovation management, strategy indicators are embodied in design and technological documentation and materialized with the help of production management. Poor quality standards developed at the strategic marketing stage lead to the production of non-competitive products.

Strategic Marketing Management- this is the analysis of the environment, determination of the mission, marketing goals, choice of strategy, planning, implementation of the strategy and control over the implementation of activities designed to satisfy needs and demands through exchange.

The priorities for selecting management criteria are:

1. Improving the quality of the object (system output) in accordance with the needs of consumers.

2. Saving consumer resources by improving the quality of facilities.

3. Saving resources in production through the implementation of the scale factor, scientific and technical progress, and improvement of the management system.

In the structure of the product life cycle, strategic marketing is the first stage.

D. Crevens believes that marketing function involves conducting analysis, developing a marketing strategy and implementing the following marketing activities:

Comprehensive study of markets of interest to the company, identification of target markets;

Setting tactical goals, developing and implementing product positioning strategies aimed at meeting the needs of consumers in previously identified target markets, as well as managing these strategies.

Strategic Marketing is the process of developing a strategy that takes into account the variability of environmental factors and is aimed at increasing the degree of satisfaction of consumer needs. Strategic marketing is aimed not so much at improving indicators such as sales volumes, but at increasing the efficiency of the company as a whole. Strategic Marketing Goal- creating exceptional customer value by combining corporate and marketing strategies into a comprehensive company market orientation program. Strategic marketing serves as a link connecting the company with its external environment, and considers the marketing function as the fundamental basis of the company's activities as a whole.

Because the marketing function connects a company with its external environment, it is extremely important in the process of developing corporate strategy. Strategic marketing is responsible for functions such as monitoring the external environment, identifying target market segments, establishing the necessary properties of the product offered, and deciding against which competitors the company will position itself. High degree customer satisfaction is ensured by the development of an effective strategy for cross-functional interaction. Consumer preferences and expectations must be materialized in the new product and also taken into account during the development of new products. Thus, the quality of goods and services offered by a company is determined by the degree of satisfaction of the end consumer.

Marketing strategy

In Fig. Figure 1.1 depicts the continuous process of implementing a marketing strategy, consisting of four stages: situational analysis, strategy development, development marketing program, as well as strategy implementation and management. These stages are covered in detail in the next four parts of the book, containing theoretical calculations. Situational analysis involves activities such as market analysis, competition analysis, market segmentation and monitoring. Development of a marketing strategy involves identifying target market segments and developing a positioning strategy, developing strategies aimed at maintaining relationships with consumers and strategies for planning new products. Developing a marketing program involves choosing promotion, sales and pricing strategies. The strategy implementation and management stage consists of practical steps to implement the strategy, manage it and monitor its implementation.

Rice. 1.1. Implementation of marketing strategy

1.1.2. Elements and types of marketing strategies

Marketing strategy– indicating the direction of action to achieve the marketing goals of the enterprise through the formation and specification of the appropriate structure of the marketing mix, combining the planned line of behavior and possible response to new circumstances.

The firm's basic strategy is developed based on the mission and established goals of the organization. It is divided into functional strategies according to the list of services that are the organizational components of the enterprise (marketing, personnel, research and development, production, finance, etc.)

There are four basic company strategies that reflect different approaches to firm growth and are associated with changes in one or more components: product, market, industry, position of the firm within the industry, and technology. The basic strategies include:

1. Limited growth strategy. It is chosen by most companies in traditional fields with stable technology. Development goals are set based on what has been achieved. Goals are adjusted depending on changing conditions. This strategy is the most convenient and least risky way for a company to exist.

2. Growth strategy. Most often formulated in fast-growing industries with dynamically changing technology. This strategy is characterized by an annual excess of the company's development level compared to the previous year. This strategy is used by strong companies seeking to diversify away from industries that are in an unpromising state. In this strategy, we can distinguish internal growth (expansion of the range) and external growth (acquisition of other companies, i.e. diversification)

3. Retrenchment strategy (of last resort).

Characterized by setting goals lower than the previous period. This strategy is resorted to in cases where the company’s main performance indicators acquire a steady tendency towards business deterioration. This strategy has the following modifications: liquidation strategy; strategy for cutting off excess; reduction strategy; reorientation strategy.

4. Combined strategy. Is any combination of the three above strategies. This strategy can only be used by powerful corporations operating simultaneously in several industries.

Among functional strategies, marketing strategy occupies a leading place.

Table 1.1 shows a general classification of marketing strategies.

Table 1.1 General classification marketing strategies

Signs of classification	Types of Marketing Strategies
functional sign	general corporate; portfolio; functional.
According to development and implementation timeframes	long-term (30-50 years); medium-term (10-30 years); short-term (1-10 years).
By life cycle organization and its market share	growth; stabilization; survival; defense
By direction of development	intensive development strategy; integration development strategy; diversification development strategy.
By the role of the organization in competition	leader strategy; challenger strategy to leader strategy follower; beginner strategy.
By degree	integration strategy;
globalization and market coverage	diversification strategy; segmentation strategy.
Based on offensive actions

All approaches to planning are in one way or another connected with the search for answers to difficult questions:

1. Where are we now? What do we want to achieve?

2. Where are we going? What is our current situation?

3. How do we allocate our resources to achieve our goal?

4. How do we implement our plans?

5. How do our results compare with our plans? Do we need new plans or specific actions to address inconsistencies in the implementation of existing plans?

The same approach is used in strategic marketing process, when an organization allocates resources to develop its marketing mix and develop target markets. This process is divided into three phases: planning, implementation of plans, control(Fig. 5.1).

The strategic marketing process plays such an important role in the activities of most organizations that they formalize it as marketing plan, which defines a set of goals and activities for a specific period (usually over one year) - Let's meet at the next lecture

Figure 5.1 - Strategic Marketing Process

5.1.1 Strategic marketing process: planning phase

As shown in Fig. 5.1, the planning phase of the strategic marketing process consists of three stages:

1) situational analysis;

2) identification of main products and markets, as well as formulation of goals;

3) development of a marketing program.

Stage 1. Situational analysis. Situation analysis - this is an analysis of the past, present and future position of a product, strategic business unit or organization, taking into account changes in environmental factors. The set of activities presented in the column “Situation analysis” (Fig. 5.1) represents the first of three stages of the planning phase.

Effective summarization of situation analysis is SWOT analysis, which is an organization's assessment of its internal strengths, weaknesses, external opportunities and threats. The abbreviation SWOT is formed from the first letters English words: strengths - strengths, weaknesses- weak sides, opportunities- possibilities, threats- threats. The target of both a situational analysis and a SWOT analysis can be an organization as a whole, business units, a product line, or a specific product. The lower the level of objects, the more detailed analysis. For small firms or firms with a single product line, the organization-level analysis is the same as the product-level analysis.

SWOT analysis allows a firm to identify strategic factors that can significantly affect its operations. However, not all factors that are examined in this analysis are of equal importance. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the determining factors that will most influence the company’s business prospects, and then strengthen the company’s strengths, work to reduce the influence of weaknesses, use the opportunities of the external environment, and look for ways to avoid potential external threats that could lead to disaster. Thus, the task of this stage is not only to carry out a SWOT analysis, but also to apply the results of this analysis to specific actions that will contribute to the growth and success of the company.

Although a SWOT analysis is a simplified version of a situational analysis, it is still based on a detailed examination of the four areas (shown in Figure 5.2) that form the foundation of the marketing program:

Identifying trends in the industry to which the company belongs.

Analysis of the company's competitors.

Assessing your own positions.

Research of the company's current and potential clients.