Download iRorn The Editor. J/M

iRorn
The
Editor.
J/M
This special issue of the Journal of Marketing focuses attention on marketing
strategy in the hope of encouraging new research and new theoretical thinking
in this area. The ten articles in this issue present a comprehensive and challenging account of marketing strategy as fomiulated today, and suggest intriguing directions for future theory and practice.
Readers may ask, "What is marketing strategy?" This question is usually
answered in one of two ways, both of which are represented in the articles to
follow. The ftrst is that marketing strategy is essentially the same as marketing
management. Victor Cook, for example, views marketing strategy as an investment in the marketing mix variables in order to gain a specified strategic objective.
Others see marketing strategy as the process of developing objectives and
plans for achieving long run competitive advantage. According to John Sculley,
the president of Pepsi-Cola, "Marketing strategy is a series of integrated actions
leading to a sustainable competitive advantage." Jagdish Sheth has a similar view
of marketing strategy: "Marketing strategy consists of: (1) assessment of the
organization's mission in the light of changing external factors, (2) development
of a competitive strategy, and (3) organization and delivery of marketing resources." Subhash Jain explicitly distinguishes marketing strategy from marketing management when he says, "Strategic marketing concentrates on the markets
to serve, the competition to be tackled, and the timing of market entry/exit.
Marketing management deals with developing a marketing mix to serve the designated market."
In our view there is value in distinguishing between marketing management
and marketing strategy, despite the obvious overlap between the two. As presented in the marketing literature today, marketing management is concerned
with target market selection and the design of the marketing program. The marketing management literature addresses issues at the level of the individual product or brand. Recently it has been criticized for its short run bias. Marketing
strategy, on the other hand, addresses issues of gaining long run advantage at
the level of the firm or strategic business unit.
Readers may recognize, however, that marketing strategy—the quest for long
run competitive advantage—sounds synonymous with business strategy. Indeed,
marketing strategy is a major component of business strategy, although the latter
also encompasses financial, product, technological and human resource analysis.
The focus of marketing strategy is on consumer and competitive analyses, since
in most companies it is the marketing department that interacts with consumers
and competitors. Business strategy does rely heavily on marketing strategy, and
many of the business strategy paradigms are based on "marketing" variables
including market share, market growth and target marketing decisions. But the
specific formulation of these paradigms is the domain of marketing strategy.
The articles in this issue present a variety of strategic concepts and issues—
business definition, portfolio models, the experience curve, marketing/finance
relationship, market selection, and the relationships among product quality, costs
From the Editor / 5
and business perfonnance. The articles also range from purely theoretical works
to those with strong empirical backing. Bruce Henderson presents an intriguing
view of marketing strategy based on biological systems. Altogether, these articles offer a comprehensive view of marketing strategy today. What all of them
share is a concern with competitive advantage.
It is our hope that these papers will add impetus and coherence to the emerging literature on marketing strategy, as the Journal's previous special issue did
for the literature on product life cycle. By providing a forum for the discussion
of current issues in marketing strategy, we hope to suggest directions for future
research.
William H. Cunningham
6 / Journal of Marketing, Spring 1983
Thomas S. Robertson