Tio Nakasole

The period from 1900 has been marked with convoluted changes, impermanence, disruption, newness, obsolescence and a sense of acceleration when it comes to business evolution. Some prominent management consultant moguls such as Peter F Drucker called it “Age of Uncertainty”, economist John Kenneth has called it “Age of Uncertainty”, Media theorist Marshall McLuhan called it the “Age of Global Village”, and Phillip Kotler called it a “Race without finishing line”. This indicates that the hype around marketing has been evolving, century after century, decade after decade. 

 Currently, developing states are not at the stage of tall tower building with in-built billboard screens such as Burj Khalifa, neither with active football field side billboards like in England. This tells us that our business, companies, and organisations are not yet at the mass marketing stage, therefore, cannot be eyed first.
For them to grow from good to great, much must be done and
that is strategic marketing. Undoubtedly, the long-term success of any business is typically based on a combination of innovation, investment, the creation of value, and very importantly, an emphasis on strategic management. Down the line, the quality and consistency of strategic marketing in many organisations has been falling like stone.

What can be marketed strategically?

Broadly, products, services, events, experiences, people, information, and places are all in one basket of marketing. A good marketing strategy does not just draw on existing strength but ignites strength through coherence, through business design. Numerous companies don’t practice this. Instead, they pursue multiple objectives, and practice mass marketing that are unconnected with one another or worse, that conflict with another in the business.  

Master the jigsaw pattern 

Primarily, identify the avenue at which your business is operating. Businesses don’t operate in a vacuum, therefore, micro, and macro environmental factors have to be considered. Micro incorporate things such as customers, suppliers, competitors, public and intermediates. On the other hand, macro includes economic, environmental, social, technological, and political. In this area, the micro environment plays a pivotal role because that is where most of the business activities take place daily. 

Secondly, map out the vision statement, to help communicate the organisation’s purpose to stakeholders, and inform the goals and objectives set to determine whether the strategy is on track. The organisation objective have to be SMART – Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Relevant and Time Bound. In tandem, you cannot pitch a marketing strategy at this stage without incorporating the role of PESTLE and SWOT analysis.

Thirdly and most importantly, this is an arena where you must deliver more when it comes to the seven Ps of the marketing mix – Product, Price, Place and Promotion, People, Physical Evidence, and Process.  In other words, marketing strategy in this context is the amalgamation of marketing mix elements in conjunction with markets that are targeted.  

Target marketing precede mass marketing

One of the monumental mistakes that most firms are making is tirelessly working behind to ensure that they don’t only rely on loyal customers, through mass marketing first. This is not to say mass marketing is wrong, but it is an uncalculated risk, and uncalculated risk costs business, and business cost leads to bankruptcy eventually. It is of paramount importance to primarily identify your potential customers so that you harbour them with what we call target marketing in order to save the firm’s resources.

One of the strategic marketing examples that defy the odd was when Apple Inc reinstated Steve Jobs in 1997 when it was two months from bankruptcy. Within a year, he made multiple cuts of Apple to a core to climb out of a financial nosedive. The context of “more is better” sometimes doesn’t work especially if it comes to new products as that is like trying to test the depth of water with both feet. Target marketing is important as it is interlocking customers’ needs with the customers’ need to marketing action.

The business has to upkeep marketing strategy and initiatives that symbolise progress, in tandem develops a formula that has a coherence approach in it, in accomplishing that progress. In conclusion, offering value is not the only tool in the toolbox in the absence of marketing; few businesses can survive yet people who don’t know you exist won’t purchase what you offer, in tandem people who are not interested in what you have to offer won’t become paying customers. Eventually whatever opportunity cost you forfeit in getting noticed will cost the business.

* Tio Erastus Nakasole is an MBA final student at NUST, a holder of Honours degree in Economics. Currently serving as the Sales and Service Manager at HiFi Corporation Namibia. The views expressed do not represent those of his employer. - theoerastus@gmail.coms