MARKETING ORIENTATION IS BEYOND SELLING

SUBMITTED TO Mrs. Swati Sisodia Faculty ABS SUBMITTED BY: Vivek Singh M&S Mayuri Agrawal M&S Gargi Gera HR Nootan HR Balram Awasthi M&S Rumeel M&S
Ritesh M&S Ankit Singhal IB Ashish Rawat M&S

ABSTRACT
This report examines in detail the concept of market orientation. It also studies the difference between the two marketing strategies- marketing orientation and selling orientation. It will try to establish the explanation with the help of real life examples and especially those related to financial service industry.

INTRODUCTION
In the early 1970s, Theodore Levitt and others at Harvard argued that the sales orientation had things backward. They claimed that instead of producing products then trying to sell them to the customer, businesses should start with the customer, find out what they wanted, and then produce it for them. The customer became the driving force behind all strategic business decisions. The marketing orientation is perhaps the most common orientation used in contemporary marketing. Market orientation is the organization-wide generation of market intelligence pertaining to current and future customer needs, dissemination of this intelligence across departments, and organization wide responsiveness to it. It involves a firm essentially basing its marketing plans around the marketing concept and, thus, supplying products to suit new consumer tastes.

A business's financial performance depends in large part on its ability both to attract and retain customers. The implications of sales growth for business profitability are well known. However, the financial implications of customer retention are less well known. The financial importance of customer retention is truly substantial and can be summarized by two empirical findings. First, on average, it costs a business upwards of six times as much to attract a customer as to retain one (e.g., Sellers 1989). Second, there is evidence that by increasing its customer retention by as little as five percent, a business can increase its profits 25% to 85% (Reicheld and Sasser 1990). Clearly, a central strategic challenge to every organization is the dual requirement of customer attraction and customer retention. For customers to be attracted to a seller and to continue to buy from it, they must perceive, and continue to perceive, a greater value from the seller than from any alternative source of satisfaction. The key question, therefore, is how a business or any organization can continuously create superior value for buyers (e.g., Porter 1985, and Day 1990). This question leads in turn to the issue of a business or other organization being market oriented. (From this point on we shall use the term "business," though the ensuing argument applies equally to any organization.) Market orientation is a business culture in which all employees are committed to the continuous creation of superior value for customers (Narver and Slater 1990; Narver and Slater 1991). By definition, the more a business is market oriented, the more it continuously "augments" (Levitt 1980) the value of its offering to its target customers. As the business augments its offering, two major consequences occur: competitors respond with their own customer-value strategies, and customers' expectations rise. As a result, the unrelenting reality for a business is that its augmented product today becomes the expected product tomorrow. There is no escape. If a business doesn't continuously create additional customer value, it has no tomorrow.

Successful continuous augmentation requires the continuous identification of meaningful customer services to add to the offering. The implication is that a market orientation is a business culture that enables a business to identify continuously such appropriate additional services and product adaptations that it continuously creates superior customer value. Market orientation, as expected, has been shown to be positively related to business profitability. We first discuss the meaning and expected general performance effects of a market orientation. Second, we discuss the emphasis on customer service to be expected in a market-oriented business. We then examine empirical evidence with respect to the relationships among a business's market orientation, customer service, and performance.

MARKET ORIENTATION: AND GENERAL EFFECTS

MEANING

Market orientation is a business culture committed to the continuous creation of superior value for customers. The value of a seller to a buyer is the difference between what the buyer perceives as the total benefits (want satisfactions) offered by the seller and what the buyer perceives as the total money, time, and energy expenditures required to acquire and use the perceived benefits. A given seller attracts and retains customers only insofar as buyers perceive more value from the seller than from any alternative source of satisfaction (including doing nothing or vertically integrating). The market orientation construct consists of three behavioral components customer orientation, competitor orientation, and interfunctional coordination. In brief, customer orientation is a business's understanding of the current and probable future needs of its current and potential target customers in a given market. Competitor orientation is a business's understanding of the capabilities and intentions of the alternative sources of satisfaction perceived as relevant by the subject target customers. Interfunctional coordination is a business's coordinated use of all of its functions and resources in creating superior value for customers. In principle, the three components are of equal importance in the long run. A business's magnitude of market orientation is the simple average of its scores on the three components. At any given time, a business lies on a spectrum ranging from very low market orientation to very high market orientation. A market-orientation culture comprises a powerful competitive advantage because it is an "invisible asset" that takes a long time to establish and is difficult to imitate. A Business's Market Orientation and Performance: Empirical Analysis The theory of market orientation and performance implies that the more that a business is market oriented with respect to its target markets, the better should be its competitive and financial performance. In particular, from the theory we posit seven market orientation performance hypotheses. We hypothesize that a business's (1) profitability, (2) sales growth, (3) customer retention, (4) new product success, (5) customer satisfaction, and (6) employee satisfaction are all positively related to the business's magnitude of market orientation. Also (7), we hypothesize that the more that a business is market oriented, the less emphasis buyers will place on price.

Peter Drucker (1954) is thought to be one of the earliest proponents of modern marketing. He suggested that the purpose of the company is to create a customer. Drucker advocated that organizations should have a guiding philosophy that puts the customer as the focal point of the entire company. Most companies today would accept that without customers to sell products, services, or ideas to, they would not exist. Yet over fifty years down the track, too few actually act on that concept Levitt (1960) was one of the first to coin the phrase the marketing concept. He described it as a customer focus, co-ordinated marketing effort, and profitability. In the same article he argued that market orientation could be the key to company success. He (Levitt, 1977) argued that the marketing concept prescribes that business success requires being customer oriented rather than-product oriented Philip Kotler (1977) added to these ideas when he discussed what he believed it took for an organization to be market oriented. He suggested that market orientation includes: a consumer centric philosophy, an integrated marketing focused organization, adequate market information, strategic orientation and operational efficiency. To be market oriented means more than just focusing on customer satisfaction, although obviously customers are the main focal point of the company. It also means more than just having marketing personnel or a marketing department. Being market oriented is the responsibility of the entire organization and will lead to good business practices such as operational efficiency. Distinguishing market orientation It was not until the early 1990s that marketing academics began to empirically examine the assumption that the adoption of the marketing concept by an organization would lead to improved performance. These early studies were the first attempts to gather empirical support for the proposition that a firm that had adopted the marketing concept would benefit through improved performance. The term market orientation was used to describe the operationalization of the marketing concept by a firm. These foundation studies instigated a stream of research in market orientation (for example see articles by Cadogan, Deng, Diamantopoulos, Greenley, Jaworski, Kohli, Mohr-Jackson, and Pelham).

Defining the marketing concept

As mentioned earlier market orientation is argued to be the implementation of the marketing concept. There is consensus among academics that any definition of a market orientation should stress that the customer is the core focus of the organization. The term market orientation also stresses the need for all personnel to have a market focus. For an organization to achieve operational efficiency and effectiveness all departments must adopt a market orientation. A market orientation it is not the exclusive concern of a marketing department, as the term marketing orientation may suggest. Marketing orientation of a business is to have an altogether different mindset i.e. to focus on the on the customer first and the needs of the business thereafter. It is an acknowledgement that a business organizations main purpose is to satisfy the needs of its customer, which is an outwards perspective. Marketing oriented businesses, define their activities as service activities, carried out towards the satisfaction of their customers. In other words they define their business as as a service business with customer service being the most important business activity. Result: marketing oriented business are conducive to supporting customer needs and delivering on expectations. The term "marketing orientation" is an important way to understand marketing and how an organization can best use it. Due to the corporate culture, the history of the business, or the preferences of top managers, a company often adopts an overall orientation which can make marketing thrive or struggle. The so-called marketing orientation means the business as a whole is oriented to understanding and meeting the needs of customers. By contrast, three other forms of orientation are common:

Many businesses function as if their sole purpose is to provide jobs and income for the owners and employees of the business. They use their knowledge and capabilities to produce one or more products and services which they expect customers to buy. Their orientation is to produce as much as possible in the belief this will increase sales. This is called the production orientation. And they use marketing as a way of attracting customers to buy what they in the company want to make or offer. A second and very common situation is the selling orientation. Here the focus is on selling what the people in the business want to sell, rather than offering what customers want to buy. Many companies have large groups of sales people who call on customers and prospects on a regular basis. Often the head of the sales team is called the director or

vice president of sales and marketing. In other words, the marketing title may be added because someone thinks it sounds better, or because the company thinks marketing means producing advertising and collateral material. In the real world many people are put in charge of marketing because they are good in sales, not because they truly understand marketing or have studied it in any depth. Companies with the selling orientation reward their best sales people and focus on selling as more of a push activity instead of responding to customer needs. A third business situation that I often encounter, although it is not usually listed as one of the main three orientations, is the engineering orientation. This is common among manufacturers of technical products and equipment that require engineering expertise. Often the president is an engineer by training and experience. The focus becomes designing and manufacturing products which the engineers like because they are able to use the latest technology or features. Whether customers are willing to pay for all these added bells and whistles is often not asked. I remember working for a company that made dentists chairs. The engineers had designed a chair so high -tech that it cost far more than most dentists were willing to pay for. It was a really cool dentists chair, for sure, but the company fell into serious financial problems and almost shut down as a result of these and other consequences of its engineering orientation. This story is not intended to undermine the engineering profession, which is valuable to this country and its businesses in countless ways. Rather it is intended to clarify that companies are most successful when engineers do engineering and marketers do marketing, not vice versa. The marketing orientation orients the business or organization as a whole to meeting the needs of customers or as it is sometimes described, managing customer value. A company with this orientation is market-driven. It focuses its strategy and operations on understanding and meeting the needs of customers in a manner which is superior to competitors. Procter & Gamble is one of the largest and most successful companies in America, and it has a strong marketing orientation. SAS Airlines, FedEx and other leading companies around the world have a passion for understanding and meeting the needs of customers. Thats how they became so successful, and thats how your organization can become more successful than ever before, whether you aim to be a world leader or just the best in your neighborhood at what you do.

The benefits of a market orientation

Why would a company want to pursue a market orientation? What benefit is it to them? Narver and Slater suggested that being market oriented would lead to superior performance for the business. Some would argue that having a focus on customers and aiming to satisfy their requirements is a costly exercise. However, the benefits of market orientation have been shown to include financial gains for the organization, improved customer satisfaction, improved workplace conditions, and superior new product performance.

Competitive Advantage
A strong customer orientation forms the foundation of an organizations sustainable competitive advantage. Developing a thorough understanding of all customer groups allows an organization to develop products and services that are tailored to customer needs and requirements. If an organization can provide superior value to their customers, there is a greater likelihood of purchase, repeat purchase, and word-of-mouth recommendations. This will lead to a potential increase in sales, market share, and profitability. For a competitive advantage to eventuate, an organization must provide value to its customer that is superior to that of its competitors. If an organization is going to achieve optimal quality and value for the customers it is essential that every employee in the chain of production be committed to working toward this goal. A delay in delivery, a production flaw, a rude credit officer, or an unreturned phone enquiry can all contribute to the customers perception of your offering. If every employee provides a product (goods and services) of optimal value to the next person in the chain of production, then the final product should be of optimal quality. However, the end consumer will notice weak links in this chain.

Types of Benefits
Organizations have embraced the marketing concept since its introduction in the 1950s. It has long been generally accepted that if a company is to be successful in the long-term it must focus on its customers. Surprisingly, however, the relationship between business performance and market orientation was not tested until Narver and Slater did so in 1990. By developing a measure that captured the essence of a market orientation, Narver and Slater (1990) were able to provide statistical evidence that a relationship existed between market orientation and company performance. Since then, this relationship has been examined in a wide number of countries, different economic environments, in small and large organizations, and in companies from a broad range of industries.

Efficiency
Having a marketing orientation is also about being better able to focus limited resources more efficiently to achieve results. Having a defined target market and understanding that market makes for good economic sense. One of the benefits of developing a market orientation is the operational efficiency that results. If every employee has a consistent understanding of the marketplace and is working toward creating value for the customer, then there will be fewer quality issues and organizational efficiency will improve. Costs will be reduced and the time taken to get products to the customer will improve. These benefits are based on the same principles as total quality management (TQM), which was advocated for many years.

Sales Effectiveness
While sales may not always be the main objective of an organization (NFPs like charities for example may have other primary objectives) it is the most common objective. A marketing orientation makes all forms of Promotion (a main element of the Marketing Mix) including personal Selling easier and more effective. Knowing more about a customer is going to make the process more effective and efficient. First, time and effort are saved in not seeking out a potential buyer. The types of buyer are detailed in

Financial Performance
There have been positive relationships found between market orientation and a range of financial performance measures including business profitability, operating profits, profit-sales ratio, cash flow, return on investment, return on assets, and long run financial performance. Being able to demonstrate the impact of market orientation on a companys bottom line is important if funds are going to be devoted to developing a market orientation.

The impact of a market orientation on a companys financial performance stems from the provision of superior customer value. If an organization offers a product with superior customer value, then they will have more satisfied customers, more repeat sales, and therefore greater sales revenue. If customers are satisfied they will also be a source of word-of-mouth recommendations, hence increasing sales and profits further. Much of the improvement in financial performance may come about from the organization being integrated in its approach to satisfying customer needs. Implementing a market orientation program can act as an initiative to eliminate activities and processes that do not add value to the customer. As information is disseminated, activities that are performed in duplicate are also identified and eliminated. This reduces internal costs and impacts on operational efficiency and the bottom line.

Customer Satisfaction
The underlying reason organizations adopt a market orientation is to ensure that superior value is created for their customers. Pursuing a market orientation has a positive influence on customer service levels (Cole et al., 1993), customer retention (Narver & Slater, 1990; Balakrishnan, 1996), repeat business (Balakrishnan, 1996), and sales growth (Slater & Narver, 1994a; Slater & Narver, 1996). There is also evidence that a market orientation will lead to trust, cooperation, satisfaction, and commitment between channel members (Baker, Simpson, & Siguaw, 1999).

Employee Satisfaction
An organizational commitment to a market orientation has been found to have benefits for employees as well as customers. An important component of developing a market orientation involves making employees aware of the common goal they are trying to achieve (customer focus), and understanding what their individual role is in this process. This decreases role ambiguity and demonstrates to employees that they are making a positive contribution to the organization. Employees derive a sense of pride in their own work and in belonging to an organization with a positive focus. Therefore, accomplishing this objective leads to job satisfaction, commitment to the organization, and trust in senior management. Subsequently, a better work environment for employees and increased productivity leads to overall organizational success. From the organizations viewpoint additional benefits of developing a market orientation include increased productivity, worker satisfaction, employee quality of work life, lower turnover and absenteeism, and improved interfunctional teamwork. When employees identify with the norms and values of an organization (such as market orientation), they are less inclined to be

discouraged with their work and resign. Therefore, the costs associated with hiring new employees are minimized.

Product Innovation
There are two conflicting viewpoints on whether market oriented companies are more proficient at releasing successful new products than non-market oriented companies. A company can be market-focused and develop successful new products. However, some authors believe that focusing on customer needs will restrict their research and development and stifle creativity. They believe that if firms were to rely on customer opinions then products such as the microwave oven would never have been invented, as customers cannot perceive what doesnt exist. This view suggests that customers are unable to express their latent needs or think outside of improvements to existing products. The opposing notion is that if a company focuses on generating market information it is more likely to identify relevant latent customer needs and act on market opportunities they identify. This suggests that an organization can be both market-oriented and entrepreneurial simultaneously. Research by Lukas and Ferrell (2000) has added support to this notion by identifying that a customer oriented company is more likely to develop radical new product innovations.

Relational Marketing
The basic marketing transaction is that between the seller and a buyer. The basic purpose of all marketing is to use a value exchange process between provider (seller) and buyer to achieve objectives There are however two basic versions of marketing the traditional (older) Transactional Marketing and the more recent Relational Marketing Strategy. Both still operate today, but one has inherently more Likelihood of longer term success Relational Marketing Strategy. While Transactional marketing is focused on provider (seller) achieving their objectives, Relational Marketing Strategy, is focused on both buyer and provider (seller) achieving their objectives by working together.

Transactional marketing
Transactional Marketing is also commonly known as Traditional Marketing. The primary purpose of Transactional Marketing (TM) is to make a sale now or soon; to conduct an exchange which primarily aims to meet the needs and objectives of the supplier/seller. In this TM is an inwards focused (companys interests) approach. It is an

approach that focuses upon developing short term (basically single) transactions with buyers. In most instances, it is only a secondary intention to develop a longer term series of sales. The key approach is centered on a set of single sales (Buy Now!) rather than a XYZ. The TM approach tends to be characterized by an emphasis on relatively short term tactical methods (for example Promotion and Pricing) but there may be a TM focused strategy used as well. Transactional Marketing(TM) usually characterized by predominantly one-way communication methods. The focus is on making a sale of the organizations Product not creating an on-going customer. There are different degrees of closeness to buyers/consumers Transactional marketing focuses on maximizing the profit of the company by recruiting more and more customers to purchase the firms product. There can be many such transactions, but each is seen as a single activity and not part of a planned on-going relationship. The emphasis is on maximizing the efficiency and volume of individual sales rather than developing a relationship with the buyer. It tends to be a long term activity Relational marketing strategies Essentially, transactional marketing focuses on getting the customer to buy a certain product and walk away, whilst relational marketing sees the sale as the first step in the building of a relationship creating an on-going customer. The primary purpose of developing Relational Marketing Strategies (RMS) is to establish, enhance, maintain and commercialize longer term, on-going customer relationships so the objectives of both the parties are met. Relational Marketing Strategy refers to the primary strategic goal (and attendant objectives) of building long-term and mutually beneficial arrangements where both the buyer and seller have an interest in maintaining a more satisfying exchange. Relational marketing strategies bring customer centricity to the spotlight. Thus, if the organization can build a relationship with the customer find out who he is, what these needs will be , it will be able to gain a lot more than just a single sale. RMS is the overt attempt to involve all exchange partners in building a long-term association characterized by purposeful cooperation and mutual dependence and the development of social, as well as structural bonds. Where the customer, rather than a product (goods and services), is the centre of all marketing activities.

As a practice, Relational Marketing Strategy differs from Transactional forms of marketing in that it recognizes and focuses (strategically) on the value of building and maintaining customer relationships as the path to long term success.

SELLING ORIENTATION

A sales orientation entails simply selling an already existing product and using promotion techniques to attain the highest sales possible. Such a modern day orientation may suit scenarios in which a firm holds dead stock, or otherwise sells a product that is in high demand, with little likelihood of changes in consumer tastes that would diminish demand. Selling orientations of marketing became popular after the untapped demand following World War II was saturated in the 1950s, when products were not selling as easily as they had been. A firm using a sales orientation focuses primarily on the selling and promotion of a particular product. The successful management of the relationship between the company and its customers defines the act of sales or selling. It creates value for customers. Emphasis is not placed on determining new consumer desires, as such. Consequently, this entails simply selling an already existing product and using promotion techniques to attain the highest sales possible. Such a modern day orientation may suit scenarios in which a firm holds dead stock, or otherwise sells a product that is in high demand, with little likelihood of changes in consumer tastes that would diminish demand. Approaching marketing with a selling orientation was popular for companies in the 1950s and 1960s. Up to this point, a growing population and lack of significant competition combined to create an environment in which production and product orientations could lead to success. However, after the untapped demand caused by the Second World War was saturated in the 1950s, it became obvious that products were not selling as easily as they had been. The answer was to concentrate on selling. The 1950s and 1960s are known as the sales era, as the guiding philosophy of business at the time was the sales orientation. A marketing orientation centered around sales represented a major milestone in modern business. The amount of competition being realized at that point was unprecedented, and the scale of consumerism was rising. For the first time, a more significant effort had to be made to understand the desires of potential customers. In today's realm of marketing, selling has developed into a holistic business system required to effectively develop, manage, enable, and execute a mutually beneficial, interpersonal exchange of goods and services for equitable value. In other words, the importance of selling makes it indispensable to modern business, and it has subsequently evolved into a complex system. Effective selling requires a systems approach, at minimum involving roles that sell, enable selling, and develop sales capabilities.

Holistic Marketing The holistic marketing concept looks at marketing as a complex activity and acknowledges that everything matters in marketing. The holistic viewpoint follows that systemsin this case marketingsomehow function as wholes and that their functioning cannot be fully understood solely in terms of their component parts. Therefore, a broad and integrated perspective is necessary in developing, designing, and implementing marketing programs and activities. The four components that characterize holistic marketing are relationship marketing, internal marketing, integrated marketing, and socially responsive marketing.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MARKET ORIENTATION AND SALES ORIENTATION

Market and sales orientations are different philosophies about how to align and organize a business. Market orientation looks outward toward the customer and focuses all aspects of a business -- not just the marketing department -- on satisfying her needs and wants. Sales orientation looks inward at the business and its need to sell products or services. Market orientation assumes that customers make buying decisions; sales orientation assumes that the customer is reluctant to purchase. Both orientations affect the strategy, processes, organization and culture of a business. Comparisons: Selling V/S Marketing Casper mats v/s The Good night mats Bing Vs Google Onida, videocon v/s Samsung, LG Honda jazz v/s Honda city Motorola Vs Nokia Sales-communications. Sales orientation is an emphasis on "moving" your product via advertising and/or salesforce. The product and production capacity preceded the consumer. There is a lot of emphasis on image. It worked for many years (and still works), but in more competitive environments started to fail. A marketing orientation tries to satisfy a consumer need (a felt deprivation). The product and production activity follows consumer research. A segment of the market is chosen. The system is molded to fit the consumer. There is an emphasis in "positioning" (Image + high Ranking as a solution). Marketing has evolved over the years. Initially, a product only had a producer and distribution was simple, you went to the shop and purchased it. No need to distribute nor "sell" (communicate) the attributes of the product. Later, production was increased, to reach more buyers. But the territory attended was larger too. Now distribution was critical. At some point, competitors came into play. Here an advertising campaign was found to be helpful. This is the Sales Orientation Era. Products were given a

"personality", so that buyers could more easily identify the product. Unknown products did not survive. The "Sales" concept did not pay too much attention to the actual needs of the buyer. It simply was concerned on pushing the product it had already produced. As years passed, and competition hardened, consumers started to buy products they knew via advertising, but also solved their problems. Marketing was born! People started to rank the products! Now, serious producers will attempt to twik their product to solve consumer needs. They are hoping that the consumer will highly rank their proposed solution. Production is now influenced by the buyer. In real life, you still see a lot of the "sales" philosophy out there. Marketing is not yet 100% fully embraced by many. Perhaps this is why traditional American producers are confronting so many problems against foreign competitors.

SOME EXAMPLES FROM FINANCIAL SERVICE INDUSTRY

As if the financial services industry hasnt been beat up enough over the past few years, its also gotten something of a bad rap for its lackluster content marketing. Lets face it, while investment banks, asset managers, and other financial service providers are ahead of the curve in some ways, when it comes to content marketing, thats rarely the case. Not only is the industry dealing with such heady topics as derivatives clearing and credit default swaps, its also hemmed in by an overwhelming array of complex and continuously evolving regulations. As a result of these and other factors, financial service providers often fail to build and execute dynamic content marketing programs. Instead, they frequently rely on tried-and-true, but far less creative, tactics. Cue the deluge of exceedingly dry white papers and webinars, and the direct mail magazines that often just wind up in the trash. To be clear, the problem isnt a lack of effort, and its certainly not a lack of high -quality content. Instead, its the way the industry seemingly operates under the misconception that its heavy regulatory burdens both preclude and exempt it from taking a creative approach to content. Remember, those regulations are predominantly focused on whats being said, not the style and delivery of the message. Another problem is a palpable anxiety about the unknown that clearly stifles innovation and discourages a clear point of view. This is, in large part, why so much financial content rides the fence, and why so many companies are only just beginning to dip their toes into social media, a realm fraught with uncertainties: What if no one responds to our tweets? Or worse, what if they do? Fortunately, some companies are forging ahead and beginning to take a more innovative approach to content.

Credit Suisse Take Credit Suisse, for example. The banks digital magazine, The Financialist, offers insights into breaking news, as well as in-depth reporting on the issues, trends, and ideas it sees driving the markets and the economy. The site provides a combination of original feature stories, informative visuals, and carefully curated third-party content. It works because its a legitimate financial news site rather than a banks thinly veiled attempt to make its website look like one.

Sun Life Financial Sun Life Financials Brighter Life serves as a place to share ideas about money, health, and family. Its financial content includes a variety of timely articles and videos with tips and tools for personal finance and retirement planning, among other topics. Sun Life has created a true community thats targeted at families and, by wisely integrating a variety of other topics that families care about, makes the site a destination for a much broader audience. (For more about this content marketing effort, read our interview with SunLife.cas editor, Brenda Spiering.)

Putnam Investments Bob Reynolds blog, The Retirement Savings Challenge, is impressive because he is unafraid to tackle an array of complex issues. The CEO of Putnam Investments doesnt simply articulate the challenges facing a graying population of baby boomers, he actually takes on retirement policy as it comes down from Capitol Hill. Unlike so many of his contemporaries, Reynolds offers up a definitive, and at times controversial, point of view.

So the answer is yes, the financial services industry can and eventually will measure up in content marketing if it thinks outside of the regulatory box and reinvents the ways it delivers its messages to resonate in the 21st century. Bring on the infographics and viral videos, the social media campaigns and blogs. It may just be a matter of taking a few risks, which in an industry as skittish and scrutinized as financial services, is no small feat.

Market orientation as a competitive tool: Empirical evidence from quartile one banks in Ghana
The positive impact of market orientation has been agreed upon generally, yet few studies have focused explicitly on its implications for banks. Based upon a case study involving the top four banks in Ghana (that is, quartile one banks), this article examines the incidence of market orientation in banks. Research evidence was obtained from in-depth face-to-face interviews of eight managers and questionnaires completed by 109 managers. Qualitative data were analyzed deductively and the quantitative data were analyzed using univariate and multivariate techniques. The interview results highlight that customer orientation seems to dominate the patterns of bank market orientation while the descriptive statistics show strong emphasis on intelligence dissemination. From the regression results, top management emphasis, market-based reward systems and interdepartmental coordination are the essential internal values for developing market orientation in Ghanaian banks. It is found that market orientation is a significant factor for achieving high levels of employees esprit de corps and customer satisfaction, which are particularly viable for banks facing severe competition, technological turbulence and operate in a weak economy. It suggests that without competition, technological turbulence and weak general economy, market orientation is an insignificant factor for business success. Discussions, managerial implications and avenues for further studies are provided.