Marketing strategy is defined by David Aaker as a process that can allow an organization to

concentrate its resources on the optimal opportunities with the goals of increasing sales and
achieving a sustainable competitive advantage.
[1]
Marketing strategy includes all basic and long
term activities in the field of marketing that deal with the analysis of the strategic initial situation of
a company and the formulation! evaluation and selection of marketoriented strategies and
therefore contribute to the goals of the company and its marketing ob"ectives.
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Contents
[hide]
1 Developing a marketing strategy
# $ypes of strategies
% &trategic models
' (eallife marketing
) &ee also
* (eferences
+ ,urther reading
Developing a marketing strategy[edit]
Marketing strategies serve as the fundamental underpinning of marketing plans designed to fill
market needs and reach marketingob"ectives.
[%]
-lans and ob"ectives are generally tested for
measurable results. .ommonly! marketing strategies are developed as multiyear plans! with a
tactical plan detailing specific actions to be accomplished in the current year. $ime horizons
covered by the marketing plan vary by company! by industry! and by nation! however! time
horizons are becoming shorter as the speed of change in the environment increases.
[']
Marketing
strategies are dynamic and interactive. $hey are partially planned and partially unplanned.
&eestrategy dynamics. Marketing strategy needs to take a long term view! and tools such
as customer lifetime value models can be very powerful in helping to simulate the effects of
strategy on ac/uisition! revenue per customer and churn rate.
Marketing strategy involves careful and precise scanning of the internal and e0ternal
environments.
[)]
1nternal environmental factors include the marketing mi0 and marketing mi0
modeling! plus performance analysis and strategic constraints.
[*]
20ternal environmental factors
include customer analysis! competitor analysis! target market analysis! as well as evaluation of
any elements of the technological! economic! cultural or political3legal environment likely to
impact success.
[']
A key component of marketing strategy is often to keep marketing in line with a
company4s overarching mission statement.
[+]
5nce a thorough environmental scan is complete! a strategic plan can be constructed to identify
business alternatives! establish challenging goals! determine the optimal marketing mi0 to attain
these goals! and detail implementation.
[']
A final step in developing a marketing strategy is to
create a plan to monitor progress and a set of contingencies if problems arise in the
implementation of the plan.
Marketing Mi0 Modeling is often used to help determine the optimal marketing budget and how to
allocate across the marketing mi0 to achieve these strategic goals. Moreover! such models can
help allocate spend across a portfolio of brands and manage brands to create value.
Types of strategies[edit]
Marketing strategies may differ depending on the uni/ue situation of the individual business.
6owever there are a number of ways of categorizing some generic strategies. A brief description
of the most common categorizing schemes is presented below7
Strategies based on market dominance 1n this scheme! firms are classified based on their
market share or dominance of an industry. $ypically there are four types of market dominance
strategies7
8eader
.hallenger
,ollower
9icher
According to &haw! 2ric :#;1#<. =Marketing &trategy7 ,rom the 5rigin of the .oncept to the
Development of a .onceptual ,ramework=. Journal of Historical Research in Marketing.! there is
a framework for marketing strategies.
Market introduction strategies
=At introduction! the marketing strategist has two principle strategies to choose from7 penetration
or niche= :'+<.
Market growth strategies
=1n the early growth stage! the marketing manager may choose from two additional strategic
alternatives7 segment e0pansion :&mith! Ansoff< or brand e0pansion :>orden! Ansoff! ?erin and
-eterson! 1@+A<= :'A<.
Market maturity strategies
=1n maturity! sales growth slows! stabilizes and starts to decline. 1n early maturity! it is common to
employ a maintenance strategy :>.B<! where the firm maintains or holds a stable marketing mi0=
:'A<.
Market decline strategies
At some point the decline in sales approaches and then begins to e0ceed costs. And not "ust
accounting costs! there are hidden costs as wellC as ?otler :1@*)! p. 1;@< observed7 49o financial
accounting can ade/uately convey all the hidden costs.4 At some point! with declining sales and
rising costs! a harvesting strategy becomes unprofitable and a divesting strategy necessary=
:'@<.
2arly marketing strategy concepts were7
>orden4s =marketing mi0=
=1n his classic Harvard Business Review :6>(< article of the marketing mi0! >orden :1@*'<
credits Dames .ulliton in 1@'A with describing the marketing e0ecutive as a 4decider4 and a 4mi0er
of ingredients.4 $his led >orden! in the early 1@);s! to the insight that what this mi0er of
ingredients was deciding upon was a 4marketing mi04= :%'<.
&mith4s =differentiation and segmentation strategies=
=1n product differentiation! according to &mith :1@)*! p. )<! a firm tries 4bending the will of demand
to the will of supply.4 $hat is! distinguishing or differentiating some aspect:s< of its marketing mi0
from those of competitors! in a mass market or large segment! where customer preferences are
relatively homogeneous :or heterogeneity is ignored! 6unt! #;11! p. A;<! in an attempt to shift its
aggregate demand curve to the left :greater /uantity sold for a given price< and make it more
inelastic :less amenable to substitutes<. Eith segmentation! a firm recognizes that it faces
multiple demand curves! because customer preferences are heterogeneous! and focuses on
serving one or more specific target segments within the overall market= :%)<.
Dean4s =skimming and penetration strategies=
=Eith skimming! a firm introduces a product with a high price and after milking the least price
sensitive segment! gradually reduces price! in a stepwise fashion! tapping effective demand at
each price level. Eith penetration pricing a firm continues its initial low price from introduction to
rapidly capture sales and market share! but with lower profit margins than skimming= :%+<.
,orrester4s =product life cycle :-8.<=
=$he -8. does not offer marketing strategies! per seC rather it provides an overarching
framework from which to choose among various strategic alternatives= :%A<.
$here are also corporate strategy concepts like7
Andrews4 =&E5$ analysis=
=Although widely used in marketing strategy! &E5$ :also known as $5E&< Analysis originated
in corporate strategy. $he &E5$ concept! if not the acronym! is the work of ?enneth (. Andrews
who is credited with writing the te0t portion of the classic7 >usiness -olicy7 $e0t and .ases
:8earned et al.! 1@*)<= :'1<.
Ansoff4s =growth strategies=
=$he most wellknown! and least often attributed! aspect of 1gor Ansoff4s Browth &trategies in the
marketing literature is the term 4productmarket.4 $he productmarket concept results from Ansoff
"u0taposing new and e0isting products with new and e0isting markets in a two by two matri0= :'1
'#<.
-orter4s =generic strategies=
Porter generic strategies F strategy on the dimensions of strategic scope and strategic
strength. &trategic scope refers to the market penetration while strategic strength refers to the
firm4s sustainable competitive advantage. $he generic strategy framework :porter 1@A'<
comprises two alternatives each with two alternative scopes. $hese areDifferentiation and low-
cost leadership each with a dimension of Focusbroad or narrow. GG -roduct
differentiation GG .ost leadership

Market segmentation
1nnovation strategies F $his deals with the firm4s rate of the new product development
and business model innovation. 1t asks whether the company is on the cutting edge of
technology and business innovation. $here are three types7
-ioneers
.lose followers
8ate followers
Browth strategies F 1n this scheme we ask the /uestion! =6ow should the firm growH=.
$here are a number of different ways of answering that /uestion! but the most common gives
four answers7
6orizontal integration
Iertical integration
Diversification
1ntensification
$hese ways of growth are termed as organic growth. 6orizontal growth is whereby a firm grows
towards ac/uiring other businesses that are in the same line of business for e0ample a clothing
retail outlet ac/uiring a food outlet. $he two are in the retail establishments and their integration
lead to e0pansion. Iertical integration can be forward or backward. ,orward integration is
whereby a firm grows towards its customers for e0ample a food manufacturing firm ac/uiring a
food outlet. >ackward integration is whereby a firm grows towards its source of supply for
e0ample a food outlet ac/uiring a food manufacturing outlet.
A more detailed scheme uses the categories7Miles! (aymond :#;;%<. Organizational Strateg!
Structure! and "rocess. &tanford7 &tanford Jniversity -ress. 1&>9 ;A;'+'A';%.
-rospector
Analyzer
Defender
(eactor
Marketing warfare strategies F $his scheme draws parallels between marketing
strategies and military strategies.
>.B4s =growthshare portfolio matri0= =>ased on his work with e0perience curves :that also
provides the rationale for -orter4s low cost leadership strategy<! the growthshare matri0 was
originally created by >ruce D. 6enderson! .25 of the >oston .onsulting Broup :>.B< in 1@*A
:according to >.B history<. $hroughout the 1@+;s! 6enderson e0panded upon the concept in a
series of short :one to three page< articles in the >.B newsletter titled -erspectives :6enderson!
1@+;! 1@+#! 1@+%! 1@+*a! b<. $remendously popular among large multiproduct firms! the >.B
portfolio matri0 was popularized in the marketing literature by Day :1@++<= :')<.
Strategic models[edit]
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help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.
Jnsourced material may be challenged and removed. #June $%%&'
Marketing participants often employ strategic models and tools to analyze marketing decisions.
Ehen beginning a strategic analysis! the %.s can be employed to get a broad understanding of
the strategic environment. An Ansoff Matri0 is also often used to convey an organization4s
strategic positioning of their marketing mi0. $he '-s can then be utilized to form a marketing plan
to pursue a defined strategy. Marketing Mi0 Modeling is often used to simulate different strategic
fle0ing go the '-s. .ustomer lifetime valuemodels can help simulate long term effects of
changing the '-s! e.g.C visualize the multiyear impact on ac/uisition! churn rate! and profitability
of changes to pricing. 6owever! '-s have been e0panded to + or A-s to address the different
nature of services.
$here are many companies especially those in the .onsumer -ackage Boods :.-B< market that
adopt the theory of running their business centered around .onsumer! &hopper K (etailer
needs. $heir Marketing departments spend /uality time looking for =Browth 5pportunities= in
their categories by identifying relevant insights :both mindsets and behaviors< on their target
.onsumers! &hoppers and retail partners. $hese Browth 5pportunities emerge from changes in
market trends! segment dynamics changing and also internal brand or operational business
challenges.$he Marketing team can then prioritize these Browth 5pportunities and begin to
develop strategies to e0ploit the opportunities that could include new or adapted products!
services as well as changes to the +-s.
Real-life marketing[edit]
(eallife marketing primarily revolves around the application of a great deal of commonsenseC
dealing with a limited number of factors! in an environment of imperfect information and limited
resources complicated by uncertainty and tight timescales. Jse of classical marketing
techni/ues! in these circumstances! is inevitably partial and uneven.
$hus! for e0ample! many new products will emerge from irrational processes and the rational
development process may be used :if at all< to screen out the worst nonrunners. $he design of
the advertising! and the packaging! will be the output of the creative minds employedC which
management will then screen! often by 4gutreaction4! to ensure that it is reasonable.
,or most of their time! marketing managers use intuition and e0perience to analyze and handle
the comple0! and uni/ue! situations being facedC without easy reference to theory. $his will often
be 4flying by the seat of the pants4! or 4gutreaction4C where the overall strategy! coupled with the
knowledge of the customer which has been absorbed almost by a process of osmosis! will
determine the /uality of the marketing employed. $his! almost instinctive management! is what is
sometimes called 4coarse marketing4C to distinguish it from the refined! aesthetically pleasing!
form favored by the theorists.
An organization4s strategy that combines all of its marketing goals into one comprehensive plan.
A good marketing strategy should be drawn from market research and focus on the right product
mi0 in order to achieve the ma0imum profit potential and sustain the business. $he marketing
strategy is the foundation of a marketing plan.
See also[edit]
>usiness model
.orporate anniversary
.ustomer engagement
Market segmentation
-ricing strategies
(ighttime marketing
References[edit]
1. Jump up ^ >aker! Michael (he Strategic Marketing "lan )udit #;;A. 1&>9 1@;#'%%
@@A. p.%
#. Jump up ^ 6omburg! .hristianC &abine ?uester! 6arley ?rohmer :#;;@<7 Marketing
Manage*ent - ) +onte*porar "erspective :1st ed.<! 8ondon.
3. Jump up ^ Marketing basics Marketing strategy based on market needs! targets and
goals.
'. L Dump up to7
a

b

c
Aaker! David Strategic Market Manage*ent #;;A. 1&>9 @+A;'+;
;)*#%%
). Jump up ^ 6ausman Marketing 8etter Definition of Marketing &eries
*. Jump up ^ Aaker! David Strategic Market Manage*ent #;;A. 1&>9 @+A;'+;
;)*#%%.
+. Jump up ^ >aker! Michael (he Strategic Marketing "lan )udit #;;A 1&>9 1@;#'%%
@@A. p. #+
A. &haw! 2. :#;1#<. =Marketing strategy7 ,rom the origin of the concept to the development of a
conceptual framework.= Journal of Historical Research in Marketing! ':1<! %;F)).
doi71;.11;A31+))+);1#111@);))