Managing marketing in the 21st century

This book is about understanding how to develop market strategy and managing the market- ing process. It is not a book that attempts to describe all there is to know about marketing, but focuses on what the prospective manager needs to know. This book differs from other senior undergraduate and introductory graduate-level marketing texts. We take a position on what we believe is a better or worse course of action for marketers. Marketing is an applied field, and we believe that textbook writers should provide guidance for good marketing practice. Also, we focus on the manager, not just the marketer. For readers committed to a career in marketing (and we hope there are many), this book will form a solid foundation as you study marketing further and deeper. But the vast majority of you will not work in marketing departments, and will instead become senior executives, general managers, CFOs, and CEOs. We write for you also because an understanding and appreciation of marketing is central to virtually every important decision that managers make. Because this will be the only marketing course many of you will take, in a sense, this book provides what every general manager and senior executive must know about marketing. Marketing activity lies at the core of leading and managing a business. It provides the focus for interfacing with customers. Marketing is also the source of insight about the market, customers, competitors, and complementers, and the business environment in general. Marketing is concerned with the firm s long-run relationships with customers as well as its short-run sales activity. Marketing must be a major organizational thrust, not just a responsibility assigned to a single functional department. For this reason, the book emphasizes the role of marketing in creating value for customers this leads to the creation of value for other firm stakeholders, including shareholders and employees.