Marketing strategy: Strategy development

 

We are accustomed to thinking of challengers as small, often new, entrants taking on existing and occasionally complacent market and brand leaders. However, whilst the David and Goliath scenario is a

Pioneering experts from the world of business, finance, government, academics and NGOs are agreed: the old, environmentally-destructive business model is terminally broken. New strategies are needed f

In this concise analysis, Hugh Davidson throws down a challenge to marketers. He describes how shareholder value, the theory that has dominated the way public companies are run, has become perverted a

Top management has many things to consider over the course of this recession, but Chris Halliburton argues that CEOs are the ultimate brand managers and all actions should be taken with that responsib

The article describes a research study which identified at least six problems created or worsened by the silo structure (organisational units with their own management teams). These included marketing

For decades the research industry has spoken about the issue of response rates. Although it is not the most exciting of subjects, it is very important. Now with the advent of internet technologies we ...

The article argues that disruption (upsetting the norms and conventions of thinking in a market) is essential for business success and can operate at various levels, for example, business, product, ma ...

While some marketers begin to start the uphill struggle against restricted promotional budgets, some brands have always had to operate on limited resources. In this article, Adam Morgan argues that ra ...

As the economic downturn begins to exert an impact, it is little wonder that investors and managers are preoccupied by the threat posed by 'trading down' to lower-priced brands. Such fears have always ...

This article - by WARC Online's Media Editor, Laura James - summarises an event help by the UK's Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) discussing 'Fast Strategy'. Such an approach is becomin ...

This article reports on an annual survey (telephone and face-to-face) of 26,000 US consumers about categories and brands they use. For the first time in 11 years, 97% of the categories tracked have sh ...

This article describes how charities, not-for-profit organisations (NFP) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) benefit from the involvement of independent research consultants such as those who be ...

It is no longer the case that shopping at a low-cost store indicates poverty; smart consumers have come to realise that price is not always an indicator of quality, as premium-priced products may be m ...

This paper argues that both researchers and clients benefit from examining how clients make decisions, especially how they absorb and process information, and how these can be impacted to mutual benef ...

Omar Mahmoud draws some useful lessons for people engaged in marketing from watching a DVD of Al Gore's movie, An Inconvenient Truth.

The subject for this issue's Comments section is neuroscience and advertising research. Three researchers who have explored this topic in depth provide their views, showing the benefits that neuroscie ...

Thought Leadership is a very successful marketing strategy employed by professional service firms in order to make money from their clients. It works by developing ideas, presented as universally appl ...

This paper argues that the tools for assessing business risk are inadequate, yet some form of assessment of the probable return on capital is necessary. Describes `Marketing Due Diligence', a tool dev ...

JP Morgan Cazenove has recently suggested that oil giant BP should split into two companies, separating `upstream' (exploration and production) from `downstream (marketing). The article argues that it ...

Argues the importance of distinguishing between long-term trends, which have real impacts on and opportunities for the business, and short-term fads which fail to last (such as the Atkins diet). Compa ...

Pearse McCabe, planning director of Fitch in London, develops the concept of 'generous' brands. Brands that with small, uncontrived gestures, reflecting the brand's heartbeat, have built strong long- ...

Using a wealth of examples, Tim Jones, principal of Innovaro, illustrates how radical or 'disruptive' innovation can fundamentally change major markets. In particular he looks at technology driven dis ...

Dominic Twose, global head of knowledge management at Millward Brown, has analysed the winners of the IPA Effectiveness Awards and identified the main common themes that have resulted in brand growth. ...

Long-term brand growth demands rigorous research, detailed planning and a relentless focus of activity. Sue Burden, a director at Added Value UK, describes the three main stages in developing a brand ...

The diamond industry is in a crisis, billions of pounds in debt and with both prices and demand largely static. Despite the best efforts of industry giant De Beers to reverse this trend, this article ...

John Singer, principal of Blue Spoon, argues that traditional consumer-centric models are no longer suitable for marketing, and that a fundamental re-think based on a network-centric approach is calle ...

The first 100 days in a new job are difficult for any executive, but especially for marketing directors. This article explains why: budgets are never secure, the marketing function is diffuse and uniq ...

Argues for the importance of instinct in successful business and marketing innovation. As businesses have grown they have become complex and compartmentalised, and have sought to limit risk by relying ...

Argues that it is dangerous for a company to lose sight of the basics (investing in its big brands) by diverting resources into too many peripheral activities. Procter & Gamble in the late 1990s did t ...

Argues that successful marketers must have both the mathematical rigour of Einstein and the imagination of Picasso. They must be more than internal organisers operating within a given world view. Lead ...