May 27, 2010, 14:22
Consumers and advocacy groups with unprecedented access to media as both receivers and transmitters are asking more searching questions about the economic, environmental, and social impacts of modern society, which economists have traditionally termed “externalities”. A simple question mark over an organization’s negative impacts can quickly escalate into a reputation management challenge. Thus corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become increasingly important consideration for marketing communications practitioners.
This post touches on how organizations augment and/or mitigate “externalities” for which they are responsible, and argues the case for incorporating CSR messages in integrated marketing communications strategies in order to protect reputations, position brands, and promote products. The terms “communicator” and “marketing communications professional”, and “communications” and “marketing communications” are used interchangeably throughout, based on the principle that all communications to and with stakeholder groups and target markets should be managed according to a single integrated communications strategy.
Continue reading ‘Coming in from the Cold: From Externalities to ‘CSR’’ »
February 15, 2010, 20:35
The development of a marketing communications strategy, while it may draw from theory learned at universities, must be grounded in the situational and objective reality of the organization. However, there is only one guarantee in any “reality”, and that is change. The common thread in everything the University of Canberra has asked me to read so far is change. Adapt or die; the survival of the fittest. And for the marketing communications professional, the most critical agents for change are past, present and future customers. But even change itself is changeable. It can accelerate or hit the skids, outpace expectations or not move fast enough, incrementally shift or disruptively transform. In order to stay profitable, an organization must anticipate change or at least adapt to it.
Adapt or Die
According to Slywotzky & Morrison (1998), the scramble for market share supported by mass marketing campaigns, which served the post-World War II production-oriented manufacturers well for about two decades, is now a strategy destined to create “no-profit zones”. Going all out for market share entails investing in size, scale, and capacity and leaves an organisation vulnerable to subtle shifts in customers’ preferences and expectations and/or the emergence of disruptive technologies. Smaller, nimbler, or more adaptable competitors, or upstarts unburdened by entrenched cultures, may be better positioned to exploit these changes to make quick gains in more profitable areas. Slywotzky & Morrison identify companies in both high-growth and low-growth industries that have pursued market share at the expense of profitability. And they identify companies that have successfully adapted to remain high-growth, high-value, and highly profitable. Each case offers important lessons for marketers, the main one being: KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER!
Continue reading ‘A Brief History of Change and Marketing Communications’ »
