This module provides the learner with the understanding and skills to support active engagement in the process of strategic marketing management.
Marketing is at the core of business. Outperforming the competition requires solid marketing knowledge and precise marketing decision making. An organisation’s positioning, and the positioning of its products and services, depends on the formulation and implementation of intelligent and well-informed strategic marketing plans.
All organisations operate in a dynamic marketplace. Competition, consumers, technology and market forces constantly redefine the way organisations operate. Staying competitive means that organisations need to continuously adjust and adapt their customer approach to meet changing needs and expectations. This is increasingly important with the globalization of markets and the rapid increase in competition from emerging nations such as China, India, and Brazil. In today’s markets, it is imperative that organisations focus on establishing, developing and adjusting their strategic marketing plans if they are to remain competitive.
Strategic marketing is a way of focusing an organisation’s energies and resources on a course of action that can lead to increased sales and dominance of a targeted market. A strategic marketing strategy combines product development, promotion, distribution, pricing, relationship management and other elements of marketing. It identifies an organisation’s strategic marketing goals, and explains how they will be achieved, ideally within a designated timeframe.
Without a strategic marketing plan, organisations can waste resources, miss opportunities or, in a worst case scenario, threaten their own survival. Strategic marketing executives have up-to-date knowledge of competitive dynamics and know how to integrate marketing strategy into an overall business strategy. Strategic marketing management provides a comprehensive examination of all the major components of marketing strategies and their integration into organisations. It is the basis for continued success in highly competitive markets.
