A Class with Drucker - Headway | Work on yourself

104 ■ A CLASS WITH DRUCKER
However, each sports car model is seen differently by the consumer, even
if two models are priced similarly. That’s not an accident. It’s a marketing
strategy intended by these companies after marketing research and
analysis. It’s a way of differentiating a product from a competitor in a
very positive way.
Niche Marketing Strategy. Another discrete strategy is niching, or
focusing on a small portion of the overall market. There are an infinite
number of marketing strategies. What is important to understand is that
these strategies must be again supported and implemented by the next
level down. This level is generally referred to as tactics. These tactical
variables are frequently called “the Four P’s.”
Marketing Tactics. Professor Jerry McCarthy of Michigan State
University conceptualized “the Four P’s” back in 1960 to make some order
out of a multitude of sales and promotional actions supporting a marketing
strategy. The Four P’s are product, price, place (or distribution), and
promotion. Promotion is further subdivided into categories: advertising,
sales promotion, public relations, and personal selling. However, all of
these have to do <strong>with</strong> selling.
From this we can see that selling, once thought to be the only way for
a manufacturer to dispose of a product profitably, is now a tactic that must
be employed to implement a strategy.
For a long time I did not understand why <strong>Drucker</strong> claimed that selling
and marketing were not complementary or supplementary and in fact
were in an almost adversarial relationship. I thought perhaps that <strong>Drucker</strong>
had misspoken. In 1985, I began research for a textbook on marketing
and I came to understand exactly what Peter meant and the importance of
his concept.
In a 1984 article in Harvard Business Review, a Harvard Professor
explained a strategy/tactics matrix he had developed. 1 On the vertical axis,
marketing implementation was shown increasing upward from poor to
excellent. The horizontal axis increased from right to left from inappropriate
to appropriate. It was labeled strategy/tactics. The matrix was divided
into four cells: 1. success, 2. failure, 3. trouble or failure, and 4. possible
short term success, but ultimate failure.
The article and the concept contained in it were both excellent. However,
the professor made a statement to the effect that good implementation