Marketing Book

Preface to the fifth edition
The fifth edition of The Marketing Book is a testimony to both the continuing demand for an
authoritative overview of the marketing discipline and the constantly changing nature of its subject
matter. First published in 1987 to coincide with the Editor’s appointment as the first academic
National Chairman of the Institute of Marketing, the original concept was:
To produce an authoritative handbook setting out the scope and nature of the marketing function, its
managerial applications and its contribution to corporate success.
To implement this concept, contributing authors were advised: ‘The Marketing Book should serve as
first point of reference for experienced practitioners and managers from other functions, and as an
introduction to those embarking on a career in marketing. In short, the kind of book which every
member and student of the Chartered Institute of Marketing will find relevant and useful.’
The fact that the book has been continuously in print for 15 years and is now in its fifth edition
is clear evidence that there is a continuing need for such a publication.
While it is unlikely anyone other than the Editor and Publisher would wish to make an analysis
of the content of successive editions, such a review would reveal that while some contributions
have changed very little others have been extensively updated, a few topics have been dropped and
a significant number of new ones added. In parallel, the list of contributing authors has also
changed markedly over the years. However, the present roll of contributors shares a common
feature with all the preceding editions – the authors are all leading experts in their fields. All have
published widely on the topics for which they are responsible and many of them have written one
or more definitive and widely used textbooks on the subject of their contribution. Another
distinctive feature is that all the authors, both academics and practitioners, are based in Britain, so
that the current collection reflects a British view of what is important and relevant in the theory and
practice of marketing. Obviously, this view recognizes and reflects international perspectives but,
in a subject where so much published work is written from a purely American point of view, I
consider it important that an alternative, albeit similar, interpretation be available.
Six chapters have been dropped from the last edition and eight new ones added. The chapters
that had to be left out from this new edition were ‘Environmental scanning’ by Douglas Brownlie,
‘The evolution and use of communication and information technology’ by Keith Fletcher,
‘Developing marketing information capabilities’ by Nigel Piercy and Martin Evans, ‘Organizational
marketing’ by Dale Littler, ‘Marketing for non-profit organizations’ by Keith Blois, and ‘The
Internet: the direct route to growth and development’ by Jim Hamill and Sean Ennis. In every case
the reason for omitting these chapters is that their content is covered by other entries. Some of these