Marketing_Management_14th_Edition-min

Managing a Holistic
Marketing Organization
for the Long Run
Healthy long-term growth for a brand requires that the marketing organization
be managed properly. Holistic marketers must engage in a host of carefully planned, interconnected
marketing activities and satisfy an increasingly broader set of constituents and objectives.
They must also consider a wider range of effects of their actions. Corporate social responsibility
and sustainability have become a priority as organizations grapple with the short-term and longterm
effects of their marketing. Some firms have embraced this new vision of corporate enlightenment
and made it the very core of what they do. Consider Timberland. 1
Timberland, the maker of rugged boots, shoes, clothing, and gear, has a passion for the
great outdoors. The company targets individuals who live, work, and play outdoors, so it
only makes sense that it wants to do whatever it takes to protect the environment. Over
the past two decades, Timberland’s commitment and actions have blazed trails for green
companies around the world. Its revolutionary initiatives include giving its shoes a
“nutrition label” that measures their “greenness”—how much energy was used in making them, what
transportation and labor costs were incurred, and what portion is renewable.
Timberland also introduced a new line of shoes called Earthkeepers,
made of organic cotton, recycled PET, and recycled tires (for the
soles). The shoes are designed to be taken apart and over 50 percent
of the parts can be recycled. Timberland has attracted an online community
for Earthkeepers by offering tips and information about events
focused on preserving the environment. Its business accomplishments
prove that socially and environmentally responsible companies can be
successful. Sales topped $1.2 billion in 2009, and Timberland has won
numerous awards from a steady spot on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies
to Work For to the Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership, the only
Presidential Award recognizing companies for outstanding employee
and community relations.
Many other brands such as Ben & Jerry’s, Odwalla,
Patagonia, Stonyfield Farm, Whole Foods, and Seventh
Generation have embraced similar philosophies and practices.
Successful holistic marketing requires effective relationship
marketing, integrated marketing, internal marketing, and
performance marketing. Preceding chapters addressed the
first two topics and the strategy and tactics of marketing. In
this chapter, we consider the latter two topics and how to
conduct marketing responsibly. We look at how firms
organize, implement, evaluate, and control marketing
activities in a context heightened by social responsibility. We
begin by examining changes in the way companies conduct
marketing today.
Trends in Marketing Practices
Chapters 1 and Chapter 3 described important changes in the marketing macroenvironment, such
as globalization, deregulation, market fragmentation, consumer empowerment, and environmental
concerns. 2 With these and all the remarkable developments in computers, software, the Internet,
and cell phones, the world has unquestionably become a very different place for marketers. In earlier
chapters, we detailed the many shifts in marketing that dominated the first decade of the 21st century. 3
Table 22.1 summarizes some important ones and we briefly review a few next.
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