Best Practices in Customer Service
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Alternative marketing philosophies
Theoretical-real-world bridges
A textbook, plus
328
Book Reviews New Marketing Strategies Ian Chaston SAGE Publications; 1999; ISBN 0761962026; lmp covers; 256pp; £25.00 The status and role of marketing have been a hot topic in recent years. Some pundits would have us believe that marketing has become too important to the organisation to simply leave to the professional marketers. Others argue that process management holds the key to future success in securing customer loyalty. If a common thread can be detected running through much of this debate, it is perhaps an implicit warning to marketers that to compete successfully in todays highly competitive and dynamic globally driven marketplaces, a wider perspective and more flexible approach is needed than that contained within the rigid frameworks of traditional marketing models. Ian Chastons objective is to provide an additional framework the benefits gained by a greater understanding of how market structure, corporate culture and business orientations can influence marketing processes and strategy. The author argues that adopting a more flexible approach to matching marketing processes to market circumstances provides a more effective route to business success. Set out in the first chapter are four alternative marketing philosophies built up around different styles that firms can adopt in their approach to marketing, and how these can be related to innovation and customer centricity. These four are then used at various points throughout the text to provide an additional dimension for discussing appropriate strategies within the various elements of the marketing mix. The book covers all core factors which are key to developing effective marketing strategies starting with a brief overview of how the theory or philosophy of marketing has developed. The other chapters follow a logical sequence, from a review of internal competencies necessary for success through to the impact of todays globalised markets. There are also specific chapters dealing with such areas as business-to-business and service marketing. The text is packed with extracts from, or references to, other published work by leading exponents of marketing theory, reports, surveys and examples from case studies. As such, the author creates the bridges between the theoretical constructs and real-world experiences to underline the overall message that flexibility and pragmatism are critical to success. This is essentially a textbook for students of marketing and business studies or for those involved in teaching and training. However, if more experienced marketers pass over the summaries of basic theory presented at various points in the chapters, they will find some interesting and useful perspectives to gaining a more lateral approach to planning. From the students point of view, the book also provides a rich source of summarised constructs together with the source references for further reading and research. The book covers a lot of ground in its 199 pages. Whi
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