Marketing strategy is the formation of goals, achieving them and solving the problems of the manufacturing enterprise for each individual product, for each individual market for a certain period. The strategy is formed in order to carry out production and commercial activities in full accordance with the market situation and the capabilities of the enterprise.

A strategy is a general program of action that identifies problem priorities and resources to achieve the main goal(s). The goals of the strategy and the ways to achieve them are formed in such a way that the enterprise receives a single direction of action.

A marketing strategy is a system of actions of an enterprise in which the internal environment is balanced with the external one. In other words, the general direction of activity is adjusted to the market situation.

The development of a marketing mix, including product development, its positioning with the use of various measures to stimulate sales, is strictly related to strategic management. Before entering the market with a specific marketing strategy, a company must clearly understand the position of competitors, its capabilities, and also draw a line along which it will fight its competitors.

When developing a marketing strategy, most enterprises refocus on high-quality, comprehensive, reliable customer satisfaction and service. At the same time, the emphasis is on long-term retention of conquered sales markets. It is necessary to take into account not only today’s consumer demand for these products, but also to develop strategic plans for the needs for this group of products in the future.

When a company begins to produce a new product, it is necessary to develop and outline a preliminary marketing strategy, which consists of three parts and must be clear and concise. The first part describes the size, structure and behavior of the target market, the expected stability of the product, and also provides long-term planning of such indicators as sales volume, market share and profit margin.

The second part of the presentation of the marketing strategy provides general information about the expected price of the product, the general approach to its distribution and the estimate of marketing costs during the first year.

The third part of the marketing strategy statement should contain long-term goals for sales and profit indicators, as well as a long-term strategic approach to the formation of the marketing mix.

Assessing the business attractiveness of proposals requires analyzing the target sales, costs and profit targets to ensure they meet the company's goals.

When forming a company’s marketing strategy, four groups of factors should be taken into account:

• 1. trends in the development of demand and the external marketing environment (market demand, consumer requests, product distribution systems, legal regulation, trends in business circles, etc.);
• 2. the state and characteristics of competition in the market, the main competing firms and the strategic direction of their activities;
• 3. management resources and capabilities of the company, its strengths in competition;
• 4. the basic concept of the company’s development, its global goals and business objectives in the main strategic areas.

The starting point for the formation of a marketing strategy is an analysis of the dynamically developing market environment and a forecast of further market development, which includes: macro and micro segmentation, assessment of the attractiveness of selected product markets and their segments, assessment of the competitiveness and competitive advantages of the company and its products on the market.

At the level of the enterprise as a whole, a general strategy is formed, which reflects the general strategic line of development and the combination of its possible directions, taking into account the existing market conditions and capabilities of the company. Plans and programs of marketing activities are based on it. At the level of individual areas of activity or product divisions, a development strategy for this area is being developed, related to the development of product offerings and the allocation of resources for individual products. At the level of individual products, functional strategies are formed based on identifying the target segment and positioning a specific product on the market, using various marketing means (price, communications).

The key point in developing a company's marketing strategy is the analysis of the internal and external environment. Analysis of the internal environment allows us to identify the enterprise’s capabilities for implementing the strategy; analysis of the external environment is necessary because changes in this environment can lead to both the expansion of marketing opportunities and the limitation of the scope of successful marketing. Also, in the course of marketing research, it is necessary to analyze the “consumer-product” relationship, the peculiarities of competition in the market of a given industry, the state of the macroenvironment, and the potential of the industry in the region where the company intends to operate.

It is also necessary to study consumer attitudes towards brands of competing manufacturers.

The most common strategies are growth strategies, which reflect four different approaches to firm growth and are associated with changes in the state of one or more of the following elements: product, market, industry, position of the firm within the industry, technology. Each of these elements can be in one of two states - existing or new. This type of strategy includes the following groups:

• 1. Concentrated growth strategies - associated with a change in product and (or) market, when a company tries to improve its product or start producing a new one without changing its industry, or is looking for opportunities to improve its position in an existing market or move to a new market.
• 2. Integrated growth strategies - related to the expansion of the company by adding new structures. In both cases, the position of the firm within the industry changes. There are two main types of integrated growth strategies.
• 3. Diversified growth strategies - are implemented if firms cannot further develop in a given market with a given product within a given industry. These include:
• 4. Targeted reduction strategies - are implemented when a company needs to regroup forces after a long period of growth or due to the need to increase efficiency, when there are recessions and dramatic changes in the economy, for example, structural adjustment, etc.

An important criterion by which strategies can be classified is market share. Based on this, four types of competitive strategies are distinguished:

• 1. Leader strategies. The company that is the leader in the product market occupies a dominant position, and its competitors also recognize this. The leading company has the following set of strategies at its disposal.
• 2. “Challenging” strategies are typical for firms that do not occupy a dominant position. This strategy is more effective the larger the market share the leader owns, since for him accepting a reduced price means very large losses; the firm that "challenges" will lose significantly less, especially if it is small.
• 3. “follow the leader” strategies. A “follower” is a competitor with a small market share that chooses adaptive behavior by aligning its decisions with those of competitors.
• 4. Specialist strategies. The specialist is interested only in one or a few segments, and not in the market as a whole. His goal is to become a big fish in a small river. For a niche that a specialist focuses on to be profitable, it must have sufficient profit potential; have growth potential; be unattractive to competitors; correspond to the specific capabilities of the company; have a stable barrier to entry.

Characteristics and analysis of various types of marketing strategies allow us to conclude that they largely complement and repeat each other. Moreover, in real practice, as a rule, enterprises develop and apply a certain combination of strategies from a large variety of possible ones. The selection of the most appropriate ones is carried out using various methods based on factors that influence the functioning and development of the company.

Product policy is not only the purposeful formation of an assortment and its management, but also taking into account internal and external factors affecting the product, its creation, production, promotion to the market and sale, legal support for such activities, pricing as a means of achieving the goals of product policy, etc.

Product policy presupposes a certain set of actions or pre-thought-out methods and principles of activity, thanks to which the continuity and purposefulness of measures for the formation and management of the range of goods is ensured. The absence of such a set of actions leads to instability of the enterprise’s assortment, failures, and exposure of the assortment to excessive influence of random or transient market factors. Current management decisions in such cases are often half-hearted, ill-founded, based on intuition rather than on calculations that take into account long-term interests.

A well-thought-out product policy not only allows you to optimize the process of updating the assortment, but also serves as a kind of guideline for the general direction of actions for the management of the enterprise, allowing you to correct current situations. The absence of a general, strategic course of action for an enterprise, without which there is no long-term product policy, is fraught with incorrect decisions, dissipation of forces and resources, and refusal to launch products into production at a time when everything is ready for their serial or mass production. Naturally, errors of this kind are costly to commodity producers.

Of course, an entrepreneur takes a risk when starting the production of a new product, since he does not know whether his costs will pay off. For such a case, there is a marketing service that helps the entrepreneur reduce risk to a minimum by offering rules for creating a new product and thus increasing the profit and efficiency of the enterprise.

The process from idea to finished product includes five main stages: idea development; conceptual development; experimental design development, including the creation of a prototype; test entry into the market; commercialization.

At the first stage, an initial assessment of proposals for the development of new products and services is carried out in order to select the more effective ones.

Ideas that pass the initial assessment are subject to conceptual development, where they are refined taking into account the needs of potential consumers. At this stage, the first (working) version of the business plan is drawn up, which describes the main characteristics of the product and the proposed strategy for its sales, taking into account, if possible, the opinions of potential buyers. After approval of the concept, the development stage begins, at which all circuit design, technological, production, technical and engineering issues are resolved.

The development stage of a new product ends with the creation of a prototype for testing design documentation, debugging the entire production process, testing and presentation to customers to study their opinion on competitiveness. Before the end of the R&D, all information necessary to draw up the final version of the marketing plan should be collected.

The trial market entry stage involves the production of a trial batch and its sale, the results of which can be used to judge whether the market will accept the new product.

If the trial batch is sold successfully, then the likelihood of the product being competitive is high.

We can formulate the basic law of new products: while one new product is on sale and is actively purchased, the process of developing the next new product must occur in parallel in order to ensure that the enterprise does not stand idle, and in order to increase its profitability and efficiency.

Product life cycle concept.

With the creation of a new product, its life cycle begins, which is characterized by the following stages:

• 1. Research and development. At this stage, the emergence of a product and its idea occurs. Sales of goods are still zero, profits are negative.
• 2. Implementation. At this stage, the product begins its promotion to the consumer, an active advertising campaign takes place, but as sales grow, profits continue to grow in a negative direction.
• 3. Growth stage. The most favorable stage for the manufacturer. The company makes a significant profit, product sales continue to grow.
• 4. Maturity stage. The product is produced in large quantities, sales are no longer growing at such a high rate, profits are gradually decreasing, as competition is felt.
• 5. Decline stage. Sales drop sharply, the company stops producing goods, profits are very low.

Marketing accompanies a product throughout its life cycle. The Law of New Products can be viewed from a life cycle perspective as: a business will have maximum profit and efficiency only when the life cycles of different products overlap each other.

Product policy at an enterprise solves the problem of creating a new product and is associated with the sphere of production. Marketing developments in this area help an entrepreneur avoid many mistakes that await him at this stage of economic activity. Therefore, we can clearly say that product marketing policy helps to increase the efficiency of the company.

Pricing policy is the behavioral philosophy or general operating principles that a firm intends to adhere to in setting prices for its goods or services. The scope of an enterprise's pricing policy includes issues of wholesale and retail prices, all stages of pricing, tactics for determining the initial price of a product, and price correction tactics. By solving these issues, marketers set the most favorable price for the product, which helps to increase the profitability of the company.

Depending on the sales chain, several types of prices can be distinguished. Wholesale prices of enterprises are the prices at which an enterprise sells products to a wholesale buyer. This price consists of the cost of production and the profit of the enterprise. Wholesale trade prices are the prices at which a wholesale intermediary sells goods to a retailer. The price includes cost, profit and supply and sales discount (costs of the wholesale supplier). Retail price is the price at which a product is sold to the end consumer. It also includes the trade discount (retailer's costs).

External factors in the pricing process include:

• · consumers. This factor always occupies a dominant position in modern marketing;
• · market environment. This factor is characterized by the degree of competition in the market. Here it is important to highlight whether the enterprise is an outsider or a leader, whether it belongs to a group of leaders or outsiders;
• · Participants in distribution channels. At this stage, both suppliers and intermediaries influence the price. Moreover, it is important to note that the greatest danger for the manufacturer is the increase in energy prices, which is why the state is trying to control this industry;
• · the state influences the price through indirect taxes on business, establishing antitrust and dumping bans;

Although the price changes in the market, there are four main methods for determining the initial price:

Costly method. The method is based on price orientation towards production costs. With this method, the price consists of the cost and some fixed percentage of profit. This method takes into account the goal of the entrepreneur rather than the buyer.

Aggregate method. This method calculates the price as the sum of prices for individual elements of a product, as well as the price of a common (aggregate) block and a premium or discount for the absence or presence of individual elements.

Parametric method. The essence of this method is that its price is determined from the assessment and correlation of the qualitative parameters of the product.

Pricing based on current prices. According to this method, the price for a specific product is set depending on the prices for similar products; it can be higher or lower.

When determining the price, when forecasting its further changes, when adjusting it, it is very important for the entrepreneur not only not to miscalculate, but also not to inflate the price, which can directly affect demand and the attitude of buyers towards the company. Therefore, all changes are analyzed and strategies are developed for setting and adjusting prices, which contribute to increasing profitability and efficiency.

Marketing as a concept of market orientation of management is determined by the need for a rapid response of an enterprise to a changing situation. At the same time, as the ancient Greek philosopher Epictetus noted, “we should always remember that we cannot control events, but must adapt to them.” This approach must be used when developing marketing strategies and plans, which are one of the main stages of an enterprise’s marketing activities.

Marketing Strategies– methods of action to achieve marketing goals.

The sequence of development of marketing strategies is presented in Fig. 7.1.

Rice. 7.1. Sequence of development of marketing strategies

Situational analysis is carried out to clarify the situation of the enterprise at the moment and determine the possibility of achieving its goals, taking into account the relationship with environmental factors.

Table 7.1

Analysis of strengths and weaknesses enterprises

External situation analysis– consideration of information about the state of the economy as a whole and the economic situation of a given enterprise. Involves the study of such factors as the country's economy and politics, technology, legislation, competitors, sales channels, buyers, science, culture, suppliers, infrastructure.

Internal situational analysis– assessment of the enterprise's resources in relation to the external environment and the resources of its main competitors. It involves studying factors such as goods and services, the company’s place in the market, personnel, pricing policy, and channels of promotion to the market.

SWOT analysis is a short document in which:

v reflects the strengths and weaknesses of the enterprise’s activities, characterizing its internal environment. An example of a possible form for analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of an enterprise is presented in Table. 7.1;

Real possibilities are analyzed;

The reasons for the effectiveness (unprofitability) of work are revealed;

The ratio of advantages and disadvantages of the enterprise and competitors is analyzed;

The degree of susceptibility to environmental factors is determined.

Based on the SWOT analysis data, a SWOT matrix is ​​compiled (Table 7.2). On the left there are two sections - strengths and weaknesses identified from the results of compiling the table. 7.1. At the top of the matrix there are two sections – opportunities and threats.

Table 7.2

SWOT Matrix

At the intersection of sections, four fields are formed, for which all possible pair combinations should be considered and those that should be taken into account when developing an enterprise strategy should be highlighted:

–> “SIV” – strength and opportunity. For such pairs, a strategy should be developed to use the strengths of the enterprise in order to obtain results from the opportunities identified in the external environment;

–> “SIU” – power and threats. The strategy should involve using the enterprise's strengths to eliminate threats;

–> “SLV” – weakness and opportunities. The strategy must be structured in such a way that the enterprise can use the emerging opportunities to overcome existing weaknesses;

–> “SLU” – weakness and threats. The strategy must be structured in such a way that the enterprise gets rid of weaknesses and overcomes the existing threat.

To assess opportunities, the method of positioning each specific opportunity on the opportunity matrix is ​​used (Table 7.3). Recommendations based on the data in this matrix:

Table 7.3

Opportunity Matrix

–> opportunities that fall into the “BC”, “VU”, “SS” fields are of great importance for the enterprise, and they must be used;

–> opportunities that fall into the “SM”, “NU”, “NM” fields practically do not deserve attention;

–> for other opportunities, management must make a positive decision to pursue them if sufficient resources are available.

A similar matrix is ​​compiled to assess threats (Table 7.4). Based on this matrix, we can recommend the following:

– » threats falling into the fields “VR”, “VK”, “SR” pose a serious danger to the enterprise and require mandatory elimination;

–> threats that fall into the “VT”, “SK”, “HP” fields must be in the field of view of the enterprise management and are eliminated as a matter of priority;

–> threats that fall into the “NK”, “ST”, “VL” fields require a careful and responsible approach to eliminating them.

Table 7.4

Threat Matrix

Marketing Strategies allow you to determine the main directions of marketing and specific marketing programs.

Marketing strategies are formed on the basis of combinations of activities carried out within the marketing mix: product, place of sale, price, distribution, personnel. Examples of generated marketing strategies are presented in table. 7.5.

Table 7.5

Enterprise marketing strategies

Marketing strategies have certain requirements. They should be:

Clearly formulated, specific, consistent;

Designed to meet market requirements;

Divided into long-term and short-term;

Designed with resource constraints in mind.

7.2. General characteristics of marketing strategies

The various levels of enterprise management are presented in table. 7.6.

Table 7.6

Levels of enterprise management

The system of marketing strategies for various levels of management is presented in Table. 7.7.

Table 7.7

System of enterprise marketing strategies

7.3. Portfolio strategies

Briefcase– a set of independent business units, strategic units of one company.

Portfolio strategies– methods of distributing limited resources between business units of an enterprise using criteria for the attractiveness of market segments and the potential capabilities of each business unit.

Management of enterprise resources on the basis of economic directions of market activity is carried out using the matrices of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and G-I-Mackenzie.

1. Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix developed in the late 1960s.

In Fig. 7.2 shows the indicators:

– market attractiveness– an indicator of the rate of change in demand for the enterprise’s products is used. Growth rates are calculated based on product sales data in a market segment (can be a weighted average);

– competitiveness and profitability– an indicator of the relative share of the enterprise in the market is used. Market share (Dpr) is determined in relation to the most dangerous competitors or market leader (Dkonk).

Rice. 7.2. Two-dimensional growth/share matrix

The matrix describes a situation that requires a separate approach in terms of investment and development of a marketing strategy.

Possible strategies:

–> “stars” – maintaining leadership;

–> “cash cows” – obtaining maximum profit;

–> “difficult children” – investment, selective development;

–> “dogs” – leaving the market.

The task of the enterprise management is to ensure the strategic balance of the portfolio by developing economic zones that can provide free cash and zones that ensure the long-term strategic interests of the enterprise.

Advantages of the BCG matrix:

The matrix allows you to determine the position of the enterprise as part of a single portfolio and highlight the most promising development strategies (fast-growing areas require capital investments, slowly growing ones have excess funds);

Quantitative indicators are used;

The information is visual and expressive.

Disadvantages of the BCG matrix:

It is impossible to take into account changes in the situation, changes in marketing costs, and product quality;

The conclusions are objective only in relation to stable market conditions.

2. G-I-Mackenzie Matrix(“market attractiveness/strategic position of the enterprise”) is an improved BCG matrix, completed by McKinsey for General Electric. The matrix allows you to make more differentiated strategic marketing decisions on the effective use of the enterprise’s potential, depending on the level of market attractiveness (Fig. 7.3.).

Rice. 7.3. Two-dimensional G-I-Mackenzie matrix

Table 7.8

Elements of the Mac-I-Mackenzie matrix

The elements of the matrix are discussed in table. 7.8.

The value of market attractiveness (MAV) can be calculated using the formula:

PRR = PR x PR x PS,

where PR is the growth prospect. It is assessed using a forecast of economic, social, technical, and political market conditions. Various forecasting methods are used. The object of forecasting is demand; Pr – prospect of profitability growth. Evaluated by experts (changes in demand, aggressiveness of competitors, etc. are analyzed); PS is the prospect of enterprise stability.

The quantitative value of the strategic position (SPP) can be determined by the formula:

SPP = IP x RP x SP,

where IP is the investment position of the enterprise. It is defined as the ratio of the real and optimal amounts of investment to ensure the growth of the enterprise (investments in production, R&D, sales); RP – market position. Defined as the ratio of the actual market strategy to the optimal strategy; SP is the state of the enterprise's potential. It is defined as the ratio of the real state of the enterprise to the optimal one from the point of view of effective management of finances, marketing, personnel, and production.

If any of the three elements (IP, RP, JV) is equal to 1, the enterprise has a high strategic position in the market.

If even one element is 0, the enterprise has little chance of success.

When using the G-I-Mackenzie matrix, it is necessary to take into account its disadvantages:

A lot of information;

Different approaches to assessment.

You can highlight the average level of market attractiveness and strategic position of the enterprise and use in this case the multidimensional G-I-Mackenzie matrix (Fig. 7.4).

Rice. 7.4. Multidimensional G-I-Mackenzie matrix

Using the matrix shown in Fig. 7.4, three strategic directions can be identified (Table 7.9).

So, the portfolio approach to developing strategic marketing decisions is based on:

Clear structuring of activities by markets, products, divisions;

Developing specific indicators to compare the strategic value of areas;

Matrix representation of the results of strategic planning.

Table 7.9

The main strategic directions of enterprise development, identified on the basis of the G-I-Mackenzie matrix

7.4. Growth Strategies

Enterprise growth– manifestation of types of business activity of the enterprise, which is based on the following capabilities:

Limited growth – intensive development at the expense of own resources;

Acquisitions of other enterprises or integrated development, including vertical and horizontal integration;

Diversification – organization of other areas of activity.

Growth Strategies– a model of enterprise management by choosing the types of its business activities, taking into account internal and external opportunities.

Growth strategies are determined by the Ansoff matrix, the external acquisition matrix and the new BCG matrix.

1. Ansoff matrix allows you to classify products and markets depending on the degree of uncertainty in the prospects for the sale of products or the possibility of penetration of these products into a specific market (Fig. 7.5).

Fig.7.5. Ansoff matrix

The probability of success for the “Penetration” strategy is that every second attempt can be successful.

The probability of success for the Diversification strategy is that every twentieth attempt can be successful.

The marketing attractiveness of a growth strategy is assessed:

Sales value ( V potpr). Calculated as the capacity of a given market segment;

The magnitude of the probable risk (R). It is established by experts and measured as a percentage.

The forecast value of sales volume (Pprogn) can be determined by the formula:

The obtained indicator values ​​are correlated with the expected costs of implementing the strategy.

Table 7.10

Directions of an enterprise's marketing activities using the Ansoff matrix

2. Matrix of external acquisitions(area of ​​activity/type of strategy) allows you to:

Choosing an integrated or diversified path for enterprise growth;

An assessment of the enterprise’s place in the production chain depending on how different areas of the market correspond to its potential capabilities (Fig. 7.6).

Rice. 7.6. Matrix of external acquisitions

Diversification justified if the enterprise has little opportunity for growth in production terms. It allows you to solve the problems noted in Fig. 7.7.

Rice. 7.7. Problems solved with the “Diversification” strategy

Figure 7.8. Types of acquisitions during diversification

Integration justified if the company intends to increase profits by increasing control over strategically important elements in production, allowing it to solve the problems noted in Fig. 7.9.

Rice. 7.9. Problems solved with the “Integration” strategy

In the case of integrated growth, two possible options are considered (Figure 7.10).

Rice. 7.10. Types of Integrated Enterprise Growth

3. New BCG matrix(Fig. 7.11) allows you to consider the possibilities of enterprise growth based on strategic decisions made taking into account two indicators:

Rice. 7.11. New BCG matrix

Cost/volume effect – based on the “experience curve” (when production speed is doubled, costs are reduced by 20%);

The effect of product differentiation is based on taking into account the “product life cycle”, when the product must undergo constant changes and improvements.

Strategy for specialized activities is based on the strong manifestation of two effects. It is possible to make a profit by increasing the output of standardized products and simultaneous differentiation of design. This strategy is typical for the automotive industry, which is characterized by maximum standardization of basic mechanisms and differentiation of external design.

Concentrated strategy takes into account the high cost/volume effect with a weak level of product differentiation effect. In this case, two strategic decisions are possible:

Increasing production capacity and absorbing competitors;

Transition to specialization in order to achieve stable differentiation.

Fragmented activity strategy takes into account the possibility of a strong differentiation effect. Used in two cases:

At the beginning of the production of potentially promising products based, for example, on biotechnology, superconductivity, etc.;

When fulfilling orders focused on the development of highly differentiated products.

This strategy is typical when performing individual consulting, engineering, software, and organizing modern forms of trade.

Strategy for unpromising activities is based on the weak manifestation of two effects. The situation can be improved by changing the nature of the enterprise’s activities and mastering new directions in its work.

7.5. Competitive Strategies

The task of competitive strategies is to establish the competitive advantage of an enterprise or its products and determine ways to maintain superiority.

Competitive advantage– those characteristics of the enterprise’s market activity that create a certain superiority over competitors, which is achieved through competitive strategies that help the enterprise maintain a certain market share.

The following strategies are used to solve this problem.

1.According to M. Porter's general competitive matrix, The competitive advantage of an enterprise in the market can be ensured in three ways (Fig. 7.12).

Rice. 7.12. General competitive matrix

Product Leadership based on product differentiation. Particular attention is paid to the sale of branded products, design, service and warranty service. At the same time, the price increase must be acceptable to the buyer and exceed the increase in costs. This is how the “market power” of a product is formed. When using this strategy, marketing plays a major role.

Price leadership is ensured if the enterprise has a real opportunity to reduce production costs. Particular attention is paid to investment stability, standardization, and strict cost management. Cost reduction is based on the use of the “experience curve” (unit production costs fall by 20% whenever production speed doubles). With this strategy, production plays a major role.

Niche leadership associated with focusing a product or price advantage on a narrow market segment. This segment should not attract much attention from stronger competitors; such leadership is most often used by small businesses.

2. Competitive advantage can be achieved based on the analysis of competitive forces using competitive forces model, proposed by M. Porter (Fig. 7.13).

Rice. 7.13. Competitive Forces Model

Competition among existing companies is aimed at achieving a more advantageous position in the market, taking into account the range, packaging, price, advertising, etc.

Strategic actions to prevent threats from new competitors involve the creation of various obstacles for them: cost reduction as production volumes grow, product differentiation, incentives for intermediaries, and the use of patents.

The threat of the emergence of competing products can be contrasted with the constant search and implementation of ideas for “market novelty” products, the use of new technologies, expansion of R&D, service, etc.

Threat from consumers is manifested in their ability to influence the level of competition through changing requirements for products, prices, and trade services.

Supplier Capabilities influence the level of competition by raising prices or reducing the quality of supplied materials.

3. Possible strategies for achieving and maintaining a competitive advantage of an enterprise in the market are presented in matrix of competitive advantages(Table 7.11).

Table 7.11

Competitive Advantage Matrix

The type of strategy chosen depends on the company’s position in the market and the nature of its actions.

Market leader occupies a dominant position with significant strategic capabilities.

Pursuers of the market leader do not currently occupy a dominant position, but wish, as they accumulate competitive advantages, to take a place close to the leader and, if possible, overtake him.

Avoiding direct competition enterprises agree with their position in the market and exist peacefully with the leader.

Enterprises, occupying a certain position in the market, can choose a proactive or passive strategy to ensure their competitive advantages (Table 7.12).

Table 7.12

Characteristics of proactive and passive strategies

4. The reaction of competitors to the actions of the enterprise can be assessed using competitor reaction model, proposed by M. Porter and taking into account the elements presented in Fig. 7.14.

Rice. 7.14. Competitor reaction model

7.6. Market segmentation strategy

There are three areas in the functional market segmentation strategy:

Strategic segmentation;

Product segmentation;

Competitive segmentation.

Basis strategic segmentation is the allocation of strategic management zones (SZ) at the corporate level, as a result of which the basic markets in which the enterprise intends to operate are determined.

Strategic segmentation allows for economic, technological and strategic growth of an enterprise.

The economic growth of SKhZ is determined by:

– attractiveness of the agricultural plant (possibility of sales growth and increased profits);

– input and output parameters of the marketing system (costs, stability of the enterprise in the market).

Technological growth is associated with the use of modern technologies to meet the needs of agricultural producers. There are three types of technology:

–> stable – the same type of product is produced that satisfies market needs for a long time (for example, the production of pasta based on “extrusion”);

–> fruitful - over a long period, new generations of products successively replace one another (for example, the production of modern computer equipment);

–> changeable - some technological processes are replaced by others, which leads to the emergence of fundamentally new products (for example, the creation of biotechnology, laser technology, e-mail, etc.).

Strategic growth is determined by the level of use of the potential capabilities of the enterprise and depends on:

Capital investments in agricultural chemical plant;

SKhZ competitive strategy;

Mobilization capabilities of the enterprise.

Basis product segmentation is to identify market segments based on consumer, product and competitive characteristics identified in clause 3.4.

Basis competitive segmentation is to find a market niche not occupied by competitors in order to gain advantages when using innovations.

The characteristics of other functional and instrumental strategies are given in the corresponding chapters of the manual.

Situations to analyze

1. Determine what the business activity of the enterprise is based on in the following situations:

– the Komus company is focused on development without the involvement of external creditors;

– the Novaya Zarya factory organized the acquisition of dealer networks;

– Lukoil company organized other types of activities.

2. Determine what types of integration take place in the following examples:

– Russian beer producers are considering the possibility of creating vertical alliances with bottle and label manufacturers in response to the increased tax burden;

– Russian beer producers are considering the possibility of creating horizontal alliances with “nearby” producers: owners of bars and restaurants, producers of salty snacks, etc.

3. At one time, the Bytkhim production association, which produces paints, focused only on the professional market, selling paint in 5-liter containers. Later, a strategic decision was made to produce products for the consumer market, selling paint in liter containers and under a different brand in order to ensure further growth of the enterprise.

Determine, using the Ansoff matrix, the previous and new strategies of the enterprise. Develop strategic decisions of a functional and instrumental nature regarding the new direction of the enterprise.

4. Analysis of competitive threats revealed a potential threat from a new company entering the product market. What are its motives for entering the market?

5. Develop a strategic marketing plan for a business using a matrix approach to defining strategy.

To make it easier to study the material, we divide the article Marketing Strategy into topics:

In many companies, attention is paid primarily to tactical (financial) goals, while strategic ones are often forgotten.

Examples of tactical goals:

Accelerate profit growth rates;
raise ;
increase cash receipts.

But the financial future of the organization is ensured by strategic goals, and their setting and achievement require a significant investment of time and resources. Examples of strategic goals:

Increase market share;
improve /services;
take care of the company's reputation;
increase the value of the company.

2. Negative goal formulation.

This very common mistake is dictated by the human tendency to respond to a problem by running away from it, rather than by eliminating the cause. But a correctly set goal should reflect movement towards the desired result, and not a desire to escape from the problem. Examples of negative goal statements:

Minimize risks in a certain area of ​​the company’s activities;
reduce the number of late arrivals to work;
reduce the number of complaints.

When setting goals in this way, a large number of prohibitions arise, which often hinders the initiative of employees. As a result, they are afraid to act, lest they incur the wrath of their leader. Positive formulations that offer as a goal a desirable prospect for the company, to which it should strive, will help to avoid negative consequences. If the above examples of goals are presented as positive, we get something like this:

Develop and apply a procedure;
allocate a vehicle for transportation of employees;
improve the quality of products.

3. Vague goal statement.

Often there are goal formulations like “increase efficiency”, “establish”, “become the best in the market”, etc. These are unattainable goals. For example, the director of the company set a goal to establish rapid exchange of information between commercial and logistics departments. After some time, their superiors reported that the goal had been achieved. When the director wanted to find out what the exchange of information was about, it turned out that people simply began to communicate more often.

The manager expected a different result, but since the goal did not meet the SMART criteria (in particular, the criterion for assessing its achievement was not defined), the subordinates did not know what exactly was expected of them. The director needed to formulate a goal, for example, this way: to establish a rapid exchange of information between the commercial department and the logistics department by providing each other with weekly reports on the work done in the following form (list what indicators each department should include in its report).

4. Partial application of the concept of management by objectives.

As the study shows, the majority of managers consider management by objectives as a tool for assessing personnel, and only 16.6% know that MBO is intended primarily to harmonize company goals at various levels.

However, ignoring any aspect of MBO leads to the fact that all efforts aimed at its implementation are useless.

The reasons for this are as follows:

Lower level goals are not clearly stated;
these goals do not reflect the needs of the company (not related to higher-level goals);
Responsible persons for each area of ​​work have not been assigned.

To eliminate these reasons, the head of the company must agree on the goals for the departments with their leaders, and the practice of individually setting goals and communicating them to the performers must be eradicated.

5. Officially stated goals do not correspond to reality.

There are often situations when a manager, having officially declared certain goals, ignores them when making management decisions. For example, a company may define the goal of its work as follows: “We must love our client,” but the head of one of its departments is not even going to respond to incoming complaints...

Market segmentation and selection of target segments

Main tasks of the stage:

Market segmentation, i.e. identifying competitive target market segments;
choosing the time and method of reaching target segments.

Segmentation (or segmentation) is the structuring of the market based on the heterogeneity of potential buyers and their consumer behavior.

Market segmentation is a prerequisite for differentiated marketing.

The market consists of buyers, and buyers differ from each other in a variety of ways. Everything can be different: needs, geographic location, resources, preferences, habits, etc. Any of these variables can have a significant impact on the needs and consumption behavior of a potential buyer. Knowing the differences between different market segments, a company can produce specialized products for individual segments, use different sales promotion programs or advertising messages. Additionally, concentrating on a specific segment can be a brand positioning.

Because each person's needs and wants are unique, each consumer can potentially represent a different market segment. Ideally, the seller would develop a separate marketing program for each. For example, aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing have very few customers, and the firms treat each of them as a separate market - this "one-to-one marketing" represents the extreme degree of market segmentation.

More often than not, it is not economically feasible to tailor products to meet the needs of each individual customer, because this most often significantly increases costs and unit costs. Instead, large groups of consumers are distinguished, differing from each other in their requirements for the product and in their marketing responses. For example, a company may find that needs change depending on the income level of customers. On the other hand, the seller may perceive significant differences between younger buyers and older buyers. And finally, the buyer’s attitude towards a product can be influenced by both income level and age at the same time. As the market is segmented based on more parameters, the number of them increases, and the size of each segment of each decreases. There is a balance between taking into account all the important segmentation criteria (or basic segmentation variables) and the size of the resulting segments.

It is believed that the resulting segments must meet the following conditions:

Once the market has been structured into segments, it is necessary to obtain a reliable description of each selected segment. Building a complete picture of market segments and their characteristics is called profiling. The characteristics used in this case are called descriptive segmentation variables.

Approaches to market segmentation

To implement segmentation, a company needs to test segmentation options based on different variables, one or more at a time, in an attempt to find the most useful approach to looking at market structure. For this purpose, it is used that studies the influence of various factors on the result and allows you to select exactly those factors that have the maximum impact on the final result. All approaches to market segmentation can be divided into two types:

1. Disorganized selection of segmentation criteria. The selection of segmentation criteria is carried out arbitrarily. It is used in situations where constructing a hierarchy of segmentation criteria is difficult or there is not enough data to construct it.
2. Multi-stage approaches. Construction of a hierarchical system of criteria based on assessment of importance for segmentation. There are two or more levels of criteria through which segmentation is carried out. An example is the micro-macro model proposed by Wind and Cardoza (1974). At the first, macro stage, general factors are used - demographic characteristics of the population, geographic location, consumption activity, etc. The micro stage consists of defining segments within macro groups based on the characteristics of the decision makers. Another example is Bonhomme and Shapiro's (1983) nested model.

Segmentation principles

1. The principle of differentiation between segments - the main goal of segmentation is to obtain groups of consumers that differ from each other. Accordingly, each resulting segment must have a set of unique characteristics.
2. The principle of similarity of consumers in a segment - the homogeneity of potential buyers within a segment from the point of view of the goals of segmentation tasks. The resulting segments should be fairly homogeneous - the differences between consumers within a segment should be less significant than the differences between segments.
3. The principle of large segment size - target segments must have sufficient potential capacity to be of commercial interest to the company. It is necessary to find a balance between taking into account all significant factors, on the one hand, and the size and number of segments obtained, on the other.

Selecting target market segments

Market segmentation should lead to an assessment of the potential of various market segments in which the seller will act and the selection of the most promising ones (the so-called target segments).

To do this, the company must make a strategic decision:

How many segments should you cover?
How to determine the most profitable segments?

There are three options for market coverage:

Undifferentiated marketing;
differentiated marketing;
concentrated marketing.

Undifferentiated marketing is a situation when a company decides to ignore differences in segments and appeal to the entire market at once with the same offer. In this case, she concentrates her efforts not on how the needs of clients differ from each other, but on what these needs have in common. The company develops a product and marketing program that will be attractive to as many buyers as possible. The firm relies on mass distribution and mass advertising methods. She seeks to betray the image of superiority in people's minds. Moreover, undifferentiated marketing is economical. The costs of producing a product, maintaining its inventory, and transporting it are low. Advertising costs for undifferentiated marketing are also kept low. The absence of marketing research into market segments and planning broken down by these segments helps reduce the costs of marketing research and product production management.

Differentiated marketing - In this case, the company decides to act in several market segments and breaks down a separate offer for each of them. The company expects that by strengthening its position in several market segments, it will be able to identify a company with a given product category in the consumer’s mind. Moreover, she expects an increase in repeat purchases, since it is the company's product that meets the desires of consumers, and not vice versa.

Concentrated Marketing - Many firms see a third marketing opportunity, particularly attractive to organizations with limited resources. Instead of concentrating its efforts on a small share of a large market, the firm concentrates its efforts on a large share of one or more submarkets. Through concentrated marketing, the firm ensures a strong market position in the segments it serves because it knows the needs of those segments better than others and enjoys a certain reputation. Moreover, as a result of specialization in production, distribution and sales promotion, the firm achieves savings in many areas of its activities.

Positioning development

Preliminary economic assessment of marketing strategy and control tools:

Analysis and forecasting of the quality and resource intensity of the company's future products
Forecasting the competitiveness of the company's existing and future products
Forecasting price and sales levels for existing and future company products
Forecasting volume and profit
Determination of benchmarks and intermediate stages of control (timing and control values)

Based on the marketing strategy, a detailed marketing plan should be developed, describing the specific marketing activities that must be carried out in the short and medium term.

An important point in implementing the strategy is the “formalization” of the decisions made into a marketing plan. This document should describe specific activities that must be implemented in the short term. A marketing plan can be detailed down to several levels: for the company as a whole, for its functional divisions, and also for specific products and markets.

Sample structure of a marketing plan:

1. Analysis of the current situation
(a) Current level of performance
(b) Analysis of the current situation
(c) Opportunities and prospects
2. Marketing goals and objectives
3. Marketing Strategy Overview
(a) Target market segments
(b) Positioning
4. Marketing mix program
(a) Product
(b) Price
(c) Promotion
(d) Distribution
(e) Services
(f) Personnel
5. Action plan
6. Budget
7. Organizational prerequisites

Development of a marketing strategy

A marketing strategy is a set of long-term decisions regarding ways to satisfy the needs of a company's existing and potential customers through the use of its internal resources and external capabilities.

A company's marketing strategy is usually enshrined in a document with the same name or the name "marketing policy."

A marketing strategy is developed as an integral part of the company's overall development strategy.

Depending on the industry, the market situation and the prevailing characteristics of the organization’s management, a marketing strategy can be developed for a period of 1 to 25 years.

Most often in Russia, a planning horizon of 1-3 years is currently used, but now you can find enterprises developing strategies for a period of 5 and even 10 years.

Setting market goals

The development of a marketing strategy is preceded by the establishment of the company's market goals.

A goal is a specific state of individual characteristics of an organization, the achievement of which is desirable for it and towards which its activities are aimed. Market goals determine the company's desired position in the market in the future. The timing for which market goals are set depends on the scale of the goal and the speed of changes in the company’s external environment. The requirements for setting market goals are similar to the general requirements for setting organizational goals.

Requirements for goals

Goals should be (SMART principle):

Specific - Specific;
achievable -Measurable;
agreed (with each other) - Agreeable, Accordant;
measurable - Realistic;
bound in time - Timebounded.

Goals must be consistent:

With the company's mission;
among themselves (hierarchy of goals);
with those who have to carry them out.

Classification of targets

There are various classifications of goals. The only generally accepted classification is based on the time for which goals are set. Usually there are long-term and short-term goals. Sometimes intermediate goals are set between long-term and short-term goals; they are called medium-term. However, there is no generally accepted scale for classifying goals as short-term, medium-term or long-term. In our conditions, short-term goals are usually considered to be up to 1 year, medium-term 1-3 years, long-term - from 3 years.

Depending on the specifics of the industry, the characteristics of the state of the environment, the nature and content of the mission, each organization sets its own goals. For example, the following classification of objectives by functional area can be used:

Market goals (or external program goals), for example:

Number of clients.
Market share.
in kind and in value terms.

Production goals (internal program goals) are a consequence of market goals. Includes everything needed to achieve market goals (excluding organizational resources), for example:

Ensure a certain volume of production (production volume = sales volume - existing inventories + planned inventories).
Build a workshop (volume of capital construction).
Develop a new technology (carrying out research and development work).

Organizational goals - everything related to management, structure and, for example:

Hire three marketers.
Bring the average level of employees to the salary level of the market leader.
Implement a project management system.

Financial goals - link all goals in value terms, for example:

Net sales (from "market goals").
The amount of costs (from “production” and “organizational” goals).
Gross and .
Return on sales, etc.

For existing enterprises, the establishment of market goals, as a rule, precedes the establishment of all goals of other functional areas (production, organizational, financial, etc.). Thus, market goals are the starting point for defining other functional goals.

Establishing all goals of other functional areas (production, organizational, financial, etc.). Thus, market objectives are the starting point for defining other functional objectives.

In some cases, setting market goals may be preceded by setting financial goals, which is usually typical for entrepreneurs at the stage of opening a new business or when preparing projects for the development of certain new areas of activity.

The limitation for developing market goals is higher-level goals. Considering that market goals are key (overriding) for the life of an organization, a higher level for market goals are:

Mission;
vision;
the organization's credo (ideology).

Components of a marketing strategy

The company's marketing strategy must contain the following elements:

Defining the target market and target segments.
Identification of target customer groups.
Positioning.
Marketing complex.

Defining the target market and target segments

Determining the segment in which the company operates or intends to operate is the most important management decision and involves assessing and correlating the company’s capabilities and market attractiveness. The choice of the target segment determines what needs the company aims to satisfy and what products or services it will present to customers.

If market segmentation is based on the study and consideration of the individual needs of each group of buyers, then the market is logically transformed into a set of consumer segments for which the corresponding goods and products can be provided. In this case, the task of identifying the target segment and identifying the target consumer group (see below) merge with each other.

If the main criterion for segmentation is the characteristics of goods, then the market is logically transformed into a set of product segments (see Example 2 below), in which further, if necessary, separate target consumer groups are determined.

The purpose of market segmentation is to divide the market into smaller groups (segments) in order to subsequently concentrate efforts on the most attractive ones.

In any case, no matter how the company segments the market, it must define for itself and write down in documents both the segments in which it operates and the target consumer groups.

Example 1. Taking into account the heterogeneous supply of sand in different areas of the city and the economic inexpediency of transporting sand over significant distances, OJSC Rudas, which is the leader in the market for construction sands in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, segments the sand market in St. Petersburg geographically, distinguishing three segments :

South of the city.
Right Bank.
North and North-West of the city.

Each of these segments is characterized by a different ratio of supply and demand for construction sands, as well as the level of competition, so the company determines market goals in each of these segments and builds a pricing policy in accordance with this.

Defining target customer groups

The 80/20 rule of thumb states that 20% of customers generate 80% of a company's profits. Addition (William Sherdon) "80/20/30": "The 20% of the most profitable customers give the company 80% of the profits, half of which is lost in serving the 30% of the least profitable customers."

Identifying target customer groups and concentrating efforts on working with them allows the company to more fully satisfy the needs of priority customers and strengthen its position in the market. At the same time, concentration allows the organization to significantly increase the efficiency of using internal and external resources.

In some cases, a company may not carry out market segmentation by product at the first stage of analysis and may not even determine the markets in which it intends to operate, linking its activities with a specific group of customers (thus, the company determines only to satisfy the needs of which group of consumers it works).

Example 2. An example of such an organization is the Petromed holding, which manages the work of more than 10 companies in various areas of activity that provide comprehensive solutions to the problems of Russian healthcare organizations. Thus, Petromed, having identified its target group of consumers (health care organizations), segments its markets according to various types of their needs.

To identify target groups, it is necessary to define segmentation criteria, i.e. factors that allow you to divide existing and/or potential customers into groups. The most common criteria for consumer segmentation include satisfied needs, geographic factors, and consumer behavior.

Unjustifiably often, the level of consumer income is used a priori as the main criterion for segmentation (especially when it comes to consumer goods). At the same time, appropriate consumer research is not conducted, as a result of which the division by income level may not correspond to different types of consumer behavior.

Example 3. Based on the conducted marketing research, it was decided to divide the clients of Rudas OJSC into the following groups according to the type of needs satisfied:

Factories - house-building factories, brick factories, factories of reinforced concrete products.
Road workers are road construction organizations.
Builders - construction organizations (civil/residential construction).
Others - other organizations engaged in general construction work.

The introduction of an additional segmentation criterion - the volume of average annual purchases - makes it possible to distinguish large and small clients in these groups.

Each of the selected groups has differences in requirements for the quality of purchased sand, delivery conditions and other conditions for working with the sand supplier; some of the selected groups are more attractive for JSC Rudas.

Regardless of what kind of decision the company makes regarding the choice of the target segment and target group of customers, this decision must be understood and recorded in the marketing strategy.

Positioning

When a company has decided which market segments it intends to operate in, it needs to make a decision regarding what “positions” it would like to occupy in these segments.

Positioning is very closely related to the company's competitive strategy in terms of highlighting competitive advantages. Often these competitive advantages are the basis for creating a brand image in the eyes of potential consumers. But you can also often find positioning options when the non-existent advantages of a product are highlighted for the consumer.

Marketing mix

The marketing mix determines how possible marketing tools and methods of influencing consumers will be used in four areas (product, price, promotion, distribution) to ensure the necessary positioning in the market.

The marketing complex includes:

Product policy (assortment, service, etc.);
policy (prices, discounts, calculations);
promotion policy (advertising, PR and point-of-sale advertising);
distribution policy (geography, location at the point of sale, maybe sales channels and transportation).

The purpose of developing a company's product policy is to determine in what range of goods the company will offer on the market, what characteristics they will have.

The purpose of developing a company's pricing policy is to determine the rules for setting and changing prices for offered goods, as well as possible price adjustments (discounts).

The promotion policy is developed in order to determine what methods the company will use to inform consumers about its activities and products, incl. for positioning purposes.

The purpose of developing a distribution policy is to determine how the delivery of a company's goods to consumers will be organized.

Marketing as a functional area

We distinguish the following types of organizational strategies:

Basic strategy is a fundamental decision for the development of an organization. That is, whether the organization will grow or reduce (curtail) activities. Or it will fix the scale of activity at the existing level. The growth or curtailment of activities is usually assessed based on the volume of product sales in physical terms (rather than in value terms).

Making a decision on the basic strategy determines the need for resources (with the basic “growth” strategy, the need for resources in most cases increases, with the “reduction” strategy it decreases), funds are saved or a surplus appears.

Competitive strategy is a choice between focusing on the entire market or part of it, as well as between the main competitive advantage (low price of the product or its distinctive features *).

Portfolio strategy is a choice associated with linking various management objects (products, business units, enterprises, technologies, resources) with each other and determining the place of each object among others. This solves the problem of obtaining a balanced portfolio.

For example, portfolio strategies are product strategy and corporate strategy.

Product strategy is a decision regarding the structure (composition and volumes) of sales of the main products produced by the enterprise. That is, decisions for each individual product - for example, to maintain sales, modify or discontinue production, start developing a new product, etc.

Corporate strategy is a decision regarding individual enterprises within a corporation. For example, increase influence on the management of the enterprise by purchasing additional shares; sell the enterprise; do not interfere with the activities of the enterprise, etc. Thus, we are talking about the formation of a “portfolio of enterprises”.

The same approach can be applied to other control objects (for example, technologies).

Functional strategy is the selection of decision rules in each functional area. Thus, any organization has several functional strategies (for example, marketing strategy, financial strategy, etc.).

If we take as an object of management the functions performed in the organization (vertical view), then accordingly we can highlight strategies for each of the functional areas.

Note 2: Any of the functional strategies shown in the diagram can be broken down into different sections. The strategy sections shown in the diagram (see the lower level of the diagram) are exemplary.

Note 3: product strategy determines what products the company will supply to the market (what business units will be in the company), product policy, which is part of the marketing mix, determines the product range.

Marketing strategy is an integral key part of an organization's overall strategy. The overall strategy of the enterprise is largely determined by the marketing strategy.

At the stage of developing a marketing strategy, possible production strategies are a constraint on the marketing strategy; subsequently, the marketing strategy, as a rule, determines all other strategies. There may be exceptions, for example, in high-tech markets, where new technologies (products) may determine the marketing strategy. In such cases, as a rule, the strategy is independent and is not an integral part of the production strategy.

Overall strategy consists of competitive strategy, product strategy and functional strategies.

Marketing as a business process

If you look at the organization from the point of view of the work performed in the organization, i.e. If we consider processes as an object of management (horizontal view), we can determine the influence of marketing on all the main functions performed in the organization.

This view of marketing is most consistent with the idea of ​​marketing as a business philosophy. This idea of ​​marketing implies that everything that is done in an organization is aimed at achieving one goal - satisfying customer needs. The focus of the entire company on customer needs is a key point, indicating that the company has implemented a marketing ideology.

Difference and connection between marketing and sales strategy

A sales strategy (sales strategy) is a set of long-term decisions regarding ways to bring a company’s products (services) to customers through the use of internal organization and external market infrastructure.

The sales strategy defines the following parameters:

Distribution channels or part of the distribution policy (for example, general and private schemes for working across distribution channels, selection criteria and selection of distributors);
selling methods (eg, active personal selling, passive selling, electronic selling);
warehouse policy (for example, your own warehouse, rented warehouse, dealer warehouse, no warehouse);
inventory policy (average monthly product inventory in the warehouse, product inventory at the point of sale);
transport logistics (your own transport, rented transport, intermediary transport, client transport).

Communication between marketing and sales

A sales-oriented organization is an intermediate stage between a production-oriented organization and a customer-oriented organization. The most common formal signs of a sales-oriented organization in Russia are:

Relatively large sales force;
commercial director (head of sales service) - one of the most influential people in the organization, as a rule, the second Manager;
relatively large advertising costs compared to investments in and development of new products (services);
the development of new names and product packaging is carried out in-house (lack of experience working with advertising agencies);
No one in the organization except the sales staff is incentivized to help increase sales.

Sometimes sales-oriented organizations are characterized by a low level of related service and warranty service (a legacy of a production orientation).

Sales orientation is often mistaken for customer orientation, but it is not. At the same time, it does not deny the need for commercial efforts to sell products (services), but defines them only as one of the factors for the company’s success in the market.

The sales function in an organization, despite its great importance, must be subordinated to the marketing function: in general, marketing must set goals for sales. Therefore, the marketing strategy should also be decisive for the sales strategy.

To put it simply, a marketing strategy answers the question of “to whom,” “what,” and “where” an organization will sell, while a sales strategy answers the question of “how” (and “where”) to sell.

Distribution channels can be defined in both the marketing strategy and/or the sales strategy. At the same time, in the marketing strategy, in terms of answering the question “where to sell,” the geographical locations of sales must be determined, and a basic scheme for selecting sales channels can also be determined (for example, choose a scheme of working through a dealer network, or a network of your own trading houses, etc. .).

Example 4. Juice manufacturer Multon made a strategic decision to develop retail operations in the North-West directly through its trading house until official dealers began to work at the required level. The same scheme is now used by a company in Moscow. The Lebedyansky experimental canning plant, on the contrary, is gradually displacing its dealers from chain retail outlets in Moscow and working with them (retail outlets) directly.

Where the decision on which sales channels the company operates will be fixed - in marketing or sales policy - is not of fundamental importance, the main thing is that this is done. The same requirement applies to the solution for transporting goods (transport logistics).

Conflict between marketing and sales

When marketing and sales are combined within one department (service), the sales function, as a rule, pushes aside or absorbs. To effectively implement the marketing function, it is desirable that it be managed independently of the sales management itself.

Quite often you may encounter the fact that when a company’s market share is declining (or even turnover is falling), the sales service responds to the demand for an increase in sales: “more advertising - more sales”, “less advertising - less sales”. In this case, competitors who are increasing their advertising activity are often cited as an example, but specific figures are usually not given*. The result of such requirements, as a rule, is an increase in advertising budgets, up to an operating loss. This, in turn, can create serious financial problems for the organization if the market does not respond properly to increased promotional activity. In this case, perhaps the problem lies in the area of ​​inconsistency of the product (service) with existing market requirements.

Example 5. The Baltika company, having lost a significant part of the St. Petersburg market, last year tried to restore its leading position by repeatedly increasing advertising activity (promotion of brands N3, N8 and N0). As a result, it was possible to ensure that the absolute leader of previous years, beer N3, rose only to third place in popularity among city residents.

In 2012, Baltika is actively promoting a new product to the market - beer cocktails. The long-term success of this promotion will depend entirely on the demand for this product in the market, and not on the activity of the advertising campaign and the amount of funds invested in it.

Organization of marketing activities in Russian companies

As part of the concept of a customer-oriented organization, it is necessary to position the marketing service as a representative of a potential buyer in the company.

Based on our experience of working with domestic organizations, we can say that today in most Russian companies the structural unit called the marketing and advertising service is not actually such a service. As a rule, within the framework of such services, only the promotion function is performed, i.e. only one of the elements of marketing takes place. Such services mainly report to the commercial director and play a supporting role in relation to sales.

Based on the degree to which the marketing function is performed at enterprises, the following options for organizing marketing activities can be distinguished:

Marketing functions are assigned only to the top management of the company;
employees of the sales department or commercial service, in addition to their main functions, perform marketing functions;
Advertising department employees, in addition to their main functions, perform marketing functions;
in the sales department, commercial service or advertising department there is a marketing specialist who performs only marketing tasks;
a special marketing department is created in the company, reporting to the commercial director (sales director);
in the company, the marketing director is responsible for marketing functions - production and sales functions are subordinated to marketing ones;
focusing the company on horizontal connections (the main marketing processes in the company), rather than on vertical ones (the structure of divisions). Marketing functions are distributed among project teams, which include employees from various departments. Quite often, these groups may include outside experts. This form of organization is used to develop new products, attract new customers, conduct individual promotions and events, etc.

The latter form of marketing organization is not yet very widespread in Russia and can be used in a limited number of enterprises.

Example 6. The St. Petersburg cereal manufacturer Angstrem, relying in its ongoing activities on the 4th of the listed types of organization of marketing activities, actively uses the practice of creating project teams when introducing new brands to the market. As a result, at the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013, the company developed and successfully launched a product on the market under the new brand PROSTO (cereals instant cooking in bags).

Analysis of the external environment as a key stage in developing a marketing strategy

Analysis of the external and internal environment in any organization is carried out constantly in various forms. It is the basis for making any decisions about the activities of the organization. These materials are about information that can be applied purposefully and systematically to obtain the information necessary both for strategic planning and for assessing the success of strategy implementation.

The “environment” or “environment” of an organization is the totality of all external and internal factors influencing the activities of this organization. Analysis of the external and internal environment allows us to obtain information necessary both for strategic planning and for assessing the success of strategy implementation. Based on the data from this analysis, the organization's goals and strategies, and, to a lesser extent, its mission are determined.

The purpose of the stage is to understand the situation and determine the company’s development prospects for the long term by identifying external opportunities and threats, taking into account the internal potential of the company.

Before conducting an environmental analysis, it is important to keep in mind that there is an unlimited amount of information available, not all of which is equally useful in decision making. Therefore, in order to limit the time, effort and financial resources spent on environmental analysis, it is necessary to find “filters” to determine the necessary information (relevant information). Such filters are the mission, goals and strategies of the organization. But strategic planning is precisely what serves to develop them, so we can talk about the fact that before starting an environmental analysis, it is necessary to obtain an approximate formulation of the mission and, preferably, the goals of the organization.

This is almost always what happens, only often the mission and goals of the organization are not formulated explicitly, but are only understood “on an intuitive level.” Therefore, it is highly desirable to obtain these statements in writing to avoid their ambiguous interpretation and to be able to accurately determine which information from the organization's environment is relevant and which is not.

Environmental analysis is a critical process. Based on the data from this analysis, the company's goals and strategies are determined and its mission is clarified.

Analysis of the external environment is carried out for:

Determining the possibilities that the enterprise can count on if it successfully conducts its work;
identifying threats and complications that will await the enterprise if it fails to ward off the negative influences of the environment in a timely manner.

The external environment consists of the “near environment” and the “far environment”. The immediate environment includes clients, shareholders, suppliers and competitors of the organization, the distant environment includes all other interested groups (state, society, etc.). First of all, the immediate environment (industry) is analyzed, but in the conditions of our country, an analysis of the actions of government authorities is also a very important factor.

Analysis of the external environment helps to control factors external to the company, obtain important results (time to develop an early warning system in case of possible threats, time to forecast opportunities, time to draw up a contingency plan and time to develop strategies). To do this, you need to find out where the organization is, where it should be in the future and what management should do to achieve this.

Organization of the marketing strategy development process

The development of a company’s marketing strategy can be organized both by the company’s employees and by involving external specialists in performing individual works.

To develop a marketing strategy, you must complete the following tasks:

Conduct an analysis of the external environment and evaluate the market position and current marketing strategy of the company.
Assess the state of marketing activities within the company (organization of marketing activities, marketing information system, completeness of marketing functions).

Based on the analysis of the external and internal environment, determine the strategic goals of the company.

Determine ways to achieve your goals (marketing strategies).

In terms of practical organization of the process of developing a marketing strategy, the following recommendations can be given:

Determine and record the goal of developing the company’s marketing strategy and the “internal customer” - the manager who will control the development process and accept its results.
Determine who is responsible for developing a marketing strategy with the necessary qualifications, and determine his powers within the framework of this task.
Form a working group of key company employees who will take an active part in developing a marketing strategy.
Create a work plan for developing a marketing strategy with deadlines and responsibilities. Determine how and by whom the main stages of analysis of the internal and external environment will be carried out, taking into account the qualifications of employees and the availability of information necessary for the analysis.

Conduct an introductory meeting of the working group to discuss and accept the terminology and approaches that will be used in the strategy development process, and approve the work plan.

Allocate a budget for carrying out these works.
Further actions to develop a marketing strategy are determined based on the work plan.

In order for the developed marketing strategy not to remain “just a document”, but to become an active management tool, it is necessary to develop and apply a procedure for tracking the achievement of set goals and informing company employees about the results of marketing activities.

Marketing plan

A marketing plan is a document that defines the main activities aimed at implementing the organization's marketing strategy.

In Russian companies, two main approaches to documenting decisions made in the field of marketing strategy can be distinguished:

1. Creation of two documents: “Marketing Strategy” and “Marketing Plan”.
2. Creation of a “Marketing Plan” document, the first part of which briefly reflects the results of the environmental analysis and the adopted marketing strategy.

We believe that it is more correct to develop two documents, given that the “Marketing Strategy” usually has a more long-term nature compared to the marketing plan.

In this case, the following sections are included in the Marketing Strategy document:

Summary - a brief description of market goals and ways to achieve them.
Current Market State
- Market volume and potential.
- Level of competition.
- Price level.
- Existing market structure.
Threats and opportunities.
Goals and objectives of the company’s activities in the market and in the field of marketing.
Marketing strategy.
- Target markets and consumer groups.
- Positioning.
- Product policy.
- Pricing policy.
- Promotion policy.
- Distribution policy.

In this case, the “Marketing Plan” may consist of the following sections:

1. Summary - a brief description of the company's market goals for the planned period and what is planned to be done to achieve them.

2. Action program - detailed measures for the implementation of the marketing mix:

What events will be held?
By whom (whose forces) will they be carried out?
When will they be held (schedule).
Planned costs for holding events (marketing budget).

3. Indicators of effectiveness of marketing activities.

4. Control - how the implementation of the plan will be monitored.

In the section “Efficiency Indicators of Marketing Activities” it should be determined by what indicators the effectiveness of the company’s marketing activities will be assessed, and the control (planned) values ​​of these indicators. Examples of indicators for assessing the effectiveness of marketing activities include:

The ratio of sales of goods in value terms to the costs of marketing activities.

The ratio of the increase in product sales in value terms for the period to the increase in costs for marketing activities.

The relative market share occupied by a company's new product or the change in market share of an old product.

It is advisable to involve key employees of various services of the organization (production, financial, etc.) in the development and approval of the marketing plan. The approved marketing plan must be brought to the attention of service managers, its implementation must be monitored, and the necessary adjustments must be made in accordance with the procedure defined in the “Control” section.

Types of Marketing Strategies

An organization's marketing strategies can be of different types. Their classification can be carried out according to various criteria. In this article we will look at the most common type of classification, in which all possible marketing strategies are divided into four main groups: concentrated growth strategies, integrated growth strategies, diversified growth strategies and reduction strategies. Let's look at them in more detail.

Concentrated growth strategies imply the activity of an enterprise aimed at changing the product produced or even the market in which this product is sold. Product modernization, search for a new market, etc. can be applied here.

This type of strategy includes:

Strategy for strengthening market position. At the same time, “horizontal” activity occurs - the struggle with competitors for market share.
Strategy for finding new markets for already existing type goods.
Product development strategy.

Integrated growth strategies are activities to expand the structure of the enterprise. In this case, growth occurs due to “vertical” development. The enterprise may begin to produce new products or services.

This type includes:

Reverse vertical strategy - influence and control over suppliers, dealers, distributors and subsidiaries.
The strategy of forward vertical integration - the impact on the final buyers of the product.

Diversified growth strategies are used in cases where an enterprise does not have the opportunity to develop in the existing market with the product it produces.

As a result, one of the following marketing strategies may be chosen:

A typical product life cycle consists of several stages: development and implementation; height; maturity; saturation; decline

After a company has developed and created its product, it brings it to the market. Takes all possible measures to create demand for it and tries to win the trust of customers. At this stage, the company incurs high costs.

The growth stage is characterized by market perception of the product, increased demand for it, and increased sales and profits.

The maturity stage is when the company achieves maximum sales and profits due to the fact that the product is accepted by customers and there is demand for it; Competing products appear.

Saturation and decline are a sharp decline in sales and profits, a product is discontinued and (or) replaced with a more advanced one; the company's exit from the market.

It is quite difficult to determine where one stage ends and another begins, so a certain stage is usually distinguished by the clearly expressed indicators of each stage, i.e. when, for example, the volume of sales, profits, etc. increases or decreases.

The product life cycle is represented as a classic S-shaped curve. Although, to be fair, it should be noted that not all products are characterized by the above stages. Therefore, the marketing service must clearly understand the stages of the product life cycle and carefully monitor changes in the company’s key indicators in order to correctly determine the boundaries of the stages and, accordingly, make the necessary amendments to the company’s marketing program.

Bank marketing strategy

Competition policy acts as one of the strategic directions for the commercial direction of its activities and determines the fundamental approach to organizing the bank’s relationships with its competitors.

Banking competition is a continuous process of competition between credit institutions to ensure optimal operating conditions in the relevant segments of the financial services markets.

> universal banks;
> specialized banks (savings, mortgage, investment, clearing, etc.);
> non-banking (credit, pawnshops, investment funds, insurance companies, etc.).

NOTE: at the same time, specialized credit organizations, and for them, in turn, non-banking institutions, are more dangerous competitors for universal banks. This is determined by the degree of deepening specialization in the relevant market segments. Thus, in the short-term loan market individuals for urgent needs, a more dangerous competitor for a universal bank will be a savings bank, and for it a credit cooperative or simply a pawnshop.

OPTION 1: Aggressive competition policy.

Implementation principle: The option follows from and involves the active displacement of competitors from the selected market segment.

Advantages:

> if successfully implemented, it allows you to quickly improve the bank’s market position with subsequent financial results;
> this policy allows us to increase the overall level of the bank’s organizational and managerial culture as one of the necessary prerequisites for successful implementation.

Flaws:

> the need for significant preliminary costs to create the proper competitive potential of the bank;
> the threat of an adequate response from competitors, including in the form of combining their efforts to repel a common aggressor.

> for banks entering a highly competitive market;
> for large banks operating in highly competitive markets if they have favorable external and internal conditions.

NOTE: In none of the above cases can such a policy be implemented on a permanent basis. Immediately after achieving the set goals (entering the market or capturing an additional part of it), it is recommended to return to a more restrained and safer version of competition policy.

OPTION 2: Passive competition policy.

Implementation principle: The option follows from the reduction strategy and involves maintaining or slightly reducing the serviced market while ensuring the required level of competitiveness of the corresponding banking product.

Advantages:

> the least expensive version of competition policy;
> absence of any threats from competitors. The disadvantage is associated with the negative financial and commercial consequences of a shrinking market served.

> for any banks facing an unacceptable level of pressure from competitors;
> for banks whose mission and market behavior strategy does not imply the need to expand the served market;
> for large universal banks if their marketers identify unfavorable prospects for the conditions of the market they serve, which determine the need to withdraw part of their assets from it.

NOTE: Of the three options above, only the first is indirect evidence of the bank’s weakness and the fallacy of the strategy it previously implemented. In other cases, the competition policy he has chosen is quite adequate to the overall strategy, and therefore expedient.

OPTION 3: Offensive competition policy.

Implementation principle: The option follows from a strategy of limited growth and involves the gradual expansion of the served market without using methods of direct pressure on competitors.

The option is a strategic compromise that mitigates the disadvantages of polar options and does not fully ensure their advantages.

NOTE: the main problem associated with the implementation of this option is the choice of methods for expanding the serviced market that will not be perceived by other credit institutions as a manifestation of an aggressive policy.

Factors determining the choice of a specific competition policy option:

A). External (independent of the bank):
> current industry and regional conditions of the relevant markets (as the main factor);
> general situation in the economy;

NOTE: Thus, pursuing an aggressive competitive strategy associated with constant risks is categorically not recommended during the economic downturn. Similarly, pursuing a passive competitive strategy at the stage of economic growth would be an unsuitable option, since for the bank this is associated with large missed opportunities.

> current state.

NOTE: when choosing a competition policy option, the same factor is taken into account as the previous factor (at the stage of tightening tax and monetary policy, restrained behavior of all financial market participants is advisable).

B). Internal (determined by the conditions of a particular bank):
> financial capabilities (as the main factor);

NOTE: determining the real capabilities of the bank to create competitive potential, create special reserves and quickly maneuver assets in various market segments.

> current market positions of the bank;

NOTE: which, first of all, include the image in the eyes of clients, the actual market share served, the share of regular clientele, as well as the level of organizational and managerial culture.

> relations with competitors in the relevant market segment.

NOTE: there are four main types of such relationships - direct confrontation, fair competition, complete neutrality, hidden. Depending on the type of relationship with the majority of competitors, the appropriate version of the competition policy is selected (for example, in the absence of direct confrontation with the majority of rival banks, it should not be provoked by choosing an aggressive option).

Basic methods for implementing competition policy Methods of a financial nature:

> reduction of costs for the production of banking products, in comparison with similar costs of competitors;
> reducing costs for selling banking products.

NOTE: the specific conditions for the creation of a number of domestic banks discussed above determined their obvious competitive advantages in the area under consideration. So:

Banks holding monopoly positions in the market had the opportunity to attract funds into deposits at low interest rates;
- banks created by large corporations had the opportunity to attract funds by placing low-income funds among its other subsidiaries in the order of internal corporate redistribution of profits;
- banks supported by government authorities had the opportunity to use non-standard methods of attracting new customers, eliminating traditional advertising costs, etc.

Marketing methods:

> pricing methods (the most effective);
> assortment methods;
> advertising methods.

Organizational methods:

> introduction of a more efficient OSU model;
> development of a branch network, allowing entry into new regional markets (as the most expensive method);
> use of new organizational forms of customer service.

EXAMPLE: for individual servicing of a legal entity - a VIP client, an additional office is created, providing him with the entire possible range of services. An additional attractiveness of this organizational approach is provided by locating the office directly in the client's headquarters building.

Unfair methods of competition:

> banking intelligence;
> the use of hidden support from government bodies (especially characteristic of modern domestic conditions);
> abuse of its monopoly position in the market;
> poaching the most valuable employees;
> using the media to discredit competitors in the eyes of the state or clients;
> openly criminal methods (the least common today in both domestic and foreign markets).

NOTE: Such methods are contrary to banking ethics, but are actively used today in highly competitive markets. This primarily concerns business intelligence and poaching valuable employees. Only a few of them cause a sharply negative reaction from the banking community - deliberate defamation (dissemination of deliberately false information about competitors) and outright criminal methods (physical threats against the heads of a rival bank or the use of hired hackers to damage its computer networks).

Marketing communications strategy

Communication strategy (or communication policy) is part of the marketing strategy, which is a long-term plan for building and implementing the company’s marketing communications to ensure the achievement of strategic marketing and higher-level corporate goals. Accordingly, the goal of developing a communication strategy is to streamline and synchronize the company's marketing communications to ensure maximum efficiency of all communication activities as a whole in terms of achieving marketing goals.

Marketing communications is a broader concept than advertising and includes, for example, activities such as PR (public relations) or SEO (search engine optimization of a website), which do not belong to advertising in the traditional sense. A communication strategy allows you to consider all communications in their entirety, determine the place and importance of each campaign, correctly prioritize each of them and set the optimal sequence for their implementation.

When developing a communication strategy, it is necessary to take into account that building communications with consumers is perhaps the most creative process of all marketing activities, so here it is necessary to find a fine line between the necessary coordination of communication activities and unnecessary interference in the communications themselves. It is also important to understand that greater depth of time planning allows not only to determine the basic principles and priorities, but also to determine how they will change over time.

The communication strategy includes the following main elements:

* Goals – defining the overall goals of the communication strategy.
* Audience – target audience and its characteristics.
* Products and brands - general principles for choosing objects for promotion.
* Message – policy in the field of determining the content and form of communications.
* Budget – economic restrictions and general principles of budget formation.
* Communication channels – policy in the field of selection of media carriers.
* Measurements – general principles for determining the effectiveness of communications.

Marketing Strategy Assessment

Currently, many senior managers of Russian enterprises are trying to introduce strategic management into the activities of their organizations, which involves organizing the work of the enterprise in accordance with the chosen marketing strategy. The main idea of ​​strategic management is the idea of ​​an organic, consistent adaptation of the organization to a changing external environment, the idea of ​​a targeted approach to solving any management problems and organizing the management system as a whole.

There are three stages of the strategic management process:

Stage of strategic planning (strategy development, strategic analysis and choice);
- strategic organization or setting stage organizational system in accordance with the chosen strategy (strategy implementation, strategy implementation);
- stage of strategic control and regulation (strategy assessment, monitoring and evaluation of execution).

At the strategic planning stage, the strategies of the enterprise (at the corporate level) are determined by establishing its mission, analyzing strategic positions, studying internal and external factors and actions that can lead to the achievement, retention, development and competitive advantages.

The result of strategic planning is a developed strategy, on the basis of which the strategic management of the enterprise is carried out.

At the stage of strategic organization, all resources, internal connections, goals, tasks and areas of responsibility of employees are brought into full compliance with the chosen strategy. At the same time, the necessary organizational changes are carried out at the enterprise and a policy is developed for each of its structural divisions.

Strategy can be considered as a comprehensive plan for achieving the mission (main goal) of an enterprise. In form, a strategy is one of the management documents that can be presented in the form of graphs, tables, descriptions, etc. In content, strategy is a set of actions to achieve the goals of the organization.

According to the three-level model of strategic management proposed by Peter Lorange, strategies can be classified as follows:

Corporate strategies (that is, strategies that are common to the organization). The content of the corporate strategy is the general concept of the development of the enterprise and the regulation of the interaction of the enterprise's businesses - the business portfolio. Corporate strategies are aimed at achieving global competitive advantages, manifested in low costs or distinctive quality;
- business strategy (strategy for the areas of activity of the organization). Achieving the corporate goals of an enterprise depends on what kind of business and how the enterprise will engage in and what strategy it will choose for each type of business. At the business level, the enterprise's approach to achieving and maintaining competitive advantages in a specific area of ​​business is determined. Business strategies determine the behavior of an enterprise in the market for a specific product;
- functional strategies determine the directions of action in such functional areas as finance, marketing (marketing policy), research, etc. Their purpose is to ensure the solution of tasks set at the corporate and business levels with the highest possible efficiency. Their main difference from top-level strategies is their intra-production focus.

However, before developing a strategy on the basis of which the strategic management of an enterprise is carried out, it is necessary to assess the readiness of the enterprise for precisely this strategic approach to management.

The accumulated experience of conducting marketing audits by the consulting firm "Polimex" has made it possible to identify several signs, the degree of manifestation of which in the activities of an enterprise characterizes its readiness to use strategic management and planning, to work on a marketing strategy.

These signs appear at the enterprise to varying degrees and ultimately characterize its competitive advantages:

1) Definition of the mission. Having an idea of ​​the goals that the enterprise wants to achieve in the future, that is, having a developed mission of the enterprise, consistent with the claims of the owners and formalized in the form of a Mission Statement of the enterprise.
2) Definition of the goals and strategy of the enterprise, which must be formalized in the form of documents that consistently outline the concept of strategic management of the enterprise for a certain period.
3) Availability of a well-functioning mechanism for collecting, analyzing and processing marketing information. The managerial response to external threats should be ahead of their occurrence, based on the study of “weak signals”, i.e. signs of a possible threat, otherwise the most correct but delayed decisions become useless. The enterprise must be able to timely recognize problems and have a mechanism for solving them.
4) Work to improve the competitiveness of the enterprise. Having a clear and unified understanding of the competitive advantages and weaknesses of the enterprise. The enterprise must constantly search for new forms and types of activities to increase its competitiveness. Management's complacency regarding the competitiveness of the enterprise is an alarming symptom. A strategy, even the best one, must be constantly adjusted depending on newly received information, otherwise it may lose its effectiveness over time.
5) The adaptability of an enterprise to emerging opportunities implies the presence of resources of different composition and quality for the implementation of different market opportunities. The organization's potential must adapt to emerging opportunities in order to ensure a stable position in the market based on the development of goals and their timely adjustment.
6) The focus of current management on achieving the strategic objectives of the enterprise. Current management should be a continuation, specification of strategic management and carried out within the framework of the current strategy. In the absence of strategic management, the interests of functional units begin to prevail over the interests of the enterprise as a whole.
7) Organizational separation of strategic management tasks from operational management tasks. It's about on the delimitation of staff and line functions, the release of senior managers from solving operational problems. The same managers should not be allowed to deal with the tasks of strategic and operational management at an enterprise.
8) Availability of headquarters units providing in-house consulting on strategic development issues. Such divisions do not participate in solving operational management problems, but provide advice to senior managers on strategic management issues (for example, the strategic development department).
9) Inviting third-party consultants to solve non-specific problems. External consultants have a certain independence, and therefore, with a greater degree of objectivity, they can assess the state of problematic issues of strategic management at the enterprise.
10) Constantly informing staff about the strategic goals and plans of the enterprise. Periodic reminders to employees about the mission, information about the strategic goals and plans of the enterprise contribute to motivating higher achievements in the activities of personnel.
11) High level, providing for the harmonization of the interests of the enterprise and the interests of various groups and categories of employees.
12) The presence at the enterprise of an efficiently operating marketing department staffed with qualified personnel. This division (service) must form a marketing strategy based on accounting and analysis of factors in the external and internal environment of the enterprise.

The degree of manifestation of the considered signs in the activities of an enterprise best characterizes the level of its readiness to implement a strategic approach to management or the “strategicness” of the enterprise.

Identification of the degree of manifestation of signs characterizing the readiness of an enterprise to use the principles and methods of strategic planning and management can be carried out expertly using the Delphi method, which is one of the most common methods of expert assessment. This method belongs to the class of group expert assessment methods and is based on identifying a consensus collective opinion during an individual questionnaire survey of experts. At the same time, the Delphi method combines procedures for obtaining expert information with effective feedback, allowing experts to correct their judgments. One of the distinctive features of the method is the anonymity of responses, introduced so that experts’ judgments are based only on their own preferences and other opinions do not influence the expert.

Enterprise managers are used as experts, which ensures confidentiality and does not require additional time and resources required to attract third-party specialists. Enterprise managers have knowledge of local conditions and specifics, but, on the other hand, they are less prepared for expert work, which requires additional clarification of the essence and methodology of conducting an expert survey, as well as taking into account the characteristics of the answers when processing expert information.

Marketing strategies in crisis management

Developing a strategy is a complex and time-consuming process in itself. Marketing strategy is one of the guiding activities of an organization, since it determines the behavior of the organization in the market, which has to withstand many negative environmental factors. The goal of a marketing strategy is for the organization to occupy the most advantageous position in the market, as well as a set of measures to ensure the achievement of this position. This goal can generally be called the fundamental basis of a marketing strategy; in addition to it, other tasks can be set that are dynamic and, in the process of implementing the strategy, are adjusted in accordance with real market conditions.

A marketing strategy in its formation goes through 4 main stages:

1) analysis of the organization’s marketing capabilities - assessment of the organization’s strengths and weaknesses, its advantages from functioning in the market in question, possible threats and risks;
2) selection of operating markets - consideration of the positive and negative aspects of the market, its consumer composition, the need for products in which the organization specializes and, of course, analysis of supply and demand;
3) development of the main provisions of the marketing program - the formation of a pricing policy, methods of introducing a product to the market and its subsequent distribution, organizing control over the sale of products, defining an advertising campaign;
4) approval and implementation of marketing programs - justification of the formed programs from the point of view of crisis management and the overall strategy of the organization.

Since it is necessary to consider marketing strategies in the field of anti-crisis management, it should be noted that they occupy a significant place in the overall anti-crisis strategy and are often decisive in the question of how the organization will overcome the crisis.

It is most convenient to classify marketing strategies according to characteristics; in view of the above, the following classification can be presented:

1. Market strategies:
- a strategy aimed at occupying a larger market share;
- strategy aimed at obtaining (capturing) competitive advantages;
- strategy related to the development of a new market.

Market strategies are focused on the organization achieving a sustainable and most advantageous position in the market. The main criterion for assessing an organization's position in the market is its share in this market.

2. Integration strategies:
- macroeconomic strategy;
- microeconomic;
- regional;
- intra-industry;
- intersectoral;
- production strategy;
- strategy of the non-production sector.
3. Anti-crisis strategies:
- strategy aimed at preventing;
- strategy for overcoming a crisis situation;
- a strategy designed to eliminate the consequences of a crisis.
4. Strategies:
- strategy of production factors;
- strategy of financial factors;
- strategy of investment factors;
- strategy of personnel factors;
- strategy of information factors.

The above strategies (integration, anti-crisis and production factor strategies) are essentially the preparation of the socio-economic and legal framework for the planned major transformations.

5. Marketing strategies:
- commodity;
- price;
- branded;
- advertising.

Of course, this is not a complete list of existing strategies - these are the main types.

You can also distinguish strategies depending on the size of the organization, market structure, etc.

Using marketing tools in crisis management

Marketing is not only a system for monitoring and analyzing the market environment, but is also a management system.

Of course, this is not a priority management structure in the organization, but it should be noted that depending on the stage of crisis management, certain marketing means are used.

In light of this, we can distinguish 3 main states: pre-crisis management, crisis and post-crisis.

1. Pre-crisis management.

At this stage, the main objectives of marketing are to prevent a crisis situation and build basic strategic plans.

The main controls are:
- strategies aimed at preventing crises;
- strategic plans of the organization, business plans, preparation of advertising campaigns;
- formation of basic marketing strategies (market and strategies through marketing);
- development of labor incentive and motivation programs;
- diagnostics of the state of the business environment and risk factors;
- development of a decision-making program.

Such methods make it possible to study the main socio-economic trends, gain experience, which in future periods provides a faster and more effective response to the emergence of various situations in the market and, with the help of various management tools, allows one to avoid negative consequences.

2. Crisis management.

The main goal is the fastest and most painless way out of the crisis.

Anti-crisis strategies and programs to overcome the crisis;
- strategies aimed at reducing the negative impact of the crisis on the state of the organization;
- plans and strategies developed for each specific situation (if the crisis is deep enough);
- cost minimization programs;
- diagnostics of the most unstable structures.

In the field of marketing management, priority is given to situational programs, since they are more adapted to specific conditions and, therefore, are more effective.

3. Post-crisis management.

The emphasis is on rehabilitation and stabilization of the organization:

Stabilization programs;
- strategies aimed at updating problem areas;
- strategies aimed at assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the organization, as well as searching for new market opportunities;
- innovative business structures.

In crisis management, an important place belongs to such marketing tools as information and communication structures.

Information currently occupies a leading position in management, especially in anti-crisis management, where timely and accurate assessment of the situation is so important.

Since marketing itself involves market research, it is clear that the quality of the information received comes first, since anti-crisis strategies are developed and decisions are made on the basis of the data received.

Communication is a way of moving information through which connections are established. In crisis management, communications are a means of assessing and moving information primarily for marketing services; more precisely, communication is the main means of marketing for working with information. External types of communications are mainly used - direct interaction with market structures, the media, and the population.

Of course, there are also internal communications - these are relationships between departments and divisions of the organization), but priority still belongs to external ones. When working with information, the methods of its use and processing are of great importance. The effectiveness of use depends on the organization’s equipment with technical means and the latest developments, which significantly reduce processing time and improve the quality of the data received.

In crisis management, the role of effective communications increases sharply, since the correctness and direction of actions depend on the reliability and timeliness of information. Speaking about marketing means in anti-crisis management, one cannot fail to mention advertising as the most common and effective means of communication. Advertising is a type of communication that operates in the market and ensures the movement of goods to the consumer by providing information about the main characteristics of the product - of course, the most positive ones. Advertising establishes a relationship between producer and consumer, thereby being a means of management that ensures the development of production and market relations.
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Case on Marketing Strategy

The table shows various options for the state of demand for goods (services), as well as haphazardly located and not corresponding to a specific state of demand marketing strategy options:

1. Match (connect with lines with arrows) the options for the state of demand and the marketing strategy.

2.Explain the characteristics of the relevant marketing strategy.

Demarketing- marketing used in conditions of excessive demand. The task of demarketing is to find ways to temporarily or permanently reduce demand in order to eliminate a number of negative market phenomena. The main goal is to reduce excess demand. The program is implemented through increasing prices, reducing or stopping advertising, and selling licenses for the right to produce goods. Bearing in mind that marketing activities are relevant not only for companies that manufacture or sell goods, but also for humanitarian institutions or non-profit organizations, we will give an example of demarketing from the sphere of activity of government institutions.
Application: it makes sense to apply demarketing specifically in the military industry. For example, in the domestic economy there is increased militarization, which in any case provokes an increased demand for the construction of special facilities. The reason for this phenomenon may often be not the build-up of the country's military potential, but rather the maintenance of the existing one.

Synchromarketing- marketing used in conditions of irregular demand when trading goods of seasonal consumption, or subject to other cyclical or unpredictable downturns in the market. The task of synchromarketing is to find ways to smooth out fluctuations in demand using flexible prices, promotion methods and other marketing tools. An effective remedy synchromarketing is a sequential transition to various geographical and other market segments.

Application: synchromarketing can be used for investments in the agricultural industry, where, as a rule, seasonal fluctuations in activity are quite strong.

Adversarial Marketing- marketing used in conditions of irrational demand for products:

Harmful to health;

Irrational from a social point of view.

The main goal is to eliminate demand that is contrary to the interests of society. Enterprises stop producing such goods, control authorities withdraw them from trade, and campaign against the consumption of goods through the media. Among such goods, the first place is occupied by alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, etc. Counter-marketing tools are: price increases, restrictions on the availability of harmful products and discreditable information.

Application: adversarial marketing usually makes no sense in the capital construction industry. Although many hypothetically admit this, since when implementing and developing irrational projects, it is better to completely eliminate the overall demand for them.

Conversion Marketing- marketing used in conditions of negative demand, when a significant part of the market does not accept the product and may even pay a certain price for refusing to use it. The goal of conversion marketing is to change the negative attitude of consumers towards a product. The tools of conversion marketing are: product redesign, price reduction and more effective promotion. If the basis of negative demand is the advantage that consumers provide to imported goods or competitors' goods, then it would be appropriate in advertising to refer to prestigious customers who use the company's products, or to compare their products with competitive ones (domestic or imported).

Application: conversion marketing is applicable for the modern construction market, since the overall demand for it is rather negative due to the weak activity of the main production investments.

Remarketing- marketing used in conditions of falling demand. The goal of remarketing is to restore demand by rethinking the previously used marketing approach. Remarketing is about finding new opportunities to revive demand. The main goal is to restore demand, which has decreased. Methods: provision of goods of market novelty. Reorientation of the enterprise to new markets.

Application: remarketing can be successfully used for special social and cultural facilities. In order to increase demand for their construction, due to the country’s more pronounced investment policy and specific social orientation.

Supportive Marketing- marketing used in conditions of full demand, when the organization is satisfied with the volume of sales. The task of supporting marketing is to maintain the existing level of demand, taking into account changes in the system of consumer preferences and increased competition. Marketing tools in this case: carrying out a well-thought-out pricing policy, advertising, as well as controlling marketing costs.

Application: Supportive marketing can be used in the housing market. To be honest, at the moment, the opportunities for extensive growth are almost completely exhausted. But in Lately There is an interesting trend of shifting emphasis to more expensive housing.

Developmental marketing- marketing used in conditions of latent demand, when many consumers are not satisfied with existing products. The task of development marketing is to assess the size of the potential market and develop effective products that can turn demand into real demand. We are talking about creating new goods at a new quality level and goods in new areas of consumption.

Development marketing tools are:

- development of products that meet new needs;

- transition to a new qualitative level of meeting needs;

- use of advertising,

- creation of a product image focused on specific consumer groups.

Incentive Marketing- marketing used in conditions of lack of demand. The goal of incentive marketing is to find ways to link the inherent benefits of a product with the needs and interests of potential consumers in order to change their indifferent attitude towards the product. The main tools of incentive marketing are: sharp price reductions, increased advertising and other methods of product promotion.

Application: Incentive marketing is applicable for industrial construction, due to the almost complete lack of demand due to ineffective government policy.

3.Give examples various options marketing strategies.

An example of demarketing.
Hong Kong government officials say the city of six million will be transformed into one giant traffic artery and parking lot if proposals by car dealers and drivers' associations to build more flyovers, tunnels and multi-storey garages are accepted. Instead, it is proposed to set an annual quota on the number of cars that local residents can buy. In total, it is planned to allocate up to 24 thousand permits for the purchase of cars. True, there are serious doubts about the feasibility of this project.
And in the long term, it is proposed to introduce an ERP system - electronic control over motorists. Under this system, a “box” will be attached to the windshield, into which information about the payment of a deposit for entry into areas where traffic jams are greatest is entered. An electronic device installed at the checkpoint will withdraw a certain amount from the deposit each time the car crosses the boundary line. Exceeding the deposit amount will result in a fine for the owner.

(Production of confectionery products in Russia (excessive demand, low service culture)

An example of synchromarketing.

The decrease in sales of tourist packages in winter encourages travel companies to introduce a policy of preferential prices. It was at this time that invitations to vacation on the Adriatic coast changed with offers for quick and easy learning of English in London and Cambridge, special attention was paid to traveling during student holidays, and the like.

(Pre-holiday shopping, early vegetables, etc.)

An example of counter-marketing.

The transformation of rice into a monoculture in the south of the Krasnodar region or the use of tobacco products and alcoholic beverages.

An example of conversion marketing.

The influence of national traditions on the consumption of a given product, etc. Here, the task of marketing management is to develop a plan that promotes the emergence of demand for relevant goods and, in the future, its development to indicators of commensurate supply of goods.

(Reluctance to purchase potatoes from Belarus even when there is a shortage of them in the Far East and Arctic regions of Russia, to purchase technologically unseasoned reindeer skins when there is a shortage of sheepskins).

Remarketing example.

It is no secret that incidents of terrorist attacks against tourists in Turkey have largely turned German tourists away from this permanent vacation spot. An advertising campaign carried out by government tourism authorities, supported by attractive offers from Turkish private firms, provided an opportunity to successfully fill the vacant places with our compatriots.
The global market knows many examples of creating market novelty products as a concrete embodiment of remarketing.
As an echo of the “war against declining sales volumes,” “shot jeans” from the Jensen-Smith company appeared on the American market in the early 90s. This find caught on and replenished the already saturated market of jeans: “Levis”, the cut of which has not changed since 1843, Mustang - the style of cigarette Marlboro cowboys, High-society - the favorite jeans of even jeans sellers, jeans for stylish young people by Giorgio Armani.

The concept of "strategy" implies a method of action or plan, presented in a general form over a significant period of time. It can be developed in any direction. The main thing is that pre-thought-out actions contribute to the most efficient use of available resources and lead to the set goal.

As for the marketing strategy, it is one of the components of the company's overall strategy. At the same time, it contains a description of the methods that should be used by the company to increase sales profits in the long term. It is worth noting that the marketing strategy does not offer users any specific actions. She only describes them.

The Importance of Marketing

Any economic plan allows you to get an idea of ​​the company’s development prospects in the market, as well as the theoretical and practical aspects of its activities. And this can be done by marketing, which is the science of setting tasks and goals, achieving and solving them, as well as ways to overcome existing problems in an organization across the entire range of products over a certain time period. Why does a company need such a strategy? It allows you to achieve the maximum possible correspondence between available resources and the current economic situation. This is what will help the company conduct successful financial and production activities.

What are the features of a marketing strategy and what needs to be taken into account when choosing the most suitable one?

The essence of pre-planning

What is the main point of a marketing strategy? If we consider a specific market environment, then creating the right direction in it allows the company to develop as efficiently as possible. When forming such a strategy, an executive plan is drawn up that allows the organization to carry out its activities taking into account the chosen policy.

There is a very important element in marketing work. It is called marketing planning, thanks to which the company is able to constantly analyze the market, as well as learn about the needs of customers.

The business strategy developed by marketing makes it possible to offer products that would fully satisfy the demand of a certain group of consumers. In this regard, the main task that such a document sets for itself becomes clear. The action plans developed by the company are designed to identify both existing and potential markets for products.

When developing long-term plans in any economically successful state, it is always worth remembering that marketing products most often causes certain difficulties. Given the fierce competition in the market, the majority of enterprises prefer to produce and sell their goods themselves. They consider this method the most reliable for maintaining their leading positions.

Marketing tactics and strategies for successful businesses involve outperforming competitors, as well as strengthening their position in the future. You can only change the plans that were originally created in situations where:

For several years, the company did not achieve good results in terms of sales of goods and revenue generation;

There has been a change in the strategies of competing companies;

Some external conditions affecting the operation of the enterprise have been transformed;

A chance has arisen to implement new reforms that would be able to increase benefits and bring profit to the organization;

The company has achieved the goals outlined by the current sales strategy.

Marketing plans can also be adjusted due to changes in the market, which has begun to focus on other indicators. This could be the emergence of fundamentally new products, as well as the use of modern methods of bypassing competitors. An example of a company's marketing strategy can make it clear that the company, in its desire to sell a product, actively uses various directions at the same time.

Marketing Strategy Goals

Why are long-term sales plans created? From the example of the company’s marketing strategy, it becomes clear that they are intended to implement external program or market goals, namely for:

Increasing the organization's market share;

Growth in the number of clients;

Increasing the level of sales, taking into account their natural and cost indicators.

The marketing strategy also presupposes the achievement of certain internal program (production) goals. They serve as a continuation of the market ones. These plans reflect everything that the enterprise needs to achieve program goals. At the same time, the strategy does not take into account organizational resources, but takes into account the issue of ensuring the required production volumes. It is worth keeping in mind that this indicator consists of the number of sales, from which existing inventories are subtracted, summing the result with planned inventories. This also includes issues of creating new workshops, introducing the latest production technologies, etc.

Marketing planning also sets organizational goals for the enterprise. It looks at the structure of the firm, as well as its management and staff. If we consider the example of a specific company, a marketing strategy may, for example, plan to increase staff salaries to the level available in the organization that occupies a leading position in the market, and also provide for the hiring of several specialists with knowledge in a particular industry. In addition, long-term plans sometimes include the introduction of a system that allows for project management, etc.

An example of an enterprise's marketing strategy allows one to judge the company's financial goals. This section of the plans indicates all expected indicators in their cost terms. They include in their list: the amount of costs, gross and net profit, volume and profitability of sales, etc.

Types of Marketing Strategies

The company's long-term sales plans are classified according to various criteria. But the most commonly used categories are:

1. Integrated Growth. An example of developing a marketing strategy suggests that the company wants to expand its own structure, using “vertical development”, which involves the release of new services or products. If the integrated growth strategy is successfully implemented, then the company begins to exercise control over the branches of the enterprise's suppliers and dealers, trying to influence the end consumer.
2. Concentrated growth. An example of an enterprise's marketing strategy in this case indicates that within the framework of these long-term product sales plans, a change in the market is possible. In addition, such a strategy also provides for the modernization of goods. The main objective of the plans describing the concentrated growth of the company is the fight against competitors, as well as the desire to occupy positions in an expanded market share. This process is called “horizontal development”. This strategy allows you to improve the quality of existing products and find new markets for them.
3. Diversified Growth. An example of a marketing strategy in this area, as a rule, occurs in cases where a company currently does not have the opportunity to develop in a market environment with a certain type of product. The enterprise can make maximum efforts aimed at producing new products using its existing resources. At the same time, the received product sometimes has only slight differences from the old one, and sometimes it is completely different.
4. Reduction. An example of a marketing policy in this area may clearly indicate that the company is setting itself a goal aimed at increasing the efficiency of its work after a significant period of development. Here, for example, you can plan to reorganize a company by cutting down certain departments. Another option for such a strategy could be the liquidation of the company, which involves gradually reducing its activities to zero, which makes it possible to obtain maximum income.

Main directions of marketing strategy

After determining one direction or another, the company has the opportunity to focus not only on certain elements of the market environment, but also on its entire volume. At the same time, it becomes possible to implement the main strategic directions. Among them:

1. Mass (undifferentiated) marketing strategy. It is focused on the entire market environment without taking into account the differentiation of consumer demand. As a result of the application of this direction, it becomes possible to reduce production costs, which gives the product serious competitive advantages.
2. Differentiated marketing strategy. Its use allows us to judge that the company is trying to take positions in more market segments. To achieve this goal, it begins to produce products with attractive designs, high quality, etc.
3. Concentrated marketing strategy. When using it, the company focuses its efforts on only one market segment. The products produced are intended for a certain category of consumers. In this case, the emphasis is on originality. This type of marketing strategy is ideal for those companies that have limited resources.

In addition to all of the above categories, product sales plans can be price and product, branded and advertising. In this case, they are classified according to the means of marketing products that are mainly used by the company.

Let's look at the most modern examples of marketing strategies.

Positional defense

As you know, in order to protect yourself from enemies, a defensive fortress must be built. However, it is always worth remembering that a static defense that does not provide for any forward movement is a sure path to defeat. And if the marketing strategy adopted by a company is purely defensive, then it can be called short-sighted.

If we consider enterprises such as Coca-Cola or Bayer, then it can be argued that even in their work it is impossible to guarantee a stable income. A successfully developed marketing strategy (using the example of the specific Coca-Cola company) clearly adheres to the line of expanding the range of its products and developing new types of production. And this despite the fact that this company produces its products in huge quantities! Coca-Cola's share of the global soft drink market is almost 50%. But the marketing strategy that the company adheres to leads to the fact that it is actively buying up companies that produce fruit drinks. And this is in addition to expanding the range and introducing the latest technologies.

Flank protection

Companies that occupy leading positions in the market need a special marketing strategy. Its main goal is to create a “border service” and concentrate “combat-ready units” on the most vulnerable borders. But flank protection is considered the most effective, which provides for the conditions for the detailed development of all operations and their phased implementation. And in this case, we can give examples of failures of marketing strategies. For example, the main mistake of General Motors and Ford was the lack of proper training. At the moment when European and Japanese manufacturers began attacking the market, these firms did not take them seriously. As a result, American automobile companies lost part of the domestic market. After all, Japanese manufacturers have offered the American consumer vehicles that are compact. Such products have attracted interest from a wide range of car enthusiasts.

Pre-emptive strikes

How to develop a marketing strategy? An example of the organization of proactive actions can be found in the history of various companies. They come down to the use of several methods.

The first of them is similar to combat reconnaissance. For example, some firms affect one competitor in their market, attack another and pose a threat to a third. This disrupts their activities.

The next method is to attack on all fronts. An example of a project's marketing strategy using such actions is the decisive step of Seiko, which offered 2,300 models of its watches to distributors from all over the world. Texas Instruments can also be mentioned here. She successfully used price attack tactics. One of the most basic objectives of such a marketing strategy is to maintain a high competitive level of the company's products.

International Marketing Strategy

Marketing strategy in banking

When developing long-term plans for the implementation of services by financial and credit institutions, their inextricable connection with IT areas is primarily taken into account. Thus, the development of a marketing strategy using the example of Cetelem Bank indicates a constant increase in the use of information technologies.

This process will require an increase in the number of sales points, as well as the number of employees. The bank's marketing strategy also assumes a significant increase in costs for equipment, telephony and telecommunications. At the same time, issues of effective use of financial investments are considered. Despite the complexity of the task, most of the most key aspects of the bank’s developed strategy are being implemented within the scheduled time frame.