Executive Summary Marketing is a philosophy that leads to the process by which groups, organizations and individuals can obtain

what they want and need by identifying value, communicating it, providing it and delivering it to others. The core concepts are customers needs, wants and values; relationships, communications exchange and products. Much of strategic management is about identifying and describing the strategies that managers can pursue to attain superior performance and a competitive advantage for their organizations. Many of these strategies are generic. They apply to all types of organizations to ensure the performance desired is achieved. Strategic Marketing: Marketing trategy is a series of integrated actions leading to a sustainable competitive advantage. !t is a market"driven process of strategy development taking into account a constantly changing business environment and the need to deliver superior customer value. !t focus is on organizational performance rather than a primary concern about increasing sales. !ts aim is to deliver superior customer value by combining the customer"influencing strategies of the business into a coordinated set of market"driven actions. trategic marketing links the organization with the environment and views marketing as a responsibility of the entire business rather than a specialized function.

The process involved in Marketing Strategy: The strategic marketing process involves three phases. These phases include# planning, implementation and control. $lthough the planning phase is often referred to as the most important, each of the steps is e%ually responsible for the success of firm&s marketing strategy. Planning The planning phase is the most crucial stage in a firm&s strategic planning process. The first step is '(T analysis. !t will help the organization determine the current situation which is related to the market. This analysis helps to understand the internal and external factors which are favorable or unfavorable to the organization&s activities. !t can be done through analyzing a firm&s strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities. The results of this analysis directly help in the formation of a firm&s strategy which will aim to minimize threats while maximizing on opportunities as well as branding product and market opportunities. This information will also be the basis for setting a firm&s marketing mix or plan as well as setting realistic and attainable goals and ob)ectives. The next phase is to take a market"product approach and involves goal and ob)ective setting. This begins with understanding the consumer&s wants and needs and conducting a market research. *rom a strategic marketing perspective it is important to identify critical issues and attitudes related to the product amongst other things. The research process must reflect the individual needs of the product, and the external and internal competencies of the organization.

This will show and analysis of the organizations capabilities, differentiation, skills and technologies that set it apart from its competitors. +ata can also be used for setting goals and ob)ectives of a firm which can later be used as benchmarks for comparison in the control phase and will help in the development of goals and ob)ectives. $ business portfolio analysis is a good tool to use in order to determine whether a new product or ,- would be advantageous or not. The results will provide performance measures and growth targets for an ,-. This data is invaluable while an organization is trying to allocate business resources. $lso during the planning phase must identify the target market of the product or service. This involves identifying the segment of consumers who will potentially purchase firms product, or those who the strategic marketing process will be aimed at. $nother good tool that would be useful would be a market product analysis which would results with regards to the attractiveness of the potential product and the market in which it would exist. This would tell a firm which direction is has to go as in such areas as market and product development as well as market penetration and diversification. This will also help to decide on the positioning of your product or service. This is the process of deciding how to position product in the minds of your primary and secondary audience. This will take careful analysis of how the public views about the product or idea. The third and final phase of planning would be to decide on the marketing process. !n this step the marketing mix will also have to be set. This step involves deciding on strategies the product, price, place and promotion ./p&s0. The end result of the planning phase is to set measurable and attainable goals which can be measured in the control phase. The market research completed earlier in the planning phase will provide the necessary data to organize the marketing mix. trategies need to be analyzed and combines to properly set the marketing mix. The product is very important and must be desirable to the market segment specified during the planning stage. 1rice, promotion and placement must also be worked out bases on the data supplied through the planning phase.

Implementation The next step would be the implementation phase in which all the planning begins to turn into action. 2ere the firm obtains resources and designs the market organization which is then put into action. chedules are developed and the marketing programs are executed. The product or service will now be available to the public, at the places and prices decided upon in the planning stage. The implementation phase also re%uires close monitoring to make sure necessary changes occur if internal or external contingencies are affected.

Control The control phase involves comparing results against the goals and benchmarks set in the planning phase. This is where the organization evaluates its process, outcomes and consumer satisfaction. This will allow the firm to view the planning gap to see where the results deviated from the plan. The organization can then act on the data to exploit positive deviations while correcting the negative. This analysis and is necessary for a firm to ensure that their marketing plan is moving in the directions set out in the planning phase and critical for success in measuring whether ob)ectives were met.

The links between strategic marketing and corporate strategy: $s companies strive to ensure future growth and profitability, they are turning to their marketing organizations to accelerate and guide their paths. Marketing is expected to provide a competitive advantage in shaping not )ust brand and corporate positioning but also in driving corporate strategy and setting the agenda for innovation and growth. This is as true in organizations for which marketing is a relatively mature discipline as it is for companies that have recently adopted a more strategic approach to marketing. This is occurring at a very precarious time for marketers, who are simultaneously witnessing fundamental change to the channels, tools and measures that have defined their craft for generations. trategic Marketing is becoming a more critical and disciplined function which is reflected by the emerging role of the 3hief Marketing (fficer .3M(0 as one of the most important, dynamic and yet misunderstood positions within the corporation. Many companies have appointed top marketers, with nearly 456 of *ortune 7555 firms saying that they have a 3M( in place, but while studies indicate that the 3M( role is viewed as highly influential, much has been made of the relatively short tenure 3M(s are granted and the significant costs and disruption this turnover causes. !t is essential to understand the skills, experiences, and professional and personal competencies re%uired for marketing leaders to be successful. 3ompanies need to realize that while the title of 3hief Marketing (fficer is becoming increasingly common, the role itself can vary dramatically depending on the company, its management structure, the relative importance of marketing to its business model and the marketplace challenges it faces. trategic marketers build business plans from the perspective of core constituents# the customer, the channel or the consumer. They are business drivers who critically assess constituents needs, the competitive environment and the companys own competencies. They are champions of the companys brand value and play a pivotal role in leveraging this to the highest advantage. They possess both functional expertise as well as a broad and disciplined business perspective. *undamentally, they help discover new channels, products and services that fuel growth and differentiate their company in the marketplace.