STRATEGIC MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Lecture 1: Introduction
What Is Marketing Strategy?
1.1 Defining Marketing Strategy
Marketing strategy is the central concept of the course. Two key definitions frame the field:
"A thoughtful plan by a company to produce desired outcomes in the marketplace vis-à-vis
customers, channel members and competitors." - Kotler (2012)
"An organisation's integrated pattern of decisions that specify its crucial choices concerning
products, markets, marketing activities and marketing resources in the creation,
communication, and/or delivery of products that offer value to customers in exchanges with
the organisation and thereby enables the organisation to achieve specific objectives." -
Varadarajan (2010)
Key insight: There are no 'correct' decisions in marketing strategy, the quality of a strategy
depends on the fit between decisions, the market context, and firm resources.
1.2 What Makes a Marketing Strategy Great?
A strong marketing strategy is simultaneously(CDD):
- Coherent → An integrated, mutually reinforcing set of decisions, not a collection of uncoordinated
tactics
- Distinctive → Creates a sustainable competitive advantage that competitors cannot easily replicate
- Dynamic → Adapts over time as markets, competitors, and customer preferences evolve
A weak strategy is characterized by imitation of competitors, fragmented tactics, or poor
implementation of activities.
,1.3 Strategic vs. Tactical Marketing Decisions
Varadarajan (2010) distinguishes strategic decisions from tactical ones based on their long-term performance implications:
Strategic Decisions Tactical Decisions
Major, often irreversible resource commitments Short-term, adjustable actions
Long time horizon (multi-year impact) Annual or quarterly planning cycle
Made at senior/executive level Made by brand/product managers
Entail significant trade-offs Execute within strategic direction
Create distinguishable competitive advantage Optimize individual marketing mix elements
Examples of strategic decisions: launching a loyalty program, establishing a co-branding
partnership (e.g., MasterCard + Apple Pay), rebranding, entering new market segments,
divesting from a market. This course covers both strategic and tactical decision making.
1.4 The Marketing Strategy Domain (2026)
Based on Morgan et al. (2019), marketing strategy research covers two interconnected layers:
- Strategy: long-term, holistic directional choices for the firm
- Execution: translating strategic choices into operational marketing mix decisions (e.g.,
pricing by brand, advertising spend, sales force allocation)
These two layers are linked by competitive dynamics, market turbulence, and performance
outcomes (e.g., sales, loyalty, purchase intention).
,1.5 How Is Marketing Strategy Taught?
"In chess, one of the most common mistakes players make is to try an idea independent of the
circumstances, from a narrow point of view." - Bruce Pandolfini (2003)
The course uses two complementary pedagogical approaches:
• Content: Marketing theory and concepts across key strategic areas (pricing, innovation,
digital, sustainability, etc.)
• Process: Simulated strategic decision-making through the Markstrat© game, developing
analytical and managerial judgment
Varadarajan (2010) - Purpose and Context
Varadarajan, R. (2010). Strategic Marketing and Marketing Strategy: Domain, Definition, Fundamental Issues and Foundational Premises. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 38, 119–140.
Strategic marketing faces an identity crisis: scholars disagree on the domain of the field and even
the definition of 'marketing strategy.' This paper addresses four objectives:
- Delineate the domain of strategic marketing as a field of study
- Propose a precise definition of marketing strategy as an organisational construct
- Enumerate fundamental issues (research questions) of the field
- State foundational premises (universal principles) of marketing strategy
The field draws on three parent disciplines: marketing, strategic management, and industrial
organisation (IO) economics.
2.2 Domain of Strategic Marketing
Proposed Domain Statement
The domain of strategic marketing encompasses the study of organisational, inter-organisational and
environmental phenomena concerned with (1) the behaviour of organisations in the marketplace in
their interactions with consumers, customers, competitors and other external constituencies, in the
context of the creation, communication and delivery of products that offer value to customers in
exchanges with organisations, and (2) the general management responsibilities associated with the
boundary-spanning role of the marketing function in organisations.
, Characteristics of Strategic Marketing Decisions
Strategic marketing decisions are distinguished from non-strategic ones by:
- Resource commitments that are irreversible or very difficult to reverse
- Large magnitude resource outlays
- Long-term planning horizon
- Explicit trade-offs (choosing A means forgoing B, C, D)
- Interdependence with other strategic decisions
- Made at the highest levels of the organisation
Example: Boeing 787 vs. Airbus A380, a multi-billion dollar product decision that locked in
fundamentally different assumptions about how air travel would evolve. These are product
decisions (4Ps), yet unambiguously strategic.
Why Strategy vs. Tactics Is Not a Clean Divide
The literature inconsistently classifies marketing decisions as strategic vs. tactical. Some treat
STP (segmentation, targeting, positioning) as strategy and the 4Ps as tactics; others do the
reverse. Varadarajan follows Mintzberg (1987) in arguing that the distinction is not categorical
but a matter of degree → some decisions are simply more strategic (i.e., more consequential and
more difficult to reverse) than others. The word 'tactics' is arguably unnecessary.
2.3 Definition of Marketing Strategy
Proposed Definition (Varadarajan 2010)
Marketing strategy refers to an organisation's integrated pattern of decisions that specify its crucial
choices concerning products, markets, marketing activities and marketing resources in the creation,
communication and/or delivery of products that offer value to customers in exchanges with the
organisation and thereby enables the organisation to achieve specific objectives.
Unpacking the Definition
• Integrated pattern of decisions → strategy is not a single choice but a coherent,
internally consistent set of interrelated decisions
• Crucial choices → choices that are strategic in nature (major consequences, hard to
reverse)
• Products, markets, marketing activities, marketing resources → all four dimensions must
be addressed
Lecture 1: Introduction
What Is Marketing Strategy?
1.1 Defining Marketing Strategy
Marketing strategy is the central concept of the course. Two key definitions frame the field:
"A thoughtful plan by a company to produce desired outcomes in the marketplace vis-à-vis
customers, channel members and competitors." - Kotler (2012)
"An organisation's integrated pattern of decisions that specify its crucial choices concerning
products, markets, marketing activities and marketing resources in the creation,
communication, and/or delivery of products that offer value to customers in exchanges with
the organisation and thereby enables the organisation to achieve specific objectives." -
Varadarajan (2010)
Key insight: There are no 'correct' decisions in marketing strategy, the quality of a strategy
depends on the fit between decisions, the market context, and firm resources.
1.2 What Makes a Marketing Strategy Great?
A strong marketing strategy is simultaneously(CDD):
- Coherent → An integrated, mutually reinforcing set of decisions, not a collection of uncoordinated
tactics
- Distinctive → Creates a sustainable competitive advantage that competitors cannot easily replicate
- Dynamic → Adapts over time as markets, competitors, and customer preferences evolve
A weak strategy is characterized by imitation of competitors, fragmented tactics, or poor
implementation of activities.
,1.3 Strategic vs. Tactical Marketing Decisions
Varadarajan (2010) distinguishes strategic decisions from tactical ones based on their long-term performance implications:
Strategic Decisions Tactical Decisions
Major, often irreversible resource commitments Short-term, adjustable actions
Long time horizon (multi-year impact) Annual or quarterly planning cycle
Made at senior/executive level Made by brand/product managers
Entail significant trade-offs Execute within strategic direction
Create distinguishable competitive advantage Optimize individual marketing mix elements
Examples of strategic decisions: launching a loyalty program, establishing a co-branding
partnership (e.g., MasterCard + Apple Pay), rebranding, entering new market segments,
divesting from a market. This course covers both strategic and tactical decision making.
1.4 The Marketing Strategy Domain (2026)
Based on Morgan et al. (2019), marketing strategy research covers two interconnected layers:
- Strategy: long-term, holistic directional choices for the firm
- Execution: translating strategic choices into operational marketing mix decisions (e.g.,
pricing by brand, advertising spend, sales force allocation)
These two layers are linked by competitive dynamics, market turbulence, and performance
outcomes (e.g., sales, loyalty, purchase intention).
,1.5 How Is Marketing Strategy Taught?
"In chess, one of the most common mistakes players make is to try an idea independent of the
circumstances, from a narrow point of view." - Bruce Pandolfini (2003)
The course uses two complementary pedagogical approaches:
• Content: Marketing theory and concepts across key strategic areas (pricing, innovation,
digital, sustainability, etc.)
• Process: Simulated strategic decision-making through the Markstrat© game, developing
analytical and managerial judgment
Varadarajan (2010) - Purpose and Context
Varadarajan, R. (2010). Strategic Marketing and Marketing Strategy: Domain, Definition, Fundamental Issues and Foundational Premises. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 38, 119–140.
Strategic marketing faces an identity crisis: scholars disagree on the domain of the field and even
the definition of 'marketing strategy.' This paper addresses four objectives:
- Delineate the domain of strategic marketing as a field of study
- Propose a precise definition of marketing strategy as an organisational construct
- Enumerate fundamental issues (research questions) of the field
- State foundational premises (universal principles) of marketing strategy
The field draws on three parent disciplines: marketing, strategic management, and industrial
organisation (IO) economics.
2.2 Domain of Strategic Marketing
Proposed Domain Statement
The domain of strategic marketing encompasses the study of organisational, inter-organisational and
environmental phenomena concerned with (1) the behaviour of organisations in the marketplace in
their interactions with consumers, customers, competitors and other external constituencies, in the
context of the creation, communication and delivery of products that offer value to customers in
exchanges with organisations, and (2) the general management responsibilities associated with the
boundary-spanning role of the marketing function in organisations.
, Characteristics of Strategic Marketing Decisions
Strategic marketing decisions are distinguished from non-strategic ones by:
- Resource commitments that are irreversible or very difficult to reverse
- Large magnitude resource outlays
- Long-term planning horizon
- Explicit trade-offs (choosing A means forgoing B, C, D)
- Interdependence with other strategic decisions
- Made at the highest levels of the organisation
Example: Boeing 787 vs. Airbus A380, a multi-billion dollar product decision that locked in
fundamentally different assumptions about how air travel would evolve. These are product
decisions (4Ps), yet unambiguously strategic.
Why Strategy vs. Tactics Is Not a Clean Divide
The literature inconsistently classifies marketing decisions as strategic vs. tactical. Some treat
STP (segmentation, targeting, positioning) as strategy and the 4Ps as tactics; others do the
reverse. Varadarajan follows Mintzberg (1987) in arguing that the distinction is not categorical
but a matter of degree → some decisions are simply more strategic (i.e., more consequential and
more difficult to reverse) than others. The word 'tactics' is arguably unnecessary.
2.3 Definition of Marketing Strategy
Proposed Definition (Varadarajan 2010)
Marketing strategy refers to an organisation's integrated pattern of decisions that specify its crucial
choices concerning products, markets, marketing activities and marketing resources in the creation,
communication and/or delivery of products that offer value to customers in exchanges with the
organisation and thereby enables the organisation to achieve specific objectives.
Unpacking the Definition
• Integrated pattern of decisions → strategy is not a single choice but a coherent,
internally consistent set of interrelated decisions
• Crucial choices → choices that are strategic in nature (major consequences, hard to
reverse)
• Products, markets, marketing activities, marketing resources → all four dimensions must
be addressed
