From Brand Values to Customer Value
From brand values to customer value
Martin Christopher
Recently there has been a growing tide of articles, papers and even conferences devoted to the question of the future of marketing (see, for example Brady and Davis, 1993; Coopers & Lybrand, 1993; Mitchell, 1994). Essentially, the point at issue is whether “traditional” marketing is appropriate for the conditions that now prevail in the late twentieth century. The basic principle of marketing still applies, that is the focus of the business on the satisfaction of customer needs, but, it is argued, the way in which marketing is practised may need to change fundamentally. It has to be recognized that there have been some radical changes in the marketing environment since marketing first came to prominence in the early 1960s. Organizations which had even the most rudimentary understanding of the marketing concept were able to reap the harvest of fast-growing markets comprising customers who had money to spend. In such conditions it was easy to believe that the company’s marketing effort was the main driver of this success. In reality that success was due as much to the fact that the business was being carried along with the tidal wave of market growth. The most significant change to impact western companies has been the maturing of the markets in which they compete. Mature markets have certain characteristics which mark them out as being significantly different from growth markets. Chief among the characteristics of mature markets are: • Customer sophistication. In the majority of western economies, today’s customer and consumer has seen it all, they have been there and “bought the T-shirt”. In industrial markets, as well as fast-moving consumer goods markets, the supplier is now faced with a buyer who is much more demanding and less easily persuaded by marketing “hype”. One consequence of this change is the gradual decline in brand loyalty in many markets (Industry Week, 1993). Decline in the impact of
Martin Christopher
Recently there has been a growing tide of articles, papers and even conferences devoted to the question of the future of marketing (see, for example Brady and Davis, 1993; Coopers & Lybrand, 1993; Mitchell, 1994). Essentially, the point at issue is whether “traditional” marketing is appropriate for the conditions that now prevail in the late twentieth century. The basic principle of marketing still applies, that is the focus of the business on the satisfaction of customer needs, but, it is argued, the way in which marketing is practised may need to change fundamentally. It has to be recognized that there have been some radical changes in the marketing environment since marketing first came to prominence in the early 1960s. Organizations which had even the most rudimentary understanding of the marketing concept were able to reap the harvest of fast-growing markets comprising customers who had money to spend. In such conditions it was easy to believe that the company’s marketing effort was the main driver of this success. In reality that success was due as much to the fact that the business was being carried along with the tidal wave of market growth. The most significant change to impact western companies has been the maturing of the markets in which they compete. Mature markets have certain characteristics which mark them out as being significantly different from growth markets. Chief among the characteristics of mature markets are: • Customer sophistication. In the majority of western economies, today’s customer and consumer has seen it all, they have been there and “bought the T-shirt”. In industrial markets, as well as fast-moving consumer goods markets, the supplier is now faced with a buyer who is much more demanding and less easily persuaded by marketing “hype”. One consequence of this change is the gradual decline in brand loyalty in many markets (Industry Week, 1993). Decline in the impact of
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