Marketing Strategy

Module code: MK2145

Marketing strategy consists of decisions and actions focused on building a sustainable differential advantage, relative to competitors, in the minds of customers, to create value for stakeholders. Accordingly, in the Marketing Strategy module, we develop the principles, theory, concepts and practice of strategic marketing.

The key focus is on designing coherent marketing strategies and developing an understanding of how to implement them. Core to a marketing strategy are questions such as: Who are your customers? What value do you provide customers? And, what value do you earn from customers? Underpinning these questions is the recognition that all customers are different, all customers change, all competitors react, and all resources are constrained. The marketing strategist therefore has four key marketing decisions that they need to continually focus on: how to manage a heterogenous customer base, how to adjust strategies over time to adapt to changing customer needs, how to maintain sustainable competitive advantage, and how to manage resource trade-offs.

The approaches available to the marketing strategist are many, but the most elementary include segmenting markets, choosing target markets, and positioning the firm uniquely in the mind of the chosen customer group. In building marketing strategy competencies, we discuss the tools necessary for addressing marketing strategy challenges, including the analytic requirements that face the marketing strategist, and the potential instruments at their disposal for competing in heterogenous, dynamic, and competitive market environments.