John Fahy,
University of Limerick David Jobber,
University of Bradford
ISBN: 0077167953 Copyright year: 2015
Book Preface
Preface to the Fifth Edition
Since the last edition of this book, it has been another remarkable three years in the marketing landscape. In terms of practice, the pace of change continues to be relentless. Technology continues to revolutionize the ways in which both consumers behave and the ways in which organizations both respond to and, in some cases, lead this change. Social media continues to grow to become one of the most pervasive influences on consumer behaviour. The ‘old stalwarts’ like Facebook and Twitter (which in truth are just a decade old) have been joined by a variety of other social media platforms like Pinterest and Tumblr. Typical of the social networking platforms of today is WhatsApp, a messaging service that was bought by Facebook in 2014 for almost $20 billion. The company was founded in 2009 but, by the time it was sold, it had over 500 million users worldwide and just 32 employees. The scale of the business and its small employee base is indicative of many of today’s technology start-ups and highlights as well the ubiquitous nature of social networking.
Social media has significantly enhanced customer power. Recommendations on products and services can be found instantly by simply asking friends and contacts. Online reviews have become a key source of influence for consumers considering a purchase decision. With the rapid penetration of smartphones, these reviews can be accessed instantly right at the point of purchase with significant marketing implications. Bad customer experiences (as well as good) can be blogged or tweeted about often invoking immediate responses from service providers. Customers can also choose the extent to which they want to become involved with a brand, with many becoming powerful advocates for brands through their posts and comments on social media.
But technology has also provided organizations with enhanced power. The phrase ‘big data’ has entered the general lexicon in the past three years. With so much of consumer’s lives being lived through technology, data gathering, analysis, aggregation and distribution has become big business. In particular, aggregation of data about customers which has been collected across multiple platforms has enabled marketers to build up very accurate profiles of buyers to assist with their marketing efforts.
Changes in marketing theory moves in tandem with these changes in practice. While many of the fundamentals of marketing stay the same over time, new questions also arise and subtle changes continue to take place. Some of the questions that currently occupy the mind of marketing thinkers include the following, (i) how much control do organizations have over their brands in our current information-rich environment, (ii) have consumers become jaded by the efforts of organizations to market themselves and what factors influence a consumer’s sense of engagement with a brand, and (iii) what are the most appropriate metrics and analytics to be used by organizations as part of their marketing efforts. As we highlighted in the previous edition, organizations of whatever type need to be clear about what value they are offering and communicate this value to their audiences. But the process is no longer one-way. In a networked world, value is often co-created between organizational partners and often jointly by organizations and consumers. A value-centred approach to marketing is more important than ever.
The fifth edition
Some of the exciting features of the fifth edition include the following.
Digital Marketing
The rapid developments in theory and practice in the field of digital marketing means that we have included a full chapter dedicated to this subject.
A Focus on Value
Value remains the central theme of this book. As well as outlining the nature of customer value in Chapter 1, we have expanded this chapter to show how value plays a central role in an organization’s strategic activities.
Market Research
The chapter on market research has been extensively revised to include a discussion on the uses of ‘big data’ and market intelligence in market research.
Social Media Marketing
The nature of social media marketing remains a core focus throughout the book. We examine the effective social media marketing and also include 12 social media marketing vignettes. These contain insights on developing themes and effective practice and include questions for discussion and critical reflection.
Marketing and Society debates
The book emphasizes a critical approach to both the theory and practice of marketing. For example, throughout the book, nine marketing and society debates are highlighted. These inserts provide conceptual arguments both for and against certain aspects of marketing with questions added to encourage critical reflection and debate.
Learning about Marketing
Marketing is an interesting and exciting subject that is at the core of our lives both as consumers and as employees or managers in organizations. Therefore the focus of this book has always been on blending conceptual insights with the contemporary world of marketing practice. As such it retains the popular features of previous editions and adds several new ones.
Insights from the world of practice feature in myriad ways. Each chapter begins with a marketing spotlight focusing on the marketing activities and challenges facing some well-known global enterprises that sets the scene for the content that follows. In addition to the social media marketing inserts discussed above, there are 25 marketing in action vignettes that focus on the activities of a variety of organizations, large and small, public and private. Roughly one-third of these organizations are based in the UK/Ireland, one-third in Western Europe and one-third are from around the world giving a wide geographic breadth. Each of these inserts contains discussion questions designed to improve critical thinking and learning. New and updated end of chapter cases are included to provide more detailed problems for analysis and discussion.
Although the text is foundational, it also provides students with an introduction to many of the emerging themes in the marketing literature. Included, to name but a few, are consumer culture theory, semiotics, multisensory marketing, experiential marketing, search engine optimization, ambient marketing, value co-creation, marketing metrics, and so on. These concepts are presented in an accessible way to enable students to learn both the classic and contemporary elements of effective marketing.
2015 McGraw-Hill Education Europe