New marketing, improved marketing, apocryphal marketing Is one marketing concept enough?

摘要

Purpose - This paper seeks to explore marketing's ambiguous relationship with truth and, in sorndoing, to question the efficacy and value of the marketing concept and the very nature of marketingrnitself. Is marketing something that marketers do, or is it something much broader than this? If thernlatter, are marketers themselves either willing, or able to operate beyond traditional boundaries and, ifrnnot, should they focus - honourably - on what they do best, and encourage/support others who mightrnmarket just as effectively, but in a different manner?rnDesign/methodology/approach - Starting with a summary of recent developments in marketingrnthought this paper argues that marketers find difficulty in implementing the marketing concept, andrnthat market-oriented compromise and pretence should consequently be abandoned. The thesis goes onrnto suggest that both "performance" and the "part-time" marketer should be given greater respect andrnallocated substantially more credence by all marketing communities.rnFindings - The argument concludes, ultimately, that marketing could find both greater respect andrneffectiveness by focusing its efforts more on the extremes of "marketing space", and that the presentlyrnenvisioned marketing concept offers scope only for a dispiriting and partially realised evocation of itsrnstated aims.rnPractical implications - Marketers should take marketing more seriously.rnOriginality/value - This paper seeks to add to current debates on marketing theory and will,rnhopefully, help inform ongoing exploration into the nature and role of marketing practice.