Marketing Strategy Paperback – November 17, 1997

This publication is wonderful. I have a consumer insights and marketing background in the packaged goods industry and I consider this book everything I've been looking for. It offers an invaluable perspective and opportunity to take your game to the next level. The analyst in me would love to validate some of these concepts and see some of the prior work done in that areas, but they make fantastic sense based on my extensive experience in the field. The material is a bit dated, but still highly relevant. If you want to understand marketing and business strategy on a higher plane and still want something practical, this publication has my endorsement. Kudos Steven Schnaars! Be great to meet you someday.

Professor Schnaars provides a high-level overview of marketing. This book reviews major concepts, with an emphasis on economic models and the history of marketing. Dr. Schnaars traces the marketing concept to Peter Drucker, Ted Levitt and John McKittrick, all of who agreed in the 1950s that the purpose of business is to create satisfied customers while earning a profit. This customer orientation led to American dominance in consumer products in the 1960s, and then gave way to competitive strategy as the focus in the 1970s. Criticisms of the marketing concept include the fact that people cannot articulate or imagine unknown products, and the fact that technology innovations often leads to new markets and large profitable firms (e.g., Microsoft, Google). Today, teamwork, speed and flexibility are seen as keys to marketing success.The book covers many standard marketing models, including Environmental Analysis; Porter's 5 Forces and Generic Strategies; the Experience Curve; Boston Consultant's Growth-Share Matrix; and Treacy and Wiersema's Three Value Disciplines. Marketing Strategy also covers standard marketing topics such as segmentation, differentiation, branding, market share strategies, market timing, strategies for the product lifecycle, incumbent inertia, first-mover advantages, customization, customer satisfaction, and the explosion of choice. And I have found Schnaar's set of ten differentiation strategies to be very useful:- Superior Performance- Superior Design & Styling- A Product for Every Purpose- On-The-Edge" Product Innovations- Luxury Goods and Services- Popular Mass-Market Brand Names- Exceptional Service- Greater Reliability and Durability- Convenience- Unique Distribution Channels- Price as Point of DifferentiationIf you are looking for a high level overview of marketing, Marketing Strategy is a great place to start. The book is well written, compact, and free of any consulting agenda. In addition to this option, investigage these books:Kotler on MarketingMarketing Myopia (Harvard Business Review Classics) (Harvard Business Review Classics)