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Marketing Management
Philip Kotler, Kevin Lane Keller · 2015
In a sentence
A comprehensive managerial guide to modern marketing that frames marketing as a holistic, value-creating discipline tasked with identifying and meeting customer needs profitably amid the new realities of technology, globalization, and social responsibility.
Marketing Management, the field's market-leading text by Philip Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller, casts marketing not as a departmental afterthought but as a company-wide value-delivery process at the heart of strategy. Balancing classic frameworks—segmentation, targeting, positioning, the marketing mix, brand equity—with the new marketing realities of digital media, emerging markets, and corporate social responsibility, the book equips readers with conceptual tools and rich real-world examples to make rigorous, customer-centric marketing decisions. Through its holistic marketing concept (relationship, integrated, internal, and performance marketing), it shows how every choice about customers, brands, channels, communications, and pricing must reinforce one another to create, deliver, and communicate superior customer value at a profit. It is the definitive reference for understanding how to build strong brands, connect with customers, and grow a business responsibly for the long run.
The four lenses
- Science
- Statistics
- Systems
- Strategy
The model
A causal framework in which marketing design levers (STP, marketing mix, holistic marketing practices) operating under environmental conditions shape customer psychological and behavioral states (perceived value, satisfaction, engagement, loyalty), which in turn drive firm outcomes such as brand equity, customer lifetime value, and profitable growth.
Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning (STP)design lever
The strategic marketing process of dividing the market into distinct buyer segments, selecting the most attractive target segments, and crafting a value position in target buyers' minds that delivers key benefits; described as the essence of strategic marketing.
Marketing Mix Programs (Product, Price, Place, Promotion)design lever
The integrated set of consumer-directed activities a firm controls—product features, pricing, distribution channels, and marketing communications—deployed to provide and communicate value, updated in the holistic view to people, processes, programs, and performance.
Holistic Marketing Practicedesign lever
An integrated managerial orientation comprising relationship, integrated, internal, and performance marketing that recognizes the breadth and interdependencies of marketing activities so that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
Marketing Insight and Information Capabilitydesign lever
The firm's ability to gather, analyze, and act on internal records, marketing intelligence, marketing research, and demand forecasts to understand customers, competitors, and the macroenvironment and inform decisions.
Marketing Environmentcontextual condition
The external task and broad environment—demographic, economic, sociocultural, natural, technological, and political-legal forces plus technology, globalization, and social responsibility trends—that present opportunities and threats and condition marketing effectiveness.
Customer-Perceived Valuepsychological state
The customer's evaluation of the difference between the tangible and intangible benefits of an offering and its costs, primarily a combination of quality, service, and price (the customer value triad), which guides offering choice.
Customer Satisfactionpsychological state
A person's judgment of a product's perceived performance relative to expectations, ranging from disappointment when performance falls short to delight when it exceeds expectations.
Customer Engagementbehavioral pattern
The extent of a customer's attention and active involvement with a brand or communication, reflecting a more active response than a mere impression and more likely to create value for the firm.
Customer Loyaltybehavioral pattern
A deeply held commitment to rebuy or repatronize a preferred product or brand, reflected in repeat purchasing, retention, brand community participation, and resistance to switching.
Brand Equityoutcome metric
The added value endowed on products and services as reflected in how consumers think, feel, and act toward the brand, and in the prices, market share, and profitability the brand commands for the firm.
Customer Lifetime Value / Customer Equityoutcome metric
The net present value of the stream of future profits expected over a customer's lifetime of purchases, aggregated across customers into customer equity as a key intangible firm asset.
Profitable Growth and Firm Performanceoutcome metric
The financial and market outcomes of marketing—sales revenue, market share, profitability, return on marketing investment, and shareholder value—pursued responsibly with attention to social and environmental effects.
How they connect
- marketing insight capability → influences segmentation targeting positioning
- segmentation targeting positioning → influences marketing mix programs
- marketing mix programs → predicts customer perceived value
- holistic marketing practice → influences marketing mix programs
- customer perceived value → predicts customer satisfaction
- marketing mix programs → predicts customer engagement
- customer satisfaction → predicts customer loyalty
- customer engagement → influences customer loyalty
- customer loyalty → predicts customer lifetime value
- customer loyalty → influences brand equity
- customer lifetime value → predicts profitable growth
- brand equity → predicts profitable growth
- marketing environment → moderates marketing mix programs
- marketing mix programs → mediates customer perceived value
A candidate measure
Marketing Management — derived measurement candidates
Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning (STP)
Number and clarity of segments; Specificity of target definition; Distinctiveness of positioning
self-report suitability: medium
Marketing Mix Programs
Product line breadth; Price levels and discount frequency; Distribution intensity; Advertising/promotion spend and reach
self-report suitability: medium
Holistic Marketing Practice
Integration index across the four dimensions; Message consistency audits; Employee customer-orientation ratings
self-report suitability: medium
Marketing Insight and Information Capability
Research expenditure; Frequency of insight reports; Extent of data-informed decisions
self-report suitability: medium
Marketing Environment
Demographic indices; Economic indicators; Technology penetration rates; Regulatory event counts
self-report suitability: low
Customer-Perceived Value
Perceived value ratings; Quality-service-price evaluations; Stated willingness to pay
self-report suitability: high
Customer Satisfaction
Satisfaction scores; Net Promoter Score; Complaint rates
self-report suitability: high
Customer Engagement
Likes/shares/comments; Click-through and dwell time; User-generated content volume
self-report suitability: medium
Customer Loyalty
Repeat purchase rate; Retention/churn rate; Share of wallet
self-report suitability: medium
Brand Equity
Awareness and recall measures; Association strength; Brand valuation and price premium
self-report suitability: medium
Customer Lifetime Value / Customer Equity
Discounted future profit per customer; Aggregated customer equity
self-report suitability: none
Profitable Growth and Firm Performance
Sales growth rate; Market share; Profitability; Return on marketing investment
self-report suitability: none
The story
The reader A marketing manager or business student who wants to create demand, build strong brands, and grow a loyal, profitable customer base in a rapidly changing marketplace.
External problem
Customers, competitors, technology, and economic forces change rapidly, and there is little margin for error in choosing markets, features, prices, channels, and communications.
Internal problem
They feel overwhelmed by the pace of change and uncertain whether their marketing efforts will deliver demonstrable results and justify their budgets.
Philosophical problem
Marketing should not be reduced to selling or guesswork; it ought to be a disciplined, customer-centric value-creating endeavor that benefits both the firm and society.
The plan
- Develop marketing strategies and plans grounded in customer value.
- Capture marketing insights through information systems, research, and demand forecasting.
- Connect with consumer and business customers and build long-term loyalty.
- Build strong brands through segmentation, targeting, positioning, and brand equity.
- Create, deliver, and communicate value via products, services, channels, pricing, and integrated communications.
- Conduct marketing responsibly and measure its performance for long-term success.
Success
- A strong brand and a loyal, profitable customer base that drives sustainable growth.
- Marketing investments that are accountable, measurable, and value-creating.
- An organization aligned around delivering superior customer value responsibly.
At stake
- Being overtaken by upstart competitors and struggling for survival.
- Wasting marketing budgets on activities that cannot be justified.
- Failing customers, employees, and society by neglecting needs and responsibilities.
Related in the library
- Principles of Marketing
- Basic Marketing: A Marketing Strategy Planning Approach
- First, Break All the Rules_ What the World_s Greatest Managers Do Differently
- Internet Marketing Integrating Online and Offline Strategies
- Internet Marketing Made Easy
- Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers Into Friends and Friends Into Customers