117

Megamarketing

Philip Roller

"Megamarketing impingeson the responsibilities

of some nonmarketing executives andargues that marketers

should feel comfortable using power toaccomplish their purposes."

Successful marketing is increasinglybecoming a political exercise, as two recent episodes-one international and the other domestic-illustrate:

D Pepsi-Cola outwitted its arch rival,Coca-Cola, by striking a deal to gain entry into India'shuge consumer market of 730 million people. Coca-Cola bad dominated tbe Indian soft drink market untilit abruptly witbdrew from India in 1978 in protest overIndian government policies. Coca-Cola, along withSeven-Up, tried to reenter, but hard work and effectivepolitical marketing gave Pepsi the prize.

Pepsi worked with an Indian group toform a joint venture with terms designed to win gov-ernment approval over the opposition of both domesticsoft drink companies and anti-MNC legislators. Pepsioffered to help India export its agro-based products in avolume that would more than cover the cost of import-ing soft drink concentrate. Furthermore, Pepsi prom-ised to focus considerable selling effort on rural areasas well as major urban markets. Pepsi also offered tobring new food processing, packaging, and water treat-ment tecbnology to India. Clearly, Pepsi-Cola orches-trated a set of benefits tbat would win over various in-terest groups in India.

D Citicorp, tbe U.S. banking giant, hadbeen trying for years to start full-service banking inMaryland. It had only credit card and small service op-erations in the state. Under Maryland law, out-of-statebanks could provide only certain services and were

Mr. Kotler is the Harold T. Martin Professorof Marketing at the Kellogg Graduate School of Manage-ment at Northwestern University. He is coauthor (withLiam Fahey and Somkid Jatusripitak) of The New Compe-tition (Prentice-Hall. 1985). a book about Japanese market-ing strategies for entering, penetrating, and dominatingglobal markets. He has written eight previous HBRarticles.

barred from advertising, setting up branches, and othertypes of marketing efforts.

In March 1985, Citicorp offered to builda major credit card center in Maryland tbat would cre-ate 1,000 white-collar jobs and further offered the state$ 1 million in cash for the property where it would lo-cate. By imaginatively designing a proposal to benefitMaryland, Citicorp will become the first out-of-statebank to provide full banking services tbere.

These two instances demonstrate thegrowing need for companies that want to operate incertain markets to master the art of supplying benefitsto parties other than target consumers. This need ex-tends beyond the requirements to serve and satisfynormal intermediaries like agents, distributors, anddealers. I am talking about third parties-govemments,labor unions, and otber interest groups - tbat, singly orcollectively, can block profitable entry into a market.Tbese groups act as gatekeepers, and tbey are growingin importance.

Markets characterized by high entrybarriers can be called blocked or protected markets. Inaddition to the four Ps of marketing strategy—product,price, place, and promotion-executives must add twomore-power and public relations. I call sucb strategicthinking megamarketing.

Marketing is the task of arranging need-satisfying and profitable offers to target buyers. Some-times, however, it is necessary to create additionalincentives and pressures at the right times and in theright amounts for noncustomers. Megamarketing thustakes an enlarged view of the skills and resources need-ed to enter and operate in certain markets. In additionto preparing attractive offers for customers, megamar-keters may use inducements and sanctions to gain thedesired responses from gatekeepers. I define megamar-keting as the strategically coordinated application ofeconomic, psychological, political, and public relations

118 Harvard Business Review March-April 1986

skills to gain the cooperation of a number of parties inorder to enter and/or operate in a given market. Mega-marketing challenges are found in both domestic andinternational situations.

This article describes marketing situa-tions that call for megamarketing strategies and showshow companies can organize their power and publicrelatioiis resources to achieve entry and operating suc-cess in blocked tnarkets.

Strategies for entry

As they mature, markets acquire a fixedset of suppliers, competitors, distributors, and custom-ers. These players develop a vested interest in preserv-ing the market's closed system and seek to protect it;)gainst intruders. They are often supported by govern-ment regulatory agencies, labor unions, banks, andother institutions. They may erect visible and invisibleharriers to entry: taxes, tariffs, quotas, and compliancerequirements.

Examples of such closed marketsabound. A long-standing complaint agamst Japan con-cerns the visible and invisible barriers that protectmany of its markets. Besides facing high tariffs, foreigncompanies encounter difficulty in signing up goodJapanese distributors and dealers, even when the non-Japanese companies offer superior products and bettermargins. Motorola, for example, fought for years to sellits telecommunications equipment in Japan. It suc-ceeded only by influencing Washington to apply pres-sure on Japan and by redesigning its equipment tocomply with Japan's tough and sometimes arbitrarystandards.

Other countries as well are erecting bar-riers to the free entry of foreign competitors to protecttheir manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and deal-ers. France, for example, bas adopted a number of offi-cial and unofficial measures to limit the number of Jap-anese cars and consumer electronics products enteringits market. France for a time routed Japanese video-cassette recorders into Poitiers, a medium-sized inlandtown, tor record keeping and inspection purposes; onlytwo inspectors were assigned to handle the mountingvolume of Japanese goods. The goods sat in customs forso long that Japan's market share and profits were se-verely restricted.

A\ilhor'.s note: i thank Professor Nikhilesh Dholakia of ihcUmvorHity oi Rhode Island. Priilessor D.ivid Ford iit rhcUniversity oi Baih, Englarn!, Clivt Purtcr ui Morkeiins Seience(mcmarional of Austiaiia, and Pioftssiir H.insThorellmf IndianUniveriiitv hi their helpful comments.

The British and French developers ofthe Concorde airplane encountered obstacles in theirefforts to obtain landing rights to serve a number ofcities; most prominent among the opposition wereentrenched airUnes and protesters against noise. TheConcorde group, which needed to sell 64 planes tobreak even, sold only 16; the result was the costliestnew product failure in history.

Of course, companies that have troublebreaking into new markets aren't always victims ofblocked markets. The problem may be inferior prod-ucts, overpricing, financing difficulties, unwillingnessto pay taxes or tariffs that other companies pay, or pro-tection of the market by a legitimate patent. By blockedmarkets, I mean markets in which the established par-ticipants or approvers have made it difficult for compa-nies with similar or even better marketing offers toenter or operate. The barriers may include discrimina-tory legal requirements, political favoritism, cartelagreements, social or cultural biases, unfriendly distri-bution channels, and refusals to cooperate. These createthe challenge that megamarketing has to overcome.

How can companies break into blockedmarkets? Tbere is usually an easy way and a hard wayThe easy way is to offer many concessions, thus mak-ing it almost unprofitable to enter tbe market. Japanrecently won a coveted contract in Turkey to build a3,576-foot suspension bridge spanning the BosporusStrait. Its bid was so low that both the competitors andthe Turks were startled; the rivals were left grumblingabout unfair competition. Complained the manager ofCleveland Bridge & Engineering, "It would be cheaper|for Japan] to go to the Turks and say, 'We'll give you thebridge.'"

The hard way is to formulate a strategyfor entry, a task calling for skills never acquired bymost marketers through normal training and experi-ence. Marketers are trained primarily in the use of thefour Ps: product, price, place, and promotion. Theyknow how to create a cost-effective marketing mixthat appeals to customers and end users. But custom-ers and end users are not always the main problem.When a huge gate blocks the company's path into themarket, it needs to blast the gate open or at least findthe key so that its goods can be offered to potentialcustomers.

To further complicate matters, not onebut several gates must be opened for the company toreach its goal of selling in the blocked market. Thecompany must identify each gatekeeper and convert itby applying influence or power

Moreover, the strategic marketing effortdoes not end with successful entry into the protectedmarket. The company must know how to stay in aswell as break in. Indian government regulations forcedCoca-Cola and IBM to leave the country after manyyears of operating there. Today IBM in France is doing

Megamarketing 119

Exhibit I Fre^taste's megamarketing challenge

Cooperationcampaign

Segmentationcampaign

Ministry ofHealth

Dairyfarmers

its best to withstand French protectionist sentiment;its program includes political and public opinionstrategies.

Megamarketing skills

The following two examples help illus-trate megamarketing problems and the skills needed tocope successfully.

Freshtaste & the Japanesemarket

Freshtaste, a U.S. manufacturer of milk-sterilizing equipment, wants to introduce its equip-ment into Japan but has encountered numerous prob-lems.' Sterilized milk is a recent innovation tbat offerstwo main advantages over fresh milk: it can be storedat room temperature for up to three months and bastwice tbe refrigerated shelf life of ordinary milk afterthe package is opened. Fresbtaste has developed supe-rior equipment for sterilizing milk that avoids the un-pleasant side effects of sterilization-a cooked andslightly burnt taste and a filminess that lingers in themouth after tbe milk is swallowed.

In searching for new markets for itsequipment, the company sees Japan as a good candi-date. Japan bas a large population, a low but growingrate of per capita milk consumption, and a limitedavailability of fresh milk. As Freshtaste sets out to sell

its equipment to large Japanese dairies, it encountersthe following obstacles:

1 It has to develop an advertising cam-paign to change Japanese milk consumption hahits andconvince Japanese consumers of the advantages of buy-ing and drinking sterilized milk.

2 Tbe Consumers' Union of Japan op-poses the product because of concerns about sterilizedmilk's safety.

3 Dairy farmers located near large citiesoppose tbe distribution of sterilized milk. They fearcompetition from faraway dairies, since sterilized milkhas a long inventory life and can be shipped longdistances.

4 Several large retailers say they will notcarry sterilized milk because of interest-group pres-sure. Milk specialty stores, which thrive on home de-liveries, also oppose tbe introduction of sterilizedmilk.

5 The Health and Welfare Ministry andtbe Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry have indi-cated they will wait and gauge consumer acceptance ofsterilized milk before taking action to approve or dis-approve general distribution.

Freshtaste must thus undertake cam-paigns tailored to each barrier, as shown in Exhibit I. Itmust seek cooperation from tbe ministry of bealtb; at-tract support from favorable segments of dairy fanners,wholesalers, and retailers; and educate Japanese con-sumers. The company faces a formidable megamarket-ing problem calling for adroit political and public rela-tions skills as well as normal commercial ones. It mustbe sure tbat tbe Japanese market is large enougb, andthe probability of successful entry bigb enougb, to jus-tify the cost and time involved in trying to enter thismarket.

Japanese consumer electronicsin India

Japanese companies have coped witbblocked markets in ingenious ways. India, for example,banned the import of luxury consumer electronicsproducts in a drive to conserve its foreign bard curren-cy and protect its fledgling home consumer electronicsindustry. Yet Japanese companies like Sony, Panasonic,and Toshiba bave taken steps to pry open the Indianmarket, bowever sligbtly, to its brands of televisions,videocassette recorders, and stereos,-

Althougb many Japanese consumerelectronics products are not officially available in India,several Japanese companies advertise their products inIndian newspapers and magazines in order to build

[10 Harvard Business Review March-April 1986

preference for them should they become available at alater date. In the meantime, this advertising influencesthe selection of Japanese products by Indian tourists inSri Lanka, Singapore, and other free markets as well asby Indian workers laboring in other countries, Further-more, some Japanese products enter the Indian mar-ket unofficially and are immediately purchased by con-sumers.

In addition, the Japanese governmentsupports Japanese companies by lobbying the Indiangovernment for a relaxation of the ban or for its trans-formation into quotas or normal tariffs. In retum, Japanoffers to buy more Indian goods and services.

Thus, although Japanese businesses can-not export certain products to India, they have pursuedmegamarketing actions on several fronts to gain accessto this vast and fertile market.

Megamarketing vs.marketing

Although companies face a growingnumber of blocked markets, they are rarely organizedto develop or execute megamarketing strategies. Bycomparing megamarketing with marketing, Exhibit IIsuggests why. The comparison means reviewing ele-mentary aspects of marketing, but the review is neces-sary to evaluate megamarketing effectively.

Marketing objective. In normal market-ing situations, a market already exists for a given prod-uct category. Consumers understand that category andsimply choose among a set of brands and suppliers. Acompany entering the market will define a target needor customer group, design the appropriate product, setup distribution, and establish a marketing communica-tions program. On the other hand, megamarketers facethe problem of first gaining market access. If the prod-uct is quite new, they must also be skilled in creatingor altering demand. This requires more skill and timethan simply meeting existing demand.

Parties involved. Marketers routinelydeal with several parties; customers, suppliers, distrib-utors, dealers, advertising agencies, market researchfirms, and others. Megamarketing situations involveeven more parties: legislators, government agencies,political parties, pubHc-interest groups, unions, andchurches, among others. Each party has an interest inthe company's activity and must be sold on support-ing, or at least not blocking, the company. Megamar-keting is thus a greater multiparty marketing problemthan marketing.

Marketing tools. Megamarketing in-volves the normal tools of marketing (the four Ps( plustwo others: power and public relations.

1 Power. The megamarketer must oftenwin the support of influential industry officials, legis-lators, and government bureaucrats to enter and oper-ate in the target market. A pharmaceutical companyfor example, that is trying to introduce a new birthcontrol pill into a country will have to obtain the ap-proval of the country's ministry of health. Thus themegamarketer needs political skills and a politicalstrategy.

The company must identify the peoplewith the power to open the gate. It must determine theright mix of incentives to offer. Under what circum-stances will the gatekeepers acquiesce? Is legislator Xprimarily seeking fame, fortune, or power? How canthe company induce this legislator to cooperate? Insome countries, the answer may be with a cash payoff(a hidden P). Elsewhere, a payoff in entertainment,travel, or campaign contributions may work. Essen-tially, the megamarketer must have sophisticated lob-bying and negotiating skills in order to achieve the de-sired response from the other party without givingaway the house.

2 Public relations. Whereas power is apush strategy, public relations is a pull strategy Publicopinion takes longer to cultivate, but when energized,it can help pull the company into the market.

Indeed, power alone may not get a com-pany into a market or keep it there. In the late 1960s,for example, Japanese chemical companies receivedpermission to open chemical factories in Korea by ex-ploiting Korea's desperate need to expand its heavy in-dustry. They played the power game with the Koreangovernment by offering technological assistance, newjobs, and side payments to government officials. In theearly 1970s, however, the Korean media accused Japa-nese factories of exposing young female workers totoxic chemicals; most of them became barren. The Jap-anese companies tried to pay government officials toquiet the media but they couldn't silence public opin-ion. They should have paid more attention to estab-lishing responsible production methods and cultivat-ing the public's goodwill.

Before entering a market, companiesmust understand the community's beliefs, attitudes,and values. After entering, they need to play the role ofgood citizen by contributing to public causes, spon-soring civic and cultural events, and working effec-tively with the media. Olivetti, for example, has won agood name in many markets by making large contribu-tions to worthwhile causes in host countries. It hasshown skill in the strategic management of its corpo-rate public ima^e.

Megamarketing 121

Exhibit II Marketing and megamarketing contrasted

Marketing Megamarketing

Marketingobjective

To satisty consumerdemand

To gain market access inorder to satisfy consumerdemand or to create oralter consumer demand

Partiesinvolved

Consumers, distributors,dealers, suppliers,marketing firms, banks

Normal parties plus legis-lators, government agen-cies, labor unions, reformgroups, general public

Marketing Markel research, producttools development, pricing,

distribution planning,promotion

Normal lools plus the useof power and publicrelations

Type ofInducement

Positive and officialinducements

Positive inducements{otticial and unofficial) andnegative inducements(threats)

Timeframe

Short Much longer

Investmentcost

Personnelinvolved

Low Much higher

Marketers Marketers plus companyofficers, lawyers, publicrelations and public affairsstaff

Type of inducement. Marketers aretrained primarily in the art ot using positive induce-ments to persuade other parties to cooperate. They be-lieve in the voluntary exchange principle: each partyshould offer sufficient benefits to the other to motivatevoluntary exchanges.

Megamarketers, however, often findthat conventional inducements are insufficient. Theother party eitber wants more than is reasonable orrefuses to accept any positive inducement at all. Thusthe company may have to add unofficial payments tospeed the approval process. Or it may threaten to with-draw support or mobilize opposition to the other party.The relationships of auto manufacturers with theirfranchised dealers and of drugstore chains witb somepbarmaceutical manufacturers demonstrate howcompanies use raw power from time to time to gaintheir ends.'

Although companies occasionally usenegative as well as positive inducements, most expertsbelieve that positive inducements are better in thelong run.'̂ Negative inducements are ethically ques-tionable and may produce resentment tbat can back-fire on tbe marketer.

Time frame. Most product introduc-tions take only a few years. Megamarketing cballenges,on the otber band, usually require much more time.Numerous gates have to be opened, and if the product

is new to the public, much work has to he done to edu-cate the target market.

Investment cost. Because the effortmust be sustained over a long period and may entailside payments to secure tbe cooperation of various par-ties, megamarketing involves bigber costs as well asmore time.

Personnel involved. Marketing prob-lems are normally handled hy a product manager, whodraws on the services of advertising specialists, marketresearchers, and other professionals. Megamarketingproblems require additional skilled persomiel, both in-side and outside the company: top managers, lawyers,public relations and public affairs professionals. Mega-marketing planning and implementation teams arelarge and require much coordination. For example,when KLM, the Dutch airline, sougbt landing rights inTaiwan, the company's president participated, its inter-national department exploited its contacts witb Tai-wan officials, its public relations department put outfavorable news stories and arranged news conferences,and its lawyers participated in the negotiations tomake sure tbe contracts were sound.

Altbough new skills are required toenter blocked markets, marketing professionals neednot be specially trained in the additional skills. Rather,they need to broaden their view of what it takes to en-ter these markets and to coordinate various specialiststo achieve the desired goals.

Marketers as politicalstrategists

Few marketers are trained in the art ofpolitics and are thus unaccustomed to using power toachieve favorable transactions. Most marketers tbinkthat value, not power, wins in the marketplace.

The growth of protected markets, how-ever, requires marketers to incorporate tbe notion ofpower into their strategies. Marketing is increasinglybecoming the art of managing power. What do theyneed to know about power? Tbey need to know tbatpower is tbe ability of one party (A) to get anotherparty (B) to do what it might not otherwise have done.It is A's ability to increase the probability of B's takingan action. A can draw on at least five bases of power toinfluence B:'

Rewards. A offers to reward B for engag-ing in the desired behavior. The reward might be recog-

122 Harvard Business Review March-April

nition, entertainment, gifts, or payments. Marketersare expert in the use of rewards.

Coercion. A threatens to harm B in theabsence of compliant behavior. A may threaten physi-cal, social, or financial harm. Marketers have beenloath to use coercive power because of its doubtful eth-ical status, because it doesn't square with the market-ing concept, and because it can create hostility that canbackfire on the marketer.

Expertise or information. A offers B spe-cial expertise, such as technical assistance or access tospecial information, in exchange for B's compliance.

Legitimacy. A is seen to have a legiti-mate right to make certain requests of B. An examplewould be the Japanese premier asking Nippon ElectricCompany to put Motorola on its approved supplier list.

Prestige. A has prestige in B's mind anddraws on this to request B's compliance. An examplewould be Chrysler president Lee Iacocca requesting ameeting with officials in a foreign country to presentarguments for opening a Chrysler plant in that country.

Power is key to megamarketers. Com-panies that find themselves blocked from a marketmust undertake a three-step process for creating an en-try strategy: mapping the power structure, forging agrand strategy, and developing a tactical implementa-tion plan.

Mapping the power structure

Executives must first understand howpower is distributed in the particular target commu-nity (city, state, nation). Political scientists identifythree types of power structures.* The first type is a py-ramidal power structure in which power is invested ina ruling elite, which may be an individual, a family, acompany, an industry, or a clique. The ehte carries outits wishes through a layer of lieutenants, who in turnmanage a layer of doers. The marketing strategist whowants to operate in such a community can get in onlyif the ruling elite approves or is neutral.

The second type is a factional powerstructure in which two or more factions (power blocs,pressure groups, special-interest groups) compete forpower in the community. Political parties are an exam-ple. The competing parties represent different constitu-encies - labor, business, ethnic minorities, or farmers.Here the company's strategists must decide with whichfactions they want to work. In allying with certain fac-tions, the company usually loses the goodwill of others.

The third type is a coalitional powerstructure in which influential parties from various pow-er blocs form temporary coalitions. When power is inthe hands of a coalition, however temporarily, the com-

pany has to work through the coalition to secure its ob-jectives. Or the company can form a countercoalitionto support its cause.

Identifying the power structure as py-ramidal, factional, or coalitional is only the first step ofthe analysis. Executives next have to assess the relativepower of various parties. A's power over B is directlyrelated to B's dependence on A. B's dependence on A isdirectly proportional to B's interest in goals controlledby A and inversely proportional to B's chance of achiev-ing the goals without A. In other words, A has powerover B to the extent that A can directly affect B's goalattainment and B has few alternatives.'

Forging a grand strategy

In planning entry into a blocked mar-ket, the company must identify opponents, allies, andneutral groups. Its aim is to overcome the opposition,and it can choose from three broad strategies:

1 Neutralize opponents by offering tocompensate them for any losses. The theory of welfareeconomics holds that a proposed action will generallybe supported if everyone benefits or if those who bene-fit can satisfactorily compensate those who are hurt.Compensation costs should be included as part of thetotal cost when determining whether it pays to go for-ward with the project.

2 Organize allies into a coalition. Thecompany's potential supporters may be scattered inthe community and their individual power is less thantheir potential collective power. Thus the companycan further its cause by creating a coalition of allies.

3 Tum neutral groups into allies. Mostgroups in a community will be unaffected by the com-pany's entry and thus mdifferent. The company canuse influence and rewards to convert these groups intosupporters.

A growing number of companies areforming strategic alliances-licensing arrangements,joint ventures, management contracts, and consortia-to overcome blocked markets. Examples of strategicpartnering in the automobile industry include GeneralMotors-Toyota, Ford-Mazda, and Renault-AMC. In oth-er industries, we have such examples as Honeywell-Ericsson in communications, Sharp-Olivetti in officeautomation equipment, and Philips-Siemens in voice-synthesis technology." Intercompany networking offersa superior means for securing entry and operating cloutin otherwise blocked markets.

Still another approach is to harness thepower of one's government to aid in opening anothercountry's market. This calls for effective "at home"

Megamarketing 123

lobbying of the sort Motorola did in getting the U.S.government to pressure Japan into opening its telecom-munications market. Similarly, American computercompanies lobbied in Wasbington to get PresidentReagan to tbreaten banning various Brazilian exportsto the United States if Brazil did not rescind its billbanning the sale of foreign-made computers in Brazil.

Developing a tacticalimplementation plan

Once a company has cbosen a broadstrategy, it must create an implementation plan thatspells out who does wbat, when, where, and how. Ac-tivities can be scquenced in two broad ways: in linearor multilinear fashion {Exhibit III). Adopting a linearapproach, Freshtaste (described earlier) can try first towin the approval of Japan's minister of health to mar-ket its product because, witbout tbat approval, tbecompany carmot succeed. If it gets the approval,Freshtaste migbt then try to convince one or morelarge retailers to carry sterilized milk. Again, if it can-not accomplish this, it will withdraw. In this way,Freshtaste accumulates successive commitments be-fore entering tbe market.

Multilinear sequencing will shorten thetime required for accomplishing the project. Freshtasteexecutives could contact the minister and the super-market chains simultaneously If some supermarketchains sign up, Freshtaste can tben contact somedairies and start a consumer education campaign. If,however, some crucial commitment is not forthcom-ing, Freshtaste will withdraw. Tbis approacb may losemore money hut settle the issues earlier.

Exhibit lit IWo ways to implement a tactical plan

Linearsequencingapproacii

Success

Muitiiinearsequencingapproach

Success

I1 Contact Minister of Health

and Welfare,

2 Coritad a few large supermarketchains.

3 Contact some key dairies,

4 Run an educational campaignfor consumers.

Implications ofmegamarketing

Megamarketing broadens tbe thinkingof marketers in three ways:

1 Enlarging the multiparty marketingconcept. Marketers spend much time analyzing how tocreate preference and satisfaction in target buyers. Be-cause other parties-governments, labor unions, hanks,reform groups-can block the path to the target buyers,marketers must also study the obstacles these partiescreate and develop strategies for attracting their sup-port or at least neutralizing their opposition.

2 Blurring the distinction between envi-ronmental and controllable variables. Marketers bave

traditionally defined the environment as those outsideforces that cannot be controlled by the business. Butmegamarketing argues that some environmentalforces can be ebanged through lobbying, legal action,negotiation, issue advertising, public relations, andstrategic partnering.^

3 Broadening tbe understanding of howmarkets work. Most market tbinkers assume tbat de-mand creates its own supply. Ideally, companies dis-cover a market need and rusb to satisfy tbat need. Butreal markets are often blocked, and the best marketerdoesn't always win. We bave seen tbat foreign compet-itors with offers comparable or superior to those oflocal companies can't always enter the market. Theresult is a lower level of consumer satisfaction andproducer innovation than would otherwise result.

Some may oppose the enlarged view ofmarketing proposed here. After all, megamarketing im-

124 Harvard Business Review March-April 1986

pinges on the responsibilities of some nonmarketingexecutives and argues that marketers should feel com-fortable using power to accomplish their purposes.Marketers normally deal with other parties in themost courteous manner; many will suffer image shockin adopting the megamarketing approach. Yet this in-nocence has led companies to fail in both internationaland home markets where transactions are marked bytough bargaining, side payments, and various complex-ities. Megamarketing offers executives an approach todealing with rising international and domestic compe-tition for large-scale and long-term sales.

References

1 I'hiiipR CatciiraandlnhiiM.Hcss,Inteniiilioiiiil Morketing(HomewiMid, III.:Kichard D Irwia, 1979),p.234.

2 P Ratan Wradnrajan,"A .Sir.itcBV [ot PtTJUtralinR

I hird World Markets withHijih Entry Barricr.'i;An Ex|M)si(i<)n ut(he lapanfse Appiooch,"unpublished pjpet,1txas A&M Unlvcrsiiy, 1984.

6 Inhn B, Mitchell and Sheldon G, Lowry,Power StTuclure, CommunityLeadership and Social AciUmIColiimhu.';;Ohiu State University CooperativeExtension Service, I973|.

7 Richard M. Emtraon,"Power-[Impendence Rtlntions,"Americtia Soaolosical Review,

3 Wilcntinc•'AdministratiDii ofManulacturtr-Dtaler Sysiems."Adminrstriiiivt Science Quaiterly,March 1957, p. 4A4i|cist.'ph CPalamnuQCaiii,The Piilitia-i of DislrihulJan(Ciiinhridei;:Harvurd Univcisity Press, 1955].

8 Robert J, Cunmds,"5tr3ti;)ti(-' Partnering:A New Ftirmula to Crack New Marketsin the 808,"Electronic Business Management,

9 Carl PZL-tihanilaniiVbknt' A. Z(.'ithaml.

"Environmental Mjnagement;Revisinji the Marketing Perspet;tlvc,"lotirnal of Maiketinn,Spring li>H4,p, 47,

A Scu, ii>r example,Bevonii Freeilom and DignityI New V(wk:

S lohn R.P French, |i. ontt Bctcram Raven,"Thu Bases (li Sucial POWLT," inStudies ill Sociul I'ower,td. Dtirwin CartwrighilAnii Arlvjr, Mich.:Insiuutc for Sucial Restarch, 19S9),p. 118.

Essentials of marketingleadershipJudging by the experience of a wide range ofcompanies with alf sorts of marketing problems,there are three essential conditions of marketingleadership-and they are becoming increasinglyimportant:

Top management must recognize that the nature olthe marketing problem is fundamentally differentfrom the nature of the production problem. This facthas vital implications for (a) executive selection,(b) marketing strategy, and (c) sales organization.Failure to take the differences into account hasgot countless companies into serious trouble.

Management must recognize the dynamic quality ofthe marketing problem - all the constant changethat is continually occurring not only in the marketbut also in channels to the market. The change is socontinuous and so widespread that it makes everysales plan in the country out of date to some extent.Failure to grasp this point, perhaps more than any-thing else, has kept companies from getting out ofsales trouble when they might otherwise havesucceeded.

The crying need in marketing management today isfor greater conceptual skill-the ability to see theenterprise as a whole and to understand how thevarious functions of the company and its salesorganization depend on one another. The special-ists who devise techniques and conduct studieshave been going to town." but the general manag-ers have not.

The tendency has been to think in terms of formulassuch as "working back from the market" or in termsof a particular group such as the distributors, ratherthan to consider all parts of the marketing problemin relation to each other and to the rest of thecompany-ior example, executive resources, pro-ductive capacity, and procurement.

FromArthur P. Felton,

"Condiliorxs ol MarketingLeadership,"HBR March-April 1956,p. 117.