Society versus business organizations: the strategic role of marketing (original) (raw)
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In developed economies, commercial and non-profit spheres grew in parallel and both had enough time to go through various phases. In Poland, the economy (which was liberated only in 1990s) transformed rapidly to meet new challenges but the same cannot be said about non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which are also developing dynamically but the management seems to be more difficult. Therefore the aim of the article is to establish key factors of marketing management in case of such organizations and indicate their uniqueness in the case of non-profit activity. Theoretical part is supported by a self-study questionnaire, results of which show that marketing management depends on internal factors of course, like leaders’ education and philosophy, but first of all on external ones. Thus in this article society’s awareness about NGOs activity as well as competition on entry and on exit, and contractual and relational cooperation between business and NGOs are discussed as main extern...
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Marketing is a much misunderstood discipline within the business world as well as amongst consumers and society. This is hardly surprising considering that marketing can appear in so many different guises. King (1985) refers to four such misinterpretations: • Thrust marketing- with its emphasis on selling by undercutting rivals but with little regard to customer requirements. • Marketing department marketing- a so called ‘bolt-on’ department aimed at understanding (current) customer needs of current products. • Accountant marketing- the organisation’s senior management have no direct marketing experience and tend to focus on short term profits while neglecting long term survival. • Formula marketing- control is regarded as more important than innovation. Tried and tested formulas are used while averting risks where possible. It is conceivable to ‘introduce’ social responsibility at any of these levels or categories in order to improve the overall brand image and take genuine steps towards achieving that goal. However, this paper will seek to go further than that and to suggest potential strategic repositioning of the discipline ‘brand’ of marketing. This will be done by outlining branding opportunities in terms of CSR impact and the emerging values convergence between Generation Y consumers and vanguard CEO’s orientation to social responsibility. Our paper argues that marketing has not only the potential to contribute to an organisation’s CSR and is already being employed as a powerful tool by some companies for this purpose. Paradoxically, given the stereotypical views of marketing and its role in business, the discipline is ideally placed today to deliver the CSR and bottom-line gains today than ever before. However, the scope and extent of such contributions can vary dramatically from one firm to another. For instance, in the way that CSR strategies are formulated and implemented, and even more importantly in the types of specific responsibilities that have been allocated to marketing in order to achieve company CSR objectives. The paper will also explain the success, significance and implications of marketing’s CSR contribution. For example, in the variety of approaches deployed in order to create, sustain, review and monitor an organisation’s CSR branding strategies whilst ensuring consumer values alignment is sustained.
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This paper attempts to draw a wide range of information about social marketing, and particularly reviews the effectiveness of social marketing in eradicating the social evils. It begins with discussing the concept of social marketing and its applicability for meeting the objectives of social good cause and social well being. It then tries to draw attention towards myriads of social problems that are ailing the society and realizes that broader social changes are required to build more socially responsible and respectful societies. These social problems & evils (such as Drug abuse, Crime and violence against women, child labor etc) are complex in nature and require complex approaches to overcome. This paper aims to document social marketing as an effective tool in fight against social evils. Social marketing through its package of well-knitted techniques and strategies is equipped enough to address various social evils that are ailing our societies. It further attempts to signify the...