About this ebook
The information on marketing theory and practice contained in this book is organized into eight major parts. The first part defines the essence of marketing as a business discipline and outlines an overarching framework for marketing management that serves as the organizing principle for the information presented in the rest of the book. Specifically, we discuss the role of marketing management as a value-creation process, the essentials of marketing strategy and tactics as the key components of a company’s business model, and the process of developing an actionable marketing plan.
Part Two focuses on understanding the market in which a company operates. Specifically, we examine how consumers make choices and outline the main steps in the customer decision journey that lead to the purchase of a company’s offerings. We further discuss the ways in which companies conduct market research to gather market insights in order to make informed decisions and develop viable courses of action.
Part Three covers issues pertaining to the development of a marketing strategy that will guide the company’s tactical activities. Here we focus on three fundamental aspects of a company’s marketing strategy: the identification of target customers, the development of a customer value proposition, and the development of a value proposition for the company and its collaborators. The discussion of the strategic aspects of marketing management includes an in-depth analysis of the key principles of creating market value in a competitive context.
The next three parts of the book focus on the marketing tactics, viewed as a process of designing, communicating, and delivering value. Part Four describes how companies design their offerings and, specifically, how they develop key aspects of their products, services, brands, prices, and incentives. In Part Five, we address the ways in which companies manage their marketing communication and the role of personal selling as a means of persuading customers to choose, purchase, and use a company’s offerings. Part Six explores the role of distribution channels in delivering the company’s offerings to target customers by examining the value-delivery process both from a manufacturer’s and a retailer’s point of view.
The seventh part of the book focuses on the ways in which companies manage growth. Specifically, we discuss strategies used by companies to gain and defend market position and, in this context, address the issues of pioneering advantage, managing sales growth, and managing product lines. We further address the process of developing new market offerings and the ways in which companies manage the relationship with their customers.
The final part of this book presents a set of tools that illustrate the practical application of marketing theory. Specifically, Part Eight delineates two workbooks: a workbook for segmenting the market and identifying target customers and a workbook for developing the strategic and tactical components of a company’s business model. This part also contains examples of two marketing plans—one dealing with the launch of a new offering and the other focused on managing an existing offering.
About the author
Alexander Chernev is a professor of marketing at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. He holds a PhD in psychology from Sofia University and a second PhD in business administration from Duke University.
Dr. Chernev has written numerous articles focused on business strategy, brand management, consumer behavior, and market planning. His research has been published in the leading marketing journals and has been frequently quoted in the business and popular press, including The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Harvard Business Review, Scientific American, Associated Press, Forbes, and Business Week. He was ranked among the top ten most prolific scholars in the leading marketing journals by the Journal of Marketing and among the top five marketing faculty in the area of consumer behavior by a global survey of marketing faculty published by the Journal of Marketing Education.
Dr. Chernev’s books—Strategic Marketing Management, Strategic Brand Management, The Marketing Plan Handbook, and The Business Model: How to Develop New Products, Create Market Value, and Make the Competition Irrelevant—have been translated into multiple languages and are used in top business schools around the world. He has served as an area editor for the Journal of Marketing and on the editorial boards of leading research journals, including the Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, International Journal of Research in Marketing, and Journal of Marketing Behavior.
Dr. Chernev teaches marketing strategy, brand management, and behavioral decision theory in MBA, PhD, and executive education programs at the Kellogg School of Management. He has also taught in executive programs at INSEAD in France and Singapore, at IMD in Switzerland, and at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He has received numerous teaching awards, including the Core Course Teaching Award, Faculty Impact Award, and the Top Professor Award from the Kellogg Executive MBA Program, which he has received eleven times.
In addition to research and teaching, Dr. Chernev is an Academic Trustee of the Marketing Science Institute and advises companies around the world on issues of marketing strategy, brand management, consumer behavior, pricing, strategic planning, and new product development. He has worked with Fortune 500 companies on ways to reinvent their business models, develop new products, and gain competitive advantage. He has helped multiple startups uncover market opportunities, discover new business models, and craft market strategies.
