Core Values in Relation to Marketing Strategy

Abstract

This paper talks about the core company values that should be a part of any successful organization. The paper also talks about the core value system at Google and how and why those core values have made Google a very successful company. The paper also throws light on the company I work for and how me and my manager make various adjustments and modifications to ensure we have continuous growth. This paper also talks one of the recent projects I worked upon and the three adjustments that were done to the strategy implementation to ensure the project was successful. Finally, the paper talks about the repercussions if we stick to traditional marketing strategies and did not formulate our strategies with changing market landscape.

The increasing globalization in the recent years has it made it difficult for local players to survive in highly competitive market. Global companies have much more capital investment and can compete on much lower prices as compared to local players.

Core Values and Its Importance

Some of the core values that a company should ingrain their culture includes harvesting better marketing strategy, benchmarking and maintaining highest quality of products and services delivered. Simon (1997) argues that these core value decision making cannot be determined with utmost accuracy due to human memory and some unknown biases. Having the right knowledge and contextual understanding about the core value system is the direct cooperation between system and the user (Brezillon and Abu-Hakima, 1995). Research has shown that companies who have built their core values around the four P’s has been able to sustain success in the long run.

Sharif (2002) argues that there is no single performance attribute or core values that can guarantee the best performance across the enterprise, it is combinations of values and vary from company to company. Core values are very important for the success of any company since no core values imply ineffective marketing. Core values can help understand and predict the customer behavior much better. Core values are also important because they facilitate a clear communication between the company and the target audience. If the company has the best product but it hasn’t been converted to the right mission and vision the customers will be unaware of it. The company should leverage the core values to build the best in class marketing tools to help them target the local and international markets.

Core Value System at Google

For years Google mission has been to organize world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Some of the core values of Google include (1) Hire based on character, not on skill set (2) Don’t be a copycat (3) Embrace transparency (4) Allow for some fun (5) Create shared leadership (6) Be open to change. Over the years Google has stuck by these core value systems which has helped it become one of the world’s most successful and admired companies. Every company is unique and to determine what are the most crucial core values for a company starts with SWOT analysis. Applying SWOT analysis in this fashion can leverage the positioning of the company in the market and help them improve their growth (Ferrell, 1998).

Strategy Execution and Corrective Adjustments

Devising a successful strategy is complex process and is next to impossible to get it right in the first attempt. Same applies to my real time experience. Me and manager go through multiple rounds of changes and modifications before we implement any marketing and pricing strategy in nay market. My role as senior pricing analyst handling Asia Pacific region is strategy devising role where we try to implement best pricing strategy in various countries in Asia Pacific market. One of the real-life examples that can shared is when we were trying to Share gain algorithm across Australia and New Zealand market.

We went through multiple rounds of modifications before we finally implemented the end strategy which turned out to be successful. Initially we were trying to implement the strategy like North America market but we in the process we learned how each market is different from one another and how the strategy needs to be tailored as per the market conditions and customer needs. One of the areas that companies should tend to focus is when devising a new product strategy. The consumers today are much aware given the advent of social media and multiple options in the market.

A successful company is the one that basis its strategy on value-based proposition rather than traditional cost-based approach. Strategy should be built around right communication and advanced logistics and information technology platforms to success in the long run. A good strategy is the one that makes a road from trouble to opportunity. Porter (2008) argues that even the greatest strategy is not useful if it cannot be executed in a real-world market condition. Blahová and A. Knápková (2010) argue that over the years the implementation of strategy has been overlooked and more emphasis has been laid on the formulation of the strategy.

Hence in a nutshell we can say that a successful strategy must be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound. Equal emphasis must made on formulation and implementation. Me and manager have been able to devise successful strategy because cover certain ground rules before implementing the strategy, these include market research, understanding the profile of potential customers, understanding profile of competitors, develop strategy to support marketing goals, use of 7 P’s of marketing and finally test your ideas via certain pilot programs before launching into the real markets.

Adjusting Strategies to Improve Company Performance

Research has shown only 50% of the formulated strategies get executed and even lesser are successful (Mintzberg 1990, Miller 1997). Delisle (2015) argues that it is mandatory to understand the concept of strategy implementation and execution before we even start the actual process. One of the most recent projects that I worked upon with my manager was to create better quote prices for various customers. Working in the area of pricing is very important to control discount leakage across the quotes created for new and old customers. Three adjustive measures considered to improve the strategy behind efficient quote creation is as listed below:

1. Creating a scalable solution: Initially we were trying to build the algorithm only for the North American market but later we realized it is better to create a scalable solution that can be leverages globally
2. Automation: Initial idea to create an excel based tool did not work as we started running the algorithm globally hence, we changed the strategy to switch to web based tool
3. Last not the least we changed our strategy to recommend custom price for every product and customer combination. This resulted in higher accuracy and recommendation acceptance rate went up drastically.

So, in a nutshell these corrective measures helped improve the new quote creation especially promotion quotes. This tool has equipped the sales teams to take more data driven decisions rather than based on gut and basic market understanding. This helped cut down excessive discounting and reduce price leakage hence improving the revenue of the company. Figure below shows scope of strategy execution and formulation

Repercussions of Failing to Adapt Corrective Strategies

The most important thing for any company to succeed in the market is to have its own marketing strategy. If me and my company, try to copy the marketing and product strategy of our competitors we bound to lose market share and hence negatively impact growth. Given the wide use of social media and digital platform the end consumer is much aware as compared to before. An average customer today makes several comparisons before finally making a purchase. Hence if my company does not have a unique selling point it will not be able to sustain in the market for long.

Another repercussion of sticking status quo and not adapting to changing market landscape is that the company might lose its long-standing reputation which in turn can negatively impact the relationship with internal and external stakeholders. If the company fails to add value proposition to the service or product, they are offering then the customer will lose interest. Finally, the brand loyalty can also get adversely impacted if the we stick to status quo. Today consumers have multiple options in the market and one small mistake in failing to deliver the promised goods and services and make them switch to competitor brands.

There’s a strategy matrix that any company should abide by. Any company who not only wants to be successful and wants to sustain that number one spot in the market to should try to be in the right-hand corner of the 2*2 matrix which will ensure efficient strategy planning and efficient strategy execution.

Conclusion

Cater and Pucko (2010) concluded that 80% of the organizations around the globe have the right strategies but rarely only 14% of the organizations succeed to implement them successfully. In general terms strategy can be defined as the plans that an organization implements to stay ahead of its competitors, now this can be the areas of marketing, product design, commercial execution and many more. Strategy formulation is one thing, but its successful implementation is equally important. The eventual aim of any organization is to devise a successful strategy and not the prefect strategy. The strategy should be realistic, pedantic and fastidious and should align with the core mission and values of the organization.

Finally, the senior management has a very crucial role to play in the successful strategy formulation and implementation. With their support even with the best employees the company will head nowhere. One tactic that successful global companies are doing nowadays is making data driven decisions. This gives better insight when devising a strategy and can ensure success in the long run.

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