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satisfaction, product quality, and other measures. They also consider the legal,
ethical, social and environmental effects of marketing activities and programs.
and governments. This evolution has not just stopped with this approach (Achrol &
Kotler, 2012).
The exchange paradigm, with its focal point on inter-firm relationships, carried the
concept and theories of the marketing channel to the front, and it led us to the new
threshold of network paradigm (Achrol & Kotler, 1999).
So, several theorists and experts have come to the point that the holistic marketing
is the new paradigm for marketing in the third millennium. Holistic marketing is
based on holism theory, which says that the whole always has priority, more than
the total sum of individual parts, holistic marketing requires development and
implementation of marketing programs, processes and measures with a wide
spectrum and correlated with each other. Stressing that the whole is important, an
integrated marketing concept is required which is at the same time relational,
integrated, omnipresent within the organization and socially responsible. This way,
on the same level of importance are placed relationship marketing (which develops
a strategic and long term vision for the organization with all its partners), marketing
in action (integration of all components of marketing mix), implementation of
marketing as business perspective in all departments of the organization and
marketing responsibility towards the surrounding environment, the community
where enterprises operate in accordance with business ethics requirements and of
the law in force . So, holistic marketing can be seen as the development, design,
and implementation of marketing programs, processes, and activities that recognize
the breadth and interdependencies involved today's marketing environment.
Holistic marketing recognizes that "everything matters" with marketing and that a
broad, integrated perspective is often necessary (Kotler, Jain, & Maesincee, 2002).
This universalistic approach of marketing is also reflected by Sainz (2012), Heath
and Chatzidakis (2012) and Bart and Annemiek (2011) where they have used this
concept as their argument in their studies. Another look at the holistic marketing is
based on the customer-centric idea (Kotler, Jain, & Maesincee, 2002), means paying
attention to the perception of the offered products and services, and implies trying
to satisfy clients needs. It defines the sense-and-respond paradigm, which is
quite different from the classic make-and-sell paradigm that implied selling what a
company could make and that is not useful anymore in the dynamic, competitive
markets of the global economy.
Holistic marketing has four key dimensions:
1. Internal marketing-ensuring everyone in the organization embraces appropriate
marketing principles, especially senior management.
2. Integrated marketing-ensuring that multiple means of creating, delivering and
communicating value are employed and combined in the optimal manner.
3. Relationship marketing-having rich, multi-faceted relationships with customers,
channel members and other marketing partners.
4. Socially responsible marketing-understanding the ethical, environmental, legal,
and social effects of marketing.
Relationship Marketing
Increasingly, a key goal of marketing is to develop deep, enduring relationships with
all people or organizations that could directly or indirectly affect the success of the
firm's marketing activities. Relationship marketing has the aim of building mutually
satisfying long-term relationships with key partiescustomers, suppliers,
distributors, and other marketing partnersin order to earn and retain their
business. Relationship marketing builds strong economic, technical, and social ties
among the parties.
Integrated Marketing
The marketer's task is to devise marketing activities and assemble fully integrated
marketing programs to create, communicate, and deliver value for consumers. The
marketing program consists of numerous decisions on value-enhancing marketing
activities to use. Marketing activities come in all forms. One traditional depiction of
marketing activities is in terms of the marketing mix, which has been defined as the
set of marketing tools the firm uses to pursue its marketing objectives. McCarthy
classified these tools into four broad groups, which he called the four Ps of
marketing: product, price, place, and promotion.
Internal Marketing
Holistic marketing incorporates internal marketing, ensuring that everyone in the
organization embraces appropriate marketing principles, especially senior
management. Internal marketing is the task of hiring, training, and motivating able
employees who want to serve customers well. Smart marketers recognize that
marketing activities within the company can be as important as, or even more so
than, marketing activities directed outside the company. It makes no sense to
promise excellent service before the company's staff is ready to provide it.
Social Responsibility Marketing
Holistic marketing incorporates social responsibility marketing and understanding
broader concerns and the ethical, environmental, legal, and social context of
marketing activities and programs. The cause and effects of marketing clearly
extend beyond the company and the consumer to society as a whole. Social
responsibility also requires that marketers carefully consider the role that they are
playing and could play in terms of social welfare (Kotler et al., 2002).
Despite the fact that holistic marketing concept has been developing for a decade,
there is still not have been any comprehensive operationalization of the concept
which could serve the practitioners for application of the concept in its full. Hence,
this study would further the topic towards its application in the academia and the
practical market. Methodologically, this study would be based on the
comprehensive evolution of marketing thoughts and would construct the
operational dimensions on the emerging paradigm of holistic marketing. Local and
international organizations and marketing agencies would be studied for the
development of the constructs within the holistic marketing domain.