Page 31 - Marketing the Basics 2nd

Marketing as a corporate Function 23
One sign that a viral marketing campaign has peaked is when people start releasing copy-cat messages. It took a few days, but after Zindine Zidane’s infamous head-butt during the finals of the 2006 World Cup, cheeky software developers started releasing free video games, one of which featured a Zidane character who needs to head-butt every Italian player as they scroll across the screen.
THE SOCIETAL MARKETING CONCEPT
The societal marketing concept, or SMC as it is called, is one of the newest marketing philosophies. It emerged from a realization that the marketing concept introduces conflicts between a consumer’s short-term wants and their long-term welfare. The marketing concept drives companies to create long-term relationships with their customers. Maximizing the short-term value of a company will not only undermine the long-term health of a company, but can also cause long-term harm to society and ultimately the consumer. Consider the fast-food industry for example. Fast-food companies have demanded farmers reduce the price per pound for meat. Farmers in turn are expanding their operations and implanting their livestock with growth hormones. Though the cost savings are passed to consumers, society pays a heavy price. Rainforests are clear-cut, which increases the risks associated with global warming and severe weather. Society pays the heavy price through the loss of biodiversity, increased acid rain and there is evidence linking growth hormones to a variety of human diseases.
Once a marketing orientation is chosen, the next step is to formulate a plan of action. For small-sized companies, it is possible to align the company’s resources to meet the target market’s needs without a formal plan. For large-sized companies, it is impossible. Large, diversified companies sell a variety of goods to different types of customers with differing needs. Large companies often divide the organization into smaller units to decentralize managerial control: at the top there is the corporate unit, followed by the business unit and lastly the product unit.