Generally speaking, the ecosystem for marketing may be illustrated by the following model (Kotler 2000):
The above figure presents two key parties, namely the industry (composed of businesses that seek to sell a particular kind of good or service) and the market (composed of all current or potential consumers for the given kind of good or service). In the early days of marketing, only the two central lines—goods/services and money—were the key points for consideration. Today, however, two other “lines” have joined the equation, namely communication and information. These represent the value of transmitting information both to and from the market and the industry.
All throughout these transactions, the environment also serves as a significant influencer, affecting both the industry and the market alike.
The marketing process can also be broken down into its components, which are:
- Strategic Marketing
- Customer segmentation
- Target market selection
- Value positioning
- Tactical Marketing: Value Deployment
- Product design and development
- Product portfolio management
- Service development
- Pricing
- Distribution and logistics
- Tactical Marketing: Value Communication
- Sales force strategies
- Sales promotion strategies
- Advertising
Strategic marketing takes care of the more long-term, timeless nature of the business proposition, while tactical marketing takes care of the more short- and medium-term, flexible aspects of the market strategy.
In the case of a consumer brand such as Colgate, the strategic component is involved with managing, preserving, and enhancing the value of the brand including its brand propositions and promises, and its market segments. Tactical considerations, on the other hand, include options to stretch the product line through the development of new variants, managing inevitable price wars from the competition, and pushing the product line to even more distribution points.