Holistic marketing
‘A holistic marketing concept is based the development design and implementation of
marketing programs, processes and activities that recognise their breadth and
interdependencies. The approach recognises that “everything matters” with marketing and
that a broad integrated perspective is necessary to attain the best solution “(Philip Kotler)
According to the definitions above we come to understand that holistic marketing is an
integrative marketing model which considers the full scope of the business opposed to
narrowingly focusing on the development or execution of particular marketing activities.
Development of marketing program such as the marketing mix, the design of marketing
campaigns and the implementation of marketing processes are not isolate business functions
under the holistic approach, instead the business makes marketing decisions based on
reaching common organisational objectives ,the process of holistic marketing takes into
account the consideration of stakeholders , customers , employees, suppliers and the
community as a whole when creating and implementing marketing strategies in recent years
holistic marketing has gained in popularity due to high saturation rate and increased
competition in the market place. Businesses realise, they can set themselves apart with the
right holistic marketing approach, while at the same time creating a synergy among
departments in the organisation
Relationship marketing
This is a strategy designed to foster customer loyalty, interaction and long term engagement
it is designed to develop log strong relationships with customers by providing them with info
directly suited to their needs and intentions (http; //www, forbes.com/sites/market
share/2019/-1/-9)
The goal of relationship marketing is to build strong long lasting relationships with various
stakeholders , and other important parties connected to the business, customers , employees ,
finance entities , suppliers vendors , regulatory agencies , and competitive firms are important
partners for a business to have and keep , each has a significant impact on the success or
failure of the company relationship marketing focuses on , establishing relationship with the
stakeholder and also requires retention and growth of each relationship over time, specifically
speaking , relationship marketing focuses on , with the following focal point , integrating
customer service and quality with the market orientation , focuses on getting and keeping
customers , concept of Total quality across all functions , focuses on total relationship
between firms and its customers, suppliers and key markets , on an ongoing basis , before
approaches such as relationship marketing , products and services were always produced in
smaller quality , were goods were in short supply and wee marketed in the local area ,
business did not aim at retaining customers and achieving loyalty . industrialisation led to
mass production as well as standardization of products and services , businesses started
expanding their geographic boundaries and started exploring new methods of marketing ,
they understood the importance of having , to reach out and build a relationship with the
customer , to retain the customer rather than keep on spending on marketing to new
customers every time. Organisations realised the need to put the customer ahead of the
business , organisational philosophies shifted from profits product and markets to customers
first , what the customer wants , his needs his comfort and satisfaction , customer focus and
relationship became the organisational focus and led to many new tends in manufacturing
methods , the most significant being the concept of TQM Customers today know their
position and power they yield with the development of the internet information feedback,
discussions and opinions are now available to one and all almost instantaneously, social
network included.
2 integrated marketing
Within the integrated marketing concept of a holistic strategy , business work toward making
marketing decisions that create value for stake holders, through a clear concise marketing
strategy all activities within an integrated marketing system including advertising , public
relations , direct marketing , online communication and social media marketing , marketing
works in sync with one another to ensure the companies customers and business partners
have the same perception , with the experience of the company it focuses on the
communication and promotions aspects , integrated marketing , it then focuses on the
marketing mix or products , price , place and promotion , the idea behind integrated
marketing is that you are targeting various segments , individually by making a change in the
marketing mix , marketers used to rely only on advertising and simple promotions, to make
their brand popular among end users . In the current scenario of cut throat completion,
marketers need to promote their brands by effectively integrating relevant marketing tools for
better results, and increase productivity, integrated marking communication plays an essential
role in delivering a unified message to end users, through various channels and thus has better
chances of attraction customers
Lack of integrated marketing strategies , meant no clear and inconsistent messaging , so the
organisation wouldn’t market their product efficiently because they would fail to combine
product , place , price or promotion getting one wrong which would be detriment , leading t
product failure i.e. being priced too high or low , failing to select right distribution channels ,
wrong media in advertisement
Lack or core central idea across channels is a big part of lack of integration, suffered by
marketers which pushed for a holistic market orientation
3 Internal marketing
Internal marketing is aimed at catering to the specific needs of the business's own staff.
Internal marketing ensures that employees are satisfied with the work they perform each day
as well as the philosophy and direction of the organization as a whole toward its common set
objectives . Greater satisfaction among employees leads to increased customer satisfaction
over time, making internal marketing a key aspect of the holistic approach.
Lack of a holistic marketing approach meant no internal marketing , meaning employees
were not viewed as an important part of the organiation , problems such as individual goals
which do not go along with the organiational goals , if everyone is not united towars common
objective efficiency in achieving those objectives is slowed, employees were highly
demotivated which affected production quality cost of production and also poor customer
service , staff conflicts are common and high labour turnover due to lack of job satisfaction ,
hence the internal marketing approach solves this by making the employee a priority ,
organisations are starting to realise this and thus implementing holistic market orientation
Internal marketing developed as a strategy after it was understood that if internal employee
are content and motivated, they would serve external customers equally well. A happy
internal employee creates happy customers However, in reality employee may be aware of
the organization overall objective and mission, but may not be fully aware of specific
directions in challenging timesWith changing times employee attrition rate has also increased
as more avenues open up for employment. Earlier a person was generally expected to
complete a life in single job or the company, but now that is no longer the case. Therefore,
organization looking to deliver customer satisfaction need to look at recruitment strategies as
to attract the right talent. (https://www.managementstudyguide.com/internalrelationships.htm)
4. Societal Marketing
The last component of holistic marketing is societal marketing. This component extends a
company's reach beyond the customers consuming its product or service to society in general.
In addition to considering a customer’s wants and needs, companies began to realize that they
must also take into consideration the long-term interests of the society. Societal marketing, an
offshoot of the marketing concept and corporate social responsibility, began in the late of
1960s and early 1970s.Societal marketing is aimed at creating marketing initiatives that are
based on ethically sound business practices, such as environmentally-friendly production or
meaningful interaction with the surrounding community. Marketing campaigns that are
intentionally socially responsible provide another method for businesses to build long-lasting,
beneficial stakeholder and partner relationships
Accoding to Dr A Stutosh Article , holistic concept allows the firm to consider , ethical ,
environmental , legal and social context social welfare responsibility require the marketer to
carefully consider the role the organisation plays in terms of the social welfare , to determine
the needs and interest of the target market for example Econet as part of CSR , donate an
amount every year towards the Joshua Nkomo foundation which pays school fees for
students and in return Econet is thus respected by the Zimbabwean citizens and people
respect the organisation
With growth and concerns about peoples health and the environment , organisations are being
forced to look deeper into this concept , this is because people no longer want to associate
themselves with perhaps companies which are known for not taken effective measures to
make sur they are not harming the environment i.e BP oil extraction , companies are also
expected to give back to society , the less fortunate and disabled , to show corporate social
responsibility which makes customers want to associate and purchase from them , these
things are done through donations to the community , construction of roads , clinics and
schools , this has become very important in organisations because it has to do with their
image which is very important and vital to the success of the organisation ( how people
persive you) being socially responsible also benefits the organisation through tax deduction
People want to associate with the organisation