Customer Relationship Marketing

The formal study of marketing has focused on an evolving range of marketing sectors over the past few decades. In 1950’s, marketing interest was merely focused on consumer goods. In 1960’s, increased attention started toward industrial markets. In 1970’s considerable academic efforts was placed on the area of non-profit or societal marketing. In 1980’s more attention directed at the service sector, an area of marketing that had received remarkably little attention in view of its importance in the overall economy. In 1990’s, relationship marketing is the area that will receive increasing attention. The emphasis is moving from a transaction focus to a relationship focus. These are the changes.

Transaction marketing Relationship Marketing
Focus on single saleFocus on customer retention
Orientation on product featuresOrientation on product benefits
Short time scaleLong time scale
Little emphasis on customer serviceHigh customer service emphasis
Limited customer commitmentHigh customer commitment
Moderate customer contractHigh customer contract
Quality is production concernQuality is the concern of all

(Source : Relationship Marketing, M. Christopher, A. Payne, D. Ballantyne, 1999)

FAQ
What is the relationship between Marketing and Public Relations anyway?

  • Public relations and marketing are two major management functions within an organization, but how they are organized depends upon managerial perceptions, organizational culture and historical precedent. The role play by PR staff and marketing management is complicated by a lack of understanding of these two functions by practitioners themselves. 
  • Marketing represent primarily the view point of customers or clients (external public)
  • Public relations is responsible for a broader scope, both internal (the employees and their unions, the shareholders) and external (developing relationship with consumers but also with governmental agencies, the mass media, financial publics, the community, the activist groups, strategic publics or generally termed as stakeholders)
  • Organizations with excellent PR functions integrated their communication activities into a central PR department through a senior corporate communication executive responsible for several communications units.
  • Excellent PR department seldom reported to other management function such as marketing, human resource or finance.
  • PR activities were not subordinated to the role of providing only technical communication support for marketing or other management functions – although they do help other management functions manage their communication activities. 

(Source: IABC Excellence Study, Grunig et al, 2002)

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