The future of marketing

In this chapter, we describe the ongoing transformation of the marketing function from a product- and market-centred perspective to a customer-centred perspective. We will discuss how marketing’s focus is shifting from anonymous market transactions to personalized customer interactions. Implicit in this shift is the opportunity to achieve better profitability by treating customers differently and by reducing cross-customer subsidies. We then discuss how customer-centred marketing requires marketers to transcend customer satisfaction to achieve customer commitment, and how this is only possible if marketers shift their focus from creating tactical marketing programmes to designing strategic business processes. Next, we describe how companies can implement customer-centred marketing by doing the following: focusing on creating end-user value; using cross-functional teams; implementing automation and integration; using ‘fixed cost’ marketing; viewing marketing as supply management; creating profit and loss (P&L) accountability for marketing; creating a subscription model of marketing; and bringing marketing and business development together. We conclude by looking at some emerging issues facing the practice of customer-centred marketing.