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Anton Molander: Contemporary marketing - A study of marketing’s role in large Finnish service firms (08.04.2008)

Both considering its academic imperatives as well as its practical functions, marketing has traditionally been an area under consideration. Contemporary criticism holds that marketing today in many cases is unable to fulfil its corporate role in accordance to the utility promoted by modern theory. It is argued that the marketing mix approach to managing marketing still has such strong roots in marketing tradition that modern marketing thought is left in its shadow. Consecutively, however, service marketing models developed to handle practical situations have increased substantially during the last 50 years (Little, 2004). Furthermore, one of the most influential recent branches in marketing theory (The Nordic School approach to service marketing) has arisen as a result of close interaction between academic research and practice (Grönroos & Gummesson, 1985).

Since the fundamental aspect of marketing is to understand customers, it is arguable that the marketing department should function as the disseminator of customers? interest throughout the organization, as opposed to merely operating as an isolated organizational department. Consequently, it is of topical interest to study what corporate marketing currently is responsible for, as well as discoursing the degree to which traditional and contemporary marketing theory are in line with actual marketing conduct. Hence, the aim of this study has been to critically review traditional and contemporary marketing theory and to empirically study how marketing as an organizational utility in practice fulfils its corporate purpose in 12 large Finnish service organizations.

Based on this study it seems as if marketing?s denotation is currently shifting towards being understood as an integrated utility, whose primary purpose is understood to be to create customer- and market awareness throughout the organization. By creating reciprocal value regarding strategic issues and practical frontline management, marketing can obtain a new seemingly dynamic position in the organization. Thus, marketing would be able to function as an important link between customers? wishes and organizational development. However, CMOs must realize the importance of proving marketing’s organizational worth by actively altering predefined patterns of marketing conduct as opposed to waiting for top management to take the initiative.

In essence, marketing seems to be establishing a position of an information-center specialized in customer and market knowledge, while offering the organization traditional marketing activities as supportive competitive means. However, it should be pointed out that the degree to which service marketing principles dominates marketing thinking varies between organizations, depending on both industry standards as well as company heritage. Based on this study, marketing?s contribution to corporate value is enhanced when organized as a link between frontline activities (i.e. sales and customer service) and managerial institutions.

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