About the Book

Welcome to the First Edition of Marketing: An Introduction (An Asian Perspective)

This first Asian adaptation edition builds on the foundations of the seventh edition of Marketing: An Introduction written by Professors Gary Armstrong and Philip Kotler. This book presents an innovative framework for understanding and learning about marketing. Today’s marketing is all about building profitable customer relationships. It starts with understanding consumer needs and wants, deciding which target markets the organization can serve best, and developing a compelling value proposition by which the organization can attract, keep, and grow targeted consumers. If the organization does these things well, it will reap the rewards in terms of market share, profits, and customer equity. Simply put, marketing is the art and science of creating value for customers in order to capture value from customers in return. From beginning to end, the first edition of Marketing: An Introduction (An Asian Perspective) presents and develops this customer-relationships/customer-equity framework.

An Asian Perspective to Marketing

The text has been written with the Asian student and marketing practitioner in mind. Wherever possible, examples and concepts are included to reflect the possible differences in marketing in an Asian context. There is a raging debate in the marketing literature about the universality of marketing. In Chapter 1 of this text, we address immediately the issue of whether “marketing is really different in Asia” and in the following chapters, we continue to challenge this thinking through the many illustrations and short case examples. Receiving a marketing education in an Asian context means that we must evoke thinking among students and marketing practitioners alike about what really works for Asian brands and marketing companies. Asia will become a strong engine of economic growth in the next few decades and it is an imperative for marketers to develop their own suite of competences in Asian marketing that will propel Asian brands into the world marketing arena. This book is small contribution towards taking that first step.

The text reflects the major trends and forces that are changing marketing in this new age of customer relationships. It offers important new thinking and expanded coverage on:

1. A “customer-relationships/customer-equity” framework:

• The customer relationship management/customer equity framework is established from the start of the text, in the completely revised Chapter 1, Marketing: Managing Profitable Customer Relationships, and carried forward throughout the text.
• The framework is presented in a five-step model of the marketing process, a model that details how marketing creates customer value and captures value in return.
• The opening chapter includes a major new section on Building Customer Relationships, which covers customer relationship management, the changing nature of customer relationships, and partner relationship management. The chapter also features a major new section on Capturing Value from Customers, which addresses topics such as building customer loyalty and retention, growing “share of customer,” identifying customer relationship groups, and managing customer equity.
• The managing-customer-relationships theme continues in Chapter 2, Company and Marketing Strategy: Partnering to Build Customer Relationships. This chapter places profitable customer relationships at the center of marketing strategy and the marketing mix. This chapter also extends the corollary concept of partner relationship management, working closely with marketing partners inside and outside the company to build strong customer relationships.

2. Brand strategy and managing brand equity:

• Chapter 6, Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning: Building the Right Relationships with the Right Customers, presents new discussions on developing brand positioning statements and brand positioning maps.
• Chapter 7, Product, Services, and Branding Strategies, includes a separate and expanded section—Branding Strategy: Building Strong Brands. The section includes material on brand equity and brand value, brand positioning, managing brands, and re-branding.

3. Marketing technology and marketing in a socially responsible way around the globe:

• Marketing technologies in the digital age. Technological advances have created a digital age, which continues to have a dramatic impact on both buyers and the marketers who serve them. Coverage on this issue is integrated chapter-by-chapter. In addition, Chapter 14, Marketing in the New Digital Age, explores the exciting strategies and tactics that firms are applying in order to prosper in today’s high-tech environment.
• Global marketing. Coverage is integrated chapter-by-chapter. Plus, Chapter 15, Global Marketing, focuses on global marketing considerations. An Asian perspective is considered to take into account the challenges of Asian marketing firms pursuing regional and international markets.
• Marketing ethics, environmentalism, and social responsibility. Chapter 16 focuses on Marketing and Society: Social Marketing and Marketing Ethics and coverage is integrated chapter-by-chapter. The chapter also highlights Nike’s approach to social responsibility and how some companies maximize profits while helping to save the planet.