Marketing Strategy

Marketing's Contribution

to the Strategy Dialogue

George S. Day

University of Pennsylvania

p ossibilities for marketers to seize the opportunities for

t hought leadership, and the lower probability that marketers

will actually pursue the opportunity to regain a lead role.

M arketers appear comfortable with the assertion that mark eting should play the lead role in charting the strategic

d irection of a business. The logic behind this assertion is

s traightforward. Strategic planning is about keeping the

b usiness in step with the anticipated environment, and mark eting has traditionally served as the boundary function

b etween the firm and its customer, channel, and competitor

e nvironment. It follows that marketing should have the

m ost to say about the match of the competencies of the

b usiness with the opportunities to exploit and threats to

a void. However, other business functions and academic disc iplines don't share this assumption and have been actively

e roding the influence of marketing in the strategy dialogue.

T he diminution of the strategic role of marketing began in

t he early eighties (Day and Wensley 1983). There are few

signs that this slide will be reversed in the foreseeable fut ure. The reasons are grounded in the fit of the issues,

t rends, and fashions in the strategic arena with the distinct ive competencies of marketers. When the fit is close, then

m arketing gains influence by contributing superior insights.

As the fit loosens or other disciplines and functions have

c ompetencies more attuned to the emerging issues, then

m arketing loses ground.

T he judgment that the strategic role of marketing is

d eclining--albeit from a high starting point--is both cont roversial and arguable since there is little or no empirical

e vidence directly relevant to the issue. Our approach will be

t o first offer some evidence of the present state of affairs.

N ext, we will review the major forces and trends that are

shaping...