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TheraleofinmanagementMarvinBowerandRobertA.GardaMarketingisnolonger,ifiteverwas,amereadjuncttoselling.Totheauthors,itisoroughttobeafundamentalframeworkformanagementdecisionmakingandastateofmindthatshouldpermeatetheentireorganization.Theyoutlinethedevelopmentsthathavebroughtmarketingtopreeminence,examineitskeydimensions,itsevolutionanditsimpactonotherareasofthebusiness,anddescribethecharacteristicsofthemodernmarket-drivencompany,inwhichmarketingbecomesawindowontheworldforthoseresponsibleforshapingcorporatestrategy.Everythingthatabusinessdoesmustbepointedtothemarket....Everybusinessfunctionmustbedirectedtowardandbeintunewiththemarket.Researchanddevelopment,production,financeandcontrol,personnel,alltheseandmore,mustatalltimeswatchwhatthemarketdoes.^SowroteJ.W.Keener,thenPresidentofB.F.GoodrichCompany,aquarter-centuryago.Tenyearslateranotherobserver,B.CharlesAmes-thenadirectorofMcKinsey&Company,nowchiefexecutiveofficerofAcmeCleve-landCorporation-putthepointevenmoreemphatically:Cer-tainlyinthisdayandagenoonequarrelswiththemarketingconcept.Infact,itwouldbehardtogetanyonetoargueagainsttheideathatgearingthebusinesstoberesponsivetocustomerneeds-whichisasimplebutmeaningfuldescriptionofwhatmarketingisallabout—isnotonlysensiblebuttheonlywaytorunabusiness.^TheevolutionofmarketingThisviewisastruetodayasitwasthen-butinthemeantimemarketinghastakenonnewdimensionsthathaveprofoundimplicationsforitsroleinmanagement.'Referencesappearonpage46.34THEMcKINSEYQUARTERLYInitsearlydays,marketingwasthoughtofasanextensionofselling,achievedbyadvertisinginconsumergoodsindustriesandbypersonalsalesmanshipinindustrialgoodsandservices.Mostmarketingmanagerswereformeradvertisingorsalespeople.Creativeadvertisingcopyandlayouts,callreports,and/orsalesforecastswerethedominantmarketingtools.Marketingwasregardedasanartrequiringinitspractitionersanunusualblendofcreativity,intuitionandinspiration.Sincethenwehavecometoseethatmarketingandsellinghaveverydifferentorientations.TheodoreLevittcapturedthedistinc-tion:Sellingfocusesontheneedsoftheseller;marketingontheneedsofthebuyer.Sellingispreoccupiedwiththeseller'sneedtoconverthisproductintocash;marketing,withtheideaofsatis-fyingtheneedsofthecustomerbymeansoftheproductandthewholeclusterofthingsassociatedwithcreating,deliveringandfinallyconsumingit.'^ScienceandcreativityThisrecognitionstimulatedavastimprovementinmarketre-searchandotheranalyticaltechniques.Increasingly,marketingbecameananalyticalscience,utilizinglogic,systematicdataanalysisandsynthesisindealingwiththesubtleandcomplexvariablesofthemarketplace.Yetoutstandingmarketingtodayinmanagementstillrequiresintuitionandcreativity-andinspira-tioncanaddfurthertothebottomline.Fewoutstandingmarket-ingeffortsarebasedonanalysisalone.Thebigthrustformarket-ingsuccessisstillpoweredbyablendofcreativity,intuitionandinnovation—andinspirationtopsthemall.Sincemarketingseekstocausechangesbydoingsomethingnewinproducts,channels,pricing,marketselectionorfocus,advertis-ingandpromotion,and/orservice,theapplicationofthescientificmethodtomarketingrequiresnotonlycarefulanalysisbutahighdegreeofconceptualability,coupledwithinnovation.Inotherwords,itcallsfordisciplinedcreativity.Duringthe1960sand1970smarketingbecamethedrivingphi-losophyofmanyconsumergoodscompanies.Marketingpeopleruled,andsuccessfulmarketingstrategiesweredevelopedforbroadusergroups.Carryinganalysistoextremes,somecom-paniespursueddecimalpointgainsinmarketsharebuttendedtomissmajormarketshifts.Overall,however,marketingwaswellestablishedasawayofthinkingandaguidetomanaging.AUTUMN198535Challengesofthe1980sAstheyenteredthe1980s,businessesfacedanentirelynewsetofchallenges.Possiblythemostdramaticchallengeistheglobaliza-tionofmajorindustries,suchasautomobiles,televisionandconstructionequipment.Componentsourcing,logistics,salesandproductdesignshavetrulybecomeworldwide.Alongwithglobalmarkets,managersarefindingitnecessarytoadjusttoradicallydifferentgrowthpatterns.Industriessuchaselectronicsandcomputersareexperiencingexplosivegrowth,whilematureindustriessuchascapitalgoodsmustcopewithzerogrowth.Inthesematureindustries,thebattleforshareisfierce,anddemandcreationhasbecomeamajormissionformarketing.Asecondmarketingchallengeinthe1980sistheupheavalsinthemarketplacecausedbythederegulationofsuchindustriesasairlines,banking,investmentbanking,trucking,andoilandgasproductionanddistribution.Someindustries,notablyfinancialservices,haveseentheemergenceofnontraditionalcompetitors.TheprospectofSears,RoebuckandMerrillLynchasdirectcompetitorswouldhavebeenlaughableasrecentlyasfiveyearsago.Anothermajorchallengeisshiftsinthechannelstructureofmanyindustries.Thetraditionalchannelsofdistributionhavebecomescrambled,andmanufacturersfindthemselvesusingamixtureofwholesalers,retailers,chains,buyinggroupsandevencaptiveoutlets.Inmanyindustriesdistributorsandmanufactur-ers'representativesareplayingamoreimportantrole.Inothers,buyinggroups,chainsandcooperativesarebecomingsignificantfactors.Becausethesegroupsbringgreatlyincreasedsophistica-tiontothebuyingprocess-espe