All three forces act to increase downward pressure on prices. Globalization means that companies will move their production to cheaper sites and bring products into a country at prices lower than those charged by the domestic sellers. Hypercompetition means that there are more suppliers competing for the same customer, leading to price cuts. And the Internet means that people can compare prices more quickly and move to the lowest-cost offer. The marketing challenge, then, is to find ways to maintain prices and profitability in the face of these macro trends. No country’s industry is going to hold on to its customers if it can’t continue to lead in offering the most value.

At the same time, various world regions are becoming more integrated and more protective. The members of a region are seeking preferential terms from the other members of the region. But artificial trade preferences cannot last long against a substantial deterioration in value.

– What are the main new trends in marketing?

My list would include:

– From make-and-sell marketing to sense-and-respond marketing

– From owning assets to owning brands

– From vertical integration to virtual integration (outsourcing)

– From mass marketing to customized marketing

– From operating only in the marketplace to also operating in cyberspace

– From pursuing market share to pursuing customer share

– From focusing on customer attraction to focusing on customer retention

– From transaction marketing to relationship marketing

– From customer acquisition to customer retention and satisfaction

– From mediated marketing to direct marketing

– From marketer monologue to customer dialogue

– From separated planning of communications to integrated marketing communications

– From single-channel marketing to multichannel marketing

– From product-centric marketing to customer-centric marketing

– From the marketing department doing the marketing to everyone in the company doing the marketing

– From exploiting suppliers and distributors to partnering with them

– How will organizations be affected by the substantial increase in the velocity of change?

Successful companies must practice trend watching and scenario planning. It never hurts to identify trends and speculate about their implications for the company. Companies can also benefit from imagining different future scenarios and planning responses to them. Royal Dutch/Shell attributes some of its profitability to the use of scenario planning.

– What are the major changes within the field of marketing since the famous 4Ps?

There have been countless changes. We have been shifting from mass marketing to segment marketing to niche marketing to one-to-one marketing. We have recognized the growing importance of service. We have improved our skills at brand building and brand asset management. We are making better use of Web marketing. We are developing new metrics for measuring the impact of marketing expenditures.

– What are the newest skills needed in marketing?

Marketing traditionally has relied on four marketing skills and tools: the sales force, advertising, sales promotion, and marketing research. Every company needs to master these tools. But marketing departments also need a whole new set of skills. Among them are brand building, customer relationship management, database marketing, telemarketing, experiential marketing, and profitability analysis by product, segment, channel, and customer.

– What is experiential marketing?

Marketers need to think more about delivering a positive experience for the customer than about simply selling a product or a service. Starbucks markets a «coffee experience» as customers sit in its attractive shops and escape from the hustle and bustle of the busy world. The famous Barnes & Noble chain of bookstores delivers an experience that includes chairs and tables for sitting and reading, evening lectures and performances, and a great coffee shop. REI, a retailer selling climbing equipment, includes a climbing wall and a simulated rainfall in its stores so that customers can test and experience the performance of its products. This suggests that marketers should think through the experience that customers have when they obtain a product or service and see how they can provide a simulation of this experience.