Richard Speed

The Antecedents and Consequences of Market Orientation in Australia

The subject of market orientation has been of interest to both researchers and practitioners for several years. The work of Jaworski and Kohli (1993) inspired a substantial body of literature that empirically examined the antecedents and consequences of a market orientation. This article contributes to that body of literature by investigating the antecedents and consequences of market orientation in Australia. The results successfully replicate the Jaworski and Kohli findings, within an Australian environment. Results illustrate that understanding the culture, activities and processes associated with market‐oriented activity have significant implications for organisations in Australia.

Linking sponsorship and cause related marketing

Sponsorship activities have become a mainstream component of the marketing mix. As such, there are attempts to make these activities more effective by leveraging them using advertising, sales promotions, or in an increasing number of cases, through cause related marketing (CRM). This paper explores the relationship between sponsorship and CRM and identifies the potential opportunities that arise from leveraging sponsorships using CRM. The paper also examines the limitations of CRM as a leveraging strategy, puts forward a typology for categorising CRM and identifies some future research issues related to CRM‐leveraging of sponsorship.

Marketing Planning, Market Orientation and Business Performance

This study examines the relationships between marketing planning, market orientation and business performance. We explore conceptually how linking the behaviours of marketing planning with the values of market orientation might be expected impact on business performance. Our findings suggest that high quality marketing planning can lead to performance benefits, but as antecedent to a market orientation, rather than as an independent activity.

Choosing between line extensions and second brands: the case of the Australian and New Zealand wine industries

When managers launch a new product line into a category already served, they must decide whether to launch this as a line extension or as a second brand. This research seeks to identify how this decision is influenced by the position of the original product and the options available for positioning the new product. A model of the influences on brand and line extension success is developed and used to formulate a series of competing hypotheses about the factors that influence the decisions of managers. These hypotheses are tested using survey data from producers in the Australian wine industry. The results suggest managers seek to exploit the benefits available from the transfer of attributes to the new line, and minimise the risk of cannibalisation.

Planning and doing: The relationship between marketing planning styles and market orientation

Marketing planning and market orientation are linked by a means‐end relationship. It is through marketing planning that a goal or a desired level of market orientation is selected and approached. Research shows that a poor match exists between the recommendations of planning theorists and the suggestions developed through empirical research. The authors develop a conceptual framework for examining marketing planning practices. Their typology of planning styles — synoptic, incremental and interpretive — has a particular configuration of process, purpose and players. The authors believe that the type of planning undertaken by an organization will affect its ability to execute activities that make up market orientation. Some hypotheses concerning the relationship between planning styles and aspects of market orientation are presented.

Client focus in regulatory agencies

Abstract ‘Client focus’ seems like a counter-intuitive notion for regulatory agencies, whose job is to compel people to comply with government requirements. Yet it is becoming the catchphrase for many regulatory authorities. This article puts forward an argument, based on social exchange and regulatory theory, that a client-focused approach is not only compatible with a regulatory role, but also actually facilitates it. It recognizes that most peoples propensity to comply is a function of factors other than the fear of punishment, such as their intrinsic or normative motivations and their ability to do what is required. It also assists in delineation and understanding of the proportion of regulatees who opportunistically avoid their obligations. The article advances a broader model of social exchange between regulators and regulatees.

Human Branding in Political Marketing: Applying Contemporary Branding Thought to Political Parties and Their Leaders

Political marketing advances by engaging with new and advanced concepts from both of its parent disciplines. One of the most recent fields of brand research—the study of the human brand—is taken into the political marketing arena in this essay. Human branding is an emergent topic in mainstream marketing. The value as a brand of a person who is well-known and subject to explicit marketing communications efforts is being investigated in many fields. The concept has clear prima facie value in political marketing, where the role of a political leader as part of the political marketing offer has been recognized extensively. Politics is also a unique context given the relationship between leaders and parties, each of which has some unique brand associations. The process of exploring the application of human branding in politics also provides a context in which some of the interactions among party and leader, human brand, and organizational brand can be explored and further developed. Among the conclusions are that political party leaders require brand authenticity as an advocate of the party policy platform and brand authority to command the organization and deliver on the policies being advocated. Implications for party and campaign management are outlined.

Environmental context and marketing planning processes

The traditional model of marketing planning assumes that the process by which organizations take planning decisions is constant with respect to context. Organizational environment, internal context, performance and distinctive competency affect marketing planning only as information inputs for the planning process, not as influences on the choice of process. However, rapid change in environments, in competitive patterns and in market responses all demand action from organizations. Intuitively, we expect that rapid environmental change will require a faster planning process, and that increasing environmental complexity requires more careful deliberation. The marketing planning model does not accommodate such intuition. This paper outlines the case for rethinking marketing planning models, and develops a conceptual framework through which the impact of environmental context on marketing planning processes can be effectively examined.

The Europeanisation of the British political marketplace

Abstract The coalition government that resulted from the 2010 general election represents a new scenario in the British political marketplace with implications for political marketing theory and practice. The modelling of political marketing in the UK has evolved in relatively stable market conditions in which majority governments are elected; the market restructure arising from the 2010 election outcome offers an opportunity for a revised understanding of the field. Political science has established an important and dynamic body of knowledge that explains the founding and operation of coalitions. A comparative appraisal of coalition government and commercial cooperative arrangements indicates some commonalities. Western European elections are characterised by multiple actors, regional preferences, smaller parties, cooperative distribution of power, and assumed negotiability of the offer. As the British political marketplace evolves to exhibit similar characteristics, insights from these markets are used to contribute to the more multifaceted, cooperative models of political marketing management required for the UK.

From Rational to Interpretive Planning: Empirically Classifying Planning Styles in Australian Organisations

Marketing planning and market orientation are linked by a means end relationship. It is through marketing planning that a goal or a desired level of market orientation is selected and approached. The authors develop a typology of planning styles - synoptic, incremental and interpretive. Each style has a particular configuration of process, purpose and players. The authors believe that the type of planning undertaken by an organisation will affect its’ ability to execute activities that make up market orientation. The impact of varying planning styles on market orientation and performance will be presented.