Marketing Management Overview

Principles

Definition

Marketing management is the academic field and professional discipline concerned with the systematic planning, implementation, and control of marketing activities. It investigates the processes by which organizations create, communicate, deliver, and exchange offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. This domain encompasses the analysis of market opportunities, the development of marketing strategies (including product, price, place, and promotion decisions), and the management of marketing resources to achieve organizational objectives. Its significance lies in its role as a critical function enabling organizations to navigate competitive landscapes, build customer relationships, and drive sustainable growth.

Ontological type

Core Functions

Strategic Role

Tools and Frameworks

Key developments

Key Figures

Planning and Measurement era

Philip Kotler [1], associated with Northwestern University [2], stands as a central figure in the Planning and Measurement era (1970–1983). Kotler [1]'s 1973 work Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning and Control [3] offered a structured framework for analysis, planning, and control that quantified trade-offs and anchored reliability and risk assessment in marketing. Kotler [1] helped cement this era's emphasis on measurable trade-offs and decision-oriented models that reframed marketing problems as quantifiable managerial choices. Kotler [1] further argued that the institutionalization of measurement practices throughout planning and control made marketing decisions more transparent and strategically driven.

Relationship-Centric Marketing era

Robert F. Lusch [1] is a prominent figure during the Relationship-Centric Marketing era (1984–2009) with affiliations at University of Wisconsin–Madison [3] and University of Maryland, College Park [4]. Building on his work, Robert F. Lusch [1] advanced the service-dominant logic and cocreation of value in marketing, as discussed in the 2003 paper Evolving to a New Dominant Logic for Marketing [6], a move that reframed exchange as a relational process in this era. Stephen L. Vargo [2] is a central figure associated with the University of Hawaii System [5] and the University of Maryland, College Park [4] during this era. Similarly, Stephen L. Vargo [2] contributes to the service-dominant logic and cocreation of value through the 2003 paper Evolving to a New Dominant Logic for Marketing [6], a work that helped institutionalize relational perspectives and cross-functional learning that characterized marketing practice in this period.

Platform Analytics and Value era

Roger J. Calantone [1] is associated with the University of New Hampshire [3] and Michigan State University [4] in the Platform Analytics and Value era (2010–2023). His key contributions in this era center on discriminant validity testing in marketing, as detailed in the paper Discriminant validity testing in marketing: an analysis, causes for concern, and proposed remedies [7], which advanced diagnostic rigor for construct validity and reliability in marketing research. Colin Campbell [2] is affiliated with King's College London [5] and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill [6] during this era. His notable contribution in this period is explored in the 2020 paper More than meets the eye: The functional components underlying influencer marketing [8], which elucidates the mechanisms by which influencer marketing drives platform-based reach and value, relevant for analytics-driven marketing orchestration.