Malcolm McDonald

Bio: Malcolm McDonald is an academic researcher from Cranfield University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Marketing management & Marketing research. The author has an hindex of 30, co-authored 147 publications receiving 3492 citations.

Corporate marketing and service brands ‐ Moving beyond the fast‐moving consumer goods model

Abstract: Examines the issues associated with the creation and development of service brands in corporate branding. Initially considers the increasing importance of the services sector, the appropriateness of corporate versus individual branding and how service organisations have challenged the traditional approach to business. By analysing the success and failure of corporate branding in financial services, illustrates how thinking about service branding needs to change. Outlines the differences between product and service branding and considers how the fast‐moving consumer goods (FMCG) approach to branding needs to be adjusted for the services sector. Particular emphasis is placed on the intangible nature of services and corporate branding and how problems linked to intangible offerings can be overcome. Concludes with an examination of the roles that employees and consumers play in the delivery and strengthening of the corporate service brands.

Factors for Success in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems

Abstract: The importance of effective customer relationships as a key to customer value and hence shareholder value is widely emphasised. In order to enhance these relationships, the application of IT to marketing through customer relationship management (CRM) software, e-commerce and other initiatives is growing rapidly. This study examines the factors that influence the successful deployment of CRM applications, with particular emphasis on those factors which are distinct from other areas of application. Using the analytic induction method, success factors were derived from five in-depth case studies. Resulting factors underemphasised in previous literature include: the need for project approval procedures which allow for uncertainty; the need to leverage models of best practice; the importance of prototyping new processes, not just IT; and the need to manage for the delivery of the intended benefits, rather than just implementing the original specification.

Market Segmentation: How to Do It, How to Profit from It

Abstract: Foreword vii Preface and acknowledgements ix An important note to the reader from the authors xi List of figures xv List of tables xix 1 Market segmentation the bedrock of successful marketing 1 2 Preparing for segmentation additional guidelines for success 21 3 Fast tracking through the segmentation process 47 4 Determining the scope of a segmentation project 71 5 Portraying how a market works and identifying decision-makers 105 6 Developing a representative sample of different decision-makers 143 7 Accounting for the behaviour of decision-makers 213 8 Forming market segments out of like-minded decision-makers 255 9 Determining the attractiveness of market segments 303 10 Assessing company competitiveness and the portfolio matrix 329 11 Realizing the full potential of market mapping 349 12 Predicting channel transformation 369 13 Setting marketing objectives and strategies for identified segments 407 14 Organizational issues in market segmentation 449 15 Using segmentation to improve performance a case study 469 Index 481

Marketing Plans: How to Prepare Them, How to Use Them

Abstract: Understanding the marketing process The marketing planning process: the main steps The marketing planning process: removing the myths Completing the marketing audit: the customer and market audit Completing the marketing audit: the product audit Setting marketing objectives and strategies The communication plan: the advertising and sales promotion plans The communication plan: the sales plan The pricing plan Marketing information, forecasting and organizing for marketing planning Implementation issues in marketing planning A step-by-step marketing planning system.

Key account management: theory, practice and challenges

Abstract: Key account management is a natural development of customer focus and relationship marketing in business‐to‐business markets. It offers critical benefits and opportunities for profit enhancement to both sides of the seller/buyer dyad. This paper describes a framework for understanding the development of key account relationships. It has also incorporated a comprehensive guide to the current practice of key account management and comments on the challenges for the future of key account management practice. The paper is based on research involving in‐depth interviews with key account managers, their managers and their main contacts in the customer organisation. The scope of key account management is widening and becoming more complex. The skills of professionab involved in it at strategic and operational levels need to be constantly updated and developed. This paper demonstrates how key account management can be implemented and points decision‐makers in the right direction for better practice in the long term.

The Role of Relational Information Processes and Technology Use in Customer Relationship Management

Abstract: Drawing on the relationship marketing and market information processing literature streams, the authors conceptualize and measure relational information processes, or organizational routines that are critical for customer relationship management (CRM). The authors examine the key drivers and outcome of relational information processes and the role of technology in implementing CRM using data collected from a diverse sample of firms. The results show that relational information processes play a vital role in enhancing an organization's customer relationship performance. By moderating the influence of relational information processes on customer relationship performance, technology used for CRM performs an important and supportive role. The study provides insights into why the use of CRM technology might not always deliver the expected customer relationship performance outcome.

Corporate brands: what are they? What of them?

Abstract: This article examines the nature, importance, typology, and management of corporate brands. Argues that in making a distinction between corporate brands, corporate identities, and product brands, the underlying characteristics of corporate brands can be uncovered. A key thesis of the article is that a corporate brand is a valuable resource: one that provides an entity with a sustainable, competitive advantage if specific criteria are met. These criteria are defined in terms of an economic theory known as “the resource‐based view of the firm”. An affirmation of this economic doctrine requires corporate brands to be rare, durable, inappropriable, imperfectly imitable, and imperfectly substitutable. Also contends that the traditional tripartite, branding typology be expanded to reflect the new modes in which corporate brands are being utilised. These new corporate branding categories are: familial, shared, surrogate, supra, multiplex, and federal. Finally, reasons that the management of a corporate brand requires the orchestration of six “identity types”. The critical identity type is the “covenanted identity” because it underpins the corporate brand. The covenanted identity comprises a set of expectations relating to an organisation's products/services and activities. Internally, it acts as a standard against which an employee/employer's actions can be evaluated. Argues that employees are crucial to the success, and maintenance, of corporate brands. Speculates that the current interest in corporate brands is redolent of a new dynamic in marketing. As such, corporate brands are symptomatic of the increased importance accorded to corporate‐level concerns and concepts. This interest in corporate‐level concerns should form the basis of a new branch of marketing: one that weft and weaves the concepts of corporate identity, image, reputation, communications along with corporate branding. The article concurs with Balmer and Greyser who argue that this area should be known as corporate‐level‐marketing.

Bringing the corporation into corporate branding

Abstract: This paper describes corporate branding as an organisational tool whose successful application depends on attending to the strategic, organisational and communicational context in which it is used A model to help managers analyse context in terms of the alignment between strategic vision, organisational culture and corporate image is presented The model is based on a gap analysis, which enables managers to assess the coherence of their corporate brand Use of the model is illustrated by examining the stages of development that British Airways passed through in the creation of its corporate brand The paper concludes that corporate brand management is a dynamic process that involves keeping up with continuous adjustments of vision, culture and image The model suggests an approach to corporate branding that is organisationally integrated and cross‐functional, hence the thesis that it is important to bring the (whole) corporation into corporate branding