1) "The primary business of every business is to stay in business" (Levitt 1962 1). The guru of marketing has stated, as simply as possible, that for a business to succeed it must be able to reach its customers and get them to buy, and to keep them confident in the product's quality and superiority. When Levitt wrote his Innovations in Marketing, the computer age was just beginning. Now, corporations can plan their strategy far more easily on computer programs. Nevertheless, without a marketing plan, divided into short- and long-range goals and how to achieve them, chances of success are at best a gamble. And, the successful marketing executive cannot afford to gamble.
2) No successful modern business should have a conflict between a marketing plan and a corporate strategy. If the two are not symbiotic, the company may fail. Look what happened to Hewlett-Packard lately, until the new CEO, Mark Hurd, took over and created a marketing strategy that focused on a separation of product. Now, H-P has announced one of the most profitable quarters it has achieved in recent years.
3) Environmentalists, as well as the government's EPA now come down hard on polluters. There is now a phenomenon called "green accounting", more accurately, "'environmental accounting' which is broadly defines as "the modification of the national income accounts to take into account the economic role of the environment" (Hecht 2002 1).
4) A perfect example of a different or changing marketing mix can be seen in what some of the fast food chains- McDonalds, Wendy's, even KFC, are doing to accommodate customers for whom fatty foods (i.e., hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fried chicken with French fries) are no longer part of their diets. While retaining Big Macs, et al, the chains are now offering salads, fruit cocktails, a roasted rath3er than fried chicken, IN ADDITION to their normal fare. So, they satisfy the original customer mix, and attract more health- and we...