This case demonstrates how quickly management’s marketing tasks change. Successful marketing requires the ability of management to quickly change and adapt. Marketing management’s roles and responsibilities include: the development of marketing strategies and plans, capturing marketing insight, connecting with the customer, building strong brands, shaping the market offering, delivering and communicating value, and creating long-term growth. As this case clearly points out, management can easily lose its way.
Match the facts of this case (poor growth by Wal-Mart, etc.) to the appropriate marketing management tasks. Can you see a relationship between Wal-Mart's symptoms and how well marketing management performed its tasks? Why or why not? Wal-Mart's average growth rate of 2%, increased inventories, market share loss, and distribution setbacks can all be matched to the role played by marketing management. Students should list the primary function of marketing from the chapter: Successful marketing management must develop marketing strategies and plans, capture marketing insight, connect with the customer, build strong brands, shape the market offering, deliver and communicate value, and create, for the organization, long-term growth. The students should talk about how marketing management's "failure" to successfully execute these functions led to Wal-Mart's current situation. (This author does acknowledge that this may be seen by some as a gross understatement and oversimplification of Wal-Mart's problems, but since this is the opening chapter of the book, this license should be allowed.)
Can you think of other businesses that exhibit some of Wal-Mart's "mid-life" symptoms? Research the Internet and newspapers and find 3 examples of other companies that you think mimic Wal-Mart's "mid-life crisis" and explain. Students' answers will differ by region. However, all students should list the functions of marketing management from the chapter and be able to "match"...