Marketing accountability and marketing automation: evidence from Portugal

PurposeThe present study seeks to outline the role of marketing automation (MA) in measuring the return on marketing activities and the challenges associated with reaching accountability in marketing.Design/methodology/approachTo investigate the objective of the study, the authors adopted a qualitative approach, conducting an exploratory study among ten key informants located in Portugal.FindingsBased on the results of the qualitative analysis, a conceptual framework is proposed, which includes both strategic- and operational-level factors with the goal of creating a value-based agenda. In this agenda, executives such as the Chief Marketing Officer emerge as value creators, fostering business scalability, and further arguments are provided to justify budget allocation to MA activities.Originality/valueThrough careful research of the elements that characterize the phenomenon under study, the present paper ultimately contributes to a better understanding of MA and accountability within the current business paradigm.

Improvement of the organization of sales cost accounting to ensure efficient sales cost management in industrial enterprise

Optimizing the efficiency of sales costs of the enterprise is a prerequisite for increasing sales and attracting new customers. Expenses for sales have need to be properly and fully accounted for, otherwise it may lead to incorrect determination of the amount of expenses, the object of taxation, as well as the financial result. Improving the organizational aspects of sales costs accounting of the industrial enterprises is an effective tool for improving their efficiency management. The purpose of the article is to outline ways to increase the cost of sales information to ensure that they are properly monitored. The proposed classification of sales costs and accounting accounts for industrial enterprises, will greatly simplify the organization of synthetic and analytical accounting. Besides this, it will strengthen the control of incurred costs and increase the informativeness of the analysis of sales costs, and also does not contradict the requirements of the legislation. Product advertising is of the most popular measure to promote sales and inform potential buyers about the properties of a product, so managers are advised to use the Marketing and Advertising Cost Control Sheet, which indicates the budgeted and the fact costs, the magnitude of cost variance, the reasons for such deviations, and the measures taken to correct the deviations. Among domestic industrial enterprises, the most popular demand is advertising products through the Internet. One way to improve sales cost management is to use the various Google Analytics and Bitrix24 that automatically calculate the metrics which managers need, such as: ROMI (Return on marketing investment), CPC (Cost per Action), CPA (Cost per Action), Return On Ad Spend (ROAS), etc. The article discusses the benefits of features that help sales managers compare the potential effect of investing in advertising in individual media or individual advertising companies.

The marketing research curriculum: Closing the practitioner–academic gaps

As an industry, marketing research has enjoyed decades of systemic growth. Unfortunately, dissatisfaction with the return on marketing research investments has also been consistently voiced. Part of this complaint may be due to the inadequate way marketing research is being taught. In this article, we review what practitioner–academic gaps have been found in the literature and also present the results of a survey among alumni of a US university. We identify several key gaps including (1) understanding of business issues, (2) ability to define a marketing research problem, (3) ability to design marketing research, (4) ability to analyze data, (5) ability to interpret the results, (6) ability to translate results into actions, (7) ability to effectively interact with clients, and (8) expertise on specific research studies such as customer satisfaction research, branding, and new product development research.

Organization and effectiveness of marketing management of agricultural commodity producers under non-cooperative marketing: the experience of Ukraine

Under reducing domestic demand for food in Ukraine and increasing dependence on the world food market, a significant part of quasi-price rent from its sale is assigned by intermediary exporters, thus reducing the welfare of domestic commodity producers and consumers. To mitigate this negative effect, it is necessary to have a carefully designed marketing business strategy. The purpose of this article is to summarize the practice of using the main elements of the marketing complex, analyze the effective management of marketing activities of agricultural producers in Ukraine and determine the main directions for increasing its effectiveness by establishing marketing relations for the product supply. Given the large area of Ukraine and the complexity to obtain monographic data that are not subject to monitoring by the State Statistics Service, the study was conducted using agricultural enterprises of the typical agricultural district, namely Khrystynivka district of Cherkasy region (Ukraine) as an example. It is revealed that the use of marketing tools by agricultural enterprises is limited due to the specifics of commodity products and the managers’ focus on short-term business goals. The analysis of forming and realizing the marketing complex of the district enterprises using the monographic method has shown that enterprises systematically use only elements such as commodity policy and distribution policy, while relying exclusively on retrospective marketing data. Significant increase in the return on marketing costs in the short term can only be achieved if formal or informal associations of commodity producers are formed on a functional-territorial basis. This will create a scale effect and allow each member to reduce transaction costs and get an additional premium. It is proved that while conducting administrative-territorial reform in Ukraine, it is most appropriate to form such associations within the boundaries of the united territorial communities.

Organizational identification and independent sales contractor performance in professional services

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the drivers of independent sales contractor (ISC) performance. As independently contracted sales agents, the ISC model is a growing method of non-permanent employment utilized in many sectors. Specifically, this study seeks to fill a gap in the literature related to the under-researched link between ISCs and organizational identification. Design/methodology/approach This study conducts an exploratory, mixed-methods study based on data collected from 189 ISCs from a professional services firm. Findings Results demonstrate that outcomes related to sales performance, retention and advocacy are influenced directly and indirectly by organizational identification. It also shows that tangible benefits related to financial and marketing values are the strongest predictors of ISC organizational identification. Intangible dimensions such as value congruence, management trust and embeddedness play a limited role in the model. Research limitations/implications Results show that ISC sales performance is enhanced when an ISC views their identity and the identity of the firm as highly interdependent. These findings suggest that organizational identification can be a key performance indicator when evaluating the return on marketing investment for a firm. Practical implications This study provides some important guidance to managers responsible for ISCs. First, the study identifies the primary drivers of organizational identification. Specifically, the study demonstrates that financial and marketing benefits are the primary relational antecedents of organizational identification. Both value congruence and operational benefits play relatively minor roles. Similarly, the results show that both organizational identification and historic sales performance are critical predictors of sales performance. Originality/value Few researchers have examined the link between ISCs and organizational identification. Organizational identification is of particular importance in the study of ISCs, as they possess the dual identity of an independent agent and that of a sales representative of the firm they are under contract. This study contributes to existing literature by extending previous studies that examine antecedents of sales performance.

Advertising Experiments at the Ohio Art Company

This case is intended to be part of a first-year MBA marketing course, or a second-year elective in advertising, integrated marketing communications, market research, or marketing analytics. The case provides students with examples of two real advertising experiments and the challenges involved in executing the experiments. It allows for a discussion of the need for advertising experiments, and also, at a more general level, the need to measure the return on marketing. Biases surrounding the field experiments allow for a discussion of the problems with establishing a causal relationship between advertising and sales.

Los desafíos del marketing en la era del big data

Este escrito plantea cuatro desafíos del marketing a los que se enfrentan las empresas en la era digital teniendo en cuenta el enfoque estratégico, tecnológico y táctico; su objetivo es ayudar a que las organizaciones, en especial los departamentos de marketing, puedan tomar mejores decisiones implementando la analítica de datos. En la primera parte del artículo se presenta la definición y evolución del marketing desde la revolución industrial, con su enfoque en el producto y la producción en masa, hasta el marketing actual, que está centrado en el consumidor y las necesidades del cliente buscando una diferenciación y personalización tanto de productos como de servicios basándose en los avances tecnológicos y los diversos accesos a la información. En la segunda parte se especifica qué es <em>Big Data</em>, los volúmenes de datos, los tipos de datos y sus fuentes; igualmente, se puntualiza qué es la analítica de datos (<em>data analytics</em>). El tercer aporte esboza la descripción del marketing en nuestros días y cómo los servicios de la Web 2.0 (redes sociales, RSS, tecnologías rápidas de mensajería, vídeos, mensajería instantánea, wikis, <em>blogs</em>, etc.) y sus bases teóricas ayudan a la captación, fidelización y posicionamiento de marca. Por último, se presentan los cuatro desafíos para las empresas en la actual era digital: el desafío de las 6V (volumen, velocidad, variedad, veracidad, valor y visualización); los retos estratégicos, tecnológicos y operativos en las organizaciones; las tendencias del marketing y la medición del ROMI (<em>return on marketing investment</em>). <h5 style="margin: 0cm; margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level5 lfo1; tab-stops: list 0cm;"> </h5>