What is holistic marketing? Explaining the four components

Have you ever heard of the term holistic marketing? Holistic is an English word that means “whole” or “comprehensive.” Holistic marketing is the idea of ​​combining several marketing methods to increase the effectiveness of marketing as a whole. point.

Customers and markets are becoming increasingly diverse, and we are now living in an era where simple marketing alone is no longer enough to convey the value a company provides to customers. In this article, we will introduce the overview and benefits of holistic marketing, which has been adopted by an increasing number of companies recently.

Overview of holistic marketing

The term “holistic marketing” was coined by American management scholar

Philip Kotler

in his 2002 book “New Principles of Marketing.”

There are many factors that are changing the market, including customers, new entrants, distribution channels, deregulation and privatization.

In order to respond to this rapidly changing market, Kotler believes that holistic marketing, which integrates and utilizes the management of demand, management resources, networks, etc. It says that we need a concept.

Holistic marketing consists of four elements

Integrating management does not mean that you can combine them indiscriminately.

Kotler says that four components (marketing) are necessary for effective holistic marketing.

1. 
   relationship marketing
   

Relationship marketing is a marketing method that developed significantly in the 1990s. Rather than marketing, which had previously focused on companies, we have shifted our focus to customers and placed emphasis on maintaining good relationships. The background to this development was the need to turn existing customers into repeat customers, as the economy was experiencing slow economic growth and it became difficult to acquire new customers.

Relationship marketing is a type of marketing that emphasizes LTV (Life Time Value), which is still mainstream today.

This relationship also includes cooperating companies, shareholders, banks, etc.

1. 
   internal marketing
   

Internal refers to “inside”, that is, within your company. For example, when introducing a product to the market, accounting and information systems departments that do not have direct contact with customers tend to think that only the production floor and sales staff need to deal with customers. In reality, various departments are involved with customers, even if indirectly, such as cost reduction and online sales. That’s why every department within your company must understand the importance of customer relationships and maximizing LTV.

Internal marketing refers to activities that educate and motivate marketing to management, employees, and all people within an organization.

1. 
   socially responsible marketing
   

Modern corporate activities cannot continue to develop unless they think not only about their own company, but also about social issues. A bad example of self-centered management is the problem of air pollution, water pollution, and noise pollution during the era of high economic growth.

Management that pursues only its own profits and lacks consideration for society and the environment cannot be tolerated in modern times.

It is necessary to balance sound business operations with CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility).

1. 
   integrated marketing
   

This is also called the marketing mix. Marketing combines the 4Ps of product, price, place, and promotion to deliver value in the form of products and services to customers.

Holistic marketing is the idea of ​​delivering the three components I have talked about so far to customers as value through integrated marketing.

Regarding this value, Kotler suggests that holistic marketing should be carried out while keeping in mind the following three themes.

Three themes of holistic marketing

1. 
   value search
   

Always keep thinking about new value to provide to customers. In a rapidly changing market, the value that customers seek is also constantly changing. Value also changes from moment to moment due to environmental changes other than customers. We must constantly explore what value our customers are looking for.

1. 
   value creation
   

Always keep thinking of ways to create value efficiently. The value discovered through exploration must be provided efficiently and at a cost that is easily accessible to customers. We need to make the most of internal marketing and create value efficiently.

1. 
   Providing value
   

Think about how to make the most of your management resources and provide value. Even if you are able to create great value, it is meaningless if it does not reach your customers. The methods of providing products and services are constantly changing depending on the type of product or service and the historical background. We must constantly think about how to most efficiently deliver value to our customers.

The advantage of holistic marketing is that each marketing activity, which until now has been uneven and difficult to proceed efficiently, can be carried out in a well-balanced and effective manner by looking at it from a comprehensive perspective.

All four components are essential for a company to create lasting value.

Let’s use the PDCA cycle and manage things properly so that we don’t get too biased.

summary

◆Marketing is an activity that provides [value] to customers.

◆Modern marketing cannot succeed if it only looks at customers.

◆Marketing that takes all stakeholders into account is necessary

◆Holistic marketing involves comprehensively understanding all relationships and working with three themes in mind.