In his article Ten Barriers to Marketing Planning published in 1989, professor Malcolm McDonald defined obstacles that prevent entrepreneurs from creating an effective marketing strategy. McDonald (1989, p. 1) covered various possible issues, ranging from the fundamental confusion between tactics and strategy to the lack of knowledge and skills. An examination of more modern studies allowed concluding that McDonald’s views are still relevant today.
The contemporary business culture encourages companies to champion sustainability and social responsibility ideas. As a result, such concepts as sufficiency have become a much-needed element of the commercial marketing strategy (Gossen, Ziesemer, and Schrader, 2019, p. 252). However, companies often fail to incorporate sufficiency and sustainability in their marketing planning. According to Gossen, Ziesemer, and Schrader (2019, p. 264), this problem emerges due to organizational barriers, such as orientation on increasing sales and short-term shareholder value. McDonald (1989, p. 8) also mentioned that people loyal to their “tribe” are reluctant to sacrifice their own goals. In this regard, his take on organizational barriers remains highly relevant.
Furthermore, some of the barriers defined by McDonald’s impede the adoption of modern marketing strategies. For instance, digitally illiterate retail executives and technophobic culture impaired the switch to an omnichannel marketing strategy (Berman and Thelen, 2018). Such problems are especially severe for small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs). For example, Hosseini et al. (2019) pointed out the problems of SMEs’ connection with their representatives in the foreign markets. Therefore, the lack of knowledge and hostility to corporate culture still exists in the modern era. Overall, it is possible to state that the barriers to marketing planning listed by professor McDonald have not disappeared. In particular, technology, skill, and knowledge-related barriers are getting stronger, which creates serious challenges for marketing professionals.
Reference List
Berman, B., and Thelen, S. (2018) ‘Planning and implementing an effective omnichannel marketing program,’ International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management. 46(7), pp. 598-614.
Gossen, M., Ziesemer, F., and Schrader, U. (2019) ‘Why and how commercial marketing should promote sufficient consumption: A systematic literature review,’ Journal of Macromarketing, 39(3), pp. 252-269.
Hosseini, S. et al. (2019) ‘Cloud computing utilization and mitigation of informational and marketing barriers of the SMEs from the emerging markets: Evidence from Iran and Turkey,’ International Journal of Information Management, 46, pp. 54-69.
McDonald, M. (1989) ‘Ten barriers to marketing planning,’ Journal of Marketing Management, 5(1), pp. 1-18.