The Theoretical Aspects of Strategic Marketing Research Paper

Introduction

The market of the 21st century has become extremely demanding when dealing with goods and services promotion. New tendencies and tools are introduced each year to secure relevance in the market and healthy competition. The foundation of these principles lies in the notion of marketing, which stands for “managing profitable customer relationships, i.e., is to attract new customers by promising superior value and to keep and grow current customers by delivering satisfaction” (Armstrong et al., 2018, p. 20). Thus, when managing any customer-oriented business, it is of crucial importance to dwell upon the market peculiarities and, hence, ways in which a particular product might stand out from the overall context.

The marketing process’s primary outcomes are visible to an average person daily when he or she is walking down the street, navigating through social media platforms, or listening to the radio. However, only a few realize that there is a great deal of effort and various strategies implementation that led to these advertisements in the first place. Hence, it is quite relevant for the 21st century to study the basic principles of strategic marketing from both the customer and business owner’s perspectives. In terms of this paper, an attempt will be made to dwell upon the issue by critically analyzing the case study of the Harmonie water. Thus, the major aim of this paper is to define the key conclusions of the case study provided, to select the most beneficial strategic axes for an enterprise as well as to estimate the brand’s ideal positioning in terms of the conducted research. The first part of the research, however, will deal with the theoretical aspects of strategic marketing to provide reasonable answers.

Strategic Marketing as a Notion

The rapid advancement of technology as a marketing tool, along with the constantly increasing expectations from the customers, encourages researchers to define new ways of market management, and establish new ways of communication with stakeholders. To classify the variety of these approaches, at the end of the 20th century, Hunt came up with four major dimensions of marketing science. They include the behavior of both buyers and sellers toward the exchange realization, its institutional framework, and the following consequences the structure brings to society (Varadarajan, 2019). When speaking of these principles, it becomes clear that such a strong dependence on a potential customer leads to the need for constant strategy modification, as society’s attitudes towards consumption are constantly changing. As a result, the notion of strategic marketing serves as a tool that encompasses the peculiarities of “paradigms, principles, theories, constructs, relationships, models, etc.” that cooperate to successfully compete in the field (Varadarajan, 2019). The competition itself is closely connected to the questions of where and how to rival in the first place.

Marketing Trends and Strategic Axes

When analyzing any marketing strategy for a brand, it is important to examine the marketing strategies currently taking place in the field. According to Corner (2020), current marketing tendencies include:

• Review relevance. When deciding on a purchase, customers are now more than even referring to the reviews of the product to define the best possible option. Due to the existing variety of goods and services, consumers tend to rely on the product assessment even when it comes to minor purchases;
• Customer before marketing. This idea implies giving priority to the customer’s needs and preferences when creating a strategy. Even the most financially-demanding project will not attract the target audience when their expectations are not considered;
• Technological advancement. It goes without saying that when dealing with strategic marketing today, it is practically impossible to ignore the significance of technological involvement in the process;
• Uniqueness. The great variety of brands and businesses today makes customers exhausted by their monotony. Hence, a unique approach to the advertisements puts at an advantage even minor businesses when created thoroughly.

Marketing management, like any research field, is based on a series of principal notions that shape a potential positive process outcome. In marketing, in particular, analysts define seven major pillars that directly influence strategy development:

• Branding
• Visibility of brand
• Authority
• Social presence
• Campaigning
• Customer services
• Gauging the effectiveness of all strategies (Jitendra, 2018).

Thus, when analyzing the market on the subject of current tendencies and competitiveness, it is crucial to bear in mind the aspects of both overall trends development and the foundation upon which the strategies are built.

Water Market Description

The water market, being a universal and ever-lasting segment, will be discussed throughout this research paper, as it is closely correlated with the case study provided. Hence, it is of crucial importance to dwell upon the general description of the field to define its major opportunities and characteristics. To begin with, the global water market encompasses the domestic, household, and industrial sectors to an equal extent, dealing with food, beverages, pharmaceutics, and power generation (Transparency Market Research, n.d.). In terms of the following research, however, specific attention will be paid to the issue of bottled water marketing.

Bottled Water Segment

The overall definition of the bottled water segment deals with the aspects of bottled water sales as well as facilities responsible for purifying and bottling water (The Business Research Company, 2018). The market’s estimated value is prevailing $230 billion, with an expectation to increase by 10% in the year 2021. Like any growing industry, the bottled water segment can be characterized by major drivers and restraints in its development. Hence, the industry’s most significant driver concerns the customers’ preoccupation over their health and appearance peculiarities. Thus, to reduce the probability of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and obesity, people have shifted from the consumption of sugary products toward drinking water.

However, the major restraint for market development concerns the current ecological trends that encourage people to reduce the scope of plastic utilization across the world. So far, plastic has been considered the most widespread way of selling bottled water, now urging researchers and market analysts to estimate the strategies of rebranding conventional ways of water selling. Furthermore, with the continually growing bottled water market, people have become more interested in purchasing premium water, which is believed to have a beneficial effect on the human body and hydration rates (The Business Research Company, 2018). Hence, when examining one’s marketing strategy in terms of the aforementioned segment, it is vital to take into account the strategy’s compatibility with these tendencies.

Case Study Brief Description

The case study to be further discussed in the paper concerns the strategic marketing peculiarities of the Harmonie bottled water and the definition of the brand’s major marketing values. The first part of the case study is related to the global trends of bottled water consumption, focusing on its global fragmentation, and premium segment (Quelch and Teopaco, 2017). Such an introduction is required for the further opportunity to conduct a contrastive analysis when defining the strategies’ potential success.

The next segment of the study considers a brief history of the Harmonie brand, which indicates the overall sales patterns calculated for 2015. The following part also includes a description of the advertisement pattern peculiar to the brand. The study is later focused on the description of the Projects Unify and Aqua (Quelch and Teopaco, 2017). According to the definitions, Project Unify is dedicated to the issue of uniting the worldwide marketing perception of the brand. Project Aqua, in its turn, focuses on the local studies on the subject of the consumer’s attitude and understanding of the key terms proposed by the marketing team to be the central theme of the campaigns. Finally, the study explains the features of global brand planning and implementation. Bearing these case study characteristics in mind, it is now necessary to define the key conclusions and prospects of Harmonie’s case.

Key Conclusions

Regarding the information proposed in the study, it is possible to outline the key conclusions concerning the global market of bottled water:

• Rapid demand increase. According to the information provided, in the period between 2010 and 2015, the bottled water consumption rate increased by 33%, marking the tendency continuation. When comparing to the information provided in the paper, it is evident that despite some minor pitfalls, the segment of bottled water is enhancing due to consumers paying more attention to their health conditions;
• Patterns of water consumption vary geographically. When speaking of a comparative study that examines bottled water consumption levels in terms of location, it becomes evident that while representing different cultures and economic peculiarities, people also perform different aims behind bottled water consumption. Thus, while people in Asia, displaying the highest volume rate, drinks bottled water as an alternative to sugary beverages, residents of developing countries consume it to avoid the complications of drinking tap water;
• Local brands tend to dominate the local market. As a result of the study, it was indicated that bottled water brands manufactured in a particular region or state were relatively more popular in the homeland;
• The premium bottled water segment is contradictory. The so-called ‘premium’ bottled water frequently receives such a status by the decision of a company’s marketing department. As a result, many brands, when being self-proclaimed as premium, focus on different manufacturing patterns, including mineral levels, purity, pH levels, and presentation. Such dissonance is the result of consumers from developed countries being overwhelmed with the idea of drinking the best water introduced in the market to claim their status. With such motivation, the real facts behind the notion of premium are undermined.

Strategic Axes

In the theoretical part of the following research paper, it was mentioned that marketing management is based on the seven major aspects that create a good brand strategy. Although in the best-case scenario, all of these pillars are united in securing a successful outcome, with limited time like in Harmonie’s case, it is important to outline the most beneficial aspect. Considering the information provided in the study, it would be beneficial to focus on brand visibility in terms of its strategic marketing. The geographical distribution of Harmonie water requires a high level of flexibility in the context of pricing and presentation. As mentioned in the study, some of the enterprise’s marketing representatives claimed the need for an agile approach to the strategies due to the cultural peculiarities of the target audience. Hence, for the brand to remain visible at the moment before it obtains a universal status, it is of significant importance to apply different approaches to the brand. In such a way, people in both developing and developed countries will get accustomed to the brand, implying its future development.

Another strategic focus should be placed on campaigning and its content. With today’s rapid increase in concern over ecology and health, Harmonie should adjust its advertising towards these issues to become relevant. Bottled water is not a product type that may be easily differentiated from the competitors as long as it is not properly promoted. With commencing socially-oriented campaigns, people who are interested in premium water might subconsciously remember the brand name when purchasing water next time. Moreover, according to the conclusions outlined, the marketing target should be focused on Asian customers.

Ideal Brand Positioning

In the course of strategic marketing research, the analysts were focused on the Projects Unify and Agua that would potentially place them in the right direction in terms of the customers’ attraction and satisfaction with the product. In terms of the Project Unify implementation, the key campaign terms – ‘revitalizing’ and ‘refined’ – were introduced. According to the working concept, the former terms could be associated with an enhanced model of bottled water, boosting one’s health conditions, and emphasizing well-being. The idea of the latter term lay in the process of depicting individuals that would aspire future customers to drink the Harmonie water. When implementing Project Aqua, however, the major idea was to cooperate with a focus group in the subject of their perception of the aforementioned notions. As a result, most of the ideas were understood by the consumers, allowing the company to implement those terms in the advertising campaigns.

When considering both of these projects, however, one may emphasize the idea of reaching a consensus between the two processes. Hence, the ideal positioning of the brand would be for the Harmonie brand to position itself as a premium bottled water perfect for some special occasions without excluding the idea of availability. The context of ‘refined’ water with the depiction of the aspiring individuals should take into account all the peculiarities of a potential customer, including gender, culture, age, and physical characteristics. Hence, the Harmonie bottled water would be perfectly placed in the segment of premium water when being flexible in terms of target audience formation.

Conclusion

Today’s market is replete with marketing tools that help attract the right audience. However, when being on the stage of brand development, it is essential to examine all the possible outcomes of strategic marketing. Throughout the following research paper, the case study concerning the Harmonie bottled water was analyzed on the subject of its ideal positioning in the market. As a result, it was estimated that while being a representative of the premium water segment, it would be of crucial significance for the market to pay more attention to the customers’ identity. The future implications of the study may concern conducting a contrastive analysis of the brand about other popular bottled water in the local market.

Reference List

Armstrong, G.M., Kotler, P., Harker, M. and Brennan, R. (2018) Marketing: an introduction. London: Pearson UK.

Corner, A. 10 marketing trends for 2020 + predictions from experts. Web.

Jitendra, D. (2018) 7 pillars of marketing management. Web.

Quelch, J. A. and Teopaco J. L. (2017) ‘Harmonie water: refreshing the world naturally’, Harvard Business School.

The Business Research Company. (2018) Bottled water market by product (sparkling, still, flavored and spring), by packaging (plastic, glass, can, drum and others), by companies and by regions – global market size and forecast to 2021. Web.

Transparency Market Research. (n.d.) Water market – global industry analysis, size, share, growth, trends, and forecast 2016 – 2024. Web.

Varadarajan, R. (2019) ‘Theoretical underpinnings of research in strategic marketing: a commentary’, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 47(1), pp.30-36.