Conditions for the effective use of electronic technology in creating market and marketing strategies – examples from the postal and logistics market
Technical and technological progress, including the electronization of the economy, is one of the most significant factors in the development of product offerings by companies in the postal and logistics market. The logistics market, in particular, is developing dynamically, recording an annual growth of about 15-20%. A prerequisite for creating competitive products, and especially product differentiators in these markets, is basing them on the latest techniques and technology. Electronization has a special place here because most new product categories in these industries are based on IT and electronic technologies. However, success in these markets is determined not only by technological factors, but equally by the uniqueness of the offer and the associated ethical factors (the so-called ethical context) and psychological factors (psychological context).
Knowledge on this subject is very scarce, also in terms of scientific knowledge. Hence, the principles and background of the phenomena discussed in this article are unfortunately often overlooked or underestimated. Success in these markets will therefore be determined by the ability to develop product innovations that reflect a deep understanding of customer needs.
In the postal market, the dominant position will be held by companies that skillfully combine market strategy with marketing strategy
Companies operating in the postal and logistics market, if they want to occupy a high position, cannot focus only on operational activities; they must skillfully combine market strategy with marketing strategy. Can a company operate in the market without consciously applying a chosen marketing strategy? It can, although its chances of staying in the market in the long term are negligible. This applies to both small and large companies. Large companies in the postal or logistics market are highly hierarchical. However, the success of these companies will be determined by what their management boards focus on. Lower levels in a multi-level and hierarchical company primarily take care of the highest operational efficiency. However, it is not true that the higher the operational efficiency, the higher the competitive capacity of a given company. It should be remembered that operational efficiency has its limits and in itself is not able to ensure a company’s position in the market. A good market and marketing strategy is of fundamental importance here. If these strategies are poor, have too little power and potential, then even very large efforts to improve operational efficiency will be of little use. Practice indeed confirms this. Great efforts, consisting of introducing service standards, marketing plans, excellent incentive systems, and specialized sales services, will not cause a significant improvement in the company’s position in the market if the company has a marketing strategy with low potential. A situation that persists for a long time, in which a company does not have a good marketing strategy, causes frustration because – despite sincere efforts and measures related to improving efficiency – it is not possible to improve the company’s position in the market. The longer this frustration lasts, the worse it is, of course, because it breeds disbelief that the situation will change. It is then all the more difficult to spur the staff into action, even if the company manages to create a new marketing strategy with high potential. A common mistake made by companies is that they fall into two extreme management options. One is that the company focuses on developing a market strategy by setting new goals, missions, markets, etc. Of course, this is necessary, but on the other hand, it stops there. There is practically no translation from market strategy to so-called operational efficiency. The second extreme, in turn, is that the company focuses only on operational efficiency, without bothering with strategic matters. Everything boils down to management efficiency. The lack of intermediate links in the form of a marketing strategy, which indicates the directions of product development and their positioning, means that both extremes do not allow the company to conduct effective market competition. Focusing on market strategy does not allow the burden of market competition to be shifted to specific product solutions. On the other hand, focusing on operational efficiency triggers a desire to keep up with competitors, and this most often leads to imitating other companies, which is equally dangerous. The way out of the situation is a balanced approach that gives an appropriate place to marketing strategy, which is the main tool for achieving market goals. It is also a link from market strategy to operational activity. Market strategy defines the goals of the company and products (brands) in the market. Marketing strategy, on the other hand, is the methods and techniques for achieving these goals. Market strategy is rather “tailored to desires,” and marketing strategy is rather “tailored to capabilities.” Nevertheless, a good market strategy allows you to chart a path of development that indicates a good position in the market. For this reason, it should be a separate document with a separate approval procedure in the company. If these two documents were combined, there is a high risk of pressure to lower the goals in the market
strategy, which may seem difficult to achieve. This is especially true in situations where the substantive level of the strategy is not the highest for various reasons.
Example of Poczta Polska.
It is worth mentioning here the example of the Poczta Polska Development Strategy for 2005 – 2007 (understood here as a market strategy), which assumes relatively low market goals for this period, not allowing for the recovery of market shares. This is because the company has considerable experience in preparing market strategies and at the same time relatively little competence in developing winning marketing strategies. However, the problem is not to adjust the market strategy to low marketing competencies, but to quickly increase competencies in developing marketing, sales, and promotional strategies.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 1/2007.