The Holistic Marketing Concept

A whole set of forces that appeared in the last decade call for new marketing and business practices. Companies have new capabilities that can transform the way they have been doing marketing (see "Marketing Insight: The Internet Advantage"). Companies need fresh thinking about how to operate and compete in a new marketing environment. Marketers in the twenty-first century are increasingly recognizing the need to have a more complete, cohesive approach that goes beyond traditional applications of the marketing concept. Look at Puma.

Puma
German athletic footwear company Puma has used holistic marketing to bring its product back from being a sentimental mainstay of the 1970s to one of the trendiest athletic shoes around Puma uses multiple marketing approaches that work synergistically to set Puma apart as an edgy trend-setting brand.

Puma designs products with distinct customer groups in mind-such as snowboarder’s car racing fans and yoga enthusiasts-using market research generated by its retailer partners.

Puma also targets the armchair athlete-its two most popular models are the Mostro, a walking shoe with a nubbed wraparound sole, and the Speed Cat, a flat $65 sneaker modeled on shoes worn by Formula one race car drivers.

It generates word of mouth or "viral marketing" by clever promotions-from partnering with BMW/Min Terence Conran Design Shop, and the Jamaican Olympic team-or holding promotional events at sushi restaurants during the 2002 World Cup to outfitting Serena Williams and showcasing products in well-chosen TV shows and movies.

The approach is working: Puma's sales have increased for 10 straight years from 1994 to 2004, tripling in total.

The Holistic Marketing
concept is based on the development, design, and implementation of marketing programs, processes, and activities that recognizes their breadth and interdependencies.

Holistic marketing recognizes that "everything matters" with marketing and that a broad, integrated perspective is often necessary.

Four components of holistic marketing are relationship marketing, integrated marketing, internal marketing, and social responsibility marketing.

Holistic marketing is thus an approach to marketing that attempts to recognize and reconcile the scope and complexities of marketing activities.