The Evolution Scroll of Marketing: From Marketing 1.0 to Marketing 4.0

As a strategic city, the marketing concept has undergone great changes in the past 50 years. At the World Marketing Summit held recently in Tokyo, Dr. philip kotler, the father of marketing, divided his iconic ideological contribution into the following seven stages: post-war period (1950- 1960), high-speed growth period (1960- 1970) and market turbulence period (.

From the evolution path of marketing ideas, the strategic function of marketing is becoming more and more obvious, and it has gradually developed into the most important and core part of the enterprise development strategy, that is, the market competition strategy, which is helpful to establish a sustainable customer base, establish differentiated competitive advantages and realize profitability; Secondly, the process of marketing development in the past 50 years is also a process in which customers gradually move forward in value. Customers have gradually become the most important assets from the past, creating value together with enterprises, forming interactive brands, further digitizing assets, and making enterprises, consumers and customers become a whole. In addition, marketing is more and more closely related to technology and data. The positions of marketing technical officer and digital marketing officer in enterprises make the corresponding talents hot. These executives should not only understand marketing, but also know how to process data, apply data and gain insight into data, and know how to use emerging technologies to upgrade traditional marketing.

The transformation of strategic marketing orientation

Marketing theory divides the positioning of marketing into production stage, product stage, promotion stage, sales stage, marketing stage and social marketing stage. As the practical orientation of enterprise's high-level vision, philip kotler recently divided it into product orientation, customer orientation, brand orientation, value orientation, values orientation and * * * innovation orientation from the strategic marketing orientation.

Product positioning takes the product itself as the core of market strategy. Its premise is that the products and technology of the enterprise are fixed, but the customer groups who buy this product and the customer needs they cater to are uncertain, which requires the enterprise to discover and explore. The competitiveness of the product itself is the response of the market competitiveness. This orientation was gradually replaced by customer orientation in the 1980s, because it separated the relationship between customer needs and products. However, it is worth noting that in recent years, due to the rise of the mobile Internet, everyone is talking about "the product era does not need marketing, only products", which is a popular misunderstanding at present. Products must be based on customers in order to be successful in the market. Marketing is a whole process that runs through value identification, value selection, value communication and value renewal, rather than some short-term tactics. Customer orientation means that enterprises take meeting customer needs and increasing customer value as the starting point. Brand emphasizes the creation, development and protection of brand identity in the process of continuous interaction with target customers in order to gain competitive advantage. Value orientation regards customers and competition as a whole, and forms differentiated value according to customer needs. In recent five years, philip kotler thinks that the marketing strategy has entered the value orientation and the innovation orientation. Indeed, we also see that enterprises that are value-oriented and realize customer innovation have become pioneers in the new era, and Starbucks, Xiaomi and GE have all implemented this in marketing practice.

From marketing 1.0 to marketing 4.0.

Kotler divides marketing into 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and the latest 4.0. Marketing 1.0 is product-centered marketing in the industrial era, and marketing 1.0 began with the development of production technology during the industrial revolution. At that time, the marketing was to sell all the products produced by the factory to people who had the ability to pay. These products are usually relatively primary, and their production purpose is to meet the needs of the mass market. In this case, enterprises try their best to expand the scale, standardize products, and constantly reduce costs to attract customers at low prices. The most typical example is the Ford Model T with only one color-"No matter what color car you need, Ford only has black".

Marketing 2.0 is consumer-oriented marketing, its core technology is information technology, and the demands of enterprises for consumers are emotion and image. In 1970s, with the gradual popularization of information technology in western developed countries, information about products and services was more easily obtained by consumers, and consumers could compare similar products more conveniently. The goal of Marketing 2.0 is to satisfy and maintain consumers. The golden rule of enterprise success is "customer is God". In this era, the market in the eyes of enterprises has become a smart consumer with thinking and choice ability, and enterprises need to attract consumers by meeting their specific needs. Just like Procter & Gamble, Unilever and other FMCG companies have developed thousands of different grades of daily chemical products to meet the needs of different groups of people.

Marketing 3.0 is cooperative, cultural and spiritual marketing, and it is also value-driven marketing. Like the consumer-centered 2.0 marketing era, 3.0 marketing is also committed to meeting the needs of consumers. However, enterprises in the 3.0 marketing era must have a broader mission, vision and values of serving the world, and must strive to solve various problems existing in today's society. In other words, 3.0 marketing has raised the marketing concept to a new height of paying attention to human expectations, values and spirit. It believes that consumers are complete people with independent consciousness and feelings, and any needs and hopes of them cannot be ignored. 3.0 Marketing combines emotional marketing with human spiritual marketing. When the global economic shock occurs, 3.0 marketing is more closely related to consumers' lives, because the rapid changes and turbulence in society, economy and environment are intensifying the impact on consumers. In the marketing era, 3.0 enterprises strive to find answers and bring hope to those who deal with these problems, so they are more likely to form inner voices with consumers. 3.0 In the marketing era, enterprises are differentiated due to different values. In the era of turbulent economic situation, this differentiated positioning method is very effective for enterprises. Therefore, kotler also called Marketing 3.0 "value-driven marketing".

Marketing 4.0 is a further upgrade recently proposed by philip kotler. Marketing realizes self-worth. In the case of social prosperity, Maslow's four needs of physiology, safety, belonging and respect are relatively easy to be met, so the self-realization of customers has become a great demand. Marketing 4.0 is to solve this problem. With the emergence of mobile Internet and new communication technologies, customers can more easily get in touch with the products and services they need and communicate with people who have the same needs, so social media and customer communities have emerged. Enterprises shift the center of marketing to how to actively interact with consumers, respect the values of consumers as "subjects" and let consumers participate more in the creation of marketing value. In the process of continuous communication between customers and enterprises, due to the "connection bonus" brought by the mobile Internet and the Internet of Things, a large number of consumer behaviors and trajectories have left traces, resulting in a large number of behavioral data, which we call "consumer digitalization". Behind these behavioral data, it actually represents countless connection points with customers. How to understand and meet the needs represented by these connection points and help customers realize their self-worth is a problem that marketing 4.0 needs to face and solve. It is based on values, connectivity, big data, communities and next-generation analytical technologies.

1.0 and 2.0. 3.0.4.0 Marketing Era

1.0 era

Product center marketing

2.0 era

Consumer positioning marketing

3.0 era

Value-driven marketing

4.0 era

* * * Creation-oriented marketing.

Target sales products satisfy and maintain the realization of consumers' self-worth in the process of making the world a better place.

Driving force of industrial revolution, new wave of information technology, science and technology, big data, connectivity, analytical technology and values.

The way enterprises look at the market, mass buyers with physiological needs, smart consumers with the ability to think and choose, and complete individual consumers and customers with independent thoughts, hearts and spirits are the main participants of enterprises.

Main Marketing Concepts Product Development Differentiated Value Community, Big Data

Enterprise marketing policy, product refinement, enterprise and product positioning, enterprise mission, vision and values, comprehensive digital technology+community building ability

Values advocate function and emotional function, emotional and spiritual creation and self-realization.

Interaction with consumers: one-to-many transaction, one-to-one relationship, many-to-many cooperation, network participation and integration.

What hasn't changed, the essence of marketing.

What hasn't changed is the essence of marketing. Digital technology is an upgrade of marketing means and methods, but it cannot replace the essence of marketing. What is the essence of marketing? What should the marketing strategy be?

The following are some definitions of marketing strategy:

? Marketing strategy is a combination of a series of activities such as selecting value, defining value and transmitting value (McKinsey);

? Marketing strategy is regarded as a strategic work for enterprises to create customer value combination, and all work is carried out around value creation. Marketing strategy is the division, positioning and existence of the company around the target customers.

On this basis, it provides 4P work of marketing mix, including market segmentation, target market selection, market positioning (STP) of marketing, and related work mix of price, channel, promotion and products (AMA, American Marketing Association);

? Marketing strategy includes opportunity identification, customer attraction and retention, brand creation and marketing management. Companies should pay attention to where external opportunities are, how to dig deep into customer value and establish marketing management structure.

And founded the brand (philip kotler) on this basis;

However, from the perspective of enterprises and consulting practice, if we simplify the complex and go straight to the core, we think that the essence of marketing strategy has three cores: demand management, establishing differentiated value and establishing the basis of continuous trading.

Demand management: the core of demand management is to effectively control and guide the uncertainty of demand, which is the root of "changing" market, as an "inflexible" enterprise. Market opportunity lies in the imbalance between unsatisfied demand (including counter-demand) and all demands. The main task of marketing management is to stimulate, create, adapt and influence consumers' demands. /kloc-for more than 0/00 years, P&G has only focused on one thing, that is, tapping the most essential needs of consumers and creating innovative products that meet their needs with an attitude of Excellence. P&G has set up a consumer learning center within the company to restore the real life scenes of consumers such as mini-supermarkets, living rooms and bedrooms. Almost every day, consumers come here to participate in various surveys and tests. There is also a pilot factory in the R&D center, which produces small quantities of products for consumers to test, so as to get consumers' feedback quickly. These nuanced consumer insights are truly integrated into P&G products. Demand-generated products, ways to realize production channels, and demand-guided positioning.

Establishing differentiated value: There is a concept of "niche" in ecology, which refers to "the final distribution unit occupied by a species or a sub-species". In order to survive, organisms need to undergo divergent evolution and distribute in different niches. Generally speaking, if an organism wants to survive, the most important thing is to be different from other organisms, that is, "different." This is similar to the strategic thinking of enterprises in marketing. If enterprises can't differentiate, products will become "commodities"); "; There is no difference, indicating that the marketing strategy of enterprise development is invalid. This is why Intel wants to be a B2B2C brand and establish "Intel inside". Seth Godin even directly coined a new word-Zi Niu. Just as Buff stands out among a group of ordinary black-and-white cows, I believe that real marketing should be an eye-catching art, which can properly attract people's attention to our products and services.

Furthermore, "differentiated value" should be the core of the whole competitive strategy. Professor Michael Porter of Harvard Business School told an interesting story of "differentiation wins": It is said that Indians living in Labrador Peninsula in northeastern Canada make a living by hunting. They face a problem every day: which direction to choose to find their prey. They used a ridiculous way for civilized people to find the answer to this question: they roasted a deer bone on the fire until cracks appeared in the bone, and then invited tribal experts to decipher the information contained in these cracks-the direction of the cracks was the direction they should look for prey that day. Surprisingly, under this decision-making method, which can be called "witchcraft", this group of Indians often find prey, so this custom has been passed down among tribes. Professor Porter believes that the decision-making methods of these Indians contain many scientific elements, and the core behind these scientific elements is differentiation: formally, because other tribes on the peninsula have been carefully planned and scientifically analyzed, their prey has been hunted in the place of scientific analysis, but this tribe relying on witchcraft has obtained differentiated survival. Marketing without differentiated value is just a bloody battle of cost.

Establishing the basis of continuous trading: whether the basis of continuous trading can be established is the core of measuring marketing sustainability strategically. Apple is an example. In the early 1980s, Apple was a company that highlighted its advantages with its products. Jobs was stubborn at that time. Apple computers are designed and arranged from hardware to software. The niche positioning and closed system made Apple lose to IBM and Microsoft in the 1980s. After Jobs returned to Apple, he achieved a turnaround through ipod, iphone and ipad. In addition to high-performance products and sexy industrial design, Apple's biggest difference is the open system, which allows users to constantly update their services through channels such as iTunes and App Store. At this time, Apple is no longer a mobile phone or PC, but more of a service terminal. Users become members of the iPhone community and have the same hobbies. Apple has changed from an extreme brand-oriented company to a sample of establishing relationships with consumers, which is the marketing idea of "establishing continuous transactions".

Jobs once made an interesting distinction between Nokia and Apple: "customers" and "users". Nokia is a "customer" and a product thinking. The contact between products and customers is basically broken when they are sold; Apple is a "user" business, and the machine is just an interface to establish relationships with consumers. After entering the user community through the interface, Apple's "relationship management" marketing began to exert its strength, and consumers became "users" who repeatedly used Apple's service products. Marketing without realizing the basis of continuous trading is a short-term behavior, and it is impossible to achieve strategic sustainability.

Demand management, differentiation, and establishing the basis of continuous trading, the essence of marketing has not changed in both the traditional era and the current digital era, and they are still the core of effective marketing and sustainable marketing.