MARKETING MANAGEMENT – MARKETING ORIENTATION

AND HOLISTIC SCHOOLS MARKETING

PhD. VIRGINIA LAZAR, CEA, Iasi

Abstract
Marketing orientation is beneficial correlated with innovation, growth, perceptions of
quality services, excellence, high level of satisfaction and commitment of human
resources, customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.
Holistic marketing orientation requires rethinking how to approach the market, new
realities, in a broader and more coherent, with a louder voice, holistic marketing states that
all matter, citing the need of a real partnership between the organization, suppliers and
distributors, creating a true team in order to provide the best value target markets.
School is really oriented marketing / holistic marketing by coordinating and integrating all
activities that would best respond to the demands of ever more selective more informed
and sophisticated consumers.

Argument
In the past decade, educational institutions engaged in relationships with their external
environment, have used similar concepts to those seen in business, including:
* production perspective – promoting the idea of preference for products available and
extremely affordable, marketing management focuses its efforts on increasing
production efficiency, minimizing distribution costs, although useful, the concept can
lead to marketing myopia.
* product approach – was based on the assumption that innovative products are preferred
for maximum quality and performance, motivating management to work in developing
their products and continuous improvement. (Evans, 1995).

* sale orientation  prevail later in years, and seeks not only to buy products that develop a
range of activities to inform and persuade consumers to purchase, management efforts
focus on aggressive marketing and sales promotion.

* marketing orientation  recognizes that the institution's main task is to determine needs
and wants of target markets and to meet the design, communication, pricing and delivery
of programs, services and experience appropriate and competitive.
Marketing orientation
Marketing literature is full of definitions and perspectives of marketing orientation (MO)
and there is still no clear agreement on key concepts (Harris, 2002; Helfert et al., 2002,
Kohli et al., 1993, Narver and Slater, 1990 ). The basis of this concept is the significance
of customer focus, therefore customer needs, wishes and individual circumstances
(eg lifestyle) should be the main focus of market-oriented organization. Marketing
orientation has three components: customer orientation, competitive orientation and inter-
functional coordination.

  247
 

From the researches found that marketing orientation is correlated with innovation
beneficial growth, perceptions of service quality, excellence, high level of satisfaction and
commitment of human resources, customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. There is less
conclusive evidence on the relationship between MO and performance, but some
researchers have argued that MO improves outcomes for service organizations (Pulendran
et al., 2003). .

In theory, schools that adopt the marketing orientation are more responsive to parents'
requests, needs and desires of children and attentive to changing community needs, they
focus on the needs of parents and their children and give priority to their satisfaction
(Hanson, 1996; Pardey, 1991), advocates a proactive approach to customer requirements
and focus on their total satisfaction and encourage continued innovation for the benefit of
current and potential customers. Schools are encouraged to follow several
important steps in carrying out their work:
1. marketing research and analysis environment;
2. marketing plan and strategy formulation;
3. developing and implementing marketing mix;
4. evaluation of the marketing process (Hanson, 1996; Kotler and Armstrong, 1999;
Foskett, 2001).

From practical point of view, the principles of adopted marketing perspective required
steps mentioned above, from the investigation of the needs of students and parents.
Marketing Management will achieve its objectives only through focusing efforts on the
knowledge needs, desires, expectations of students / parents and creation, communication
and provision of value more effectively and efficiently than competitors.
School is really oriented toward marketing and student by coordinating and integrating all
activities through which meet better the demands of ever more selective, informed and
sophisticated customers. The customer is the king. Successful schools will understand this
and will be master of marketing, marketing thinking combining specific skills,
demonstrating flexibility, capacity management and delegation of authority, necessary to
intelligent management environment.

Holistic marketing orientation

Requires rethinking how to approach the market, new realities, in a broader and more
coherent, with a louder voice, holistic marketing says that everything matters in marketing,
citing not only need a real partnership between the organization, suppliers and distributors,
creating a true team in order to provide the best value target markets, but even accepting
the need, perhaps the biggest challenge, beyond working with consumers, a new type of
organization, customer driven organization.
Pillars supporting the power this new building are: relational marketing, integrated
marketing, internal marketing and socially responsible marketing.
Relationship marketing – can be viewed as a sum of relations, networks and interactions
grown and developed long term, with all interested groups, which may influence directly
or indirectly succcesul school (Brown et al., 1994), creates the foundation for a beneficial
relationship the parties, including the customer relationship management, CRM and PRM
with partners. There are some who argue that RM is the foundation based on affinity
marketing, which is the highest a true partnership with customers. A common finding,

  248
 

resulting in global studies, refers to the important role of relationship marketing approach
(RM) in developing and implementing marketing plan and strategy school. It assumes that
attracting, maintaining and strengthening customer relationships is an important
determinant of customer satisfaction to service.MR approach begins with a commitment
marketing orientation (MO) and developing a customer-oriented organizational culture and
focus on quality of service (Narver and Slater, 1990). Forms of MR have been observed in
schools throughout the world (eg, Bell, 1999; Oplatka et al., 2002). Relational marketing
approach that emphasizes the effort to build and manage directors good relationships with
pupils, parents and community and create a great degree of satisfaction and wellbeing
among these groups, is a tool that managers perceived it as significantly influential, they
say the students, the school recommends others to the extent they are satisfied with their
school, therefore, explicitly and clearly teachers need to begin marketing the first meeting
with potential customers beyond the instructions on the curriculum there is another purpose
of the school: to make students happy because a happy child brings his brother, friends and
neighbors. Sometimes, especially in schools less than requested, relationship marketing
includes activities to mobilize parents and students in marketing (telemarketing and open
evenings organizing meetings in their homes, with directors and prospective parents).
Relationship marketing and word of mouth promotion are perceived by Israeli directors, as
well as their UK colleagues as very important for school marketing purposes, they still
seem to be insufficient for most of the managers who claim that schools should adopt, in
general, formal marketing techniques if they are to survive in the new competitive
environment.

Internal Integrated
marketing  marketing 
Holistic
marketing
orientation 

Socially
responsible Relationship
marketing  marketing 

Fig. 1 Defining dimensions of holistic marketing

Source: Ph. Kotler, Kevin Keller, "Marketing Management", Edit. Teora, Buc. 2008, p.22

Integrated marketing – talking more and enthusiastic about this topic that addresses
issues of marketing mix, in terms of organization, marketing mix, the classical way of
reflecting the myriad forms of organization of marketing activities, contains, according to
McCarthy, the 4 P : product, price, placement and promotion to four general groups of
elements, reflecting the view of the seller on all the instruments that can be combined to
convince the customer by creating, communicating and providing value, Robert Lauterborn
believes that the group of four P corresponds to the 4C group of customers, their
characteristics are determined to add another 3 P in the mix-people, process and physical

  249
 

evidence; last category mentioned Cowell, including culture and environment in which
a service is delivered, by Bateson, they are matters of great importance in the school
context, requiring effective management.

A true integrated marketing orientation in education avoid providing marketing myopia

and will lead to the conversion of 7 W in the 7C, if the school will respond to targeted
market or will exceed the actual offer value as a whole distinct benefits.

Tabel.1. Integrated marketing vs. traditional marketing

7 P for educational services 7 C for educational services

Product Skills and qualifications
Price Educational cost
Placing Convenience
Promoting Educational communication
Process Students empowerment
Persons Competent teachers / employees
Area school – facilities, physical Context, the academic context
evidence

Offers value for the customer (OVC) is a central component of operational marketing
focused, differentiated and engaging, they can achieve by coordinating all marketing
activities and decisions to maximize the expected effects.

Internal marketing plays an important role in creating, communicating and providing

value, is the cornerstone of marketing educational services, care managers will ensure
internal customer satisfaction and external customer satisfaction organization, a professor
thanked turns into a real agent marketing. IM assumes that, on the one hand, various
marketing functions work together as a real team and coordinated in terms of customer
satisfaction, and on the other hand, all other departments to adopt customer orientation. In
schools, this means not only communicating with internal clients, but also to involve all
staff (support staff and teachers) to create market strategy. All employees need to share and
feel that they have a role in further developing the school to increase the quality of services
and be involved in promoting customer care and improve customer satisfaction.

Marketing with social responsibility – marketers are required, understanding the context
of ethics, social, environmental, legal, etc. of steps and overall consequences they produce,
even when an institution focuses its efforts on meeting the needs of consumers to achieve
their objectives, there may be negative effects in society, it is micro-macro dilemma which
can be beneficial for some organizations and consumers may not be for society as a whole.
Marketers are obliged to be more responsible, as a basic principle of the organizations and
major component of their brand-be it about environmental issues, integrity, morality,
education, health, or any other area of interest.

The four quadrants of the square are four groups responsibility challenges schools must
meet the constructive engagement to provide an expected response both target markets and
communities to be addressed directly or indirectly through their work, it requires also a
balance between the three types of global demands, often contradictory institutional
success, satisfying consumers and public interest.

  250
 

External responsibilities
LEGAL SOCIAL
Information Welfare
Privacy Environment
Processing Diversity
information
 

Tangible Intangibile
steps Responsible steps
Marketing

INTEGRITY ETHICAL
Honesty Behavior
Openness Promises
Clarity Morality

Internal responsibilities

Fig. 2. Responsibility square

Source: Peter Fisk, Marketing Genius, Edit. Meteor Press Pcs., 2008, p 191

REFERENCES
 Baker, M. J., The Encyclopedia of Marketing, International Thomson Business Press, 1999
 Baker, M. J. , The Marketing Book, B/H, UK, 2008
 Baker, M J., Marketing: Theory and Practice, Macmillan, 1996
 Balaure, Virgil (coord.), Marketing, Editura Uranus, Bucureşti, 2002
 Cartwright, Roger, Mastering Marketing Management, Palgrave Macmillan, UK, 2003
 Cowell, apud Harvey, Janet A., Schools marketing and consumer choice, International Journal
of Educational Management, Bradford, 1996, Vol. 10, Iss. 4
 Fisk, Peter, Geniu în marketing, Edit. Meteor Press, Buc., 2008
 Florescu, C-tin (coord ) Marketing, Marketer-Grup, Bucureşti, 1991
 Gummesson, Evert, apud Michael J.Thomas, Manual de marketing, Edit.Codecs, Buc., 1998
 Kotler, Ph, Conform lui Kotler , Editura Brandbuilders, Bucureşti, 2006
 Kotler, Ph.; Fox, Karen, Strategic Marketing for Educational Institutions, Englewood Cliffs,
New Jersey, Prentice Hall, 1995
 Kotler, Ph.; Keller, Kevin, Managementul Marketingului, Editura Teora, Bucureşti, 2008
 McDonald, Malcom, Marketing strategic, Edit. Codecs, Buc., 1998
 Oplatka, Izhar ; Hemsley-Brown, Jane, The incorporation of market orientation in the
school culture; An essential aspect of school marketing, The International Journal of
Educational Management. Bradford: 2007
 Oplatka, Izhar, The emergence of educational marketing: Lessons from experiences of
Principles Israel, Comparative Education Review, Chicago, May 2002
 Oplatka, Izhar; Hemsley-Brown, Jane, The research on school marketing: Current issues
and future directions, Journal of Educational Administration. Armidale: 2004
 Perreault, Willim D.; McCarty, E. Jerome, Essentials of Marketing. A Global-Managerial
Approach, Ed. Mc Grow-Hill/Irwin, USA, 2006
 http://anale.feaa.uaic.ro/anale/resurse/19_Sasu_C_-
_Abordarea_strategica_a_marketingului_integrat.pdf

  251