Key Difference – Corporate Strategy vs Marketing Strategy
The difference between corporate strategy and marketing strategy has an element of confusion as both overlaps or coincide with each other partially. So, the comparison can be confusing. But, a thorough understanding of each term can clear this confusion. First of all, we should understand the meaning of strategy. There are lots of interpretations of the word Strategy. But, generally in a managerial perception, it’s the goal setting and planning on a long term perspective. Usually, strategies focus a period of more than 5 years. Short-term objectives are known as tactics. This long-term planning and goal setting can be drawn up for the whole organization or for each department or for each strategic business units (SBU’s). This is where the corporate strategy and marketing strategy appears.The key difference between corporate strategy and marketing strategy is that Corporate strategy is the long-term planning for an organization giving the direction and the goal while the Marketing strategy is the fundamental goal of increasing sales and enhancing the competitive advantage in a sustainable manner. The targeted outcome of each strategy and the focus of each strategy define the difference between them which will be detailed below.
What is Corporate Strategy?
Corporate refers to an organization. So, corporate strategy is the overall strategy for the company. It gives the direction for the company to travel in future. The corporate strategy can be defined as the long-term planning for an organization giving the direction and the goal. Direction refers to the way in which the company wants to reach the final objectives. The goal can be growth, retention / survival or harvest. Further, corporate strategy defines the markets and businesses in which the company looks forward to operating. The company may enter new markets or exit from existing markets which all are possibilities of a corporate strategy with due justification.
Corporate strategy is influenced by its culture, stakeholders, resources, markets the company operates in, the environment, the vision and mission, etc. Corporate strategy can primarily focus on the areas of organizational structure, profitability, improvements on the balance sheet, change management, diversification, reducing dependency on one segment and joint venture. Such tasks are more towards a shift of organizational policy decisions and results in major changes in the organization. While the other sub-sector strategies concentrate more on day to day improvements and activities.
What is Marketing Strategy?
Marketing is an essential function for any organization which is handled by a department in the overall organization. Sales are part of the marketing function. The key task for a marketing department is increasing sales and improving the competitive advantage. So, marketing strategy can be defined as the fundamental goal of increasing sales and enhancing the competitive advantage in a sustainable manner. A marketing strategy uses the marketing mix to develop its future plans. The conventional marketing mix consists of product, place (distribution), price and promotion. Nowadays, people, process, and physical evidence also have been added to the conventional toolkit of marketing.
Marketing strategy only represents one stage or one function in the organization’s development. Marketing strategy can include all aspects of marketing planning including day to day functions, short-term objective setting, new product development, customer care, etc.
What is the difference between Corporate Strategy and Marketing Strategy?
Before analyzing the differences in between these two terms, it’s very important that we look at the link between these two. An organization is made of many departments and functions such as marketing, finance, human resources, production, IT, etc. An efficient organization is only seen when all departments collaborate seamlessly. Corporate strategy is also similar. All departments have to work together as a team to achieve the targets of a corporate strategy. So, a corporate strategy should not violate the departmental strategic goals or customer aspirations. It needs to be aligned with departmental strategies. This suits marketing strategy too. For, example a firm may plan cost reduction via corporate strategy. For this purpose, they cannot compromise the quality of their products by using cheap materials and unskilled labor. This will hurt the marketing strategy of giving the best product to the customer. So, customers would turn away from the organization. Therefore, a corporate strategy should give due important to existing departmental strategies in its future plans. Both have to come together for the entire organization to succeed. Now, we will look at the differences.
Definition of Corporate Strategy and Marketing Strategy
Corporate Strategy: “The long-term planning for an organization giving the direction and the goal.”
Marketing Strategy: “the fundamental goal of increasing sales and enhancing the competitive advantage in a sustainable manner.”
Features of Corporate Strategy and Marketing Strategy
Timeline
Corporate Strategy: Corporate strategy provides long terms directions and long term planning.
Marketing Strategy: Marketing strategy is about day to day functions, performance and results.
Broadness
Corporate Strategy: Corporate strategy covers the whole organization.
Marketing Strategy: Marketing strategy represents only a single department’s function and future course of action.
Orientation
Corporate Strategy: Corporate strategy should be aligning with its internal and external environment in order to reap the best from opportunities and safeguard the organization from threats.
Marketing Strategy: Marketing strategy will be more oriented towards functional and professional attributes.
Goal Evaluation
Corporate Strategy: In corporate strategy achievement of goals are evaluated from an overall collective perspective.
Marketing Strategy: In marketing strategy, the goals would have been divided into sub-targets. So, the evaluation also would be based on such stipulated target performance.
Evidence of success
Corporate Strategy: For corporate strategy, the evident of success can only be witnessed or observed in the long run.
Marketing Strategy: For marketing strategy, the evident of success can be witnessed in the short term. Sometimes, results could be immediate.
Above, we have briefed the differences in between corporate and marketing strategy. Though, both have significant differences both need to act simultaneously in harmony for an organization to prosper.