David Mercer
Open University
Business School

Source of information: http://books.google.ru

MARKETERS AS POLITICAL STRATEGISTS

Few marketers are trained in the art of politics and are thus unaccustomed to using power to achieve favourable transactions. Most marketers think that value, not power, wins in the marketplace.
The growth of protected markets, however, requires marketers to incorporate the notion of power into their strategies. Marketing is increasingly becoming the art of managing power. What do they need to know about power? They need to know that power is the ability of one party (A) to get another party (B) to do what it might not otherwise have done. It is A's ability to increase the probability of B's taking an action.

Rewards

A offers to reward B for engaging in the desired behaviour. The reward might be recognition, entertainment, gifts, or payments. Marketers arc expert in the use of rewards.

Coercion

A threatens to harm B in the absence of compliant behaviour. A may threaten physical, social, or financial harm. Marketers have been loath to use coercive power because of its doubtful ethical status, because it does not square with the marketing concept, and because it can create hostility that can backfire on the marketer.

Expertise or information

A offers B special expertise, such as technical assistance or access to special information, in exchange for B's compliance.

Legitimacy

A is seen to have a legitimate right to make certain requests of B. An example would be the Japanese premier asking Nippon Electric Company to put Motorola on its approved supplier list.

Prestige

A has prestige in B's mind and draws on this to request B's compliance. An example would be Chrysler president Lee lacocca requesting a meeting with officials in a foreign country to present arguments for opening a Chrysler plant in that country.
Power is key to megamarketers. Companies that find themselves blocked from a market must undertake a three - step process for creating an entry strategy: mapping the power structure, forging a grand strategy and developing a tactical implementation plan.

Mapping the power structure

Executives must first understand how power is distributed in the particular target community (city, state, nation). Political scientists identify three types of power structure (Mitchell and Lowry, 1973). The first type is a pyramidal power structure in which power is invested in a ruling elite, which may be an individual, a family, a company, an industry. The elite carries out its wishes through a layer of lieutenants, who in turn manage a layer of doers. The marketing strategist who wants to operate in such a community can get in only if the ruling elite approves or is neutral.
The second type is a factional power structure in which two or more factions (power blocs, pressure groups, special - interest groups) compete for power in the community. Political parties are an example. The competing parties represent different constituencies - labour, business, ethnic minorities, or farmers. Here the company's strategists must decide with which factions they want to work. In allying with certain factions, the company usually loses the goodwill of others.
The third type is a coalition power structure in which influential parties from various power blocs form temporary coalitions. When power is in the hands of a coalition, however temporarily, the company has to work through the coalition to secure its objectives. Or the company can form a countcrcoalition to support its cause.
Identifying the power structure as pyramidal, fictional, or coalition is only the first step of the analysis. Executives next have to assess the relative power of various parties. A's power over B is directly related to B's dependence on A. B's dependence on A is directly proportional to B’s chance of achieving the goals without A. In other words. A has power over B to the extent that A can directly affect B's goal attainment and B has few alternatives (Emerson, 1962).