Reinventing marketing strategy by recasting supplier/customer roles

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose that the recasting of supplier and customer roles reconfigures the role of marketing. Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual paper that suggests the need to rethink the role of marketing in the strategic decision making of companies. The study accesses recent theories of marketing, service and value and provides illustrative case examples. Findings – Consumers are progressively more active and the traditional supplier role of controlling consumers is less viable. The case examples show the variety of ways in which companies may adopt a new role in relation to customers and the market. The paper argues that adapting to this role change needs to take place at the highest level in the company and is the way to reinvent marketing strategy. This also necessitates marketing employing unconventional methodologies and relevant theory to address the complexity and ambiguity of current markets. Research limitations/implications – The paper is a conceptual paper restricted to supplier and customer roles, albeit set in a broader context of stakeholders. Practical implications – The marketing-oriented supplier of the future can design service systems and exert a certain control at the same time adapting to and supporting consumer initiatives through interaction in networks of stakeholder relationships. Originality/value – Stressing the new roles of consumers and suppliers; reinventing the role of marketing, breaking with conventional marketing research methodology.