Marketing communication: principles and practice

M A N A G I N G W I T H S T A K E H O L D E R S
108

---

managers of our corporate communication system of managing human
relationships.
Communication will be easier in the fourth wave, because the point of view
of each person will be honoured, allowing the individual to discover what
similar values, standards, and expectations he/she shares. We will
progressively abandon communication as a tool for acting upon people.
Communication will become conceived of as a process for active participation
in the construction of identity, meaning, and knowledge.
MARKETING CHANNELS AND NETWORKS
In recent years, managers and scholars in the field of marketing
communication have come to view the channels through which products
are accessed by consumers and buyers as networks of coordinated distribution
activity. As we have seen from our stakeholder perspective, these networks
(often referred to as markets) are also intimately part of the wider stakeholder
system. The crucial point to grasp about this perspective is that the actions
of each member of the network more or less impact on many other members,
and not only those to whom they are directed. The network is a web of
interdependent and reciprocal relationships (Achrol, 1997). This view fits
well with the recent notion of relationship marketing that we will examine
in chapter twelve. A distribution channel is thus a performance network
coupled with a support network, whose members assist in satisfying customer
needs in order to accomplish their own purpose. 
This network perspective is important because it recognizes that the
position of a marketer is determined by his/her couplings to others and the
identity of those with whom he/she relates. Communication must be managed
if these necessary relationships are to be maintained and enhanced. The value
star (see Figure 4.6, p. 81) is a contemporary model for the network 
of collaborating partners who work together to provide end-customer
satisfaction. Of course, some of the people in the network will have conflicting
interests and motivators. Within the value star, the marketer will try to add
value by managing the performance of the generative, productive, and
representative systems of the corporation. The stakeholder system is a
negotiated trading environment. Marketing action will be required and will
be effective to the extent that relationships are mutually productive. The state
of the relationships can exert a powerful effect upon brand image, product
acceptability, service quality, reputation, and so on.