Marketing communication: principles and practice

party may initiate interaction in the expectation of a response from the other.
Of course, had marketing (and management) thinking not been locked in
the managerialistic ‘conduit metaphor’ mode of thinking about communi-
cation, this would have been more prominently recognized long ago.
Communication, then, is the mode of creating mutual meaning(s). Marketing
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and communication systems will have to provide facilities for both parties to
initiate exchange relationships.
Statt (1997) has suggested a number of significant areas of change that
should concern the marketing manager. These should be considered by
marketing communication managers in determining objectives, formulating
strategy, and evaluating investments in systems and activities.
Direct action against providers’ attempts to treat consumers as merely
‘necessary profit-making fodder’ (Statt, 1997: 293), through price increases,
service cuts, or adulteration of quality, may lead to boycotts, organized
complaints, and even legal action by consumers and buyers. Alternative
lifestyles, such as green consumerism, ethical investment, and the exchange
economy (see LETS, Box 17.1, p. 328) are at present marginal but growing
movements.
In the marketplace, political moves to regulate and deregulate industries
reflect official policy and ideology about what constitutes the most important
values of our society. Shopping trends and buyer behaviour indicate the steady
shift from satisfying ‘needs’ to gratification through satisfying wants in a
society where for many, but not all, disposable income has increased. Thus
brand choice is the motive in much buying today.
Providers of value, in its many forms, will focus much more on accom-
plishing efficient customer responsiveness. This will require the merging of
marketing, quality, and customer service into an integrated managing system
(for generating, producing, and representing valued forms of knowledge) that
can effectively and efficiently respond to customers in a responsible manner
(see Christopher 
et al
., 1991, and Deetz, 1995, for discussions that should
increasingly concern marketing managers). Business ethics will, it is hoped,
become more prominent in decision-making and policy-setting as managers
and customers become more socially responsible in the marketing of products. 
Corporations have become the dominant institution and must address
the social and environmental afflictions that we face in the world. Marketing
functions to further human and business purpose by providing benefits to
customers through products. Decisions on what products to make and how
to offer them to customers is the substance of marketing strategy. But,
decisions on what to make also determine what resources are required to
make and market those products – both making and taking have costs to the
ecosystem (wastes, pollution, damage, and so on). Increasingly, marketing
managers will be required to adopt sustainable-marketing practices to ensure
that the business is operated in a such a way that customers obtain genuine
benefits, while the corporation accomplishes their financial objectives and
the ecosystem functioning is preserved or enhanced (Fuller, 1999).
Managers are becoming the agents of social innovation (Drucker, 1986).
Through innovation, much more than selling products can be accomplished
if we treat the problem as more than people performing (i.e. getting the 
mob organized into an effective, purposeful, and productive group). This
must be underpinned by ideas and symbols. Managers need a broader canvas
– management can be intellectualized to good purpose. Managing