The Holistic Marketing Approach

We are all interlinked and interdependent on each other. Nothing in this world can work and thrive in solitude. Today, we have products from all over the world available at our nearest supermarket or ration store. This is possible because of privatization, liberalization, and globalization, but along with this, it is also possible because of the holistic marketing approach taken by the companies. Companies have now understood that they cannot operate if they have just one goal, i.e., profit. For companies to survive and thrive in this cutthroat environment, they have to care about their customers, profits, employees, stakeholders, and the community at large.

Hence, in this article, we will be diving deep into the concept of holistic marketing, each of the wings of holistic marketing, and how a holistic marketing approach can help the business.

The concept of holistic marketing

It is a marketing approach where the first step looks at the bigger picture. It helps the firm recognize and reconcile the complexities of the business. It is an approach that works on the basis that everything matters in marketing. It can be broadly divided into four subcategories, and the different categories of holistic marketing approaches are −

• Relationship Marketing

• Performance Marketing

• Internal Marketing

• Integrated marketing

All four parameters of holistic marketing are interlinked in the sense that the functioning of one function will affect the functioning of other functions, and the parameters can be divided into subcategories.

History of marketing concepts

Businesses have transcended the different marketing concepts before landing on the holistic marketing concept, and those marketing concepts are −

• The production concept − Here the entire focus of the company is to produce as many goods as possible. Companies here believe that customers will only purchase if goods are readily available and are at a lower price.

• The product concept − here the entire focus of the company is to produce goods of optimal quality. Companies believe that customers will only purchase if the goods are of optimal quality.

• The selling concept − here the company focuses on selling the goods. The assumption is that customers need the goods and will not buy them because of notions. Companies apply the aggressive selling method here.

• The marketing concept − Here, the companies believed that customers would only purchase the good if the goods were highly marketed and customers were highly satisfied after consumption.

In-depth knowledge of relationship marketing

Businesses can survive only when they have a deep and lasting relationship with all the concerned individuals involved in the business. Relationship marketing not only gives the company an edge over its competitors but also provides it with unspeakable opportunities. The different parties involved in relationship marketing can be divided into the following categories −

• Financial community: These include the shareholders of the company, investors, and analysts.

• Marketing partners: This includes all the operational people of the firm, ranging from suppliers, channels, distributors, agencies, dealers, and others.

• Customers, including both active and potential customers

• Employees of the organization

A good relationship with the suppliers will ensure that production does not stop at the time of contingency or reduced cost of raw materials, leading to a reduced final price of the product in the market. Good relationships with the stakeholders will ensure that money is flowing into the organization even when the market is bleak. Connecting with the customers will ensure that the product and brand switch among the consumers is reduced or is less than the industry standards. Relationship marketing is creating business assets like "relationship networks." In this approach to marketing, the whole focus of the company is to build mutually profitable relationships with various stakeholders of the company.

In-depth knowledge of internal marketing

Internal marketing is the process where the company sells itself to its internal employees. Relationship marketing, integrated marketing, performance marketing, and others will be in vain if the employees are not motivated enough to work for the company. Internal marketing refers to hiring the right employees in the organization, providing them with training to be competent enough for their job, and most importantly, ensuring that they are motivated enough to learn as well as give their best for the company. Even if one of the departments is not motivated to do their job properly, we will see a large dip in the company’s sales. Production has to produce the right goods, promotional teams have to promote the goods in the right manner, finance has to ensure that money-related matters are taken care of, the process team has to ensure that everything is in sync, the sales support teams have to ensure that they provide the customers with after-sales help and others. It is high time that companies understand that happy employees are the most productive employees, and it does not take a lot for the company to keep their workforce happy and satisfied. Right pay, communication between the team, and the chance to grow within the organization may be in different departments will ensure that the company has a productive and dedicated workforce.

In-depth knowledge of integrated marketing

This is the department of holistic marketing that ensures all the marketing initiatives and the parties involved in designing and implementing the marketing campaign are in sync with one another. As a business or one entity, a firm cannot tell different stories. Marketing, finance, production, legal, social, human resources, IT, and others should work in sync. All these impact the customer experience and hence the relationship with its important stakeholders. To understand it better, if you buy a refrigerator, you will be interacting with the brand's salesperson, installation or service people after the product is purchased, and customer service in case of future difficulties. If even one of these departments is not in sync with the company’s values, they will be destroying the relationship or communication between the brand and the customer.

In-depth knowledge of performance marketing

This aspect of integrated marketing deals with analyzing the impact of all the business's marketing activities. The impact can be in terms of financial returns or non-financial returns. Companies no longer only focus on the turnover rate or the profit margins; they have understood that this is a hollow proposition. They have to start looking beyond it. The firms can analyze their performance in terms of their

• Legal obligations

• Social obligations

• Brand and customer equity

• Sales Revenue

• Ethics

• environmental and others.

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, understanding the importance of measuring the performance of the company in the above factors, came up with the double bottom line approach. This approach helps in finding the value of the company after deducting the impact of the business, its products, and its processes on the environment. The study also expanded to the triple bottom line approach, where the value of the firm is determined after adjusting for the negative and positive social impact of the firm's entire range of businesses and activities. This is important because the community and the customers are not expecting brands to be their optimal choice but are failing on their ethical, legal, and other above-mentioned parameters.

A holistic marketing approach provides the firm with a guide through which they can plan a sustainable future for themselves. Brands have understood that they cannot survive only with KOMETHAY; they need to have these parameters in place because customers today care about their environment, and if the brand is not performing within these parameters, consumers are open to switching to another global brand that meets up with its ideologies. It is always better for the company to retrain a customer or its stakeholders than to gain new ones.