Marketing strategy: The role of information technology-enabled capabilities

Because of (1) the boundary-spanning nature of the marketing function, and (2) marketing's evolution toward a dynamic, evolutionary process, and service-centered view, marketing strategy has come to be a core element of the firm's business strategy. That is, in an information-intensive, competitive marketplace, marketing strategy is responsible for ensuring that all aspects of a firm's marketing activities are focused on delivering superior value to customer. Further, recognizing information/knowledge and information technology (IT) as potential sources of competitive advantage, this chapter explores various IT-enabled capabilities that influence the firm's marketing strategy. In doing so, specific IT-enabled capabilities that correspond to Market Orientation Strategy, Relationship Marketing Strategy, Market Segmentation Strategy, and Brand Equity Strategy are presented and discussed. Finally, this chapter concludes with a call for strategically oriented research for exploring, conceptualizing, developing, and measuring IT-enabled capabilities that influence marketing strategy.