Marketing is a vibrant, challenging activity that requires an understanding both of principles and of how they can be applied in practice. The fourth edition of my book attempts to capture both aspects of the multidiscipline. Marketing concepts and principles are supported by examples of international practice to crystallize those ideas in the minds of students who may have little personal experience of real-life marketing.

My objective was to produce a tightly written textbook supported by a range of international examples and case studies. The third edition placed a great emphasis on the use of the case study as a teaching method. In my experience, all types of students enjoy applying principles to real-life marketing problems. This is natural, as marketing does not exist in a vacuum; it is through application that students gain a richer understanding of marketing.

Becoming a successful marketing practitioner requires an understanding of the principles of marketing together with practical experience of implementing marketing ideas, processes and techniques in the marketplace. This book provides a framework for understanding important marketing issues such as understanding the customer, marketing segmentation and targeting, brand building, pricing, innovation and marketing implementation, which form the backbone of marketing practice.

Marketing, as I have already said, does not exist in a vacuum: it is a vibrant, sometimes energy-sapping profession that is full of exciting examples of success and failure. Moreover, marketing practitioners need to understand the changes that are taking place in the environment. As the quotation that heads Chapter 5 says, 'Change is the only constant'.

Marketing-orientated companies are undergoing fundamental readjustments to their structure to cope with the accelerating rate of change. If you wish to enter the marketing profession then an acceptance of change and a willingness to work long hours are essential prerequisites.

Marketing in Europe has never looked stronger. International conferences organized by the European Marketing Academy and national organizations such as the Marketing Education Group in the UK make being a marketing academic challenging, rewarding and enjoyable. We should always value the companionship and pleasure that meeting fellow marketing academics brings. The growth in the number of students wishing to study marketing has brought with it a rise in the number of marketing academics in Europe. Their youth and enthusiasm bode well for the future of marketing as a major social science.

Most students enjoy studying marketing; they find it relevant and interesting. I hope that this book enhances your enjoyment, understanding and skills.

The structure of the book

The book comprises 22 chapters organized into four parts, as outlined below.

Part 1: Fundamentals of Modern Marketing Thought summarizes core marketing theory including the marketing concept and marketing planning, consumer and organizational buyer behaviour, marketing research and segmentation, and positioning. The emphasis throughout is on the strategic development of a market-driven company committed to exceeding the expectations of its customers.

Part 2: Marketing Mix Decisions focuses on the development of effective strategies for pricing, promotion, product development and distribution. The text emphasizes that each element of the marketing mix should be developed within the context of the overall marketing strategy.

Part 3: Competition and Marketing discusses the issues of competitive strategy, competitive advantage and the nature of competitive behaviour.

Part 4: Marketing Implementation and Application provides in-depth coverage of how to overcome resistance to marketing-led change, and analyses the various forms of marketing organization. This part also covers the special characteristics of service industries and their implications for marketing strategy, and particular issues associated with marketing in the global marketplace.

Taking into account its European readership, foreign currency conversion rates are given in appropriate places. Figures were accurate at the time of writing (2003). Obviously, changes since then may need to be taken into account.

New to this edition

As always, recent events are reflected throughout this book and all changes have been updated with new conceptual and research material, illustrative examples and case studies. Here follows a summary of the key content and learning feature changes for this edition.

Brand and corporate identity management
A major feature of this fourth edition is a new chapter entitled 'Managing products: brand and corporate identity management'. This reflects the most recent developments in creating and managing successful brands. Contemporary issues such as rebranding, co-branding, global branding and managing corporate brands are covered in-depth. This chapter can be viewed online in the Information Centre.

Ethical marketing
The fourth edition places a greater emphasis on social responsibility and ethical marketing issues, which are of increasing concern to companies. These are introduced in Chapter 5, 'The marketing environment', and appropriate chapters conclude with a discussion of ethical issues in marketing. Unique 'Ethical dilemmas' ask students to ponder the ethics of real life marketing decisions. New 'Ethical Marketing in Action' vignettes focus specifically on ethical issues in practice.

Relationship marketing
Relationship marketing issues are given greater coverage in new sections throughout the book. For example, relationship building with advertising and marketing research agencies is discussed, as is developing and managing relationships with suppliers, distributors and customers. The emergence of customer relationship management (CRM) systems and the impact of technology on the human element of CRM are discussed in Chapter 14.

Internet marketing and the new media
This fourth edition contains an extensively revised and updated chapter on Internet marketing with a new Glossary, 'e-Marketing vignettes' (which appear in this chapter and throughout the book), and new sections on the analysis of factors affecting the adoption of Internet marketing, the benefits and limitations of Internet marketing to consumers and organizations, viral marketing and website design. The development and impact of new media, such as mobile marketing (Chapter 14) and interactive television advertising (Chapter 12), are also discussed in the appropriate chapters.

Marketing research
Chapter 6, 'Marketing research and information systems', has been revised to provide a 'roadmap' that leads students through the research process with clear figures, diagrams and explanations. The roadmap can be used as a guide by students when embarking on research-based projects so that they have a clear understanding of the stages and activities involved in carrying out such exercises.

Chapter reviews
A major learning feature innovation is the provision of 'Review' sections at the end of each chapter. The key learning points associated with each chapter are summarized under the chapter's objectives. This allows students to check the knowledge and understanding gained by reading a chapter, and to revise and review any shortfalls. Nearer examination time, students can use these Reviews as an aid to revision. They can test their knowledge and understanding of chapter fundamentals by reference to the key points found within the Reviews.

How to study using this book
This book has been designed to help you to learn and understand the important principles behind successful marketing. To check that you really understand the new concepts you are reading about, work through the case studies, exercises and questions at the end of each chapter.

Case Studies
An innovation associated with the fourth edition was a case study competition, sponsored by McGraw-Hill, designed to attract Europe's top case study writers. This was very successful and 13 new cases were accepted for publication as a result of the competition. First prize was won by Conor Carroll from Limerick University with 'The Trouble with TopUps: Vodafone Causes a Stir by Lowering the Margins of Retailers'; second prize was claimed by Marie O'Dwyer from Waterford Institute of Technology with 'Hope Community Resources, Inc.'; and there were three third prize winners: 'Legoland and the Millennium Dome' by Julian Rawel from the University of Bradford, 'Corus Engineering Steels' by Bridget Rowe, Gary Reed and Jim Saker from Loughborough University, and 'Carbery: Developing New Products in a Mature Market' by Breda McCarthy from University College, Cork.
This new edition contains 44 cases as support material for classroom teaching; 30 are new to this edition and others have been revised and updated. The new cases often feature well-known brands such as Burberry, Microsoft Xbox, the Mini, easyJet, Nectar, Google, Vodafone, Hutchison 3g, H&M, Fiat, Safeway, Starbucks, Unilever and McDonald’s. Popular cases such as Levi’s jeans, Marks & Spencer, Budweiser and Wal-Mart/Asda have been revised and updated.
Each chapter ends with two case studies. To cater for all requirements, there is a mixture of short, medium and long cases.

Case study analysis
The aim of this book is not to tell you what marketing is about. Rather, I hope that the book will develop the skills you need to analyse marketing situations and make sensible recommendations. Your lecturers and tutors will select cases which they feel are particularly relevant to the principles they are teaching. At first the prospect of case analysis can seem daunting, particularly when a case is long and full of unfamiliar facts and statistics. A sensible approach is to read the case fairly quickly to get an understanding of the broad situation and major issues covered. Follow this with a slower, more in-depth reading to extract the key details of the case.
The figures and discussion in each chapter can be useful in providing a framework for case analysis. Key questions to ask are: What are the important customer characteristics and behaviour patterns? How is the market segmented? How well is the company matching or exceeding customer expectations? Who are the competitors, and what are their strengths and weaknesses? These are fundamental to understanding marketing situations.
To guide your thinking, most of the case studies end with questions. Above all, remember that marketing is an inexact science: there are no unambiguously right answers. Marketing decisions are fraught with risk. For example, the success of a strategy may depend on how competitors react. Predictions of reactions should be built in to the decision-making phase, but ultimately competitor response is uncontrollable and there can be no guarantee that a strategy will work in the marketplace. The best that can be asked of you is that you justify your strategy choice based upon a clear understanding of the major marketing issues that impinge on the decisions.

Internet exercises
The Internet exercises have been fully revised for this new edition. They are designed to support your learning by providing short exercises, which will help you develop a clearer understanding of marketing principles and practice. They should also help to make you aware of the richness of marketing information available on the Internet. Finally, they should help you relate the organizations, products and services you will encounter to your own experience as a consumer. I hope you find them interesting and useful.

Study questions
Study questions appear at the end of each chapter. These may be used by your tutors as essay subjects or as the basis for tutorial questions. Their aim is to test knowledge and understanding of marketing principles. Whether or not your tutor uses them as a formal part of his or her marketing teaching, you can use them to check how well you have assimilated the information and procedures discussed in each chapter. Allocate some time after reading each chapter to answering these questions. If you make notes you may find them useful when the time for revision comes.
To assist you in working through this text, we have developed a number of distinctive study and design features. To familiarize yourself with these features, please turn to the 'Guided tour' on pages xxix–xxxi of the book.

Indexes and Glossary
For ease of reference and to help you in revising, towards the end of the text we have provided the following:
Glossary — a full list of all key terms used in the text, with accompanying definitions
Companies and brands index — all brands and companies featured in the text
Subject index — all concepts discussed in the text.

Additional teaching and learning resources
We are always trying to improve the quality of this text and the supplementary resources that accompany it. For this edition, we have significantly expanded the range, quality and delivery of online resources both to support students in their studying and lecturers in their teaching of marketing on the Online Learning Centre (OLC) at www.mcgraw-hill.co.uk/textbooks/jobber.

PowerWeb
New to this edition, students and lecturers have access to a PowerWeb, a range of refereed articles and daily news feeds about marketing topics. This exciting innovation allows free access to up-to-the-minute marketing stories.
Inside this book you will find a unique password card. To access the PowerWeb resources, go to www.mcgraw-hill.co.uk/textbooks/jobber and follow the instructions on the card to register.

Integration of technology
For this edition, the book also integrates the website resources in several ways.

• Students can attempt to answer the 'Ethical dilemmas' within the text, and go to the website to check whether their answers reflect the issues of corporate responsibility.
• At the end of each chapter, students are directed to the online quizzes to test their knowledge and to explore other extra support available. These online quizzes are graded and also give feedback to the student with references to the text.
• Internet exercises encourage students to go online and explore marketing through the Internet.
• Crossword puzzles on the OLC will test students' understanding of the key terms listed at the end of the chapters.