Editorial

The UK's Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) has been flexing its muscles recently in relation to both the role of and state of play in marketing. It has even developed a new definition of the discipline, expanding marketing's role from 12 to fully 60 words. ¹ According to CIM, marketing used to be:
'The management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.'

It is now proposed to be:
'The strategic business function that creates value by stimulating, facilitating and fulfilling customer demand. It does this by building brands, nurturing innovation, developing relationships, creating good customer service and communicating benefits. By operating customer-centrically, marketing brings positive returns on investment, satisfies shareholders and stakeholders from business and the community, and contributes to positive behavioural change and a sustainable business future.'

With the obligatory inclusion of fashionable terminology such as strategy, customer centricity and sustainability, it is clear that marketing is now in the business of having to market itself to its 'shareholders and stakeholders'. Apart from now being difficult to get on the back of your business card, one contributor to Brand Republic's blog commented: 'that is not a definition -- it is more like a desperate justification', his complaint reflecting contemporary concern...