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The problems of achieving a successful interface between marketing science and marketing practice are numerous. Furthermore, they vary from subject to subject and from environment to environment. To avoid getting lost in this hall of mirrors, attention has been paid in this piece of research to four important subjects. First, a philosophical and organisational point of view is proposed about the proper role and funding structure for marketing research and marketing science activities. Next, some marketing science contributions to design issues are examined. In marketing, these are the ‘what kind’ questions about products, product lines, and associated market communications. Third, the ‘how much’ issue is discussed as it relates to total marketing expenditures and their allocations across the marketing mix. Having discussed some approaches to these ‘gut’ issues, the last section reviews in general terms the current state‐of‐the‐art in marketing science and some factors which may shape future developments. This synopsis deals mainly with the organisational problems of using marketing science.

The objective of this short research-informed, practitioner-orientated paper is to provide a viewpoint on interactive marketing pre and post COVID-19.

This is a conceptual article designed to articulate a viewpoint that despite COVID-19 the strategic considerations that marketers need to make remain unchanged.

As a result of the pandemic, there is much more obvious use of interactivity in other, aligned functions such as sales and customer services. The effectiveness of interactive marketing will only be increased by having focus on the fundamental roles of the marketing discipline, strategy and segmentation, and understanding customers at the individual level. We also need reminding briefly that the rules of competition had changed well before the COVID-19 pandemic. The traditional make and sell model has been substantially replaced by new technology-enabled organisations without the restrictions of high fixed costs and cloying bureaucracy. Customers can now search for and evaluate products and services independent of suppliers and now have as much information about suppliers as suppliers have of customers. This is the backcloth against which marketers face the challenges at the beginning of 2021. We conclude that there is a great future ahead. There is no reason why the best of interactive marketing will not be capable of building relationships that are great for customers, great for the people who create them, great for all stakeholders and great for the environment.

This is a practitioner viewpoint outlining the view that COVID-19 has not had as great of an impact on interactive marketing practice as technological change has and that interactive marketing will continue to develop after COVID-19 has receded.

Business start‐ups and enterprise development are supported by the UK Government through Local Enterprise Agencies (LEAs) with the provision of managed workspaces and ancillary facilities. Local Enterprise Agency managers may not have business or marketing backgrounds. The extent of use of marketing concepts and practices by staff in LEAs was investigated. A questionnaire was sent to a sample of 30 LEA managers (10% of all LEAs) covering their understanding of LEAs' market ‘positioning’, promotional activity and client targeting. The findings show that the application of formal marketing approaches is weak, even among LEA managers who possess marketing qualifications. It seems unlikely that potentially successful entrepreneurs are seen as a target market by LEA staff or are actively attracted to take advantage of the facilities and services available. Local Enterprise Agencies emphasize the importance of capabilities in business planning, in their clients. However, entrepreneurs are, in general, notably weak in this business function and LEAs may therefore be de‐selecting entrepreneurs in their selection procedures. These findings suggest a weakness in LEA operations. It is recommended that training in marketing specifically tailored to the LEAs' task should be given to LEA managers.

Develops a strategic planning framework for long‐range marketing policy making. Uses this framework to explore the relationship between marketing orientation and total quality management and extends Kotler′s model of three types of marketing strategic orientation on the perspective of total quality management. Uses two group consensus management techniques (quality function deployment and analytic hierarchy process) and competitive benchmarking to demonstrate how a particular company can make a decision on which strategic marketing orientation to adopt. Furthermore, shows how a company can evaluate itself relative to its competitors on the basis of strategic marketing orientation.

Firms which evolve good marketing accountancy information systems will have an additional and vital tool with which to manage marketing. It is a developing section concerning the information needed by marketing managers to optimise planning and decision making and to achieve adequate control measures. Marketing accountancy has developed from strategic planning (which caused businesses to review their practices), and pressure from marketing managers who have felt poorly serviced by accountants and who need to defend the small proportion of total expenditure which marketing often represents. New cost classification and better presentation of information will improve the standard of marketing accountancy, as will new information technology.

A study of Korean service firms found that the level of information technology use is significantly related to the performance of the marketing function. Support was lacking only for the categories of “use of outside database” and “networking between mainframe computer and PCs.” In addition, the form of information technology use is significant in its contribution to the performance of the marketing function. This study supports the argument that benefits of information technology investment can be identified. Furthermore, there is evidence of a time lag in the payoffs from information technology, because the benefits of connectivity have not yet been realized.

Investigates the role of the professional in a firm offering professional services aiming to answer the questions of: what marketing activities the professional might use; what proportion of his/her time should be divided into what areas; and how marketing sales and costs might be calculated. Looks at current practices in this area, and attempts to find conceptual frameworks to guide professional service firms in the marketplace.

The purpose of this paper is to supplement the growing literature on social marketing by reflecting on the kinds of social marketing activities undertaken in one area of a public service administered by a large City Council in the UK. The study sought to consider the extent to which traditional theoretical ideas on marketing can be coupled with current contributions in operational terms in practical situations.

The methodology is based on anecdotal data and the critical reflections of the principal researcher concerning current and recent activities in the area of interest within the council. For this purpose, traffic services and management within a City Council was chosen, an area in which the first author of the paper has considerable experience and expertise.

People engaged in the type of work examined here, in fact, undertake social marketing, although they do not readily recognize the activity in these terms. Concerning road safety, the majority of resources and effort is directed at children on a specific issue (that is, pedestrian safety). Little is done to reinforce the importance of the notion of road safety or branding as individuals move through life. Illustrations and cases are used to highlight the key findings.

There are relatively few studies highlighting the working of social marketing and very few in the particular context of this paper. As such, the paper provides a useful and novel contribution to the literature.

As the wine industry globally is pushed towards a marketing orientation, what does this mean for companies and their managers and owners? Distinction should be made between market orientation and marketing orientation. Market orientation places the customer at the top of the organisational chart, yet in the wine industry the customer can be very fickle. As such it does not encapsulate the marketing concept of the matching process – it is not a marketing orientation. The true marketing orientation has evolved from a realisation of the inadequacies of production and sales orientation. Marketing orientation should give equal weight to customer demands and to company requirements. It must choose its markets and manage its own productive capabilities in order to achieve its goals in pursuit of a strategic policy. In the wine industry in particular, it is imperative for management that customer and company needs and wants should be correctly balanced.

Examines how potential conflicts can arise from differing evaluative criteria used by specialists of the marketing and finance functions in industry. Focuses on evaluating why marketing accountants in industry have become increasingly commonplace, and the benefits marketing accountants have brought to business operations. Lists six benefits with regard to marketing accountants and discusses these in detail. Weighs up, in conclusion, that marketing accountants provide an improved financial base on which marketing decisions can be examined, particularly with regard to decisions on new product development. States that the marketing accountant, through the provision of relevant and timely data, is starting to ensure such feelings and misconceptions are becoming less commonplace.