Achieving Supply Chain Integration: Connecting the Supply Chain Inside and Out for Competitive Advantage

11. Integrating Ideas and Environments: Blending Marketing Strategy with Context for Organizational Success

By Kelly Hewett, Adam Hepworth, and Sharon Watson¹

Faced with turbulent markets characterized by slow economic conditions and competitive pressures, many firms are looking to implement innovative marketing strategies. Concurrently, marketers are increasingly focused on demonstrating their contribution to the firm’s bottom line, and innovation is one avenue for doing so. Innovation associated strictly with product improvements is a strategy that, while still valued, may not always lead to sustainable competitive advantages in the way product innovation strategy once had. Instead, the rapid advancements of technology have paved the way for ...