Marketing Management in Turbulent Times

The contemporary business setting is increasingly subject to changes, especially in turbulent times, thus imposing on managers a requirement to find appropriate marketing responses. The networked character of global economy and worldwide economic interdependence are also manifested in turbulent times, in such a way that economic crisis and disturbances rapidly shift from one market to others. Turbulent times have resulted in transformed worldwide economy. The subjects of marketing activities increasingly manifest the need for a strategic overview of fluctuations in the supply and demand ratio, factors leading to changes in conjuncture cycles, and effects arising from hardly predictable circumstances. Marketing management has both a determined and a creative side, which is the reason to call marketing both an art and a science. Successful implementation of marketing activities cannot result from random approach; it is rather an effect of careful planning and implementation, with constant changes and refinements, i.e. advancements in marketing qualifications. Increased risk and uncertainty feature as vital characteristics of turbulent times. Rather than striving to maximize return on investment, market decision makers are preoccupied with risk minimization, thus enabling companies to survive even in hardest business conditions. Market decision making in turbulent times is neither easy nor simple: how should one adapt the product, at what prices should one sell it, which distributors should be hired, and how should one present oneself to the target audience?