Marketing : Environment

We stated on this website that marketing was about meeting needs and providing benefits and the customer should be the central focus of the business. The company’s marketing strategy should be focused around this concept, however, there are factors within the company’s marketing environment which can constrain this activity. These factors are both controllable and uncontrollable and have to be carefully monitored by the organization.

The company’s marketing environment can be defined as the 'controllable and uncontrollable elements that influence the strategic direction of the company'. The company’s marketing environment can be analyzed in two broad levels.

The macro environment involves looking at uncontrollable variables that influence company strategy.

The micro environment involves analyzing controllable variables close to the company that the company does have an influence over. This usually involves undertaking a stakeholder analysis...