Who Does the Marketing in Retailing? A Case Study of Organizational Selling Behaviour in a Large Complex Organization

Explores the marketing process of a large food retailer, based on in‐depth interviews with 106 senior managers. Finds that attitudes towards marketing are conflicting, that the role is diffused into different functional areas within the organization, and that buyers are highly influential within the organization and play a key role. There are two parallel strands in the development of marketing within the organization. One is the growth of a corporate marketing department with responsibility for advertising, the purchase of market research, and corporate image in the marketplace. The lack of current influence of corporate marketing is reflected in the absence of a chief marketing executive (CME) on the main board. The other element is the role of the buyer and the trading departments. The trading department is found to be highly influential. Buying teams are the marketers in the company dealing with product selection, pricing, merchandising and promotion. Effective marketing depends on an integrated organizational effort. This is clearly not the case here. The study methodology sheds new light on the nature of strategic marketing planning in a large, complex organization.