Marketing theorists speak of the marketing concept, defining it as, “The achievement of corporate goals through meeting and exceeding customer needs better than the competition.”

This concept, some marketers claim, is what should drive marketing planning. There are three key components of the marketing concept (Jobber 2004): customer orientation, integrated effort and goal achievement.

The marketing concept suggests that organisations can, and should plan around customer needs (Blythe and Megicks, 2014). Marketers often tell people that this is what they do, but in practice many organisations operate on a market-driving, principle-seeking basis to shape the market and influence customer decisions.

Perhaps the best known proponent of the market-driving principle was… yes, you guessed it… Steve Jobs — who famously declared that customers don’t know what they want. And then he gave us the iPhone. Helloooo BlackBerry!

Blythe and Medicks (2014) argue that market-driven organisations act within the constraints of the market structure, focus on adaptation, benchmarking and imitation and given known customer needs, seek to predict what products and services are likely to be successful.

The market-driving organisation however, takes a different approach, for it begins by looking at its own resources and what it can do for the market rather than what the market needs, per se. This usually requires some sort of proactive persuasion to get people to accept that what is on offer is what they really need.

But hey! Isn’t that what skilful use of the integrated marketing communications mix is designed to do?

A celebrated case of driving the market is the 3M Post-It notes. That was a product in search of a market. People simply did not know that they needed Post-It notes until they saw Post-It notes. And please don’t mention Sony’s Walkman. Or the wheelbarrow.

So, let’s take a closer look at the market-driving organisation and its characteristics. Four things stand out:

• They can and will induce changes in the market structure and changes in the behaviour of both customers and competitors

• They are at the cutting edge of new customer needs

• They are pioneers, shaping customer behaviour proactively

• They identify and develop new, difficult-to-imitate competencies and continuously disrupt the market

I’m sure you’ll instantly realise that it is the market-driving companies that are responsible for much of the breakthrough inventions worldwide. Market-driven organisations meanwhile, are heavily influenced by changes in consumer behaviour rather than influencing the behaviour of consumers.

So, what should a marketing planner do? And what’s this marketer’s advice?

Begin with a simple question. In this age of product parity, do we have, or can we develop the resources to disrupt the market, beat the competition for pace, and let them, “Follow-back-a-we?” If we can, let’s go for it!

So, if you are the market leader, enlarge the market and increase your market share! And if you are not the market leader, do you have what it takes to challenge them? If not, can you carve out a niche that you dominate?

Why beat them for pace? Because no batter; not Barry Bonds, not Mark McGuire, not A-Rod, not Big Papi nor Bryce Harper loves a 98 mph heater. No matter where inside the strike zone it’s located, it just disrupts everything. And before you know it, you’re shaking your head and looking at the dugout.

So, are you ready to disrupt your market? Or do you prefer nibbling at the corners of the strike zone?

Herman D. Alvaranga is president of the Caribbean School of Sales Management. He may be contacted by E-mail at hdalvaranga@cssm.edu.jm