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Principles and Practice of Marketing is intended to explain the received wisdom of marketing in a clear and concise way, but without always "toeing the party line". The book contains a number of boxed "Talking Points" which deliberately offer a counter-argument or even a controversial viewpoint, but the process does not stop there. Each model presented also has a counter-argument somewhere in the chapter.
The underlying aim of this is to encourage students to understand that marketing is not an exact science, that marketing lecturers and practitioners certainly do not have all the answers, and that marketing is a young discipline which is still generating academic debate.
Having said that, the book is not intended to create confusion. It is always clear that there is a received wisdom, and that this theoretical body of thought informs the day-to-day actions of professional marketers.
This leads on to the other strength of the book - it is always grounded in practice. Marketing as an academic discipline derives from practice: academics examine the real world of marketing and often act as cataloguers of what practitioners are already doing. Referring back to the real world at every opportunity is an integral part of Principles and Practice of Marketing: apart from the obvious pedagogical advantage of enabling students to relate the theory to their own experience, this acts as a constant reminder that marketing is, above anything else, a practical subject.
Who is it for?
Principles and Practice of Marketing is a comprehensive textbook for studying marketing at undergraduate and sub-degree level, including study for professional qualifications such as the CIM Certificate and Diploma. It is also of use to MBA students coming to marketing for the first time: the book includes features which will help such students to develop a critical approach to studying marketing and considering marketing issues.
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