A Complete Guide To Holistic Marketing

What Is Holistic Marketing?

Holistic marketing concept considers all the different parts of a business as one single entity. It is based on the premise that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. As such, there is a shared aim and purpose for all the activities related to a business. This ensures that each person in every department, from sales to operations to HR to marketing and others, work towards one common goal.

Holistic Marketing Example

Coca-Cola has one of the best examples of holistic marketing concept. They have recently refreshed their entire global identity to “Real Magic”. The idea behind this strategy is to showcase the brand’s goal to refresh the world and make a difference. Manuel Arroyo, the global chief marketing officer for The Coca-Cola Company says, “Real Magic is not just a tagline. We see it as a philosophy that transcends advertising and embodies all that is special about the brand.”

3 Features of Holistic Marketing Philosophy

There are three main features of holistic marketing philosophy: a common goal, aligned activities, and integrated activities.

1. Common Goal - All parts of the business focus on a single goal to provide a great customer experience.
2. Aligned Activities - All activities, processes, and communication that occur within the business should be aligned towards the achievement of the common goal.
3. Integrated Activities - All activities done within the business should be designed and integrated such that they work in a cohort to provide a seamless and consistent customer experience.

5 Reasons to Have Holistic Marketing

The needs of customers are constantly changing. Customers make purchases only after a lot of research both offline and online for the right product. Thus holistic marketing is the need of the hour to ensure that the customer chooses your product over your competition. Here are some more reasons why you need holistic marketing:

1. Brand Building

One of the best ways to build brand awareness is by highlighting the core values of a brand across all platforms. Since consumer behaviors are always changing, it is necessary that a company maintains consistency across multiple channels to ensure maximum branding capacity.

Also Read: Benefits of Branding that You Must Know About

2. Focus

A consistent and clear messaging allows the customer to focus on the core values of a business. These core values make people associate the brand with its values and not just its products. 

3. Efficiency

Holistic marketing increases the communication between different parts of a business as everyone has a shared goal. Furthermore, it ensures that all business processes are in harmony with one another to boost brand awareness.

4. Effectiveness

Holistic marketing focuses on long-term goals and allows a business to flourish and make the best use of its resources. Apple is another company that successfully uses holistic marketing. Most people usually make a purchase decision for an iPhone or Mac even before they enter the showroom. 

5. Cohesiveness

Rather than having conflicting information in different areas of your brand, holistic marketing brings everything under one roof. This presents greater consistency and cohesiveness to all your customers.

5 Holistic Marketing Concepts and Components

Holistic marketing has five different components that come together to unify a company’s brand image.

1. Relationship Marketing

Relationship marketing is centered on the relationships you have with your potential and existing customers, employees, partners, and competitors. This component of holistic marketing focuses on creating a comprehensive business plan with long-term goals that cover the whole business system. The main goal is to focus on marketing activities that create a strong, emotional bond and cultivate loyalty from these stakeholders, rather than simply interacting with them only when required.

2. Internal Marketing

Holistic marketing sees two types of customers - internal and external. While external customers are the top priority for any business, internal customers (employees) also play a vital role in the marketing process. Internal marketing treats employees as customers who must be convinced of the company’s core values just as aggressively as its external customers. This ensures that they understand their role in the marketing process.

3. Integrated Marketing

Integrated marketing creates a seamless experience for the consumer to interact with the brand by integrating various communication channels (sales promotion, public relations, advertising, direct marketing, digital marketing, etc). This ensures that the communication is in sync and projects a strong and focused brand image.

4. Societal Marketing

Societal or socially responsible marketing involves a broader concern for society at large. It follows the philosophy that a business is part of a society and should give back to it. This requires following certain business ethics and focusing on philanthropy and community organizations. Societal marketing encourages all stakeholders of a business to have a positive impact on society.

5. Performance Marketing

Performance marketing is focused on the different activities of a business, such as selling a product or service, ethical and legal responsibilities as a business, brand and customer equity, etc.

Ready to Learn More?

Holistic marketing is all about creating a synergy that effectively reinforces a brand’s image in the minds of customers. With the changing attitudes of customers and the business environment, it is the only way to ensure that businesses stay on top of their game. If you want to learn more about holistic marketing, you can sign up for Simplilearn’s Post Graduate Program in Digital Marketing, created in partnership with Purdue University.

FAQs

Q1. What is holistic performance marketing?

Holistic performance marketing analyzes the immediate returns like long term value drivers, sales revenue, customer loss rate, product quality, market share, etc. 

Q2. What is the difference between holistic marketing and market segmentation?

When the target market is divided into subgroups based on different characteristics, it is called market segmentation. Whereas, unifying a market for a shared goal is called holistic marketing. 

Q3. What are the different dimensions of holistic marketing?

There are three essential features of holistic marketing - first, a common objective; second, aligned activities and lastly, integrated activities. 

Q4. What are 7 different marketing strategies?

The famous 7 Ps of marketing are pricing, promotion, physical evidence, product, people, place and processes. A mix of these Ps is important to build a sustainable marketing strategy.