The Meaning of Marketing for High-Tech Firms

It is clear that successful marketing strategies have been funda

-

mental for all the high-technology firms that have managed to

survive the technology crash of 2001 and even to thrive after

it.

However, the words “marketing for high-tech firms” often

hide confusion. First, consider the term “marketing.” Regis

Mac-Kenna, a leading marketing specialist who works with

numerous high-tech companies, claims that “Marketing is

everyone’s job, marketing is everything, and everything is

marketing” [1]. This overall view of marketing does not sim-

plify the task of managers who feel the need (some strongly,

others vaguely) to develop an efficient marketing policy.

Second, the label “high tech” or “high technology” refers to

technology that stretches from stoves to nuclear power plants

and from razor blades to satellites. This label has been used

both appropriately and inappropriately and sometimes is noth

-

ing more than an empty phrase.

For the sake of clarity, first we recall the meaning of the

term “marketing” and review its objectives before defining a

high-technology product. We then explore the differences

between the marketing of advanced technology products and

that of traditional products.

1.1 What is marketing?

The practice of marketing is quite ancient. Greek philosophers

such as Plato and Aristotle, medieval church fathers such as St.

Thomas or Martin Luther, and later classical economists such

as Adam Smith and David Ricardo have reflected on marketing

behavior. However, the formal concept of marketing emerged

only 100 years ago at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Indeed, in 1901 the

Report of the Industrial Commission on the