Holistic Marketing Management, Volume 12, Issue 1, Year 2022

Vol ume1 2 , I s s ue1 , 2 0 2 2

Today’ sWor l d,Li v i ngHi s t or y ,Cons c i ousEx per i ence,I ns t i t ut i onal Res pons e, Compos abl eBus i nes s ,Col l abor at i v eI nt er ac t i ons , andFai rPer f or manceManagementSy s t em TheodorPURCĂREA

ERA:Adapt i onandRei nv ent i on,andCont r ov er s i al Vi ews ; EuCVo T :Powerf r om VSE Ber ndHALLI ER

Agi l eMar k et i ngandEmpower edECommer ce I oanMat ei PURCĂREA

‘ Mar k et i ngSc i enceandI ns pi r at i ons ’ :Gener at i ngBr andAwar enes sand Bui l di ngLas t i ngConnec t i ons ,Ens ur i nganI mpr ov edEx per i ence DanSMEDESCU

Editorial Board of “Holistic Marketing Management” (A refereed journal published four times annually by the School of Management-Marketing of the Romanian-American University)

Editor-in-Chief Theodor Valentin PURCĂREA

Bernd HALLIER

John SAEE

John L. STANTON

Léon F. WEGNEZ

William PERTTULA Levent ALTINAY

Andrew KILNER Dana ZADRAZILOVA Riccardo BELTRAMO Sinisa ZARIC Gabriela SABĂU Hélène NIKOLOPOULOU Vasa LÁSZLÓ Peter STARCHON John MURRAY

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President of European Retail Academy ; President of EuCVoT ; Member of the Astana Economic Scientists Club ; Former Managing Director EHI Retail Institute, Germany, Chairman of the Advisory Board of EuroShop, Chairman of the Board of the Orgainvent, Trustee of EHI Retail Institute at GLOBALG.A.P. President - Association of Global Management Studies (USA); Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues & Former Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Management Systems, USA; Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship, the Faculty of Business and Enterprise, Swinburne University of Technology; Member of France’s National Academy of Scientific Research (CNRS); Director - ESB International Teaching and Research Exchanges, Reutlingen University, Germany Professor of Food Marketing, Erivan K. Haub School of Business, Saint Joseph’s University Philadelphia, USA; Director, Institute of Food Products Marketing, Editor, Journal of Food Products Marketing; Hall of Fame of the European Retail Academy, Honored Personality 2016 Secretary General, International Association of the Distributive Trade, AIDA Brussels; Member of France’s Academy of Commercial Sciences; Doctor Honoris Causa of NUPSPA (SNSPA) Bucharest; Hall of Fame of the European Retail Academy, Honored Personality 2015; Administrator Secretary General of the Diplomatic Club of Belgium Internet Marketing Professor, College of Business, San Francisco State University, USA Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, Research Area Leader, Oxford School of Hospitality Management, Faculty of Business, Oxford Brookes University, UK First MBA Director at the Rennes Graduate School of Business in France; Director of RAFME Research into Management Excellence; PhD (Cambridge), MBA (City, London) Faculty of International Economic Relations, University of Economics, Prague, Czech Republic University of Turin, Italy University of Belgrade, Yugoslavia Memorial University, Grenfell Campus, Corner Brook, Canada University of Lille 3, France Szent Istvan University, Hungary Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia Faculty of Business, Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland

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Kamil PÍCHA Irena JINDRICHOVSKA Norbert HAYDAM Hans ZWAGA Roxana CODITA Valeriu IOAN-FRANC Dumitru MIRON Iacob CĂTOIU Virgil BALAURE Gheorghe ORZAN Luigi DUMITRESCU Marius D. POP Constantin ROŞCA Petru FILIP

Ion VOICU SUCALA Virgil POPA Alexandru NEDELEA Olguța Anca ORZAN Ana-Maria PREDA Ovidiu FOLCUȚ Doinița CIOCÎRLAN Costel NEGRICEA Tudor EDU Alexandru IONESCU Andreea Elisabeta BUDACIA Marius Dan DALOTĂ Mihai PAPUC Gheorghe ILIESCU Oana PREDA Olga POTECEA Nicoleta DUMITRU Monica Paula RAȚIU Alexandra PERJU-MITRAN

Faculty of Economics, University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice Deputy Head of Department of Business Economics, University of Economics and Management, Prague, Czech Republic Faculty of Business, Marketing Department, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa Kemi-Tornio University of Applied Sciences, Finland Technische Universität München, TUM School of Management Corresponding Member of the Romanian Academy, General Deputy Director, National Institute for Economic Research “Costin C. Kiriţescu”, Romanian Marketing Association; Romanian Distribution Committee Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest, President of RAFPEC (FRAPEC) Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca President of Romanian Scientific Society of Management - SSMAR Dimitrie Cantemir University, Bucharest Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Management and Economic Engineering Department; University of Glasgow, UK, College of Social Sciences, School of Social & Political Sciences; Managing Editor, Review of Management and Economic Engineering Valahia University of Târgovişte Ştefan cel Mare University of Suceava Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University

Associate Editors Dan SMEDESCU Irina PURCĂREA Art Designer Director Alexandru BEJAN Holistic Marketing Management

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“Holistic Marketing Management” (A refereed journal published four times annually by the School of Management-Marketing of the Romanian-American University)

Volume 12, Issue 1, Year 2022

Contents Theodor PURCĂREA - Today’s World, Living History, Conscious Experience, Institutional Response, Composable Business, Collaborative Interactions, and Fair Performance Management System...........................................................................................4

Bernd HALLIER (by courtesy of) - ERA: Adaption and Reinvention, and Controversial Views; EuCVoT: Power from VSE............................................................10

Ioan Matei PURCĂREA - Agile Marketing and Empowered E-Commerce............................................15 Dan SMEDESCU – ‘Marketing Science and Inspirations’: Generating Brand Awareness and Building Lasting Connections, Ensuring an Improved Experience..........................26

The responsibility for the contents of the scientific and the authenticity of the published materials and opinions expressed rests with the author.

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Editorial: Today’s World, Living History, Conscious Experience, Institutional Response, Composable Business, Collaborative Interactions, and Fair Performance Management System

“Being You is not as simple as it sounds…”, let us know the reputed Professor of cognitive and computational neuroscience at the University of Sussex (UK), Anil Seth, author of the challenging book “Being You: A New Science of Consciousness” (Publisher: Dutton, October 19, 2021). According to Seth: “There is a real world out there, but the way in which that real world appears in conscious experience is always a construction — a writing as much as a reading” (Seth, 2021). In the opinion of Ellen Langer, a reputed Professor in the Psychology Department at Harvard University,“Anything hierarchical suggests that there is a single metric—a ‘right’ way of understanding the world, and better and worse ways to view things…

But the world is a social construct. Mistakes are not mistakes in all contexts” (Lambert, 2007), while according to David Laibson, Professor of economics (considered one of Harvard University’s most prominent behavioral economists), “The world we live in is an institutional response to our biology” (Lambert, 2006).

But as “Economists specialize in taking really complex things and boiling them down to simple principles” (also according to the above-mentioned David Laibson), allow me (as an Holistic Marketing Management

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economist) to also recall the wise words of the late Romanian economist and jurist Vasile Stănescu, Professor, Honorary Member of the Romanian Academy, who confessed seven years ago to a distinguished audience as follows: “Our world has entered a new temporality …; multiple levels of reality we live in …; we are projected by events… waking up captives, in a continuous tension…; Today’s world does not yet exercise common destiny of human beings wherever they are, of solidarity and empathy …; in these times of wanderings, crushed by the huge civilization machine, the emphasis is on the utility values of civilization at the expense of cultural and moral values, as well as patterns. Human beings are dehumanized, there are major imbalances … The competition took a dramatic end, the fight being carried out between values and interests; … Coupling intelligence and good taste, its feelings…with the general laws of the market… laws that induce exacerbated selfishness, not only in action but also in thought, individual and collective mind is saddening for the human being; we easily say goodbye to the past, replacing admiration and respect with the show, with rhetoric and self-sufficiency, if not ironic or higher depreciation … We live in an ambivalence incapable of solving the idea of continuity…; Endangered is the factor of cohesion and mobilization of society: patriotism, national interests; the fragility and vulnerability of our planet’s projection are in an ambivalence that give us cold chills: stability vs. instability, peace – war, creation – destruction, progress – catastrophe, moral – immoral, empathy – indifference, order – chaos, socialization – exacerbated individualism, freedom – dictatorship” (Purcarea, 2015). My great Friend, Professor Vasile Stănescu, also confessed to the distinguished audience at the Scientists’ House of the Romanian Academy that: “I never had time for conflicts, avoiding visceral adversities, preferring those of opinion, dialogue. I acquired the reflection according to which knowing to listen is important… when you speak you must have something to tell… I want to hear the silence of things (Emil Cioran) and the music of spheres (Pitagora), because when you stop believing, in fact, you stop existing, you stop living history… ” In our last HMM Editorial (Purcarea, 2021) we made reference, among other aspects, to the fact that: according to Nielsen, trust, comparability and adaptability are the three pillars all the brands should focus on; according to Gartner, preparing for the future of hybrid marketing it is necessary to redefine the Chief Marketing Officer’s (CMO’s) role as the organization’s “Chief Connecting Officer” (CCO, who connects Customers, Employees, Brand, Partners, and Channels); we all have to keep in mind that talent without work, as highlighted by our great Constantin Brancusi, is nothing more than raw unfinished material.

In January 2022 a very interesting question was brought to our attention by McKinsey’s People & Organizational Performance Practice: “If we’re all so busy, why isn’t anything getting done?” (De Smet et al., 2022) McKinsey’s representatives highlighted the significant role of collaborative interactions in both improving organizations’ productivity, speed, and innovation, and driving better business performance. In their opinion, there are three categories of such interactions, as shown in figure below.

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Figure no. 1: Collaborative interactions fall into three categories Source: De Smet, A., Hewes, C., Luo, M., Maxwell, J.R. and Simon, P., 2022. If we’re all so busy, why isn’t anything getting done? [pdf] McKinsey & Company, People & Organizational Performance Practice, January, p. 3 (work cited)

Speaking about the latest economic data within today’s US economy, Sergio Rebelo, distinguished Professor of International Finance at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, offered his opinion including about companies’ renewed focus on resilience, underlining companies’ need of building resilience into their operations and strategies following the pandemic (Love, 2022). It is worth remembering within this framework how approaching organizations’ priority of business resilience (following COVID-19 pandemic and other disruptions) Gartner recommended to business and technology leaders to begin the composable business journey, based on the three pillars of composable (thinking, business architecture and technology) digital business (Gartner a, 2021). Gartner’s core principles of composability applied to business architecture are shown in the below figure. The need for an organization to move to a composable architecture was clearly explained by Gartner, as shown in the next figure below (Gartner b, 2021).

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Figure no. 2: Core Principles of Composability Applied to Business Architecture Source: Gartner, 2021. Becoming Composable: A Gartner Trend Insight. [pdf] Gartner for IT Leaders, 17 September 2021, p. 12 (work cited)

Figure no. 3: Major Trends and Themes Across Data and Analytics Source: Gartner b, 2021. Leadership Vision for 2022. [pdf] Gartner Research, Top 3 Strategic Priorities for Data and Analytics Leader, p. 3 (work cited) Holistic Marketing Management

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Allow us to end by coming back to prior McKinsey’s research (Chowdhury, Schaninger and Hioe, 2018) which pledged for bringing together some critical practices (not only linking individuals’ goals with business priorities and coaching effectively, but also differentiating compensation across levels of performance) so as to generate the perception (by both employees, and managers) of a fair performance management system.

Theodor Valentin Purcărea Editor-in-Chief

References Chowdhury, S., Schaninger, B. and Hioe, E., 2018. Harnessing the power of performance management. [pdf] McKinsey & Company, pp. 1-7. Available at: <harnessing-the-power-ofperformance-management> [28 February 2022].

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De Smet, A., Hewes, C., Luo, M., Maxwell, J.R. and Simon, P., 2022. If we’re all so busy, why isn’t anything getting done? [pdf] McKinsey & Company, People & Organizational Performance Practice, January, pp. 1, 3, 6. Available at: < if-were-all-so-busy-why-isnt-anything-gettingdone> [18 January 2022].

Gartner a, 2021. Becoming Composable: A Gartner Trend Insight. [pdf] Gartner for IT Leaders, 17 September 2021, pp. 3, 12, 17. Available at: <753614-becoming-composable-gartnerinsight.pdf> [2 January 2022].

Gartner b, 2021. Leadership Vision for 2022. [pdf] Gartner Research, Top 3 Strategic Priorities for Data and Analytics Leaders. Available at: <2022-leadership-vision-for-data-and-analytics> [2 January 2022]. https://www.anilseth.com/being-you/ Lambert, C., 2006. The Marketplace of Perceptions. [pdf] Harvard Magazine, March-April 2006, pp. 52, 54, 95. Available at: <https://www.harvardmagazine.com/sites/default/files/pdf/2006/03pdfs/0306-50.pdf> [26 February 2022].

Lambert, C., 2007. The Science of Happiness, Harvard Magazine, January-February 2007. [online] Available at: <http://harvm.convio.net/freeisntfree> [26 February 2022].

Love, J., 2022. 6 Takeaways on Today’s Economy, Kellogg Insight, Economics, Feb 10, 2022. [online] Available at: <https://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/economy-inflation-labormarket-remote-work?> [21 January 2022].

Purcarea, T., 2015. “Our world has entered a new temporality”, Romanian Distribution Committee Magazine, 23 July 2015. Available at: <https://www.distribution-magazine.eu/ourworld-has-entered-a-new-temporality/>.

Purcarea, T., 2021. Digital Channels, Budgeting Decisions, and Marketing Metrics, Holistic Marketing Management, vol. 11(4), pp. 04-08, December.

Seth, A., 2021. Reality is what you make of it, The Boston Globe, October 20, 2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/10/20/opinion/reality-is-what-you-make-it/> [27 January 2022].

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ERA: Adaption and Reinvention, and Controversial Views; EuCVoT: Power from VSE Prof. Dr. Bernd HALLIER

Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier, President of the European Retail Academy (ERA: http://www.european-retail-academy.org/), an Honorary Member of the Romanian Distribution Committee, and distinguished Member of both the Editorial Board of “Romanian Distribution Committee Magazine”, and the Editorial Board of RAU “Holistic Marketing Management” brought to our attention other great events happening in the last time, and allowed us to present them. It is also worth remembering that: immediately after visiting Romania for the first time on the occasion of the 24th International Congress of the International Association for the Distributive Trade (AIDA Brussels), Prof.

Dr. Bernd Hallier sent us, in May 1998, a memorable letter we have referred initially in the Journal of the Romanian Marketing Association (AROMAR), no. 5/1998, and also later, in 2010, in the first issue of the Romanian Distribution Committee Magazine; the Romanian-American University (RAU) has awarded Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier a “Diploma of Special Academic Merit”; the “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, has awarded Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier a “Diploma of Excellence”.

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Adaption and Reinvention At the proposal of Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier, the Hall of Fame of the European Retail Academy (ERA) selected as its personality of the year 2022 the Nobel Laureate 2021 (Literature) Prof. Dr. Abdulrazak Gurnah born on Zanzibar/Tanzania in 1948, living today in the UK. For Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier the life and work of Prof. Dr. Abdulrazak Gurnah reflects two hot topics of today’s challenges for economics: He is personally an example for microeconomic adaption and reinvention by the cultural clashes on Zanzibar in the mid-sixties of the last century and his escape as a migrant to the UK; becoming a well-respected author about sociological problems and phenomena of migration which is a multi-national topic for the countries being left by migrants as well as the successful integration into the work-force and culture of the hostcountries.

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For Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier this choice of personality for the Hall of Fame should demonstrate the fact that it is human beings who are giving the interdisciplinary input for the wealth of nations: nearly each society of the world is a mix of different ethnic groups which either by change of borders during history or by individual migration (from small to bigger scale) have an enormous impact on societies around the globe. “This is what present and future leaders have to be taught. It is part of ethics to respect diversity and to listen to controversial opinions and experiences to optimize the own GNP” Dr. Hallier concluded. More: Hall of Fame (LINK ) _______________________________________

Controversial Views A very good example for national opinions deriving from different interpretation of facts in history and its controversial consequences until today is according to Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier the opium trade in the 19th century and action resulting in colonial times. In the beginning of the 19th century Opium became a drug for parts of the Chinese society like in the 21st century Cocaine, Heroin or Crystal Meth in parts of the affluent Western societies. Especially British smugglers earned a lot by this trade: one shipload of opium did have a value of 200.000 Pound Sterling silver at those days. The smugglers could be compared with the drug-cartels of today.

To fight that illegal trade the Chinese Government appointed a national coordinator in 1839 who so successfully disturbed the smuggling that the opium-traders asked the British Crown to send battle-ships for protection. The dispute ended with the Peace Treaty of Nanking (Nanjing) granting the British trading houses access to Chinese cities and handing over the Hongkong Island to the British Crown from 1842 onwards.

The two British merchants who mainly had initiated the intervention and who after meeting first in Mumbai/India had founded in 1832 the Canton (Guangzhou) based company Jardin, Matheson & Co at the Pearl River now bought land in HK and established in 1844 their company HQ at the harbor side: being in the end of the 20ies century the skyscraper Connaught Center. Over the time William Jardin (1784-1843) and James Matheson (1796 -1882) and their families had established a global company acting in more than 20 countries and being the biggest Trading House of Asia in the end of the 20ies century also being called the British Commonwealth Century. One of its roots of success was a very intensive network of Chinese merchants: the first and most important of them Wu Ping-Chen Howqua II from the Canton-area.

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In 1997 the company moved its HQ to the Oasis for Taxes of the 21st century: the Bermuda Islands in the Caribbean Sea. Insofar the character of the actors remained the same over the two centuries. - In literature the history is according to the impressions of the trade-historian Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier very well described as the back-stage by the two-part epos “Taipan” and “Noble House” by James Clavell. “A phantastic intro about the history of HK, of gaining competences, of fraud, mergers, take-overs - and also indicating that back-stage of all business there always remains also a glimpse of emotion which surely is also true in real life”. The owner-family of Jardin, Matheson and Co. belongs also in the 21st century to the group of millionaires: they still own big farm-areas in Scotland and England; also, as hobbies they keep on going the more feudal life-style of the past: horse-riding and hunting.

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Power from VSE Based on the traditional relations between Prof. Dr. B. Hallier and the VSE Prague/CZ in 2007 the Annual Meeting of ERA was organized in Prague by VSE. Among the students participating from the Czech side was Jitka Odehnalova / Volfova who continued her new connection also to visit in Germany the EHI headquarter and the EuroShop exhibition. One of the results of her discussions with Prof. Hallier was a study-period of one year at the Shanghai University and one year at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University both Shanghai / China.

Her new competences could be used very well at the Czech pavilion of EXPO Shanghai in 2010. Returning to Prague she finished her PhD and attended several times the USUE PreEvents for the Eurasian Economic Youth Forum in Yekaterinburg/Russia - also using the opportunity teaching at those occasions as an Assistant Professor. At her home university in Prague, she holds mainly courses on Cross-cultural Management and Business Negotiation. She is also a certified professional coach. In 2022 Jitka will participate as the CZ-representative in the first global ERA-Webinar which is focused on sustainability and the UN Goals 2030.

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Agile Marketing and Empowered E-Commerce Drd. Ioan Matei PURCĂREA

Abstract There is an obvious impact of online shopping habits and user behavior trends on e-commerce performance. We are witnessing significant preoccupations with DTC CPG e-commerce strategy and empowered e-commerce, as well as regarding trade reinvention with the help of eB2B platforms. Marketing leaders are more and more concerned with the agile marketing and technological priorities delivering improved CX in 2022. And without doubt, poor speed and agility are among the most common challenges to Ecommerce success.

Keywords: DTC CPG E-Commerce Strategy; Empowered E-Commerce; Agile Marketing; Technological Priorities; CX JEL Classification: D83; L81; L86; M15; M31; O32; O33

The impact of online shopping habits and user behavior trends on e-commerce performance The UK behavioral marketing company SaleCycle Ltd is known for its focus on creating better customer journeys and increase customer loyalty for many brands, starting from tracking the online consumer journey on websites in different industries and offering deep ecommerce statistical data and trends on this basis. This essential information provided by SaleCycle (about companies’ websites, products and consumers) enable businesses to obtain a 360 view on their customers’ behavior (when they buy, when they show more intent, when websites’ visitors leave the web page before completing the desired buying action, the way in which the level of websites’ traffic regularly becomes higher or lower in a situation etc.), discovering new market insights, benchmarking the KPIs and solve the business issues (Ward, 2022). SaleCycle brought the attention, for instance, on the fact that the regional cart abandonment statistics can be affected by the online shopping habits and user behavior trends, considering the differences Holistic Marketing Management

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between geographical regions of the world (mature ecommerce markets like Europe and North America, mobile-first markets, less mature ecommerce markets), the percentage of digital shopping carts abandoned by customers prior to completing the checkout process (cart abandonment rates being calculated by dividing a business’s total number of completed purchases by its total number of created online shopping carts) varying depending on research time, booking journey, average order value (AOV) and other factors (Ward, 2021). Other findings from SaleCycle revealed that: the use of shopping apps and internet services determined an increasing traffic from mobile devices, consumers being constantly plugged into their mobile devices (without yet exceeding the level reached by conversion rates the online user levels); as shown by a report from Qubit mobile activity is influencing (the so-called halo effect of mobile) customers’ purchases made on desktop; a significant top 30 online retailers from the UK, US and Europe can be seen in the below figure; in 2021, from the point of view of ecommerce online sales by device the situation was as shown in next figure below; there is a gap regarding shopping cart abandonment rates between mobile (83.76%) and desktop (75.65%), what means an opportunity within mobile ecommerce as compared to desktop online sessions (28,77%) mobile has significantly more (71.23% mobile traffic).

Figure no. 1: The top 30 online retailers from the UK, US and Europe, ranked by revenue, projected growth, physical presence, and online capabilities such as address verification, delivery and payment options Source: Ward, B., 2021. 11 Of The Best Ecommerce Stats from 2020/2021, SaleCycle, April 19/July 8/2021 (work cited) Holistic Marketing Management

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Figure no. 2: Ecommerce Online Sales by Device Source: Ward, B., 2022. 11 Ecommerce Statistics & Market Size Trends 2021/22, SaleCycle, February 7/March 10/ 2022 (work cited)

Very recently, SaleCycle also explained the importance of cart abandonment retargeting (using display ads and networks, generally) and remarketing (email-based generally, but covering more than just abandoned cart emails), being no obvious distinctions between them (regarding shoppers’ targeting who abandon purchases), and within the context in which brands are under pressure of reconnecting with people who haven’t purchased yet (by not completing their purchase in the shopping session) based on gaining insights into customer’s minds, and adequately using the different types of channels (Charlton, 2022). Retargeting and remarketing are seen within this framework as a process of re-engaging with interested visitors to brands’ website, being an important part of their customers’ buying journey, hence the opportunity of valorizing as conversion rate technique.

DTC CPG Ecommerce Strategy and Empowered Ecommerce. Trade reinvention with the help of eB2B platforms As underlined last summer by Intelligent Commerce Platform Nogin in order to improve CX, CPG companies are under pressure to both adapt to the digital transformation (being crucial for CPG brands to adapt to digital channels), and invest in DTC models, being known that CPG companies need to better understand consumers and increase consumers’ engagement by using DTC strategies (Dodd, 2021). And as DTC is seen as the new window shopping (ecommerce brands connecting with their customers through email marketing, paid media, SEO, social media, content marketing etc.), the qualified traffic capturation involving the creation of effective ecommerce marketing funnel, Nogin suggested a valuable 5-Step DTC CPG Ecommerce Strategy (see figure below).

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Figure no. 3: 5-Step DTC CPG Ecommerce Strategy Source: Dodd, C., 2021. Digital Transformation in the CPG Industry: Why DTC is Essential For Your Brand to Stay Competitive, Nogin (work cited)

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The realignment of CPG brands’ strategy towards increasing digital channels was obvious over the past few years, and accelerated within the pandemic context, in selling their products online being three major routes: acquiring a DTC Brand, launching a DTC brand, and selling products through E-retailers According to LatentView Analytics, a leading global analytics and decision sciences provider: - The above-mentioned framework for choosing the CPG eCommerce route is based on the four criteria shown in the first figure below, while the major CPG Brands excelling in eCommerce space by adopting aforementioned routes are shown in the next figure below (Sathapan a, 2021); - The DTC Route taken by CPG brands (which need to keep up with the changes and excel in the DTC space) generate various challenges, such as: having an easily navigable website and app enhancing CX; maintain the balance in working with DTC channels (having a brand unique value proposition and creating diverse content to capture organic search traffic) and traditional retail partners; improving margins by planning media buying effectively etc. (Sathapan b, 2021).

Figure no. 4: Criteria for choosing the CPG eCommerce Route Source: Sathapan, R., 2021. Framework for Choosing A CPG eCommerce Route, LatentView (work cited)

Figure no. 5: Major CPG Brands that excelled in eCommerce space by adopting aforementioned routes Source: Sathapan, R., 2021. Framework for Choosing A CPG eCommerce Route, LatentView (work cited)

On Oct 25, 2021 the first operating system for real-time commerce, Tradeswell, released its ecommerce data report and white paper entitled The Future of Empowered Ecommerce, and Holistic Marketing Management

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designed to help Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) and Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) brands in strategically managing the growing complexity in the omnichannel world (MarTech Series, 2021). The online survey was conducted by Tradeswell in the summer of 2021 among 300 U.S.based experienced professionals in CPG, DTC or retail industries having decision making authority (direct or shared) over both ecommerce platform adoption and business operations.

(Tradeswell, 2021).

Figure no. 6: Incorporating eB2B platforms can reduce market inefficiencies and increase transparency in the value chain Source: Athanassiou, E., Brailovsky, E., Elkins, M., Francois, M. and Zanin, M., 2022. Digital disruption: The rise of eB2B in fragmented retail. [pdf] McKinsey & Company, Consumer Packaged Goods and Retail Practices, p. 8 (work cited) Holistic Marketing Management

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It is also worth underlining that at the beginning of 2022 McKinsey’s representatives brought to our attention the impact of the rise of eB2B in fragmented retail (independent small grocers, restaurants, and bars) within the digital disruption, being well-known that little evolution in the past fifty years have been seen at the level of the fragmented-trade distribution models (Athanassiou et al., 2022). This market disruption with eB2B offerings was determined by four primary types of companies: Digital start-ups, Cash and carry (C&C) operators, Distributors and wholesalers, Consumer-goods companies. Within this framework, it was shown, among other aspects, how both to reduce market inefficiencies, and to increase transparency in the value chain can be obtain by incorporating eB2B platforms (see figure above).

The Agile Marketing and Technological priorities delivering improved CX in 2022 According to Perkin (2022), digital changed marketers’ way of identifying, anticipating and satisfying their customer needs, business models, customer behavior and routes to market being revolutionized by the digital technologies, hence organizations’ digital transformation on the path to become more both agile, and responsive to changing contexts like COVID-19 pandemic. Perkin made reference, among various aspects, to: -

-

The role of agile marketing teams enabled by a combination (as shown in figure below) of systems (technology and systems empowering efficiently working, communicating and execution, as well as fast testing and learning) and empathy (which is enabling teams’ collaboration and working together by being both customer-obsessed, and delivering exceptional CX).

The agile marketing as a learning mindset enabling the process where customer is placed right at the center of both value creation, and the way that teams operate.

Figure no. 7: Systems and empathy in agile marketing Source: Perkin, N., 2022. Agile Marketing: Unlock Adaptive and Data-driven Marketing for Long-term Success, Kogan Page Ltd., p. 13 (work cited)

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It is worth remembering that according to Ewel (2020), there is a confirmed framework for applying agile principles and processes to marketing, this framework being provided the socalled six disciplines of agile marketing (as shown in figure below), to achieve marketing organizations’ agile transformation being necessary to consider four shifts ((from a focus on outputs to one based on outcomes; from a campaign mentality to one based on continuous improvement ; from an internal focus to a customer focus; from top-down decisions to decentralized decisions) in beliefs and behaviors.

Figure no. 8: The six disciplines of agile marketing Source: Ewel, J., 2020. The Six Disciplines of Agile Marketing: Proven Practices for More Effective Marketing and Better Business Results, Wiley, 1st edition, Oct. 13, 2020 (work cited)

On the other hand, Adobe’s 2022 Digital Trends report (produced in collaboration with Econsultancy; there were surveyed almost 10,000 marketers, consultants and practitioners) placed CX in the middle of the necessary digital strategies and to be driven sustained growth in 2022, reorienting operations completely around their organizations’ customers based on a more holistic view of their behaviors, preferences and needs (Adobe, 2022). This can be made by better organizing data translation (a single source of data truth, and thinking data action before collection) into insights, acting agilely on those insights, and not only prioritizing personalization and innovation, but also embracing experimentation. In other words, building a better Holistic Marketing Management

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understanding of the organizations’ evolving customers (from the point of view of their constantly shifting needs, preferences, motivations, behaviors, and expectations), what also presupposes as senior executives (see in the below figure their key technological priorities according to Adobe’s report) both reorganize, and rebuild their organizations’ processes (digital architecture, advanced analytics, as well as centralized content and digital asset management etc. being provided by technology) and culture (which is championing both data-driven decisionmaking, and agile marketing operations supported by agile workflow software solutions).

Figure no. 9: Senior executives’ key technological priorities for 2022 Source: Adobe, 2022. 2022 Digital Trends. Experience Index. [pdf] Annual Adobe survey produced in collaboration with Econsultancy, p. 23 (work cited)

Instead of conclusions: Poor speed and Agility, among the most common challenges to e-commerce success Featured insights from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) revealed that agility is one of the most common challenges to e-commerce success (as shown in the below figure), building, maintaining, and expanding an e-commerce operation being considered truly complex by business leaders engaged in the digital transformation for which perfecting technology is not enough (Baxter et al., 2021).

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Figure no. 9: Senior executives’ key technological priorities for 2022 Source: Baxter, A., Paizanis, G., Robnett, S. and Yang, H., 2021. Building a World-Class E-Commerce Organization, BCG, December 13, 2021 (work cited)

And in facing complexity having many sources (such as: the conflicting agendas of the channel partners, the multidisciplinary expertise level and collaboration across functions needed, the pressure of quickly scaling and evolving to keep up with both rapid e-commerce growth, and changing customer needs etc.) it is recommended (BCG, 2021) to clearly define business objectives, building then an e-commerce organization accordingly, working together to use the proper tools (including the digital technologies), and choosing one of the below described archetypes as a guide:

Figure no. 10: Four archetypes serve as a guide to setting up an e-commerce organization Source: BCG, 2021. Four E-Commerce Archetypes [pdf] Digital Transformation, Leading in the New Reality (work cited)

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It is also worth mentioning, within this context, that according to CB Insights (2021), from the point of view of the smaller e-commerce players looking to capture some of the ecommerce giant Amazon’s market share there are some significant key trends, such as: community connection wanted by consumers, how critical is sustainability for eco-focused customers, how prioritized is assortment relevance over mass variety, and how more app-based retailers are becoming friendly with the needs of a mobile-first generation.

References Adobe, 2022. 2022 Digital Trends. Experience Index. [pdf] Annual Adobe survey produced in collaboration with Econsultancy, January 18, 2022, pp. 3, 23-25. Available at: <adobe-digital-trends-2022-core-report.pdf> [28 January 2022].

Athanassiou, E., Brailovsky, E., Elkins, M., Francois, M. and Zanin, M., 2022. Digital disruption: The rise of eB2B in fragmented retail. [pdf] McKinsey & Company, Consumer Packaged Goods and Retail Practices, January 2022, pp. 2, 4, 6, 8.

Available at: <digital-disruption-the-rise-of-eb2b-in-fragmented-retail.pdf> [19 January 2022].

Baxter, A., Paizanis, G., Robnett, S. and Yang, H., 2021. Building a World-Class E-Commerce Organization, BCG, December 13, 2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.bcg.com/publications/2021/build-world-class-e-commerce-organization?> [11 January 2022].

BCG, 2021. Four E-Commerce Archetypes [pdf] Digital Transformation, Leading in the New Reality. Available at: <four-ecommerce-archetypes-pdf> [11 January 2022].

CB Insights, 2021. 6 Trends Rising E-Commerce Players Are Leveraging To Compete Against Amazon, Research Report, March 23, 2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.cbinsights.com/research/report/e-commerce-trends-amazon-competitors/?> [25 February 2022].

Charlton, G., 2022. What’s The Difference Between Cart Abandonment Retargeting and Remarketing, SaleCycle, March 14, 2022. [online] Available at: <https://www.salecycle.com/blog/strategies/remarketing-v-retargeting/> [17 March 2022].

Dodd, C., 2021. Digital Transformation in the CPG Industry: Why DTC is Essential For Your Brand to Stay Competitive, Nogin, June 16, 2021. [online] Available at: <https://nogin.com/blog/cpg-dtc-ecommerce-strategy/> [22 March 2022].

Ewel, J., 2020. The Six Disciplines of Agile Marketing: Proven Practices for More Effective Marketing and Better Business Results, Wiley, 1st edition, Oct. 13, 2020. [online] Available at: <https://www.amazon.ca/Six-Disciplines-AgileMarketing/dp/111> [24 March 2022].

MarTech Series, 2021. Amid Growing Complexity, 80% of Ecommerce Brands Are Seeking Actionable AI Insights & Automation, New Tradeswell Report Shows, MTS Staff Writer, Oct 25, 2021. [online] Available at: <https://martechseries.com/mobile/mobile-marketing/e-commerce-and-mobile-commerce/tradeswell-80-of-ecommerce-brandsare-seeking-actionable-ai-insights/> [21 January 2022].

Perkin, N., 2022. Agile Marketing: Unlock Adaptive and Data-driven Marketing for Long-term Success, Kogan Page Ltd., First published in Great Britain and the United States, pp. 3-5, 12-13, 21, 24-25.

Sathapan, R., 2021. Framework for Choosing A CPG eCommerce Route, LatentView, August 30, 2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.latentview.com/blog/framework-for-choosing-a-cpg-ecommerce-route/> [22 March 2022].

Sathapan, R., 2021. How Can CPG Brands Excel Using DTC? LatentView Analytics, September 6, 2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.latentview.com/blog/how-can-cpg-brands-excel-using-dtc/> [22 March 2022].

Tradeswell, 2021. The Future of Empowered Ecommerce. [pdf] How the Merging Of Human and AI Will Fuel Business Growth For Online Brands. Available at: < The-Future-of-Empowered-eCommerce-Final.pdf> [21 January 2022].

Ward, B., 2022. 11 Ecommerce Statistics & Market Size Trends 2021/22, SaleCycle, February 7/March 10/ 2022. [online] Available at: <https://www.salecycle.com/blog/stats/ecommerce-statistics/> [March 16, 2022].

Ward, B., 2021. 11 Of The Best Ecommerce Stats from 2020/2021, SaleCycle, April 19/July 8/2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.salecycle.com/blog/featured/11-best-ecommerce-stats-2018-far/> [January 21, 2022].

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Congratulatory letter from Professor Peter Štarchoň on the occasion of the 30th Romanian-American University Anniversary

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‘Marketing Science and Inspirations’: Generating Brand Awareness and Building Lasting Connections, Ensuring an Improved Experience

Dr. Dan SMEDESCU Associate Editor of the “Holistic Marketing Management” Journal Member of the scientific association Romanian Distribution Committee

JEL Classification: Y30 A true brand of the Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia, the “Marketing Science and Inspirations” Journal is reconfirming the valued vocation of giving its savvy, affluent and implied readers a holistic perspective on modern marketing issues. The “Marketing Science and Inspirations” Journal is constantly generating awareness and building lasting connections with its target audience, improving the brand image by always ensuring an improved experience. We are continuing therefore to witness our partners’ hard and smart work to provide to both current and new readers truly relevant and useful content on current business situations and key challenges faced by agile marketers, making marketing perspective happen.

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We were happy to receive by post the new Issue 4, Volume XVI, 2021, of our Partner Journal “Marketing Science and Inspirations”, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia.

The new issue of this valuable academic journal addressing to academics and practitioners covered, as usual, a wide range of interesting topics in the marketing research field, such as: • “Overview of current trends in mobile commerce: global perspectives.”

The authors Mária Oleárová, Radovan Bačík, and Richard Fedorko underline: the urgent need to deepen knowledge on consumer behavior and preferences, which is signaled by the everincreasing global interest in mobile commerce signals; how crucial it is now to better understand the interests and values of the mobile user for the successful management and development of mobile shopping channels. To describe the state of mobile commerce and its development trends around the world the authors used secondary data collected from reports of research companies and statistical portals. Based on a deep analysis of secondary data the authors dealt with the possibilities of optimizing business strategies in the challenging field of m-commerce.

• “Development of real estate marketing – trends for the future”.

The author Jörg Petermann focused on real estate marketing that has changed fundamentally over the past twenty years, for the most part due to digital technologies, showing Holistic Marketing Management

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how the complexity of interaction relationships between providers, demanders, and real estate agents has increased due to the availability of online platforms as intermediary websites. In order to demonstrate what new potential digital channels offer for the reach and intensity of real estate marketing, this author’s study took the real estate agents’ perspective and used the interesting example market of Cologne/Bergisch-Gladbach. Challenged to evolve technologically, the real estate agencies have then at their disposal also a wider inventory of marketing channels and presentation options. It is expected that social media and video streaming platforms could further revolutionize property marketing, by offering additional potential to proactive providers, especially in terms of property branding and international sales.

• “Summer 2020 and intention to travel on holiday after the pandemic outbreak: Analysis of findings of selected scientific studies”.

The author Darina Ňakatová analyzed the scientific works that focused on the research of travel’s intention in 2020 summer holiday following the first wave of pandemic. Research findings revealed that approx. one-fifth to one-third of respondents expressed an intention not to travel in the current year, low intention to travel being expressed by older people with poorer health and higher intention by men, employed people, people with higher income and people who are willing to spend more. From the point of view of psychological factors, it appeared to have a negative influence on travel’s intention the following factors: travel anxiety, worries and a worsened ability to avoid the uncertainty resulting from the health crisis. Conversely, a positive effect on travel’s intention has been found in the sense that the positive emotions that travel brings may outweigh the potential risk of travel-related infection among some people.A positive effect on travel had the willingness to accept non-pharmaceutical measures, such as wearing a mask and the like, which can both delay the onset of the disease, and reduce the total number of infections.

• “Personas’ creation using Google Analytics”.

The authors Miroslav Reiter, Ondrej Čupka and Andrej Miklošík focused on investigating how a marketing persona may be created by using both data gathered by cookies, and Google Analytics. The data gathered by these authors originate from the largest IT e-learning platform VITA, while the research was based on measurement with the help of the Google Analytics tool and the WooCommerce plug-in within the WordPress content management system. The authors’ case study showed how a marketing persona may be created, and recommended that once such a persona is created it needs to be validated repeatedly with data on real customers before it may be used for marketing purposes.

• “A review of neuromarketing origins as a new marketing research method”

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The authors Yahia Mouammine and Hassan Azdimousa structured a literature review of neuromarketing and the origins of its emergence as a new marketing research method, establishing a general descriptive summary of relevant literature that both stresses the definition of neuromarketing as a new marketing discipline, and retraces its origins and foundations since and before the advent of neuroeconomics, as the latter is considered to be a precursor. They defined what neuromarketing is from the point of view of academics and practitioners, how and when it started to chart its path into academia and the business world, by drawing attention to the ever first attempts to use uncommon neuroscience tools to assess consumer behavior. The authors drawn a timeline of neuromarketing origins and a summary of the first attempts of watching consumers behave and interact in the market under natural conditions, the observation in consumer behavior relying on neural and physiological responses.

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This new issue of the “Marketing Science and Inspirations” Journal also included other sections such as: ▪ “Marketing Briefs”: Pavel Štrach – “Foodie: Upgrading a basic need to artistic obsession”; ▪ “SHORT COMMUNICATIONS”: “An announcement of the 17. year of the Marketer of the year contest”; ▪ “REVIEWS”: -

Helena Strážovská – “Drábik, Peter: Socially beneficial innovations in distribution”;

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Magdaléna Samuhelová – “Hello World: How to stay human in the world of algorithms”;

▪ “Dictionary of Useful Marketing Terms”, Dagmar Weberová.

We always remember with pleasure that the Editor-in-Chief of the “Marketing Science and Inspirations” Journal – Professor Peter Štarchoň, Faculty of Management, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia – is also a Member of the Editorial Board of both the “Holistic Marketing Management” Journal, and of the “Romanian Distribution Committee Magazine”. On the occasion of celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the RomanianAmerican University (RAU), “Holistic Marketing Management” Journal (HMM) was awarding an HMM Diploma of Special Merit to Professor Peter Štarchoň, for outstanding contribution in the field of Holistic Marketing and Talent Management.

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It is also our honor and pleasure to remember both the significant meeting in Koln, Germany, in 2011, on the occasion of the working meeting of the European Retail Academy (ERA), and the different significant moments when the ERA President, Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier (also a Member of both above-mentioned Editorial Boards), visited the Romanian-American University.

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