Discussion Merrill Lynch and Marketing

It is important for companies to change their marketing and positioning strategies over time because trends in the market place change and evolve over time. To remain competitive a firm’s marketing strategies “must change as the product, market, and competitors over the product life cycle” ( Armstrong, Kotler,  Cunningham, & Buchwitz, 2010 p.304). The lifestyle of a product is simply a statement that relates the fact that products have a limited life, product sales cycle through various phases, profits rise and fall along with product life cycles and products require various different marketing strategies according to the life-cycle stage the product is in (Armstrong, Kotler,  Cunningham, & Buchwitz, 2010).

The Story of Merrill Lynch

A long standing company that changed its marketing campaign, this time related directly to a change in the industry and the needs of consumers is Merrill Lynch.

Fuelled by changes in technology, widespread use of the Internet, lower commission costs, and the favourable stock market activity of the Dot.com era, the 1990’s imposed several changes to existing brokerage firms such as Merrill Lynch. Mathews (n.d) writes to this affect on how the internet changed the landscape of the financial services industry and how large well-known financial institutions responded. “ Online Brokerages, when they first came into the scene, attacked mass markets with unbelievable ease, speed and success that it took conventional brokerages like Merrill Lynch, by surprise” (Mathews, n.d, para. 1).

Merrill finally responded to the changing marketplace and as author Levinsohn (1999) recalls:

Late spring brought a watershed event when Merrill Lynch & Co., the “full service” broker personified, capitulated to the threat of the discount broker. Merrill Lynch said it would reconfigure its package of financial advice, securities research and trade order-and-execution, which retailed for about $250 per transaction, and offer a low-end account for only $29.95 per trade. It was sea change not only for Merrill, but for the entire full-service retail brokerage industry, which enjoyed commissions of $12.8 billion in 1997 (para. 10).

In a paper entitled the brave new world, Merrill Lynch spoke of it’s 4 key strategies employed during the 90’s to regain competitive advantages in the industry. In summary the four marketing strategies that positioned the company’s new products were: liberate the efficient frontier, packaged solutions, outcome oriented products and creative funding solutions. All of these product solutions were targeted at different consumer segmentations and the goal was to add value positioning (Merrill Lynch, 2007).

Although Merrill Lynch is a company that has been able to withstand the times, 2010 might be a good year for Merrill to once again re-evaluate it’s standing in the industry. Ads like Merrill Lynch is “Bullish on America” from 1971 might not be enough to give customers confidence in Merrill after the collapse of the U.S economy in late 2008. The trademark Bull of Merrill once symbolized growth, strength, optimism, and confidence (Merrill Lynch, 2006), but now people are saying “Merrill Lynch needs a dressing down” (Dougherty, 2008). In 2008, author Dougherty reported on the culture clashes and conflicting attitudes and values between “wall street and main street”. In a twist of words and Merrill’s former glorious ad campaign, Dougherty (2008) states what many are thinking: “ Merrill Lynch is bullish on snobbery and status” (para. 2).

References

Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Cunningham, P., & Buchwitz, L.A (2010). Marketing: an

introduction (3^rd Canadian ed.). Toronto: Perason Canada

Dougherty, D. (2008). Merrill Lynch needs a dressing down. Retrieved on April

12, 2010 from: http://boingboing.net/2008/11/18/merrill-lynch-needs.html

Levinsohn, A.(1999). Online brokerage, the new core account? Retrieved on

April 12, 2010 form: Questia database.

Mathews, I. (n.d). Benefits, costs, and limitations of online investing to the

individual investor. Retrieved on April 12, 2010 from: http://www.journal.au.edu/abac_journal/2002/…/article3_may02.doc

Merrill Lynch (2006). “Bullish on America”. The big Apple. Retrieved on April 12,

2010 from: http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/bullish_on_america_merrill_lynch/

Merrill Lynch (2007). The Brave new world. Retrieved on April 12, 2010 from: gmi.ml.com/…

/pdf_download_BraveNewWorldWhitepaper.asp?…BraveN ewWorldWhitepaper