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Rethinking marketing: Peter Drucker’s challenge

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Abstract

Just as Peter Drucker pointed out the importance of assessing whether a company’s “theory of business” is relevant, marketers need to consider whether the current “theory of marketing” still fits in a world of rapid change. The author examines how Drucker challenged the theory of business at financial services firm Edward Jones, helping to identify new market opportunities. For example, he urged the company to move into metropolitan areas, which now account for 60 percent of the firm’s business. The article then considers how the field of marketing needs to reexamine its own mental models. Finally, the article considers how Drucker’s seminal insights on marketing, particularly his emphasis on an interdisciplinary approach, might point the way to new approaches.

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Acknowledgement

The author is grateful to John Bachmann, former Managing Partner of Edward Jones and Chair of the Drucker School Board of Visitors, and Doug Hill, former Managing Partner of Edward Jones who was the partner in charge of marketing during the time the firm worked with Peter Drucker, for their insights on their long and productive collaboration with Peter Drucker.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 700 Jon M. Huntsman Hall, 3730 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-6340, USA

    Jerry Yoram Wind

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  1. Jerry Yoram Wind
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Correspondence to Jerry Yoram Wind.

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Wind, J.Y. Rethinking marketing: Peter Drucker’s challenge. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. 37, 28–34 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-008-0106-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-008-0106-0

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