Abstract
Considers the relevance and contribution of marketing to business performance in the new economic environment which makes the marketing positioning strategies of the 1980s look irrelevant. Considers the orientation of marketing departments towards line extensions rather than genuine new product development. Finds traditional marketing has been undermined by the reshaping of competition from firms to networks. Marketing is radically changing both in the numbers employed and in how, and where, they work. Claims marketing in the future will increasingly be about the management of internal and external networks geared to achieve effective core business processes.