An analysis of the factors affecting formulation and implementation of marketing strategies in the insurance industry

Insurance companies in Zimbabwe are currently operating in a highly competitive environment and they continuously explore various strategies to create competitive advantage and sustainable growth. The formulation and implementation of such strategies has not been without its own challenges. In a previous research, the authors of this paper focused on the various strategies that insurance companies can pursue to create competitive advantage. Competition in the industry has therefore been inadvertently on the increase over the years. It was during this research that the researchers realized the importance of focusing not only on the strategies but on the factors that can affect either the success or failure of strategy formulation and implementation. The objectives of this research were therefore; to identify and analyze the impact of various factors in the formulation and implementation of marketing strategies designed to create competitive advantage, and to identify and recommend possible solutions to challenges faced in strategy implementation as organizations endeavour to continuously create competitive advantage. A cross sectional survey methodology was used to gather data from a sample of organizations within the insurance industry and two instruments were largely used for data gathering; the questionnaire and the depth interview guide. Results were analyzed and the following conclusions were drawn; organizations in the insurance industry largely use differentiation and low cost strategies, their products are intensely distributed using multiple agents and brokers, personal selling and advertising are also used as the main promotional strategies, and the use of human capital to create competitive advantage is becoming more extensively used by most organizations in the industry. It was on the basis of these conclusions that the researchers made the following recommendations; organizations in the insurance industry to regularly carry out comprehensive market researches to identify customers’ ever-changing needs in a dynamic environment, efforts have to be made to satisfy these identified customer needs if insurers are to effectively create competitive advantage, there is need to increase the level of giving customers value for money through enhanced product features and benefits, insurers can aggressively use ICTS to extensively promote their products to their various target markets, the use of physical evidence to create competitive advantage can be further explored and there is need for redefining organizational systems so that they become more robust in facilitating efficient service delivery. These recommendations are envisaged to significantly benefit players in the insurance industry, if they are to continuously create competitive advantage for superior performance and sustainable organizational growth