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This study examines the causes of marketing performance stagnation in a mature and highly competitive industry context and investigates how segmentation, targeting, and positioning (STP) decisions can be reconfigured to support performance recovery. Using empirical analysis of customer transaction and behavioral patterns, the findings reveal that market value is highly concentrated within core segments characterized by stable and repeated purchasing behavior. However, these behavioral insights have not been systematically translated into coordinated STP decisions, resulting in unfocused targeting and generic positioning.  To address this gap, the study proposes a behavior-driven STP approach that reconceptualizes STP as an adaptive decision system rather than a static market planning framework. Under this approach, segmentation serves to identify value structures based on observed customer behavior, targeting functions as a strategic resource allocation decision derived from behavioral intensity and stability, and positioning reflects the consumption context and behavioral motives of core segments.  The study contributes to the industrial marketing management literature by demonstrating how behavior-driven STP operates as an adaptive marketing capability that enables firms to restore strategic coherence and improve marketing effectiveness following organizational and environmental disruptions. Managerially, the findings suggest that firms should institutionalize the use of behavioral customer data, narrow strategic focus toward high-value core segments, and align value propositions with actual usage contexts to enhance performance sustainability in dynamic market environments.

Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) play an important role in poverty alleviation and job creation in developing economies. An MSME needs to develop its own brand to differentiate itself from its competitors. After having developed its brand, an MSME needs to communicate its brand to its target audience. This study aimed to explore the development of brands and brand communication practices in MSMEs. Integrated communication theory was adopted to address the research objective, and exploratory qualitative research was employed to achieve the research objective. In-depth interviews were conducted with managers of MSMEs in townships in South Africa. and primary data analysed through content analysis. The findings of this paper uncovered that MSMEs’ brands were developed with an element of uniqueness and communicated through traditional platforms and social media. The paper offers recommendations to managers of MSMEs on brand communication and suggests future research directions on the topic.

This study examines the causes of marketing performance stagnation in a mature and highly competitive industry context and investigates how segmentation, targeting, and positioning (STP) decisions can be reconfigured to support performance recovery. Using empirical analysis of customer transaction and behavioral patterns, the findings reveal that market value is highly concentrated within core segments characterized by stable and repeated purchasing behavior. However, these behavioral insights have not been systematically translated into coordinated STP decisions, resulting in unfocused targeting and generic positioning.  To address this gap, the study proposes a behavior-driven STP approach that reconceptualizes STP as an adaptive decision system rather than a static market planning framework. Under this approach, segmentation serves to identify value structures based on observed customer behavior, targeting functions as a strategic resource allocation decision derived from behavioral intensity and stability, and positioning reflects the consumption context and behavioral motives of core segments.  The study contributes to the industrial marketing management literature by demonstrating how behavior-driven STP operates as an adaptive marketing capability that enables firms to restore strategic coherence and improve marketing effectiveness following organizational and environmental disruptions. Managerially, the findings suggest that firms should institutionalize the use of behavioral customer data, narrow strategic focus toward high-value core segments, and align value propositions with actual usage contexts to enhance performance sustainability in dynamic market environments.

Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) play an important role in poverty alleviation and job creation in developing economies. An MSME needs to develop its own brand to differentiate itself from its competitors. After having developed its brand, an MSME needs to communicate its brand to its target audience. This study aimed to explore the development of brands and brand communication practices in MSMEs. Integrated communication theory was adopted to address the research objective, and exploratory qualitative research was employed to achieve the research objective. In-depth interviews were conducted with managers of MSMEs in townships in South Africa. and primary data analysed through content analysis. The findings of this paper uncovered that MSMEs’ brands were developed with an element of uniqueness and communicated through traditional platforms and social media. The paper offers recommendations to managers of MSMEs on brand communication and suggests future research directions on the topic.