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Research into the differences between higher and lower performing UK companies in terms of their marketing practices (e.g. Brooksbank, 1990) has served to confirm the central principle of textbook marketing strategy; that to be successful over the long term a firm's products and services must be well "positioned" in the marketplace. At the same time, however, it has also revealed that many marketing managers are unfamiliar with either the term, or the concept, of marketing positioning strategy. Consequently, this article aims to de-mystify the concept by outlining the basic decision components, or "anatomy", of positioning strategy formulation and isolating the key ingredients thought to be critical to success. In order to put some "flesh on the bones" the article proceeds to examine how the theory translates into practice. This is achieved by explaining how a small UKbased company put these principles successfully to work in the retail computer market. The article concludes with a six-point checklist for developing a winning marketing positioning strategy.

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Purpose -This article aims to examine the extent to which Western World ''textbook'' strategic marketing is being practised within Chinese manufacturing companies as well as its contribution to competitive success. Design/methodology/approach -Data were collected by means of a web-based survey. A total of 89 usable questionnaires were received from Chinese manufacturing firms employing at least 50 people. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS. Findings -The results confirm that, on the whole, the basic strategic marketing practices which are typically advocated in the mainstream Western academic and prescriptive literature are being widely practised within Chinese manufacturing companies. The results also show the higher performing firms are clearly differentiated from their lower performing counterparts by doing more and better marketing. Research limitations/implications -Because of the relatively low response rate, one limitation is the extent to which the sample is representative of the population under scrutiny. Also, in spite of the questionnaire being back translated, some misunderstanding of the questions cannot be ruled out. Originality/value -The paper confirms that Western strategic marketing practices are clearly associated with the higher performing Chinese manufacturing companies.

Amid an increasingly turbulent and competitive business environment, strategic marketing planning is typically referred to as the management discipline which enables the firm to improve its competitiveness by becoming more responsive and adaptable to changing market conditions. Most of the literature, however, deals with the application of strategic marketing planning as it relates to big business. By contrast, this article provides an understanding of how all the key principles can be applied in the smaller business, in the form of a practical framework for plan development. In addition, it features a case study showing how a small UK-based computer company used the framework to develop its marketing plan.