Communicating firm competencies: Marketing as different levels of translation

Recently, the notion of competence-based marketing and communication has been discussed as a way to avoid competing on price and to increase imitation barriers. This paper contributes to the discussion with the development of a model of firm capabilities and an understanding of when to use competence-based communication. It is argued that all market communication is competence-based but the content of communication and the marketing capability changes along the different waves of market orientation. Therewith, marketing is seen as translating firm competencies into customer language.