Corporate commitment to environmental assessment with its kit of forecasting tools is expected to grow rapidly in the years ahead. This growth will be partly due to corporate willingness to confront turbulent environmental changes explicitly within a formal planning process.

Don't confuse regional marketing with selling spicier soup in Texas, reorganizing the sales force by regions to gain more control, or spending significant dollars in a local market. Regional marketing represents a major philosophic change. It's a precision target marketing approach (some might...