Managing the Industrial Marketing Process

Résumé du document

This document deals with B-to-B marketing. It presents very firstly its characteristics and the opportunities that result of B-to-B marketing. This sector is divided into several segments that are defined here. It explains the prime importance of logistics, management, distribution, sales force and communication. To conclude, it examines the marketing strategy to adopt.

Extraits

[...] The band may be narrower for a commodity, such as a particular grade of wheat supplied by many wheat growers, than for a highly differentiable product, such as trucks or commercial planes. Nevertheless, when the supply/demand balance for the product category shifts, the prices of all products are likely to be affected. Producers, then, may seek to influence price levels by controlling supply. In a monopolistic or oligopolistic industry, that may be done by tacit agreement among producers or by overt collusion in parts of the world in which price agreements among competitors, often with government involvement, are accepted practice. [...]

[...] Figure 5.6 illustrates this product portfolio. The task of product/service management is better understood by distinguishing among individual items, product and service lines, and the overall product/service mix (Figure 5.7 An item is any clearly unique offering sold to customers on a regular basis. From a product perspective, this definition includes all the dimensions highlighted in figure With services, it includes the intangible service, plus any tangible evidence of service delivery. Individual items often have distinct requirements demanding special attention from the marketer. [...]

[...] The ability to select the most appropriate message channel for a given set of objectives is one of the most skilful tasks of marketing. Such a selection depends on the external elements of the mix, (namely the environment itself, competition, institutions and legal systems); differ enormously from market to market and country to country. Their influence is not only significant on the message but also on the choice of the transmission channels Fig 8.14 The communication part of the marketing profile analysis This is where the marketing profile analysis is a useful tool. [...]

[...] In some cases, they compete against each other in the marketplace. One business unit pooled sales organization, for example- may supply functional services to other units. Within their own functional units, industrial marketing managers work in complex organizational structures, relating, as they often do, to product managers, market managers, field sales managers, distribution managers, and marketing resource personnel doing market research, product and sales training, telemarketing and promotion. Perhaps, more than managers in any other function of the business, industrial marketing managers fill what is often referred to as "boundary spanning role" within a neuronal network as they work across departmental lines and with customers to assure that the firm is effectively serving its markets. [...]

[...] Potential value is what the buyer can be educated to recognize in the product. Educating buyers is a marketing task, which may be accomplished through advertising, promotion, personal selling, and getting the buyer to try the product. - Second, various market segments or customer groups may assess product value differently. Some groups may place different values on the elements that are to comprise the product's attributes. (Product, in this sense, includes the product or service itself, its availability and convenience of purchase, the manufacturer's reputation, and the services that the seller provides.) - A third factor influencing the customer's sense of product value may be the price itself. [...]