Business to Business Marketing Strategies - Research Paper Example

?Submitted by: XXXXXXX Number: XXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXX XX – XX –  Business to Consumer V. Business to Business Marketing Strategies Introduction: Business to Business and Business to Customer marketing are two different concepts. The complete experiences of both these marketing efforts have completely different emotional experience. This paper aims at analyzing two companies, WalMart and Tyson Foods. Here the paper aims at identifying the difference and similarities of the both the companies and their marketing strategies. Chosen Companies: The two companies chosen here for the study are WalMart and Tyson Foods. WalMart cater mainly to customers and hence the company adopts the Business to Customer Strategies. Tyson on the other hand focuses on both customers as well as retailers. In terms of the retailers the company adopts Business to Business marketing strategies. Both these companies have adopted a number of marketing strategies to fit their needs and to also effectively reach out to the customers. The following section will detail the similarities and differences of the strategies adopted by the two companies. Here the main focus is based on how the companies deal with their customers. Comparison and Contrast of WalMart and Tyson: The main aim here is to identify the similarities and differences of the strategies adopted by the two companies. The following section deals with the similarities of the strategy of the two companies. Similarities: In the case of both Business to Business (B2B) as well as Business to Consumer (B2C), the most important first step is to identify the main target audiences. Here both WalMart as well as Tyson have to focus on the customer service that they provide as this form an essential aspect of success for the businesses (Kotler and Keller). Irrespective of whether a company sells to a business or a customer, the focus is on the support provided and both companies here have proved excellence in customer support and quality customer service. Another common factor that both companies need to focus on is the brand recognition and a strong brand image. Both customers as well as businesses look for the brand image and the brand recognition before making a decision to buy from any business (Coe). Hence here Tyson as well as WalMart have both effectively built their brand image and recognition and been able to develop a perceived image of excellence, quality and reliability among their customers (Jobber, 2004). Both companies focus on the customer needs and have included the use of customer relationship management (CRM) in their strategies. Here both these companies have adopted the CRM systems to focus on the needs, trends and choices of the customers (Evans, O’Maley and Patterson). This is more effective in the case of WalMart as the company deals with individual customers and these aspects clearly form a major part of the overall customer experience. In the case of Tyson, the use of CRM systems is beneficial for gaining a more detailed idea of the trends in the markets and to develop products accordingly (Beasty). WalMart benefits from these systems as it helps in better personalized marketing to the customers and Tyson benefits from the CRM systems based on trends (Customer Relationship Management). Both companies are focused on providing the customers with the desired products at the best rates. Also, the aim and objectives of both these companies is to provide, fresh, quality, healthy products to the customers (Barschel). The companies are clearly customer centric and are focused on the needs of their customers, individuals in the case of WalMart while businesses / retailers in the case of Tyson (East, Wright and Vanhuele). Differences: WalMart is a customer centric business and it is relationship driven while Tyson deals more with retailers and hence the approach adopted here is more products driven (Gronroos). The main focus of Tyson is to increase the transaction value, however in the case of WalMart the focus is on maximizing the overall value of the relationship rather than a single transaction. This is evident from the various offers that the company provides to the customers like money saving tips and ideas as well as the membership cards where the customers gain more number of discounts (WalMart). In the case of Tyson, since the company deals with retailers directly, there are lesser levels of personalization and more focus on the transaction values than the relationship (Tyson Foods Inc.). Also it is clear from Tyson’s strategy that the sales cycle is much shorter with lesser numbers of intermediaries as compared to that of WalMart. In the case of WalMart the sales are clearly based on the trust and the brand building on a personal level which allows the customers to make their decisions (East, Wright and Vanhuele). However for Tyson, the focus is more on the ‘what will sell’ and the clients of the company focus more on the product than the price alone unlike the B2C businesses. Tyson’s B2B strategy is focuses on exporting the US productions overseas and also the development and establishing of new production facilities in the main regions (Coe). Here the company focuses on the customer needs and ships its products across different locations to meet these needs. The focus is on quality and easy accessibility of the product. WalMart on the other hand, uses a more personalized approach and provides the customers with a variety of brands in house with a major focus on the variety that the customers look for (Rudelius). A major difference in the way the company strategies are developed for dealing with customers is the level of personalization (Beasty). In the case of Tyson Inc. the company deals with more sophisticated buyers, i.e. businesses who are more focused on the quality and the profitability that the products gets to the company. While WalMart customers on the other hand focuses on the best price that they can get (Prahalad, Ramaswamy and Katzenbach). This makes a major difference in the type of customer relationship management that the company adopts as well as the strategies that the company adopts for marketing to the customers. Customers and the Companies: The two companies use several different techniques and tools to solicit the customers and to gain customer confidence and loyalty. These approaches differ to a great extent and the impact of each approach is different on the types of customers. For instance, WalMart deals with individual customer, hence when the company adopts the promotional offers of simple discounts and ‘buy one get one free’ kinds of offers, the impact is high on the customers. These lead to repeat purchase (Jobber). On the other hand companies like Tyson who deal with businesses as their clients are more focused on providing substantial discounts on higher volume orders as these prove to be more beneficial for the company as well. WalMart uses a combination of sales promotions, product placements, and also high levels of marketing to gain the attention and attract customers towards the business. (Kotler and Keller) The company also adopts direct marketing campaigns as well. Tyson on the other hand focuses more on development of competitive marketing strategies. Here the company also adopts different promotional mix methods like public relations and publicities to develop a higher level of brand awareness in the markets (Rudelius). Building customer trust, confidence and loyalty is an essential aspect for every business irrespective of the type of business, sector or even industry. It is very clear in today’s competitive scenario that customers are the most important part of the business (Prahalad, Ramaswamy and Katzenbach). Hence it is crucial that the businesses understand the ways in which customers have an interaction with the company. Here as discussed earlier, the common grounds that the companies utilise for building the customer loyalty and repeat purchase is excellent Customer Relationship Management. Both the businesses clearly focus on three important aspects, i.e. a) insight from customers, b) the customer experience and c) customer alignment. All these factors lead to customer satisfaction and in turn customer loyalty as well (Peppers and Rogers). The strategies of the two companies clearly are different from each other, however the final aim of both companies is very similar, i.e. customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and increased customer confidence (Jobber). As widely known, customer loyalty is always directly proportional to customer satisfaction as well as customer delight. Hence here both companies try to adopt several different strategies to meet the customer needs. According to Salvati (1999, p6), till a customer remains satisfied with the service, there are no major chances that he/she may drop or switch to another company. Although it is a highly competitive atmosphere once customers are satisfied with a particular company, the loyalty tends to remain so. Conclusions: In conclusion, it is evident that the companies focus mainly on the needs of the customers and the irrespective of the type of business, it has clearly been noted in the strategies of both companies that customer service and support is one of the essential elements of building the relationship between the customer and the company. Here although the marketing strategies of both businesses differ to some extent, the underlying strategy used by both is providing excellent customer service and support. Works Cited Barschel, Hauke. B2B versus B2C Marketing - Major Differences Along the Supply Chain of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) [. GRIN Verlag, 2007. Beasty, C. "The Name of the Game: Personalization." Customer Relationship Management (2007): 16-17. Coe, John. The Fundamentals of Business-to-Business Sales & Marketing. 1 edition. McGraw-Hill, 2003. Customer Relationship Management. Integration for a Customer-Centric View. UK: Sage, 2007. East, Robert, Malcolm Wright and Marc Vanhuele. Consumer Behaviour: Applications in Marketing. Sage Publications Ltd, 2008. Evans, M, L O’Maley and M. Patterson. Exploring Direct and Customer Relationship Marketing. London: Thomson Learning, 2004. Gronroos, C. "From Marketing Mix to Relationship Marketing – towards a paradigm shift in marketing." Marketing Journal (1994): p322-339. Jobber, D. Principles and Practice of Marketing. Berkshire: McGraw – Hill, 2004. Kotler, Philip and Kevin Keller. Marketing Management. Prentice Hall, 2008. Peppers, D and M Rogers. "Loyalty Programs Must Create Real Value." 1to1 Magazine, 29 August 2005. Prahalad, C. K., et al. Harvard Business Review on Customer Relationship Management . Harvard Business Press, 2002. Rudelius, William. Marketing 9th Edition. McGraw-Hill Higher Education -A, 2008. Salvati, T. "The Interactive Imperative." Banking Strategies (1999): 6-7. Tyson Foods Inc. Business to Business. 2011. 3 February 2011 . WalMart. 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