BUSINESS TO BUSINESS MARKETING This page intentionally left blank BUSINESS TO BUSINESS MARKETING U.C. Mathur Professor of Management Studies Amity University Noida Formerly, CEO, World Digital, CEO, Modi Telecom and CEO, Escorts Telecom PUBLISHING FOR ONE WORLD NEW AGE INTERNATIONAL (P) LIMITED, PUBLISHERS New Delhi· Bangalore • Chennai • Cochin • Guwahati • Hyderabad Jalandhar • Kolkata • Lucknow • Mumbai • Ranchi Visit us at www.newagepublishers.com Copyright © 2008, New Age International (P) Ltd., Publishers Published by New Age International (P) Ltd., Publishers All rights reserved. No part of this ebook may be reproduced in any form, by photostat, microfilm, xerography, or any other means, or incorporated into any information retrieval system, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of the publisher. All inquiries should be emailed to
[email protected] ISBN (13) : 978-81-224-2939-8 PUBLISHING FOR ONE WORLD NEW AGE INTERNATIONAL (P) LIMITED, PUBLISHERS 4835/24, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi - 110002 Visit us at www.newagepublishers.com Preface Most persons in the country are buyers of consumer products, both the Fast Moving Consumer Durables and Consumer Durables. Besides, there is a large chunk of business of intermediary products that is the components, subassemblies and the raw materials needed by the manufacturers of FMCG and Consumer Durable products. However, the marketing of these products has been neglected to some extent as professional training has come about for B-to-B marketing only recently. This book is dedicated to the marketing of such products. Indian market has matured for being able to absorb the latest technology products as also can supply some of such products in the Indian markets and for exports as well. Most significant example is that of computer software promoted in India, is the latest State of the Art product and it comes to India the same time it goes anywhere else. Software development has come to centre stage in country’s business horizon. The development in software technology and the trained manpower strength in this area in the country are unsurpassed by most nations. In fact, Indian states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh are vying with each other for supremacy in software development. All this augurs well for Indian business and is a big plus for the country. Competition from multinational firms, more focused management, better-trained managers have become the norm rather than an exception. These new forces have had an impact on the most purposeful of all the management disciplines, marketing. A person can have the best of the manpower, technology, and finance but if he does not have marketing strengths he can just forget about any business today. It is not that these other functions of business are any less important; marketing can be considered as more equal among equals. Hence, the need for focused thrust in this key result area of Marketing Management, the B-to-B Marketing Management, is of paramount importance today. (vi) It is said that change is the only constant thing in the world and it is true for marketing, as well. As the number of marketing firms increase (for a product) so do the diversities in pricing, distribution channels, advertising and promotion techniques, and one can never be sure that he knows whatever there is to know in the field of marketing. The product, technology, competition, distribution channels, ways of advertising and promotion are all in a state of continuous flux. Hence the “How To Know And Where To Find” becomes extremely important to the students and the practitioners of marketing management. The focus of all these