B2B End-User Marketing Concept
Juutilainen, Ville (2018)
Metropolia Ammattikorkeakoulu
2018
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2018120319748
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2018120319748
Tiivistelmä
In high-tech industrial equipment business, a small / a medium-sized enterprise often operates as a subcontractor to a project contractor, which makes the turnkey delivery to the ultimate plant owner – the end-user. These end-users are important indirect decision-makers. Currently, the case company Enviroburners Ltd does not have a systematic method to influence these indirect decision-makers. In this thesis, an end-user marketing concept is created for the case company to be used in the recovery boiler business in Finland.
This thesis consists of six building blocks. The first block examines B2B-networks of the Finnish recovery boiler business: how they are formed, and which companies are important decision-makers from the case company’s perspective. The second block deals with industrial decision-making dynamics, where the end-user’s buying behavior and the process are studied. The third block analyses the end-user needs. These three blocks create the necessary pre-understanding and foundation for the end-user marketing. In the fourth block, different marketing approaches are studied and proposed for the use of the case company in the recovery boilers in Finland business area. The fifth block binds the previous blocks into the lifecycle of a recovery boiler. All this is a complex combination and needs an owner inside the case company – the end-user marketing owner, which creates the sixth building block.
The thesis process started by acquiring knowledge of the best practices of B2B (end-user) marketing from topic-related literature. Secondly, an analysis of the Enviroburners end-user context was conducted with internal and external key stakeholder interviews. The analysis was followed by developing an initial proposal of the end-user marketing concept with an internal workshop and the key-stakeholder interviews. In the final phase, the initial proposal was validated with internal key-stakeholders. As a result, the final end-user marketing concept was created.
In conclusion, the proposed marketing concept is a toolbox. With the first tool, the value network is mapped with an internal workshop and the results are validated with external key stakeholders. The second tool is a lifecycle synchronized decision-making analysis tool. With the third tool, the customer needs are analyzed from internal and external sources. The fourth and final tool is a lifecycle synchronized marketing toolkit. The marketing owner uses the toolbox, operates in the networks and distributes marketing responsibility internally. The toolbox creates a holistic tool for the end-user marketing: when you market to the end-user, you do not always market directly to them. Instead in these cases, the marketing is done to a partner company or an external influencer. The end-user marketing involves co-creation and relationships, and the old truth “the best marketing is well-working equipment and good service” is still valid. Moreover, the toolbox gives means for reaching this point.
This thesis consists of six building blocks. The first block examines B2B-networks of the Finnish recovery boiler business: how they are formed, and which companies are important decision-makers from the case company’s perspective. The second block deals with industrial decision-making dynamics, where the end-user’s buying behavior and the process are studied. The third block analyses the end-user needs. These three blocks create the necessary pre-understanding and foundation for the end-user marketing. In the fourth block, different marketing approaches are studied and proposed for the use of the case company in the recovery boilers in Finland business area. The fifth block binds the previous blocks into the lifecycle of a recovery boiler. All this is a complex combination and needs an owner inside the case company – the end-user marketing owner, which creates the sixth building block.
The thesis process started by acquiring knowledge of the best practices of B2B (end-user) marketing from topic-related literature. Secondly, an analysis of the Enviroburners end-user context was conducted with internal and external key stakeholder interviews. The analysis was followed by developing an initial proposal of the end-user marketing concept with an internal workshop and the key-stakeholder interviews. In the final phase, the initial proposal was validated with internal key-stakeholders. As a result, the final end-user marketing concept was created.
In conclusion, the proposed marketing concept is a toolbox. With the first tool, the value network is mapped with an internal workshop and the results are validated with external key stakeholders. The second tool is a lifecycle synchronized decision-making analysis tool. With the third tool, the customer needs are analyzed from internal and external sources. The fourth and final tool is a lifecycle synchronized marketing toolkit. The marketing owner uses the toolbox, operates in the networks and distributes marketing responsibility internally. The toolbox creates a holistic tool for the end-user marketing: when you market to the end-user, you do not always market directly to them. Instead in these cases, the marketing is done to a partner company or an external influencer. The end-user marketing involves co-creation and relationships, and the old truth “the best marketing is well-working equipment and good service” is still valid. Moreover, the toolbox gives means for reaching this point.