Consumer and Business Markets
It is important to clearly respond to the 3 points mentioned in this assignment , and the resources are at
the bottom to use fir this paper. The writer must be more concise when he writer the paper and
use examples and indicated to supports the facts
Consumer and Business Markets
Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) is a major player in the portable power tools industry. SWK
competes in two different segments targeted at professional users. The tradesmen segment is
targeted at electricians, plumbers, carpenters, etc. who work in residential construction. This
segment consists of people who buy their own tools and make a living with these tools. The
industrial segment is made up primarily of commercial contractors working on large projects. In
this industrial segment, tools used by the employees on large projects are typically purchased
and owned by the company.
Despite the fact that SWK produces the same tools for both segments and each segment has the
same competitors, SWK only leads the market leader in the industrial field. SWK’s sales are
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disappointingly low in the tradesmen segment. The differences in marketing effectiveness can be
traced back to the ways in which these segments differ. The tradesmen segment is a consumer
market whereas the industrial segment is a business market.
After reviewing the resources for this week, respond to the following:
� Explain the various ways in which these two markets are dissimilar.
� What should SWK do differently in the tradesmen segment in terms of marketing efforts versus
marketing to the industrial segment?
� Give a specific example of a marketing approach that could be used for each segment.
Marketing
Marketing can be defined as an act of selecting markets that are mainly targeted for a
businesses. This is done through segmentation and analysis of markets as well as understanding
the behavior of its target consumers and providing a great value to its customers. For the success
of the marketing strategy, one has to involve a comprehensive understanding of the types of
markets that he or she serves. These markets can be divided into two: the consumer markets and
the business markets.
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Difference between Consumer and Business Markets
The question of ‘who buys the goods’ and ‘why is the purchase being made’ can clearly
bring out the difference between the two markets. For business markets, goods and services are
sold and purchased to a variety of businesses, market intermediaries and governments so as to
smoothen the progress of the finished product, which is then re-sold to end users. Unlike the
business markets, the consumers markets involve purchasing and selling of goods and services
for consumers own use but not for resale.
The marketing strategies of these two markets also differ. The development of these
strategies bases on the buying processes of the markets in particular, the needs and the wants.
For consumer markets, decisions for buying may be complex for purchases of large
products like houses and cars where many people will be involved in decision making. However,
purchasing smaller products may be much simpler because only one individual will be involved
in decision making and there may not be a high level relationship between the buyer and the
seller. A good example of this small purchase is the case of supermarket purchase.
On the other hand, business markets involve a strong decision making in the buying
process and will in many cases have many people involved in making the decision. For example,
an engineer in charge of the product specification may be involved together with a purchasing
manager to negotiate on the price (Szmigin, Canning & Reppel, 2005).
What SWK should do differently in the Tradesmen Segment
Black and Decker have to address the negative issues that the professional tradesmen
have. These negative perceptions are that all the tools are for the house shores and that its misuse
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in the site is taking a charge on the company. The low prices at the same time are also
reinforcing the customers’ perception of the low prices and quality correlation.
Black and Decker should then drop the name from the professional tradesmen segment.
This will assist in the repositioning of products with their colour, quality, and even prices. This
will help in the differentiation and perception problems that the tradesman segment faces. Apart
from that, Black and Decker should replace the tools’ colour to industrial yellow. This will make
it easier for customers to access them. Finally, black and Decker should improve on how to relate
with their retailers in order to improve the market share (Beverland, Napoli & Yakimova, 2007).
Marketing Approach
Marketing approach is a method of business valuation used to calculate property value
for a business that is held closely. A good marketing approach that could be used for the
tradesmen segment is to offer free workshops to its intended clients whereas the industrial
segment could join the local organizations groups for their business partnerships (Prahaland &
Ramaswamy, 2004).
References
Beverland, M., Napoli, J., & Yakimova, R. (2007). Branding the business marketing offer:
exploring brand attributes in business markets. Journal Of Business & Industrial
Marketing, 22(6), 394-399.
Fugate, D. (2007). Neuromarketing: A layman’s look at neuroscience and its potential
application to marketing practice. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 24(7), 385–394.
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Herrmann, A., Henneberg, S. C., & Landwehr, J. (2010). Squaring customer demands, brand
strength, and production requirements: A case example of an integrated product and
branding strategy. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 21(10), 1017-1031.
Prahalad, C. K., & Ramaswamy, V. (2004). Co-creation experiences: the next practice in.value
creation. Journal Of Interactive Marketing (John Wiley & Sons), 18(3), 5-14.
Szmigin, I., Canning, L., & Reppel, A. (2005). Online community: Enhancing the relationship
marketing concept through customer bonding. International Journal of Service Industry
Management, 16 (5), 480–497.
