Introduction
Consumer and business markets form the basis for the study of marketing management. I believe that understanding and incorporating these markets in the marketing strategies is essential in determining the success of marketing strategies. (Kotler & Keller 2012) claim that consumer markets mainly deal with transactions that involve consumers who acquire the products for personal use. It also includes tradespersons who acquire the products and use them to earn a living unlike business markets where products acquired by the industrial segment are for the furtherance of business or resale depending on the industry. Such products belong to the industries, although employees use them. Elements such as decisions on the target markets, their needs, the products that are required to meet the wants, as well as effective strategies to satisfy the requirements are essential in the success of marketing management because the two markets are dissimilar. Companies such as Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) should use specific strategies with each market to ensure the success of marketing.
Consumer and Business Markets
Consumer and business markets differ in their products, market, service, channel, and promotional characteristics. While business markets are geographically concentrated with few customers, consumer markets are dispersed with relatively many buyers. In the industrial segment, few closely located industries have massive resources to purchase products, thus revealing why SWK makes more sales in the industrial segment than the tradesmen segment. Business markets have few channel levels that are more direct as opposed to consumer markets that are indirect with numerous intermediaries. In their promotional characteristics, business markets encourage personal selling rather than advertising as used in the consumer markets. In addition, the products dealt in business markets are technically complex and customized as opposed to those in consumer markets that are standard (Havaldar 2010). The general management is in charge of coordinating the activities of the well-informed business markets while the marketing department oversees the affairs of the consumer markets. The differences indicate the dissimilarities in marketing efficiency for SWK in the tradesmen and industrial segment.
I think that in order to improve sales and ensure marketing efficiency in the tradesmen segment, SWK should adopt effective strategies for consumer markets. Provision of product knowledge to customers in the tradesmen segment is significant in boosting sales because customers get to understand the different products and make informed purchasing decisions that they can advocate to others. Advertising and personal selling are effective marketing approaches that the tradesmen segment can incorporate to cope with competition (Kotler & Keller 2012). SWK should promote its consumer market through the approaches while targeting the potential customers. In the industrial segment, SWK can enhance the distribution channels and simplify the purchasing techniques. This plan can be a way of showing the employees who work in projects that it is possible to acquire the products. Besides, the strategy is essential since most of the employees who work in the industrial projects form the tradesmen segment. Simplified acquisition techniques and product information may motivate employees to purchase the tools and use them to earn a living. In addition, negotiable prices and competitive bidding market strategy by the SWK industrial segment can boost its sales making it the market leader in both markets.
Conclusion
I believe the composition of customers, buyers’ behavior and price characteristics in both segments of the SWK indicate their dissimilarities. Although the two segments differ, the fact that they possess similar marketing objectives makes their management easy (Havaldar 2010). Being a major player in the portable power tools, SWK can align its two different segments according to the benefits they yield. In my opinion, this can be through matching the products’ benefits with the requirements and wants of the various target groups. SWK should conduct its marketing management differently while improving its marketing effort in both markets as a way of improving sales in the quest to become the market leader.
References
Havaldar, K. (2010). Business Marketing: Text and Cases, 3E. New York, NY: Tata McGraw-Hill Education Publishers.
Kotler, P., & Keller, K. (2012). Marketing Management. New Jersey, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall Publishers.