I read a blog post that claimed B2B has much to learn from B2C that struck me. I agree with the statement, but what about marketing sophistication? However, the premise in the article was hat B2B was “significantly unsophisticated,” and that B2C marketing to consumers was more sophisticated. Clearly, B2C marketing as a domain of practice is more mature relative to B2B, but not more sophisticated.
Marketing Sophistication
My argument is that the observation that B2B is unsophisticated is a misdiagnosis of how marketing as a function is positioned in B2B companies. [This is a HUGE topic, and I’m going to keep the focus tight – so I’ll no doubt leave something unsaid.]
Consider that B2B value chains typically have multiple tiers. Let’s look generally at manufacturing. A raw material must be sold to a part maker, which then must be sold to an assembler or component maker that then must be sold to a manufacturer of a good that must then be put through a channel eventually getting into a customer’s hands. Marketing messages for B2B companies early in the supply chain (at the raw material, part and component supplier), will never reach the consumer purchasing the manufactured item.
Early B2B supply chain messages are typically focused that firm’s technical or material specification and capability. In reality, messages would be more effective if they were presented in terms of the value provided to the entire value chain. For example: lower cost, better quality, lower failure rate, ease of assembly and maintenance, and other characteristics that the consumer at the end of the B2B value chain is interested. While clearly the language of the message gets refined, the B2B customers in this example value chain can relate to the broader value of the entire B2B value chain.
BASF has done this successfully, with its message: “At BASF, we don’t make a lot of the products you buy. We make a lot of the products you buy better.” BASF really understands its broader B2B supply chain, and has given the Marketing function the authority to lead. On the flipside, Dow Chemical Company’ message: “Better Things for Better Living…Through Chemistry” fails, for one reason; it brings in “chemistry,” the technological element that while it seems simple, it’s irrelevant to the end-to-end supply chain, including the consumer at the end.
Parallels to the manufacturing example are evident in other B2B value chains. Marketing in B2B must be MORE sophisticated in terms of its messages communicating value across all the relationships in the entire B2B value chain – through to the consumer. Not just a single B2C relationship, but multiple B2B relationships from raw material to part to assembly to manufactured product. This complexity demands GREATER marketing rigor to meet the interests of many more disparate players in a value chain, not less (than the merchant to consumer) one-to-one relationship in B2C.
So what the issue when it’s not working? Many B2B suppliers in a raw material to manufacturer supply chain and other B2B supply chains are thinking in terms of the technology it is using to make something, not the full B2B supply chain value it will ultimately provide. Marketing a part or an assembly is an afterthought activity. In many cases, some of the weakest marketing activity is applied way too late in the process to make a difference. Engineering-driven companies are not realizing the value that marketing can provide by elevating the value proposition of its goods along the whole supply chain.
To change this, progressive and competitive B2B companies are putting CMO-level leadership in the c-suite to drive innovation across all the relationships in the B2B supply chain and allowing R&D and Engineering to focus on what they do best. In today’s depressed economy, and even in a booming economy, these bold leadership shifts are what make the difference between performing and out-performing expectations.
