Business Marketing has evolved to indicate the marketing of any product or service to an organization that is involved in the production of products and services for others, regardless of ownership.

Nature of Business Marketing:
The issues which business marketers face are significantly different than those that face marketers of consumer products or services. The fundamentals, of course, are similar. That is, all marketers are concerned with the selection of target markets, with segmentation within these markets, and with decisions regarding product, promotion, pricing and distribution. The nature of organizational buying, characterized by multiple influences, professional buyers and long term relationships, is very different from that of consumer buying. Because organizations buy in order to achieve organizational purposes, there is more emphasis on functionality. As a result, most products and services produced to meet the needs of organizations find markets in many countries. Selection of markets, the critical decision, has the horizontal dimension of consumer goods plus a vertical dimension.

Business Marketing Strategy:
At the heart of Business Marketing is the formulation of strategy; strategy that takes into account the nature of demand for the particular product or service, the industry in which the firm competes and events and trends in the broader external environment. Marketing strategy, however, is not conceived in an organizational vacuum. Its purpose is to assist the firm to achieve its objectives. It must take into account the capabilities and aspirations of the firm and it must work closely and in harmony with other functional strategies. Read the rest of this entry »