SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET

STUDENT DETAILS

Student name: HOÀNG THIÊN DI Student ID number: 20448817

UNIT AND TUTORIAL DETAILS

BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS
Unit name: MARKETING Unit number: 200091
FRIDAY, 3:30-6:45
Tutorial group: Tutorial day and time: PM
Lecturer or Tutor name: DR. HỒ PHÚ HẢI

ASSIGNMENT DETAILS

Title: ASSESSMENT 1 - ESSAY

Length: 1511 words Due date: OCTOBER 10TH Date submitted: OCTOBER 10TH
Home campus (where you are enrolled): UEH HO CHI MINH CITY

DECLARATION

I hold a copy of this assignment if the original is lost or damaged.

I hereby certify that no part of this assignment or product has been copied from any other
student’s work or from any other source except where due acknowledgement is made in the
assignment.
I hereby certify that no part of this assignment or product has been submitted by me in
another (previous or current) assessment, except where appropriately referenced, and with
prior permission from the Lecturer / Tutor / Unit Coordinator for this unit.
No part of the assignment/product has been written/produced for me by any other person
except where collaboration has been authorised by the Lecturer / Tutor /Unit Coordinator
concerned.
I am aware that this work will be reproduced and submitted to plagiarism detection software
programs for the purpose of detecting possible plagiarism (which may retain a copy on its

1
 database for future plagiarism checking).

Student’s signature: HOÀNG THIÊN DI

Note: An examiner or lecturer / tutor has the right to not mark this assignment if the above
declaration has not been signed.

ARO 00380 08/15

2
Consider some leading-edge consumer product manufacturers like Procter & Gamble, Gillette, or
Coca-Cola.

1. What major differences would you expect to find in comparing the marketing strategy patterns
employed by these consumer-products companies to those of leading business marketing firms
such as Intel, 3M, or Dow Chemical?

2. Next, describe the similarities and differences that emerge when comparing the distinctive
attributes of a leading-edge consumer products marketer to a firm that demonstrates superb skills
serving customers in the business market.

---------------------------------------

Introduction

For different firms serving different customers, there will be a distinguished marketing
strategy for a company to approach appropriate segmentation. It has been said that marketers can
differentiate business marketing and consumer marketing by defining the nature of customers and
how customers utilize these products (Hutt and Speh, 2013). Therefore, it depends on the purpose
of their products and the target audience that the company will have their particular marketing
strategy or design a unique marketing campaign. This essay starts to discuss the differences
between consumer marketing and business marketing, then applying these theories to compare
the strategy patterns of leading B2B companies such as Intel, 3M, and B2C organizations such as
Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and Coca-Cola. Moreover, this essay will also make a comparison
between marketers of those leading-edge distinctive businesses in order to point out the
similarities and differences.

1.

Consumer market and business-to-business market are identified to have major different
dimensions in their marketing strategy patterns (Ames, 1970; Cooke, 1986; Lilien, 1987;
Webster, 1978). The first and obvious distinction is the way they define and capture their target
audiences. Business-to-business (B2B) companies sell their products and services to other
businesses, with deals usually between manufacturers or a manufacturer with a wholesaler and a
retailer; while business-to-consumer (B2C) firms will spend effort communicating with their
mass consumers (Kumar & Raheja, 2012). Indeed, it results in a disparity between these markets

3
due to differing needs of consumers and businesses. For instance, Apple is a computer
manufacturer, as a result, one of their requirements is to have stock of customized Intel
components utilizing the completed computers they sell. Whereas final purchasers of Apple may
find the source of components is not that important to them. With B2C companies, they target a
large scale of end-users that are limitedly identified in terms of demographic, geographic,
psychographic, and behavioral characteristics. On the other hand, the market size of B2B
companies is determined by the smaller number of particular producers, manufacturers,
businesses, governments or institutions within the area (Hutt and Speh, 2013). Coca-Cola's target
audience is individuals from all age groups, however, the most potential one is from 18-25, which
currently covers around 40% of their total segmentation. On the other hand, Intel cannot take
every enterprise as a target because of special features in their products which are technology
inflections.

Due to this distinctive difference in the target audience, it has led to a disparity in developing
a marketing strategy, specified in communication messages for every marketing campaign. It has
been said that B2C purchases are typically emotionally driven and affected by their feelings
rather than their minds (Zenn, 2019). Indeed, a brand can enhance customer trust, loyalty and
market share by attaching positive emotions in their brand salience (Fournier, 1998; Steenkamp
& Dekimpe, 1997). There are five key emotions motivating consumers to make a purchase,
which is belonging, trust, values, happiness, and fear (Bowman, 2017). In marketing campaigns
of the leading-edge consumer-products firms, a strategy is developed to deliver at least one of
these emotions to customers, and entertaining messages are usually the most effective one at
triggering a purchase-making decision. As an illustration, Coca-Cola is the typical leading-edge
company successfully utilizing this simple psychology to convince consumers to buy their
products, therefore, increasing their sales over decades. Over the years between 2011 and 2017,
Coca-Cola launched a campaign in many versions delivering a concept called “Share a Coke”, in
which Coca-Cola aimed to create a more personal relationship with consumers and encourage
shared moments of joy. By utilizing two out of five emotions that encourage consumers to take
any action in purchasing which are belonging and happiness, Coca-Cola sold more than 250
million named bottles and cans during the campaign in Australia (Moye, 2016). It is undeniable
that these emotional-driven campaigns of consumer brands have gained high brand awareness
among a massive range of consumers and become the top brand in their minds. Other well-known

4
emotional campaigns of B2C firms are Dove’s “Real beauty” of Unilever and Always’ “Like a
Girl” of Procter & Gamble. Both companies are able to smoothly demonstrate the emotional side
of their brand, thus, creating a tighter connection between them and their customers (Robertson,
n.d.). The concept of emotional appeal in the marketing strategy pattern of B2C companies is not
only applied in just television commercials or integrated marketing campaigns, but also in every
appearance of the brand such as the brand’s website, packaging, store display, etc.

B2B marketing focuses on the complexity of products and purchasing processes, which are
normally involved by multiple individuals (Webster, 1978). In the B2B sector, consumer
decisions are rationally implemented focusing on the logic of the product and its competitive
features rather than emotionally driven, thus, any information provided to enterprises must be
clearly presented or displayed. That is the reason why a website’s display of business-marketing
firms is in contrast with that of customer-marketing firms, in which the majority of websites
outline vital information for their target enterprises instead of image-focused. For example, Intel
has a simple and toned-down website that describes in detail their offerings for other businesses
as well as their future ambitious plans of innovations and technological advancements (appendix
A).

Another vital disparity between these consumer-product and business-product companies is

that although it is essential to use mass media for B2C, B2B firms should avoid using mass media
in recruiting customers (Saha et al., 2014). As a result, B2B marketing strategies utilize
promoting by personal selling despite the increase of other communication tools (Bingham,
Gomes and Knowles, 2005). Moreover, according to Hutt and Speh (2013, p.11), firms must be
able to develop and nurture strong customer relationship management (CRM) in B2B marketing.
For instance, Intel is a leading-edge company in technology and chip manufacturing, their
customers are computer manufacturers, and other industrial equipment businesses. Differing from
other B2C companies, Intel’s market penetration is through business partnerships and aggressive
negotiations that encourage expansion and a significant market presence (Rowland, 2017). For
example, the company makes special agreements with other laptop manufacturers like Apple,
Dell, HP to provide Intel chips that will be used in their devices. Intel may implement advertising
like Coca-Cola, however, it tells a real story of their complex technology solutions instead of
triggering emotional feelings in customers (Gesenhues, 2018).

5
2.

Looking from marketers’ point of view, it seems that there are differences when utilizing
marketing strategy between B2C and B2B sectors, such as defining target customers, developing
marketing mix models, dealing with purchasing decisions of customers, etc. However, customer
orientation is one of the most important similarities between the two processes. When taking
execution, B2B and B2C marketers may conduct different methods to orient their customers
since they target different segmentation.

Besides, we can see that although the consumer-product companies would spread their focus
across four dimensions of marketing mix model including product, price, promotion, place;
business-consumer firms like Intel or 3M concentrate on product over promotion or other
dimensions (Rėklaitis and Pilelienė, 2019). For instance, Intel’s marketers focus on delivering
high quality and innovative products in every aspect of execution, as well as working closely
with the customer experience team to establish and maintain relationships which reinforces the
ability of long-term relationships (appendix B). On the other hand, Coca-Cola has utilized all four
dimensions of the marketing mix model to appeal to consumers and expand the brand awareness,
by offering an effective product strategy of unique product formula and red and white packaging
concept; continuously arranging promotional programs like a discount, buy in bulk, gifting;
expanding a large number of products to more than 200 countries; utilizing various successful
emotional campaigns and creating communities on social media to drive sales (Seabrook, 2019).
Compared to marketers at Intel whose scope of work is mostly relating to drive personalized
marketing strategies between Intel and customers, enhance customer experiences, maintain
customer retention; marketers at Coca-Cola are responsible for more diverse tasks from
establishing product strategy, promotional strategy, conducting IMC plans, to daily management
and many other daily tasks (appendix B, C).

Moreover, due to the distinctions in B2B transactions compared to B2C firms, for example,
promoting by personal selling, longer and more complex purchasing processes, it requires
marketers in B2B firms to work closely with sales and trade teams in the longer period to achieve
a deal. After identifying and establishing a transaction with customers, marketers and sales teams
in B2B firms must start to strengthen and maintain each relationship individually through various
events or activation since “relationship management constitutes the heart of business marketing”

6
(Hutt and Speh, 2013). Conversely, in B2C firms, marketers pay effort in gaining customer
loyalty instead of maintaining relationships with them since it is more difficult for an individual
consumer to build up a true relationship with the seller.

Conclusion

This essay provides relevant information to assist the readers in understanding the
similarities and differences between the B2B and B2C markets and marketing strategies. Overall,
business-product companies focus on maintaining customers through customer relationship
management activities, while consumer-product companies rely on emotional association through
every mass marketing campaign to gain brand awareness and boost sales.

References
Ames, B.C. (1970), ``Trappings vs. substance in industrial marketing'', Harvard Business
Review, No. 48, July-August, pp. 93-102.
Bingham, Jr., F.G., Gomes, R. and Knowles, P.A. (2005), Business Marketing, Third Edition,
Boston: Irwin
Bowman, M. (2017). Understanding Five Emotions That Encourage Us To Spend. Retrieved
from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2017/04/25/understanding-five-
emotions-that-encourage-us-to-spend/?sh=38ef76425441.
Cooke, E.F. (1986), ``What is business and industrial marketing?'', Journal of Business and
Industrial Marketing, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 9-17.
Fournier, S. (1998). Consumers and their brands: Developing relationship theory in consumer
research. Journal of Consumer Research, 24(40), 343—373.
Gesenhues, A. (2018). How Intel uses real-life stories to build campaigns around its B2B
technology solutions. Retrieved from https://martech.org/intel-uses-real-life-stories-build-
campaigns-around-b2b-technology-solutions/.
Hutt, M. D., & Speh, T. W. (2013). Business marketing management: B2B (11e. ed.). South-
Western, Cengage Learning.
Kumar, V., Raheja, G. (2012). Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Consumer (B2C)
Management // International Journal of Computers & Technology. Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 447–
451.
Lilien, G.L. (1987), ``Business marketing: present and future'', Industrial Marketing and
Purchasing, Vol. 2 No. 3, pp. 3-21.
Moye, J. (2016). Share A Coke How the Ground Breaking Campaign Got Its Start “Down
Under”. Retrieved from https://www.coca-colacompany.com/au/news/share-a-coke-how-
the-groundbreaking-campaign-got-its-start-down-under.

7
Rėklaitis, K., & Pilelienė, L. (2019). Principle Differences between B2B and B2C Marketing
Communication Processes. Organizacijų Vadyba, 81(1), 73–86.
https://doi.org/10.1515/mosr-2019-0005.
Robertson, G. (n.d.). P&G has become really good at emotional advertising. Retrieved from
https://beloved-brands.com/pg-advertising/.
Rowland, C. (2017). Intel’s Generic Strategy & Intensive Growth Strategies. Retrieved from
http://panmore.com/intel-generic-strategy-intensive-growth-strategies.
Saha, S. K., Hossain, M. Sh., Islam, A., Rodela, R. S. (2014). A Comparative Study on B2B Vs.
B2C Based on Asia Pacific Region // International Journal of Scientific & Technology
Research. Vol. 3, Issue 9, pp. 294–298.
Seabrook, A. (2019). What You Can Learn from Coca-Cola’s Marketing Strategy. Retrieved
from https://www.merca20.com/what-you-can-learn-from-coca-colas-marketing-strategy/.
Steenkamp, J. B., & Dekimpe, M. G. (1997). The increasing power of store brands: Building
loyalty and market share. Long Range Planning, 30(6), 917—930.
Webster, F.E. (1978), ``Management science in industrial marketing'', Journal of Marketing, Vol.
42, January, pp. 21-7.
Zenn, J. (2019). We Break Down B2B vs. B2C Marketing. Retrieved trom
https://blog.hubspot.com/agency/differences-b2c-b2b-marketing.

8
Appendix A

9
 https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/homepage.html

10
Appendix B

https://jobs.intel.com/page/show/smg-jobs-smg-marketing

11
https://wasatchproperty.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/marketstarcareers/job/Marketing-Specialist---
Intel_R7151

12
Appendix C

https://www.careerpointkenya.co.ke/2020/07/brand-manager-job-coca-cola/

13