While B2C companies are spending too much money on fundamentally
flawed marketing campaigns, the opposite holds true for B2B where
there is little to no marketing being done according to a study
released this month by consultancy Accenture (formerly Andersen
Consulting).
The study also reports that in their effort to grab a piece of
the B2B pie, companies rushed to gain first mover advantage without
truly understanding what drives value in on-line B2B brands
suggesting a blind spot by executives to the importance strategic
marketing plays in achieving corporate objectives.
The study reveals on-line purchasing decision-makers’
preferences, myths, marketing lessons and mistakes. The key finding
in the report underscores that a familiar, reputable brand is the
single most important buyer preference by a wide margin followed by
service, price and variety. Moreover, for 80% of the buyers in B2B,
price is even less important in on-line buying decisions.
“The findings in our study were counter-intuitive to what we
would believe to be the case in B2B which is that price matters
first,” said Stephen Dull, partner in Accenture’s Convergence
Marketing practice and author of the study. “You can’t compete in
B2B if your only differentiator is price or any of the four Ps of
marketing for they are mere commodities (price, product, promotion
and place of distribution). Focusing your attention on the customer
is where companies will rise above the noise.”
Further, the study reports that the level of customer
satisfaction on-line is lower in B2B than in B2C, symptomatic of a
failure to identify and respond to the real demands of the market.
According to the study, less than half of B2B customers’ say they
are very satisfied with their on-line purchasing experience
compared to 52% of B2C buyers.
For more information, see www.accenture.com.
