A relational insight of brand personification in business-to-business markets

Customers find it difficult to differentiate between competing products based on their functional aspects. The shortening life cycle of products due to quick adoption of technological innovations by competitors makes it difficult for them to identify products based on specifications. The contemporary academic literature related to relationship marketing and brand management is passionate about customer and consumer psychology but little attention has been given to the brand selection criteria of resellers as business customers of the brand. This paper combines branding and relationship marketing as two broad functions of marketing. The paper argues upon the role of human representatives of the brand as brand personified in managing these two functions of marketing in business-to-business markets. The proposal of the paper is to use human representatives as a tool for the execution of relationship marketing and branding strategies. The objective behind using human representatives is to maximize the mindshare of resellers towards the brand and create value for them beyond products and service

COMPETITOR INTELLIGENCE: THE REAL VALUE FROM E.R.P. II?

Many organisations have either purchased or are considering the purchase of E.R.P. However, these systems have historically looked inwards to help organisations with their internal systems. In reality the real benefit of these type of systems will be where they interface with the firms’ external business environment – in essence ERP II. To date, several organisations have paid hundreds of millions of pounds for their business intelligence systems. However, it is argued that it is only by taking advantage of modules such as competitor intelligence(CI) where they can in fact realise true benefits from their adoption. This paper focuses on the critical importance of CI for organisations as part of their overall business intelligence(BI) strategy. Purchasing BI software is only stage one. Even though to make better decisions faster, business executives and managers need relevant and useful facts at their ‘finger-tips’ there is often a large gap between the information that decision-makers require and the volumes of data that their businesses collect in their day-to-day business transactions. It will only be those firms that put in place effective and coherent systems, such as CI, that will prosper in today’s turbulent business environment

Strategies employed by e-commerce firms in Portugal : an empirical investigation

A survey integrating different theoretical views of value creation was developed, then sent to Portuguese e-ommerce firms to assess the underlying dimensions and the most important characteristics of their e-Commerce strategies. The survey was sent to 188 firms in 2007 and repeated in 2010 to validate the results, obtaining a total sample of 62 e-Commerce firms. Through factorial analysis, three e-Commerce strategy dimensions were identified: one relates to differentiation via marketing based on reputation and brand identification, in which advertising and innovation in marketing techniques and methods are important; a second differentiation dimension focuses on product development and is supported by technical capabilities; and a cost leadership dimension which uses strategic networks to obtain economies of scale and scope, and exploits technological advancements to reduce transaction costs

The Elements For Sustainable E-Business Modelling: A 3D Approach

The sustainability of the business is a global contemporary issue. E-business modelling is another already established term as it converts technology into economic value. Although e-business modelling and sustainability of the business are the two significant global trends now but still there is no common perception about the elements that are essential for a sustainable e-business model. Surprisingly, none of the approaches even consider sustainability as a major element while modelling e-business. Therefore, after completing extensive literature review on e-business modelling and sustainability of the business we carefully identify and determine the required elements for a sustainable e-business model in this paper. We also clarify the significance for selecting these elements. The elements are three dimensional (3D) and selected from customer value area, business value area, and process value area so that the modelling elements preserve the interests of all stakeholders while upholding the sustainability

Digital Supply Chains: towards a Framework for Software Distribution

This paper assesses the effect of non-physicality of a digital product - software - on SCM practice. A number of in-depth, one-on-one interviews were held in 8 software companies that predominantly supply to enterprise customers on a global scale. The aim was to explore distribution challenges within software supply chains and how companies are addressing these challenges. The research has identified three different classes of software distribution models: One, which tends to rely on traditional physical infrastructures and paradigms, and two others that better exploit the properties of the digital products

Combining Website Search Engine Optimization with Advanced Web Log Analysis

This paper provides a clear guideline to the development of an online decision-making tool. The importance of ranking for an organizations virtual presence through search engines is also discussed. The system described illustrates the complexity of the competition between organizations to be highly ranked by leading search engines. The system not only reports the rankings of the owners but compares an organization with its competitors and enables it to decisively formulate an online development strategy in improving its ranking and therefore increasing its audience or critical mass. The system (Googalyser) utilizes Web logs and content analysis to provide decisive information to Web developers in order to improve the cases ranking through for example www.Google.com

Trade Marketing and its effects

In today’s challenging business environment, the companies are mostly dependent on customer relationship management as they are considered as the key factors for improving the company sales and growth in the end. The report has focused upon the discussion of Customer relationship management (CRM) in the growth of the retail business and the importance of trade marketing for the increasing sales and profitability of the business. On the other hand, the importance of customer satisfaction after a company’s product sale and marketing has been critically analysed and the various challenges the retail companies face in maintaining good customer loyalty in this competitive business environment have been discussed. Through the findings of the literature review, the way buyers decision-making process is involved by a good marketing and sales policy of a company have been analysed and gaps in the previous research on this topic have been highlighted. The methodology section deals with the findings and the process in which the specific data related to the research topic have been collected

Viedo Games Group Internship Massively Multiplayer Online Games Industry: A Review and Comparison from Middleware to Publishing

The primary objective of this report is to expand on the value creation system and the value added process of the MMOG industry as a whole. In the group report we focused mainly on the Middleware industry business model and how it adds value to the products while in this individual report I will attempt to shed the light over the MMOG industry as one industry with several separate processes/sub industries (Middleware, Game Development and Publishing)

Sustainability of Boots.com's growth Strategy as an application service provider (ASP) from services perspective for better engagement of customers, suppliers and partners

As per the MBA project curriculum, our team of three [3] members were assigned a consulting group project by Boots.com. Also we were assigned to write an individual report critically reviewing the key aspects of the group project. As assigned in the group project we investigated the growth strategies for Boots.com in the online market by employing the product line expansion strategy. Boots.com is an specialist online retailer in Health and Beauty(H&B) market, under the current market dynamics Bots.com is facing tough competition in the online business. For the same Boots.com current focus is expanding the online product line for sustaining growth. However, I choose to consider the services perspective of Boots.com since it was not the key area of focus at the moment. And the challenge of sustaining growth could be considered not only from product line expansion but also from online services perspective. So that Boots.com can be a specialist Application Service Provider (ASP) in H&B online market. This report comprises of six [6] chapters. The introduction chapter is followed by, literature review discussing the theoretical aspects of strategy, services marketing and technology. Further followed by the research methodology by focus on the customer activity cycle and results and findings derived from the research methodology conducted. Then, we analyse Boots.com internally and externally from strategic perspectives which is followed by proposed business model for Boots.com for creating new markets through services approach. Finally, the report showcases the conclusions and recommendations for Boots.com's proposed business model