Business to Business Marketing

 There are five distinct concepts associated with business-to-business marketing. Firstly, there is the exchange concept of marketing. This concept holds that the exchange of a product between the seller and the buyer is the central idea of marketing. While exchange does form a significant part of marketing, to view marketing as a mere exchange process would amount to a gross undermining of the essence of marketing.

Then comes the turn of production concept. According to this concept, marketing is a mere appendage to production. In organizations that practice this concept, production and technology dominate the thinking process of the key people. They believe that marketing can be managed by managing production. The concept holds that the consumer would, as a rule, support those products that are produced in great volume at a low unit cost.

Thirdly, there is the product concept, which is somewhat different from the production concept. Whereas the production concept seeks to win markets and profits via high volume of production and low unit costs, the product concept seeks to achieve the same result via product excellence- improved products, new products and ideally designed and engineered products. It also places the emphasis on quality assurance. In general, it tries to accomplish the marketing task through the product attributes.

At this stage, it would be appropriate to explain the phenomenon of marketing myopia. Stated in simple terms, marketing myopia means a colored or crooked perception of marketing and shortsightedness about business. Excessive attention to production or product or selling aspects at the cost of the customer and his actual needs creates the myopia.

Lastly, there is the sales concept. As more and more markets became buyers markets and the entrepreneurial problem became one of solving the shortage of customers rather than that of goods, the sales concept became the dominant idea guiding marketing. The sales concept maintains that a company cannot expect its products to get picked up automatically by the customers. Next Article: A Guide to Brochure Printing