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Environmental Scan & Positioning. February 15, 2009 (week 6). The Environmental Scan. “The process of continually acquiring information on events occurring outside the organization to identify and interpret potential trends is called environmental scanning.” ( Kerin 60)
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Environmental Scan & Positioning February 15, 2009 (week 6)
The Environmental Scan • “The process of continually acquiring information on events occurring outside the organization to identify and interpret potential trends is called environmental scanning.” (Kerin 60) • Five Environmental Forces • Social – What are your targeted consumers and buyers doing? • Economic – What is new in global economic activity that affects your customers? (recession? growth?) What is new that affects your suppliers? • Technological – What is new in technology that affects your costs? Promotion to your targeted consumers and buyers? • Competitive – What are your competitors doing that gives them an advantage with your targeted consumers and buyers? What is happening to your competitors that gives you an advantage? • Regulatory – What changes to laws or regulations affect your entire industry (you plus competitors)? Affects your targeted consumers and buyers? • The environmental scan will complete the opportunities and threats sections of your SWOT Analysis!
Positioning • “Positioning has come to mean the process by which marketers try to create an image or identity in the minds of their target market for its product, brand, or organization.” (www.wikipedia.com) • “Positioning refers to the customer’s perceptions of the place a product or brand occupies in a market segment.” (www.marketingpower.com) • Positioning is essentially a statement of the unique and relevant meaning that your product, brand or firm represents to your targeted market segments.
Positioning Example - BDK • In November 2009, Black & Decker and The Stanley Works firms combined to create an $8.4 billion industrial leader. According to a company press release, this merger “will create a supplier of choice for tools, with even greater worldwide recognition and appeal among retailers, commercial customers and individual consumers.” (www.wsj.com) • “For the industrial buyer, Stanley Black & Decker’s heritage of leading consumer and safety brands offers the world’s most trusted and secure source of security and engineered fasteners.” (McDowell)
Positioning Example - Pentair • Pentair’s Technical Products division is a global business unit dedicated to protect customers’ sensitive equipment. Innovative products incorporate Pentair’s expertise in cooling support. (Pentair Annual Report 2008) • “For industrial buyers who must provide 24/7 essential technology services, Pentair offers the world’s most reliable protection for advanced technical equipment.” (McDowell)
Direct Competitors Serve the Same Market Segment • “For the industrial buyer, Stanley Black & Decker’s heritage of leading consumer and safety brands offers the world’s most trusted and secure source of security and engineered fasteners.” (McDowell) • “For industrial buyers who must provide 24/7 essential technology services, Pentair offers the world’s most reliable protection for advanced technical equipment.” (McDowell) • Can you identify the market segment? Telecommunications companies like AT&T and Sprint
Organizational Buying • Organizational, a.k.a. industrial buyers, are affected by different purchasing influences. • Instead of personality traits, Maslow’s needs, etc., businesses purchase goods and services that help them to satisfy consumers’ demands. Demand for industrial products and services is called derived demand. • Orders are often very large. They are also often based on complex technical requirements.
Perceptual Positioning Map Map of targeted consumers perceptions of competitors. Example: Consumers compare brands and products on relevant and meaningful criteria in phase 3 of the purchase decision process. This is essentially the same for organizational buyers.
