Question 1: Product-Brand
CISCO
Cisco Systems is a telecommunications company that provides computing and networking software primarily to business owners and buyers. Switches, routers, bridges and the like allow corporate intranets to be formed within different businesses; this makes Cisco's stock in trade particularly valuable to other businesses. Therefore, Cisco has a very substantial and innovative B2B model (Groblinghoff, 2002). One of the things that sets Cisco apart from other rival brands is their ubiquity. Cisco has managed to establish themselves as the premier network interconnectivity supplier to a great number of businesses throughout the world; providing an entire line of equipment to suit the entire network connectivity process leads businesses to purchase more products from them. Cisco uses a Supplier-Oriented Marketplace, which provides direct sale of these products to businesses without a middleman; also, a great variety of products and services are provided, with further support given in their own business (Groblinghoff, 2002).
This use of the Supplier-Oriented Marketplace has worked well in Cisco's favor, selling more than $1 billion in Cisco products online in 1997 (Groblinghoff, 2002). Cisco Connection Online, and its online presence, have provided an immensely beneficial and convenient way to provide their products to businesses. Being the first networking company to really establish a large-scale online presence permitted them to get ahead of the game compared to their rivals. By connecting purchase orders to customer service and software downloading, they provided a comprehensive business to business portal for their clients. This online resource save them an average of $363 million a year, creating substantially low overhead (Groblinghoff, 2002).
APPLE
Apple has turned into the best business-to-business brand in the world, through its innovative use of unique technology and operating systems. Emphasizing a fully comprehensive, compatible product line, Apple effectively forces businesses to buy the entire line of their products, due to the technology being wholly ubiquitous and interconnecting (Kotler & Pfoertsch, 2006). What's more, its incredible business model of making stylish, high quality computing equipment with a similar visual style also appeals to businesses looking for innovative products that maintain aesthetics and functionality. The immense cultural popularity of Apple also contributes to its appeal, both to small and large businesses. Apple understands the necessity of building a brand, particularly during harsh economic times; as a result, they have found ways to provide cost-effective computing products to fellow businesses. A large emphasis is also placed on customer service, and the brand recognition of Apple among a wide swath of the population makes it the first choice to supply small and medium size businesses (Kotler & Pfoertsch, 2006).
Apple has persistent led the industry in creating new technology trends, ones which provide greater productivity and can create new ways of doing business (Kotler & Pfoertsch, 2006). From the laptop computer, to the mp3 player, and now the smartphone and tablet computer, Apple has created new products that the rest of the tech industry always struggles to keep up with. Because Apple does it first, and does so with a great deal of advertising exposure and stylish, appealing design, many businesses seek out their products more than any other (Kotler & Pfoertsch, 2006).
Question 2: Promotion
In today's online marketplace, social media is more important than ever. Social media networks like Facebook and Twitter serve to connect people to each other in a unique way, and business are using that to connect with potential customers. This also extends to B2B companies, as they are seeking to find new ways to sell their products and get themselves exposed. Social media marketing has the effect of word-of-mouth advertising on a level never before seen - someone can get the word out about a product or company to more people in general (Devans, 2008). What's more, the word can be spread about a product without interrupting the audience, creating a much higher probability of them being receptive to the products of a company. With the help of an honest, effective campaign that echoes those that came before, companies can pick up many new customers and increase their sales substantially (Devans, 2008).
B2B companies are using social media to enhance the exposure of their products to a wider proportion of the population. What's more, opinions and deals on products can be published nearly instantly, making it doubly necessary to make sure that honest deals are made. The crisis with Apple's iPhone release, in which the $600 phone was lowered dramatically in price shortly after it was released, showed that it is important to make sure not to do underhanded deals with its customers; they will remember (Solis & Breakenridge, 2009). Substantial market research is necessary in social media; learning efficiencies, information visibility, metrics and more are required to learn just how the practice will help B2B companies, which is different than its benefits to B2C companies (Straub & Watson, 2001). Market dynamics are increasingly important to establishing a solid reputation and market visibility in the face of greater visibility among the entirety of the market. In this day and age, more competitors are available due to the Internet allowing every company under the sun to deliver everywhere (Wise & Morrison, 2000).
Blogging is a very well-known and used aspect of B2B social media marketing. The ways in which B2B companies use this particular strategy allow for several things to happen. First, the company has a voice; it can communicate with customers and allow for advocacy of its own interests, in a way that does not seem "preachy" and unwanted. Conversations can occur between businesses on an unconventional platform; customer service, marketing, sales and public relations can also be conveyed through these platforms quickly and easily. Instead of marketing becoming a one-sided conversation, businesses can start a dialogue with the company in question (Solis & Breakenridge, 2009). Decisions can be made, and policy changed, according to what the client wants. Social media permits a community to be built, and B2B businesses establish relationships with their clients using these new, immediate means of communication (Solis & Breakenridge, 2009).
Twitter and Facebook permit B2B businesses to have a fun, enjoyable and immediate means of communicating with their clients and other businesses (Evans, 2008). Deals, questions, comments and conversations are all started through these avenues of communication, which can continue on a persistent basis outside of a normal face-to-face conversation. In this way, social media is shaping the way that B2B businesses interact and sell, allowing them to be omnipresent in their client's lives (Evans, 2008).
Works Cited
Christiaanse E, Markus ML, 2003, B2B Electronic Marketplaces and the Structure of Channel
Relationships, Barcelona: ICIS.
Evans D, 2008, Social Media Marketing: An Hour A Day, Sybex.
Groblinghoff B, 2002, B2B E-Commerce: The Future of Business Transactions & Relationships,
University of Magdeburg.
Kotler P, Pfoertsch W, 2006, B2B Brand Management, Springer.
Solis B, Breakenridge D, 2009, Putting the public back in public relations: how social media is
reinventing the aging business of PR, Pearson Education.
Straub DW, Watson RT, 2001, Research Commentary: Transformational Issues in Researching
IS and Net-Enabled Organizations, Information Systems Research 12, 4, pp. 337-354.
Williams ART, Dale BG, Visser RL, Van der Wiele T, 2001, B2B, Old Economy Businesses and
the Role of Quality. Measuring Business Excellence, 5, 2, pp. 39-44.
Wise R, Morrison D, 2000, Beyond the exchange - the future of B2B. Harvard Business Review,
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