Basic Marketing: A Global Managerial Approach

Perreault−McCarthy: Basic

Marketing: A

Global−Managerial

Approach, 14/e

20. Managing Marketing’s
    Link with Other Functional
    Areas

Text © The McGraw−Hill

Companies, 2002

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areas—such as production,

finance, accounting, and

human resources—work

closely with the marketing peo-

ple to be certain that market

opportunities are turned into

profitable strategies.

Some competing firms

make the mistake of defining

their markets in terms of the

products they’ve always pro-

duced (for example, the

“screw market” or the “bolt

market”). By contrast, ITW

defines markets in terms of

customer needs. And often

ITW finds that what a cus-

tomer needs is not a screw or

a bolt but something entirely

new. As one simple example,

factories assemble millions of

panels that enclose electronic

products like computers and

medical equipment. The tiny

nuts and bolts typically used

to fasten the panels require

tools, and users often drop

them when they need to open

a panel. So ITW created the

perfect one-piece plastic

fastener. It costs less and

simplifies production because

it pops into place and there’s

only one piece to inventory.

Users can release it with a

twist of their fingers, and it

stays attached to the panel so

it can’t get lost.

The ITW approach of start-

ing with customer needs often

requires more than a market-

ing plan. It often requires new

resources—new production

capabilities, money to put the

plan into operation, and peo-

ple with new skills.

You can appreciate ITW’s

approach if you consider the

origin of the now-common

plastic buckle. The start was

simple. A firm that produces

life jackets needed a better

way to fasten them. ITW’s

salespeople and R&D people

teamed up to develop just the

right product for this customer.

The result: a durable, safety-

rated plastic buckle. ITW had

the money to quickly set up

new production facilities for

the buckle because its other

established products were

producing profits that ITW

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place

price

promotion

ct product