strategic market planning systems that the marketing professors at the
Graduate School espoused. In those models, senior management drove
and supported innovation, while here in the real world the message
appeared to be, ‘innovate if you want but don’t let it get in the way of your
real work’. After further contemplation, she reasoned to herself that her
plan didn’t really have a downside – at least if she tried to implement rela-
tionship marketing she had the potential to win by gaining competitive
advantage for TNM. If she didn’t even try, she would not be in control of
her own destiny. From her marketing classes she remembered that a key
principle of relationship marketing was to add value to the players in the
value chain.
The relationship marketing plan
Keegan decided that the most logical method to develop the relationship
marketing concept was to target one key customer in a high profile end-use
category. Additionally, she realized that she needed a sympathetic, recep-
tive champion at that customer who would push the introduction of rela-
tionship marketing. After surveying her customer base she decided that
Supermelt Vacuum Melters (SVM) represented a prime candidate for the
relationship marketing initiative. Some of the reasons for this were:
1 SVM was a significant consumer of nickel – consuming over a million pounds
per year.
2 SVM was a lead supplier of super alloys to the automotive/truck turbocharger
industry – a growth market.
3 Nickel made up to 50 per cent of SVM’s costs.
4 SVM’s customers (i.e. automotive suppliers) had received training in developing
partnership relationships and hence would more likely be familiar with some
relationship marketing concepts.
5 A success in the automotive industry would increase the acceptance of rela-
tionship marketing in other nickel end-use segments like aerospace and the
nuclear fabrication industry.
6 SVM’s Managing Director, Dr Herman Bearing, was recognized as a leading inno-
vator in the metal alloy industry.
A phone call to Dr Bearing quickly gained his interest and tentative
support for Keegan’s proposed relationship marketing initiative.
Supermelt Vacuum Melters (SVM)
The process used by Supermelt Vacuum Melters involved combining an
exact mixture of high purity metals such as nickel, cobalt and chrome and
The supplier and alliance market domain 211