represents those potential employees who possess the attributes
needed to sustain and enhance these core competencies. It also
refers to third parties – colleges, universities, recruitment agencies
or other employers – who have early access to pools of these poten-
tial employees. The logic is that if a would-be employer wants to
attract the best people, it must present itself to influential third
parties and to the individuals themselves as the employer of first
choice. But if it also wants to keepthese valuable employees, it must
bethe employer of first choice.
Towards the end of the 1980s there was widespread concern that
a demographic shortage of young high calibre workers would
reduce the competitive capabilities of businesses throughout
Northwest Europe.^36 Skilled and talented employees, it was pre-
dicted, would become a scarce and valuable resource. These fears
quickly faded with changes to the political landscape and wide-
spread redundancies in the wake of prolonged recession, re-emerg-
ing with a vengeance in the UK in the late 1990s as economic
recovery gained momentum.
Influence markets
Whereas Webster and Wind list influencers and gatekeepers among
the members of a buying unit within the firm,^37 Christopher, Payne
and Ballantyne look beyond the confines of customers’ internal
buying units and into the wider business environment. They apply
the term ‘influencer’ to a range of third parties who exercise influ-
ence over the organization and its potential customers. These influ-
encers may be governments and their agencies, press and other
media, professional bodies, investors and pressure groups. In fact
‘influence markets’ will likely include all of the constituencies that
have traditionally fallen within the domain of public relations and
corporate affairs. While relationships with these parties may not
directly add value to a product or service, they can directly influ-
ence the likelihood of purchase or prevent an offer from even reach-
ing the market.
If carefully and proactively managed, these relationships can not
only open doors to markets, but they can enhance or even replace
some other marketing activities. The skilful management of media
relationships can, in some instances, be cheaper and more effective
than formal advertising, as the founders of The Body Shop and The
Relationship marketing: The six markets framework 9