Perreault−McCarthy: Basic
Marketing: A
Global−Managerial
Approach, 14/e
- 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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