Competitor influence markets
Large organizations, especially those which have high visibility or
are dominant within their industry sector, need to consider carefully
the relationships they have with their competitors. An appropriate
response for such firms is often to adopt a profile of an industry
statesman.
The competition between British Airways and Virgin Atlantic in
the mid-1990s is an example of how BA’s industry statesmanship
was eroded for a period of time. British Airways received consider-
able negative publicity over the so-called ‘dirty tricks campaign’
and as a consequence Virgin Atlantic’s position in the marketplace
was enhanced. Virgin received much favourable free publicity and
its favourability and familiarity amongst the public at large was sig-
nificantly increased.
Further examples of inappropriate relationship management
between competitors are illustrated by price wars. Intense rivalry
and price wars between firms may result in the erosion of prof-
itability within industry sectors which are often potentially very
profitable.
Today, the nature of complex alliances and supply chains may
result in an organization viewing one particular company
in a number of roles, including that of a competitor, a customer and
a supplier. Under these circumstances it is essential that these
different forms of relationships are understood and managed
appropriately.
Political and regulatory influence markets
The political category within the influence market domain includes
a number of groups, including members of parliament, government
ministers, central and local government departments and other gov-
ernment and semi-government bodies. These may impact on organ-
izations within a given country, within an economic region such as
within the European Community or on a global basis.
Marketing activity may need to be directed at government and
regulatory bodies. Gummesson^18 has pointed out how this is of par-
ticular relevance for companies who sell equipment of an infra-
structural character, such as nuclear reactors, telephone systems and
defence products. These are products which may impact on the
country’s economic performance, employment levels or financial
status or may be important from a political point of view.
An important area for a wide range of manufacturing companies
242 Relationship Marketing