B2B Marketing Excellence Blog

Apple Takes the Leap into B2B Enterprise Sales

Are B2C and B2B marketing really that different? After all, most consumer products – from candy to motorcycles - rely heavily on B2B distribution deals to reach all those millions of individual customers. Can’t a successful consumer products company just turn their distribution prowess into great B2B sales and marketing to enterprise clients?

Apple’s March 6 announcement that the iPhone will be sold to the enterprise market with its June software release gives us a chance to deconstruct the relevant differences between a B2C distribution model and B2B direct sales. As we watch Apple's efforts to sell the iPhone into the corporate market we'll also observe whether Steve Jobs can lead his company into straddling the multi-headed target market beast as well as Michael Dell has. Like any good technology pitch man, Jobs seems to have the product issues under control, but his market-facing brand and distribution challenges are where we can expect to see the strategy succeed or fail. Right now, the jury’s out.

Let’s look at what Apple is doing to address the B2B market and evaluate their potential for success and challenge in a “Six P’s + Branding” analysis framework.

What is B2G Marketing?

As we note in "What is B2B Marketing ?” selling to an organization such as a business or government agency presents the marketer with challenges which are distinct from the consumer sale; however, marketing to a government agency (Business-to-Government, or B2G marketing) is also different than selling to a business customer.

 

Unlike a government agency, a business is tasked with turning a profit for the benefit of its shareholders. Private companies may have more flexibility in how they prioritize profit with other objectives, but in the end, making money is their top priority. Government agencies have fiscal constraints and requirements also, of course, but actually making money is never at the top of their priority list. They exist because they are tasked by the people they serve to achieve a specific mission. These objectives, and how they are to be met, are set out in complicated combinations of laws, regulations, policies and operating directives and are influenced heavily by their political environment, which shifts constantly.

 

These dynamics are just as true at the local level as they are at the state, federal and international levels and the business that sells to these agencies must understand the unique political, legal/procedural and practical factors at play around each government department they serve. They must also understand the “business ecosystem” of companies which commonly partner to win large government contracts in any specific government market. This article is a brief look at how the “Six Ps + Branding” marketing mix is affected by the B2G uniqueness. All these themes will be explored in greater depth in this blog and the B2B Expert’s Forum as well, so sign up for them, contribute your experience and together we’ll all be smarter!

Read on to see how Branding and the 6 Ps apply to B2G Marketing.

What Is B2B Marketing?

Marketing to a business trying to make a profit (Business-to-Business marketing) as opposed to an individual for personal use (Business-to-Consumer, or B2C marketing) is similar in terms of the fundamental principals of marketing. In B2C, B2B and B2G marketing situations, the professional must always:

• successfully match the product/service strengths with the needs of a definable target market; 
• position and price to align the product/service with its market, often an intricate balance; and 
• communicate and sell it in the fashion that demonstrates its value effectively to the target market.

Voila! Easy? Well, no. If it were that easy, we wouldn’t have dedicated our careers to understanding the nuances of marketing. So what are the meaningful differences between B2B and B2C marketing?

A B2C sale is to an individual. That individual may be influenced by other factors such as family members or friends, but ultimately it’s a single person that pulls out their wallet. A B2B sale is to an organization. And in that simple distinction lies a web of complications that differ because of the organizational nature of the sale and which vary widely by firmographic (i.e., “demographic” for segmenting businesses) such as business size, location, industry and revenue base. This article is a brief look at how the “Six P’s + Branding” marketing mix is affected by the B2B uniqueness. All these themes will be explored in greater depth in this blog and the B2B Expert’s Forum as well, so sign up for them, contribute your experience and together we’ll all be smarter!

Read on to see how Branding and the 6 Ps apply to B2B Marketing.