Introducing modular products to the medium-end B2B foodstuffs market

Abstract

Candy Inc is a Dutch company specialized in designing and manufacturing process equipment for the global confectionary industry. Their brand is built on high quality custom projects for the high-end market. To lower their prices and appeal to the medium-end market, Candy Inc has implemented Configure-To-Order practices (Aqlan, et al., 2014). To help Candy Inc reach these new medium-end customers this report presents a strategic marketing plan. Research for the strategic marketing plan included ten semi-structured interviews with a mix of internal sales managers, agents and external strategic partners. Six interviews were recorded and transcribed. These interviews were analyzed using the Grounded Theory Method (Strauss, A.L. & Corbin, J.M.,1990). This process starts by coding interviews by writing down the most important statements. These 308 statements were then categorized by subject. Finally, these categories are put together into overarching clusters, summarizing the themes of the interviews. This process led to two superclusters. The first is named ‘Agents are asked to be superhuman but are under supported’. This reflects the insight that agents are valuable to companies like Candy Inc for marketing across borders and cultures. But they feel underequipped and prepared. The second supercluster is named ‘Selling is complex and needs a human touch, but tech could support them more’. The personal relationships between agents/sales managers and customers are an essential aspect to sales in this business. But there is a lack of use of digital tools like targeted advertising and customer relationship management systems. The research phase ended with the formulation of a statement that would serve as a guide for ideation. From ideation came five recommendations, which were tested at Interpack or with agents. To give Candy Inc a concise guide for implementation a roadmap was made. The recommendations are implemented over the span of 3 years to help Candy Inc integrate with their agents and market more effectively without interfering with the personal relationship-building of the sales process. The first step is a communication platform for sales managers and agents to connect on. Using features like topic channels on these platforms allows Candy Inc to efficiently convey information to their team of agents. This platform also allows agents to connect and exchange ideas. The second step is to supply agents with an organized library of marketing material. Any marketing material Candy Inc produces can be stored on the previous communication platform so agents can easily find and use these. The final step is to use an implemented CRM system to inform better marketing, like digital advertising campaigns on LinkedIn.