B2Bridge

Is a division between consumer and business marketing adequate? It suffices to look at brandchannel's 8 basic criteria to define business marketing to realise that business and consumer marketing are extremes in a spectrum, while a major part of marketing activities need a hybrid approach.

1. The target audience’s demand is usually derived, rather than direct
2. The purchase isn’t for themselves it’s for a company.
3. Often the target audience is a small tight group of buyers who have almost identical professional backgrounds, regardless of nationality.
4. Decision-making is hard to define. Company politics, national politics, technical politics and a dozen other types of politics can ankle tap a deal worth millions.
5. Selling big turn-key projects involves a more complex buying process, than when choosing gum at the supermarket checkout.
6. Buying motives do tend to be more rational, usually because there are a lot more factors to consider.
7. While the money isn’t coming from the personal pocket, being responsible for purchasing mega-buck products/services is going to give some kind of pause for thought. Initial costs are sky high and careers could be on the line.
8. The target audience are most likely being asked to invest in something they have to live with for a long time. After sales, service for a hydroelectric power station will make any PC agreement look like a wedding invitation.

From this, a picture emerges that business marketing is highly targeted, uses primarily direct contact to pass highly complex information in support of a rational sales process (e.g. tendering for major infrastructure projects). Consumer marketing, on the other hand, uses mass communication techniques to convince customers to go out and buy products through a distribution channel, with seldom contact between supplier and user (e.g. fast moving consumer goods).

But between these extremes, there is a wide spectrum of market approaches, that will vary with the size (and habits) of target audiences, availability of communication channels, value of a sales transaction (and affordable marketing budget), complexity of the product or service, ...

In this spectrum, there is no clear dividing line between B2B and B2C. Consumers do make purchases which are well above the average B2B transaction, such as hiring a contractor, where they need to go through a cycle of specification, tendering, contracting and commissioning. And organisations may need to purchase office supplies or catering services where they almost act as consumers.