Strategic Business-to-Business Marketing

TEACHER / PROFESSOR

• Prof Fred Lemke
  Professor of Marketing and Sustainability at Vlerick Business SchoolAs an expert in marketing and sustainability, Fred speaks frequently on international conferences on topics such as customer experience, customer insight, sustainability, market research, (Green) design, and innovation management.

Short Description of the course

How to succeed in business-to-business markets

Business-to-business (B2B) competition has never been fiercer. Are you launching innovative services or products on the market? You will be imitated in no time. Look for real competitive advantage (that’s the message you will hear again and again).

At the same time, price margins are under increasing pressure, as the purchasing function gains strategic importance. Moreover, customers are bombarded with advertising messages through a multitude of media. Your sales people are finding it harder and harder to get a foot in the door.

So, as a marketeer, how do you adapt to these new market conditions? To stay relevant in today’s competitive landscape, you need to find answers to the key shifts in your industry, the competitive manoeuvres, and the increasing customers demands. Are the old strategic approaches and segmentation charts still valid? What is the best way to configure your product or service? And how do you manage your sales f

course Programme / detailed overview

Module 1: Adapt the strategic marketing roadmap in a shifting business landscape

• Staying relevant in the market, you need to respond to the key shifts in B2B marketing. What are those key shifts and how can you take advantage of them?
• Structuring your marketing roadmap as the basis for understanding, creating and converting value.

Module 2: Market analysis

• Assessing the market through the 5Cs Framework (Customer, Company, Competitors, Collaborators, Context), so that you know where your business potential is.

Module 3: Creating value

• Segmenting the market: from common approaches to the latest techniques in segmenting the market.
• Illustrating different marketing research methods for targeting the most attractive segment(s):
  • Different types of research (exploratory, descriptive, causal)
  • From capturing the Voice of the Customer (VOC) to understanding the Mind of the Customer (MOC): identifying (hidden) needs for driving customer experience.
• Shaping value propositions for new and existing target segments:
  • Deep Blue Ocean in a B2B marketing context: background, purpose, process.

Module 4: Converting your value proposition into a tangible offering

• Preparing to conquer the new market space by fine-tuning your market offering to create fitting solutions.
• Moving from fitting solutions to lasting experiences.

TARGET students

• ‘Strategic B2B Marketing’ is ideal for professionals from companies of all sizes, as long as they serve B2B customers. In particular:
  • Professionals who are rather new to B2B marketing or sales and who want to gain a deeper understanding of what B2B marketing strategy is.
  • Product Managers, Account Managers, Business Development Managers, Business Unit Managers, Marketing & Sales Managers/Directors, General Managers.

  In previous editions, we had the pleasure of welcoming participants from companies like Atlas Copco, Atos Worldline, Bekaert, Ecover, Egemin, Electrabel, Fabricom, Mercer, Milliken, Sioen Industries …

Learning outcomes

• Analyse why marketing planning is essential
• Evaluate the internal & external drivers that impact your company
• Critically assess market segmentation
• Understand the need for, and process of, a market oriented approach
• Recognise the 3 market research types
• Discuss the importance of the Voice of the Customer (VOC) for creating customer experiences
• Apply Blue Ocean Strategy insights to B2B marketing