Business Case

1.

Business to Business marketing refers to the transactions made between two businesses. A vital step in business-to-business marketing is to create and communicate relevant differentiation from competitors. Thomas Edison invented the light bulb and today the same company taken gigantic steps in creating power plants. With the change in time, the marketing has to also evolve and no longer is it just about marketing a product. The importance of business marketing today is to touch all aspects of a business, create a complete brand experience, from start to end. Companies want to build a strong brand because that can lead to success in terms of increased revenue and higher profits. Moreover, strong brands also help in gaining the competitive advantage. When one business buys a product or service from another business the main things put on the table are the competitive advantage in terms of quality, pricing and above all brand recognition. The stronger the brand, the lesser risk it is for a consumer because the brand is known and there is a level of trust in it.

Additionally, a brand that adds intangible imagery to its marketing mix can build a sense of community and provide emotional benefits to its consumers. It is very essential for progress because it gives the brand, the value it needs and is especially true for companies who don't necessarily have tangible products to display on the shelves. In the case of GE, that has such a rich history and diversity among its products, it possesses a tremendous opportunity to build a broader brand across products and segments.

Business marketing is important also because it helps in cutting costs because such it can be done simply through emails, letters, websites and social media. The marketing is not directed to an individual consumer and hence it can be done for the mass at very low costs. Another important feature is lead generation. Finding prospective buyers is an essential part of any business and this is helped by proper brand building and public relations. Hence, the close supplier-customer relationship is an integral part of the process. Since the customers are few and buying power is more, it is necessary to maintain strong relations. Having a strong brand is very important if the company is looking to grow in the future. Not only would a strong brand lead to high prices and a high market share, but it would also be ranked higher in the eyes of the consumers. With such a brand, there comes a sense of responsibility which if carried out well, brings creditability to the brand and the company on the whole.

2.

"Imagination at Work", "Ecomagination", and "Healthymagination" have done well in establishing GE's diversified brand. All the three had a striking similarity in GE's marketing strategy in the way that they try to unify the business into the main GE brand. When any company is as large as GE or as diversified as them, it becomes very essential to present the diversified businesses and products as a part of the main brand. The world is familiar with the main company General Electric but may not be aware about each and every activity the company carries out or each business it owns. The consumers have faith, trust and reliability on General Electric and hence this is the purpose for which GE's name must be marketed with the new campaign.

All three campaigns concentrated on promoting GE on the whole and not just one product or service. Beth Comstock, GE's former Chief Marketing Officer, quoted: "When you're a company like ours, with 11 different businesses, brand is really important in pulling the identity of the company." This statement is absolutely correct because the if new diversified businesses are let alone without the support of the main brand then not only do they take time to grow on their own but they may also create confusion in minds of consumers.

"Imagination at Work" highlighted the company's renewed focus on innovation and new technology. The award-winning campaign initially spent over $150 million in corporate advertising but it was efficient in unifying these new divisions under the GE brand. "Ecomagination" highlighted the company's efforts to develop environmental friendly "green" technologies such as solar energy, lower emission engines and water purification technologies. Another such successful campaign was "Healthymagination" which communicated the company's advances in the medical technologies around the world. These corporate campaigns have united GE's business units. Through advertisements of aircraft and solar energy technologies, GE definitely had not hoped to find large sales orders. The idea must have been to strengthen the brand and give the people a stronger and more reliable brand which it succeeded in showcasing. The new business units along with the brand marketing have kept GE's brand equity growing.

Finally, GE definitely did a good job in successfully communicating in its focus on its new endeavors. Each new business had a tagline of its own which showed the diversification while still keeping it unified to the main brand. Comstock, the former Chief Marketing Officer, aptly put it by saying: "The GE brand is what connects us all and makes us so much better than the parts."

3.

BMW has had a highly focused strategy in selecting its target market. But even within the selective target market, they have been able to cater to variety of people at different times in its history. During the 1980s and 1990s, the company successfully targeted baby boomers and professional yuppies who wanted a car that spoke of their success. However, in those days BMW did not pay attention to the mass. It can be argued that BMW first wanted to establish itself as a premium brand which would bring it results in the future. With change in times, BMW started expanding its reach to more segments. The "upper conservatives" and "upper liberals" were targeted with introduction of specific products for them like the redesigned 7 Series and the X5 respectively. The expansion process was then taken to the mass market eventually by targeting the "modern mainstream". While these activities paid rich dividends to BMW, the one thing BMW has still tapped is the minivan segment. Of course, for a brand like BMW this segment may not be attractive. But since they have already made their presence in the low-priced segment, the BMW minivans might interest a lot of large multinationals.

BMW has captured