How to define a B2B market model in a multinational European firm.

Abstract

In developed economies the transactions between businesses cover more than half of the entire GDP . However, Marketing B to B did not evolve at the pace of the B to C one, and, today, the lack of existing academic literature and theories on this subject still reflects such gap. The diversity between these two marketing approaches, though, is not just historically traceable in writings: the nature of the market they serve, the customers’ profiles, the relationships throughout the value chain and the volume of operations are just some of the features that distinguish industrial from consumer marketing. Within this document we will further explore the distinctiveness of Marketing B to B, analysing its main characteristics and, when pertinent, proposing parallelisms facilitating comparisons with the B to C. The pragmatic basis to this theoretical exercise is ascribed to the six-month internship mission within the team of the private label of IPH Group: GISS. Indeed, this thesis also aims at presenting the creation and the implementation process of a market modelling tool for four European countries. We will therefore structure our reflections and investigations on B to B Marketing on this experience, providing the reader with a global overview on the Industrial world and a more detailed focus on the single tasks accomplished towards the Model fulfilment. The redaction of this thesis is based on the knowledge acquired during the first part of the Double Degree Master program. In addition to the material and the methodologies provided during classes, several academic sources and specialist reviews were also consulted to enrich the scope of the study. Moreover, the international analytical perspective to which students were accustomed throughout these semesters is implied all along this document.