see Rachel:
I you're ready to start your next module. A bit anxious to finish the course now that we are nearing the end? Then let's not delay. This module
is about Marketing Communications, which is one of the four major elements of the company's marketing mix. Marketers must know how to use
advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing, public relations, and personal selling to communicate the product's existence and value to the
target customers.
Dr. Tom?
Dr. Tom:
Right. And as I have said repeatedly, one of the most important objectives of our Marketing Strategy is to create awareness. Awareness of how
our products and services can address customer needs and solve customer problems. Hopefully, we have a clear message we want to get out there.
Now the idea is to figure out how. That leads us to the message and the methods and mediums through which the message is transferred.
The five major methods of marketing communication are advertising, sales promotion, public relations, personal selling, and direct marketing.
Kotler does a pretty good job of addressing these. So I am going to advise you to read Kotler on Managing Mass Communications before we go
any further in this training. Remember to use the Power Points to review after you have completed the reading. As usual, I am going to put some
additional material in your task list. It will include some readings and a lot of professional tools and resources.
Rachel:
And when you're ready, Mr. White wants to see you.
White:
Hi. I bet it feels pretty good to be on the last leg of your training for this course. Congratulations to you. I met with Dr. Tom today and we spoke
about what we had left to cover. I told him about a conversation I recently had with Linda. She expressed that she wanted to explore moving
towards using media more to reinforce Central's branding, and she may give you a related assignment. I asked Dr. Tom if he had any materials
you could look at related to this. He recommended a clip about Motorola that came with the Kotler text you purchased. I'd like you to look at it
before you meet with Linda. Also, when you get a chance, can write up a few thoughts on your experience in this training and send it to me?
White:
William White...oh, Hi Wynona...yes, he's here in my office...ohhhkaaay...
Wynona:
Linda told me you were in White's office. I hope I'm not interrupting anything. I just wanted you to know that I heard Joel left Central so I talked
to Mr. Powers about the dirty business we saw that day. It was hard for me because Joel is, well, he's like a nephew to me. But I felt it was the
right thing to do. Robert said there wasn't much they could do about it with Joel not at Central anymore, but they'd keep it in mind and they are
glad to know the situation. I thought you should know. I don't want to keep you from your meeting with William so I'll talk to you later.
White:
She's a character, huh? Oh, that reminds me. Dave came into my office recently and told me that he has concerns about how our Marketing
department's relationship with Anderson. He says that their new marketing director, Cynthia, is of "questionable" character and doesn't do things
the way we do them. Is this your observation as well?
White:
I guess I'll need to talk to Tony about it. Thanks. That's all. You can get back to work now.
Dave:
Hey, there you are.
I was beginning to wonder if there was a party I wasn't invited to or something. Hey, did you watch that video about Motorola? I think I learned a
lot about the need to create a consistent message across a company's product lines. Do you think we do that here at Central?
Dave:
I guess you have to consider that Motorola is more of a consumer product. And they use a lot of mass media. So maybe it's not really applicable.
What do you think?
Dave:
You know what I was thinking while I was watching that video? Central is all about speed. Central is about solid quality and speed in the field.
Speed in building pipelines. Speed to new innovation. Speed from order to delivery. Speed to respond. But right now our web site and promo are
all about product. What do you think about creating a message in all of our media communications that communicates speed?
Customer:
This is going to cost us a fortune! What the hell were you guys thinking!?
Dave:
Umm. Are you looking for somebody?
Customer:
I'm looking for the idiots who are responsible! You sent us potentially defective fittings and two days ago we finished burying four miles of gas
line with thousands of those fittings! How in the name of all that is holy could you make a mistake like that?!
Dave:
Um. It sounds like a serious issue, Sir, but we're just trai-Customer:
You're telling me you know NOTHING about this?
Dave:
Are you talking about the six inch EF couplers?
Customer:
Do you have multiple defective products?
Dave:
So if you were using the standard coiled PE pipe in 250 foot lengths. That would be about 120 potentially defective couplers, right?
Customer:
If you're so smart why don't you tell me what it will cost to find all those couplers, cut them out, and replace them? It will take two couplers to
make the patch for everyone we take out! The whole idea of using EF is saving time. Now look at the mess I have!
Dave:
I guess you didn't receive the notice they sent out on that defective PE that got into the market?
Customer:
Notice? I didn't get any notice, but nice try, slick.
Dave:
Well, uh. I don't know if you were aware of this, but apparently, the industry news reported the shortage of PE that resulted from the refineries
being closed by the recent hurricane down south.
Customer:
If you're going to try and pass the blame onto someone else, it's not going to work.
Dave:
Maybe you should be talking to Mr. Powers aboutCustomer:
And you. You're really good at keeping your mouth shut, aren't you? What's this, good cop, bad cop? What do you have to say about all this?
Customer:
If one of you doesn't give me the straight story in the next two minutes I swear to Jehosophat I will walk out your front door and never do
business with this place again!
Dave:
Just a second.
Dave:
Hi, Linda...uh...yes, he's here...yes, that's the one...yes, that's what I said...okay, I'll do my my best.
Dave:
Here's understanding of the situation, Sir. When the supply of PE was affected by the storm, Central turned to one of our back up suppliers.
We took a hit by buying the PE from them at the elevated price they offered, but we went ahead and bought enough from them to allow us to meet
customer needs. During our routine product testing, the lab noticed some potential problems at the high end of our temperature stress tests.
Further investigation revealed that one batch of the PE might be faulty. It was not the kind of thing that was likely to cause any problems except
in very extreme conditions, but we don't ever like to send out product like that. So, we identified every fitting made with that PE batch and sent
out a recall notice, indicating the part number and so on. If you used our Electrofusion Processer, you should have a record of exactly which
coupler was used where on that line.
Customer:
When did this so-called notice go out? Today? A bit late don't you think.
Dave:
....actually, over a month ago. And a second notice a week later. She said they were on her desk. Here they are.
I can check and see if we got a confirmation response from your purchasing office if you like.
Customer:
I can check on that on my own, thank you. It still does nothing to solve my problem. Did I mention we have four miles of pipe that has to be dug
up? This is going to cost us $200,000. Even if you did send out a recall notice, you still sent out the defective product in the first place, and that is
what created the liability.
You're not getting away with this. Heads are gonna roll.
Dave:
Sir, would you like me to see if Mr. Powers is available toCustomer:
You tell Mr. Powers that he'll be hearing from my lawyer!
Linda:
How in the world did he get into my office? We meet customers in the conference room.
Dave:
Who was he? He never even told us his name.
Linda:
That was George Southerland. He is a project engineer from Arkla Gas. He left me a caustic message this morning. He should be speaking to
Mr. Powers, not you two.
Dave:
We told him that.
Linda:
What else did you tell him?
Linda:
Alright, I'll follow up with him when he's had a chance to calm down.
Dave:
Was he an important customer?
Linda:
All our customers are important.
Dave:
But I mean really important. Because uh, he was pretty upset.
Linda:
Which is understandable, right?
Linda:
I spoke to Powers about this earlier today. He's already decided how he's going to address it. Anyone want to take a stab at his decision?
Linda:
By now Powers has already made arrangements for a team to be at that pipeline site, identifying every potential faulty fitting, digging them up,
and replacing them.....at our expense.
Dave:
But, if his company had paid a closer attention to the recall notice, they would have avoided the problem.
Linda:
Yes, but great marketing is not about squeezing as much as you can out of as many customers as you can so that we meet our top revenue
objectives. It's really about meeting customers needs and expectations. At Central it means going beyond their expectations.
Those EF couplers were potentially faulty. Yes, it is true that there might not have been a failure for many years, if ever. Yes, it is true that the
fault was largely with a greedy supplier of raw materials. Yes, it is true that we sent out a notice that was either ignored or got overlooked. But we
CARE about our customers. Powers loves these kind of situations. I don't mean he likes us to have problems with our products. He hates it when
even one fitting leaves our plant defective, much less an entire batch. But, when there is a mistake, he sees it as an opportunity to show customers
why Central is different from other companies they do business with.
Dave:
But, four miles! that is going to cost Central a lot of money. Powers is the owner, so it is going to cost him a lot of money!
Linda:
Yes, it will. But, our fittings are all coded. The EF processor reads those codes and records in its database the time and location of the fitting. We
don't have to dig up the entire line because we know almost exactly where those fitting will be. And we estimate they have no more than fifty of
the potentiall faulty couplers in the ground.
Let's get back to Central's webinars. I want you to put together a plan for using Central's webinars as part of the integrated marketing strategy.
Here is what your plan should include.
Linda:
This is the minimum. You can add to it, but be concise. Please don't make it longer than five pages. Well?... what are you waiting for?
Rachel:
Good job on the quiz. Keep in mind, though, that the skills that are needed to do well on academic tests are not the same skills needed to do well
in B to B marketing. Except for intelligence and intensive preparation, the skill sets actually have very little in common. Some of the greatest
marketing people I know barely got through their MBA programs. It's just one of the reasons we're so committed to focusing on practical skills
you will need in the workplace. Now, don't get me wrong, important knowledge can be gained through reading what the experts have to say,
which is why we include these kinds of academic quizzes. Oh! White is looking for you again. He's in his office.
White:
Oh great. Thanks for stopping by. I actually wanted to check in with you on your feelings about this way of learning marketing management. Do
you mind if I ask you a few questions?
Just a few more things about your webinar plan. As you know, there are many other things we can do with our marketing dollars. So, at the very
end of your written proposal, Id like you to include your own evaluation as to how important this is to our overall integrated marketing
communications strategy. Give me your personal recommendation, on a scale of 0-10. Zero will mean you strongly recommend your webinar
strategy should NOT be included in our budget this year. 10 will mean you strongly recommend it SHOULD be included.
Complete your plan and submit it before going on to the next part of your training. And remember, Ill be sending your work to your university as
well.
After you send me your proposal, join me and the rest of the team in the executive conference room.
Linda