Beyond Multi-Channel Marketing

Critical Issues in Dual Marketing

Maria Palazzo, Pantea Foroudi, Alfonso Siano, Maria Palazzo, Pantea Foroudi, Alfonso Siano

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9781838676865
• eBook ISBN:
  9781838676872
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Advertising
• Index: Business

The authors of this book delve into the rapidly developing field of dual marketing, investigating the strategic alliances, multi-stakeholder perspectives and branding potential it holds. They promote the adoption of the multichannel approach which is fundamental to facing the challenges of marketing 4.0. Readers will glean innovative and practical insights, providing them with the ability to comprehend the existing link between dual marketing and multichannel marketing and explore its relation to branding and integrated marketing communication. This book also rejuvenates the analysis of the digital context and offers critical advice to organisations interested in online marketing processes. With worldwide appeal, the theoretical and empirical analysis carried out in this book offers cutting edge ideas and techniques to marketing practitioners, supply chain managers and B2B2C company managers looking to understand the digital transformation permeating the whole of organisational life beyond just marketing and communication facets. The book will also be invaluable for doctoral, graduate and postgraduate students in marketing and management.

Part I
Introduction

Chapter 1

Introduction

Maria Palazzo, Pantea Foroudi and Alfonso Siano

The typical feature of business in the decades straddling the millennium is undoubtedly the growing power of competitiveness, due to the ongoing changes in the digital world, technological revolution, continuing globalisation and the global credit crisis (Mudambi, 2002; Mudambi, Doyle, & Wong, 1997; Newell, 2000; Peppers & Rogers, 1993). In this scenario, it is hard to achieve and maintain success, not only because of the required investment and skills but also because the time to build up successful strategies is limited, thus, increasing perceived risk in every new project and venture (Carpenter, Glazer, & Nakamoto, 1994; Kotler, 1999). In order to succeed, it is necessary to invest more in different activities. This often means improving performances and reducing costs. This challenge is hardly sustainable for companies unless they are properly organised. One consequence may be that companies will market the same or similar products to both individual and business customers to expand their share of the market thanks to the internet through dual marketing (DM) (Hutt & Speh, 2001; Keller & Webster, 2004; Quelch, 1987; Solomon, 1985). It is also accepted that buyers can be individual and/or business customers.

DM has attracted increasing interest among organisations that serve either the consumer or industrial market, and as a result, many have achieved more significant growth (Donaldson, 1996). Nowadays – in a changing digital world – organisations are aware of the benefits of DM and are – apparently – acting accordingly. Nevertheless, in theoretical terms, the concept is still underestimated (Ferri & Palazzo, 2018; Kitchen, Siano, Confetto, & Palazzo, 2009; Siano, Palazzo, & Confetto, 2009; Siano & Palazzo, 2015). Therefore, the book presents the concept originally referred to DM, an issue mainly explored in the business-to-business sector (B2B) during the 1980s and the 1990s. As said before, despite the spread of this item in practical terms, it is easy to verify that many organisations apply the DM online – the concept is not so analysed in theory especially in the changing digital world. Thus, the book adapts the DM to the web perspective according to the multi-channel marketing's angle (Kotler, Kartajaya, & Setiawan, 2016).

Starting from the analysis of the limited existing literature on the selected subject and spread during three decades, the book opens the path to give to the topic a new youth in the traditional and digital world and to link it to the multi-channel marketing's features (Kotler et al., 2016). In order to fulfil this duty, not only works on DM were taken into account but also other research paths that share several features with the main topic were under scrutiny. Thus, before reaching the final scope of adapting the DM to the current scenario, it was necessary, first, to find the DM's features – inside other marketing and communication approaches and programmes – and then put them together following the multi-channel marketing perspectives. All subjects explored were considered with a specific focus on their characteristics linked to the online and offline worlds.

The chapters presented in this book, Beyond Multi-Channel Marketing: Critical Issues in Dual Marketing, take into consideration the fact that Quelch (1987) was the first to outline the importance of DM. Nonetheless, one major limitation was that his exploration did not consider the relevance of the digital environment as it was a reality not as developed as it is today. However, several studies, after that of Quelch (1987), did start to have some concerns on the topic, and they understood how this revolutionary factor could be involved in the DM development (Biemans, 1998). It is important to include considerations about the internet due to the fact that is comparing the growth of online business-to-consumer (B2C) to online business-to-business; it is easy to say that the second one is growing faster and with less difference in terms of geographical distribution all around the world.

The book highlights that the DM, in its original form, needs to be adapted in order to reflect the current circumstances. Actually, as demonstrated in the book, redefining the DM is not so easy as the literature review shows that several relevant aspects of the issue are diluted in numerous marketing and communication approaches and programmes (i.e. integrated marketing communication, co-branding, ingredient branding, etc.). This involves that the concept had lost its proper identity. Thus, the book answered the need to structure a research agenda with the goal of finding this lost identity. In brief, it is possible to say that before reaching the final objective of rethinking the DM in the digital world, it is necessary to achieve an intermediate scope: giving to DM a clear identity in the actual context characterised by the marketing 4.0.

Main Focus of the Chapter

Issues and Perspectives

Considering that the DM is the ‘practice of selling the same product both to consumers and business customers’ (Biemans, 1998, p. 670), it is easily demonstrable that it is widespread in many sectors. Nevertheless, in theoretical terms, the concept is still underestimated. Therefore, the book Beyond Multi-Channel Marketing: Critical Issues in Dual Marketing analyses the concept originally referred to DM, an issue mainly explored in the business-to-business sector (B2B) during the 1980s and the 1990s that can be considered the antecedent of the multi-channel marketing. Moreover, the book explores the DM and adapts it to the web perspective. Authors and contributors, in fact, view the study of strategic alliances, multi-stakeholder perspective, online and offline brand management and multi-channel and omni-channel marketing to be timely topics for further investigation on DM. The book approaches its goal proposing a mixture of theory and practice. All the chapters are enriched with case studies, case histories, case questions and diagnostic questions.

Thanks to this volume, readers are able to: comprehend the existing link between dual marketing and multi-channel marketing; acquire ‘knowledge and understanding’ of the key issues in dual marketing theories; reach the aim to find the lost dual marketing's identity, shedding light on what and how promotional alliances, co-branding, ingredient branding and integrated marketing communication can play an important role in relation to dual marketing; analyse the practical dual marketer's options, showing that there are different ways a company could operationalise DM; summarise the possible practical dual marketing's options, rejuvenating the original map created to analyse DM by Quelch (1987) considering the digital context; classify organisations that implement the business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) e-commerce; and offer relevant guidelines to organisations that are interested in applying DM to their online businesses' process.

Furthermore, readers are able to understand research studies on dual marketing and multi-channel marketing from different strategic points of view and different geographical areas such as Europe, the United States, the United Kingdom, Asia, Africa, etc. In this sense, they can compare, contrast and comprehend whether the DM from difference lenses are delivered similarly or otherwise in different parts of the world. This enables readers to understand differences and subsequent application towards managing the relations with stakeholders of companies that develop a DM approach.

In order to open new research paths, the book is set as a conceptual study based on the description of main features of dual marketing, on a theoretical map of dual marketing's options and on the classification of all modalities in which the concept can be declined. Moreover, the book provides empirical analyses and international case studies to illustrate DM's dimensions and multi-channel marketing's features.

Besides, this volume considers the concept of dual marketing not only in terms of selling but also in terms of ‘dualistically’ communicating. In fact, the DM refers to companies that are involved in both duties: selling their products and communicating their brand(s) to final consumers and business customers at the same time. In particular, starting from this consideration, the volume sees a great possibility to integrate corporate communication management and DM research.

Book Limits and Practical Implications

The main limits of the book Beyond Multi-Channel Marketing: Critical Issues in Dual Marketing are linked to the fact that the literature review of the DM is very circumscribed and not so recent. This made difficult the attempt to adapt the topic to the digital world. However, this relevant theoretical gap can be seen as an interesting opportunity for scholars and academics that would like to follow the original research path opened by this volume.

Rethinking the DM in the digital world and under the umbrella of multi-channel marketing has several interesting practical implications. The result of implementing DM can be the construction of better-integrated strategies, stronger relationships between industrial marketers and their industrial/final customers (Kotler & Pfoertsch, 2006), increasing of final customer loyalty – that could push manufacturers to prefer brands which enables a DM approach – and, consequently, the potential for more value creation for customers and indeed for the B2B/B2C companies that sell their product/service within a specific sector.

Originality of the Book and Further Research

The book rethinks and rejuvenates dual marketing, considered as an antecedent of multi-channel marketing. This volume, in fact, has presented the underestimated link between these topics and other different correlated concepts, which finally received thorough analysis based on detailed theoretical and empirical research. Following the structure of the book, researchers and scholars address organisational issues typical of the DM approach, and recommendations for coordinating the management of industrial and consumer relationships are presented.

Approaches

The most stimulating aspect of this book is that readers are exposed to different methods and approaches applied to dual marketing and multi-channel marketing research. The methods range from qualitative, quantitative, case studies, interpretivistic, social narrative, etc.

Target Market

Beyond Multi-Channel Marketing: Critical Issues in Dual Marketing provides doctoral, postgraduate, graduate and final year undergraduate students in business and marketing with a comprehensive treatment of the nature of relationships between supply chains, brands and stakeholders in different areas and regions of the world. It is a supplementary text and serves as an important resource for the supply chains, management and marketing practitioners requiring more than anecdotal evidence on the structure and operation of DM and multi-channel marketing in different geographical areas. It determines current practices and researches in diverse areas, regions and commercial and non-commercial sectors across the world.

The text includes an interesting mix of theory, primary research findings and practice that engenders confidence in students, academics and practitioners of conglomerate organisations (multi-business and multi-product); international distribution; supply chain; communication; and marketing alike.

In particular, the book is aiming to reach: doctoral students in marketing and management; graduate students in marketing and management; postgraduate in marketing and management; final year undergraduates in marketing; lecturers; marketing and communication practitioners; supply chain managers; managers of conglomerate organisations; and marketing consultants. The text can be used in the following courses: Marketing Communication; Marketing Management; Intergraded Marketing Communication; Supply Chain Management; International Distribution Management; Marketing (basic); E-commerce and E-Marketing; Retail Marketing; and International Marketing. The text has a worldwide appeal.

Product Category

Beyond Multi-Channel Marketing: Critical Issues in Dual Marketing is able to start from the issues related to the core of the industrial marketing discipline and expand them, adding useful insights on evolution of supply chain management; multi-channel marketing; marketing 4.0; dual marketing; industrial branding; and other communication-related topics such as integrated marketing communication, strategic alliances, co-marketing, co-branding and ingredient branding. Therefore, the volume is not a simple textbook aimed at core postgraduate and undergraduate courses, nor is it a research monograph. It is an edited book which serves as a supplementary text for advanced undergraduates and postgraduates and a key resource for practitioners.

Additional Concerns

Within the book, the quality of submissions is consistent and high, given the qualifications and track record of selected authors. Very interesting is the fact that Dr Maria Palazzo, Dr Pantea Foroudi and Prof. Alfonso Siano work for different universities (Middlesex University, UK, and University of Salerno, Italy) in different countries. Therefore, the structure of the book reflects their diverse expertise and viewpoints. The editors also showed their skills in assisting contributors wi...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Endorsement
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• About the Contributors
• Part I: Introduction
• Part II: Mapping the Field
• Part III: Extending the Field
• Part IV: From Field to Practice
• Part V: Conclusion
• Index