The Challenges

A growing segment of consumers today seek lower prices, higher quality, better selection and 24x7 access; they expect to research and purchase through all possible channels including manufacturer website, retail store, phone, mail order catalogues, handheld devices and the web.

Most manufacturers sell their products to consumers through retailers and other partners. However, they cannot afford to neglect marketing directly to consumers – even if they don’t directly sell to them.

• Consistent product information across all channels of marketing is not available.
• Increased service and support requests due to lack of comprehensive product information in the public domain.
• Consumers research in multiple places before making a purchase and that includes website of manufacturers, retailers, product review sites, and service provider sites.
• Most consumers who research online do feel the need to have the experience of ‘touch and feel’ and hence would like to make their purchase in physical stores.
• Manufacturers aren’t able to leverage Internet and mobile as branding medium due to lack of effective web presence.
• Technology know-how comes at a premium to implement a complex multi-channel solution.
• Manufacturers, in complex global markets, would require consistent layout for various regions, languages or customer groups and at the same time differentiated for local regions.
• Manufacturers, as they do not have direct relationship with the consumer in most cases, would want different ways to shape and mould the perception of their products and their brand.
• Markets are in recession worldwide and hence there is a need for long-tail marketing, whereby you increase sales and keep the cost per sales low.