Signifo Expenses
Strategic Marketing in Practice
Case Study
December 2005
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Scenario
• You are Ed Walker marketing consultant.
• TASK:
– Positioning and branding of the company
– Communications strategy
– International marketing strategy
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Where are we now ?
Audit of current situation
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Signifo today
• Business to business, fast growing SME within the Software
Services sector
– Established 5 years, profitable, grown organically
– £1.5m T/O
– 400 customers
– Impressive range of clientele – Chivas Regal,
Heineken,Woolmark,Hitachi, Pernod etc.
– Mainly U.K. only few customers overseas
– Mainly targets SME market
– One product currently – expense solutions
– Poised for growth but how?
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SUPPORT ACTIVITIES
FIRMS INFRASTRUCTURE - Customer focused, Marketing taken on and understood
at every level, core function - strong internal communications
HR MANAGEMENT - Retain technical and knowledge based employees and recruit
marketing and sales experts - Project/consulting expertise
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT - Technology leaders, continuous innovation,
R&D focused towards buyers needs, strength in R&D relationships I.e. Research institutes
MARGIN
PROCUREMENT - Combined buying power
INBOUND
LOGISTICS
• Intranet
• JIT for
suppliers
OPERATIONS
• JIT
•Efficient
production
(closely
monitored)
PRIMARY FUN CTIONS
OUTBOUND
LOGISTICS
•E- Order
handling
•JIT
MARKETING
AND SALES
• Customer/
segment
research
•Investment
in Branding
•Relationship
marketing,
Key Account
managment
SERVICE
• Total
MARGIN
systems
solution
•Consultancy
services
•Maintenance
•Outsourcing,
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Brand issues
• BRAND DOMAIN
(brand’s target market)
• BRAND HERITAGE (how it has achieved success)
• BRAND VALUES
(core values and characteristics)
• BRAND ASSETS
(what makes brand distinctive)
• BRAND PERSONALITY (character of brand)
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Signifo SWOT
Strengths
• Fast growing
• Profitable
• 400 customers
• Fully web based system
• Simple to use
• Ability to work offline
• Interfaces directly with credit card
companies
• Links with mobile (SMS)
• Winner of DTI SMART award
Weaknesses
• Not many corporate customers
• Predominantly U.K. based
• Medium sized company, only 1.5 m
turnover
• Fledgling business to some extent,
established only 5 years
Opportunities
• To drive more business within the U.K.
e.g. public sector – Universities
• To target US market as well as
Europe, South Africa and Australasia
Threats
• Barriers to entry fairly low
• Larger companies such as Concur in
the US could outflank Signifo
• Large companies in Canada and
Germany – highly competitive market
• Expansion could stretch resources too
thinly
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Map of competition
SME
(International)
CORPORATE
(International)
ExpensAble (US)
Concur (US)
Necho
(Canada)
Sap(Germany)
SME
(Domestic)
CORPORATE
(Domestic)
4 UK players but
very small at
present
Global Expense
(UK)
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The Business Environment
More than
SLEPT!
Economy
Politics
Porter’s 5
Suppliers
Labour
Capital
Organisation
Legal
Pollution
Product
Wages
Profit
Materials
Society
MICRO
Technology
MACRO
PHYSICAL
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Consider Signifo’s positioning
• Use either BCG or PLC
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Brand Equity
• Bonding –----How does it retain itself with me
• Advantage – --Does it offer something different
• Performance- -Can it deliver
• Relevance – Does it offer something I want
• Presence- Do people know it
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Where do we Want to be?
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Objectives
• Decide
• Objectives
– For U.K. and International
• Deliver
• Outcomes
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Segmentation
• Described and Profiled for each sector
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Targeting
• Specific and Justified for each sector
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Positioning
• Clear and defensible
– Set out USP and Positioning for each sector.
– Are there any commonalities or Single Brand
options
• Vision
• Values
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How do we get there?
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Action
•
•
•
•
Decide
Objective
Deliver
Outcomes
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Strategic Development
• Product
– Sector Selection
– Core/ Physical/Augmented Proposition
– Branding
•
•
•
•
•
Pricing
Distribution
Promotion
People
Process
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Implementation and Control
•
•
•
•
Budgeting Areas
Metrics
Balanced Scorecard
McKinsey 7S
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Comms Strategy for Signifo
• Audiences –Internal and External, domestic and
international, SME and Corporate, private and
public
•
•
•
•
Media
Messages
Timing/Budget
Stakeholders
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Investors
Suppliers
Partners
Customers
Media
ASP’s
Who else ?
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Internationalisation
• Where, when and how
– GE/ Harrel and Keiffer
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Implementation and Control
•
•
•
•
Budgeting Areas
Metrics
BS
McKinsey 7S
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Critical success factors
• Create a sustainable brand image and
position amongst competitors
• Change management (PLC,BCG)
• Internal marketing (stakeholder
management, CRM)
• Funding (Borrowing/J.V/Debt)
• Constraints – Overstretching
- Competitive landscape
- Attempted takeover by
larger company
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Vision
For Signifo to be the first destination for any
SME/Large company that is seeking a value
for money, simple to use and cost effective
solution to their expense management
process.
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Mission statement
To become first choice for any company
seeking a cost effective solution to
expense management who demands high
quality standards and exceptional
customer service
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Critical Questions
• What is Signifo’s USP when targeting the
Corporate sector in the U.S. when
Expensable have a very large following
(1,000 + customers) ?
• What possible reasons could have caused
Necho’s decision to pull out of the U.K?
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Values
• Committed to high quality, effective
solutions which provide excellent ROI for
any company
• Committed to superb customer service
which fully integrates with client’s
existing systems and accounts packages
• Committed to continual quality
enhancement of all processes to speed up
and simplify expense management within
companies
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Corporate objectives
• To develop the public sector market by
targeting universities and increase
turnover by £250,000 from this sector by
2007
• To enter the US market aiming at the SME
market to create a niche opportunity, as
no other US operator targets this market
using a web based system
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Strategic management of marketing mix
• Product
Core – simple to use, fully integrated with existing company
systems and accounts packages.
Large savings in staff time and speeds up the whole
process. Versatile
Augmented – can be used offline, links to mobile (SMS)
• Price
Favourable price – value for money because of a good ROI
within 3 months expense package saves companies money
Pricing strategy could involve a percentage of future sales
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Strategic management of marketing mix
• Place
UK based primarily – but needs to drive more sales from the
public sector. Also needs to target the U.S and European
markets, plus South Africa and Australasia
• Promotion
B2B - emarketing campaigns to selected companies (use SIC
lists and professional bodies) Associations – referrals from
existing customers promotional scheme)
Publish P.R. related material for senior decision makers,
opinion leaders in relevant business/accounting magazines,
airline publications, etc.
Web site – continually update the content. Company
endorsements – refresh regularly
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Strategic management of marketing mix
• People
Train and develop the existing staff. Selective
recruitment of key sales/marketing/technical
personnel. Recruit proven staff in overseas
markets
• Processes
Regular internal/external communication. Long
term relationship building. B2B customer
involvement. Relationship marketing. Customer
Lifetime Value. Branding strategy.
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Strategic management of marketing mix
Physical evidence
Corporate web site
Signifo logo and brand
ROI table – company examples
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Implementation and Control
McKinsey 7S
Structure
Single company or J.V.?
U.K. Head Office and overseas subsidiary?
Strategy
Focus differentiated aimed at SME and
Corporate markets in U.K. and overseas
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Implementation and Control
Systems
Develop MKIS and control systems to
regularly review and monitor effectiveness
of all strategies
Develop benchmarking system to monitor
against key market indicators
Staff
Continual development of key staff.
Advanced sales training, inbound and
outbound. CRM development. Key account
relationship building
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Implementation and Control
Skills
Ensure correct training and development
programmes are established to keep Signifo staff
at the leading edge of technology, systems and
processes
Shared values
Ensure company strategy shared by everyone in
the organisation. Growth strategy and
international expansion shared with all staff,
suppliers, stakeholders. Compliance regulations
(IRS) understood and accepted.
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Implementation and Control
Style
Commitment top down from 3 founders.
Creative, dynamic, leading edge, probity,
commitment, ethical trading stance.
Profit sharing scheme
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Control – Balanced Scorecard
Internal
Employee awareness, staff turnover,
assess staff performance against
benchmarks (KPI’s), participation in
continuous development (training
schemes), develop CRM databases for
collecting customer feedback and insights
into future needs, wants, industry trends,
(market intelligence)
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Control – Balanced Scorecard
Innovation and learning
Skills training – advanced B2B selling,
customer ‘champions’, technical, systems,
accounting software interface training and
development, critical thinking, project
management
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Control – Balanced Scorecard
Financial
Sales vs. targets in each sector –
SME/Corporate – U.K.,EUROPE,U.S.A.
Australasia, etc. Profitability metrics, CLV
Customer
Customer satisfaction surveys – customer
feedback. Customer endorsements - web
based
Brand recall/awareness of brand
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Possible questions
1.
What branding strategy should Signifo adopt to
maximise sales and profitability?
2.
Prepare a communications plan which will
increase sales and profitability for Signifo
across all its target markets
3.
What branding and positioning strategy should
Signifo adopt to improve its appeal to U.S.
corporate customers?
4.
Devise a marketing plan to make Signifo a leading
player in the mid sized market in Europe.
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Possible questions
5.
Prepare a relationship marketing campaign
which will effectively increase Signifo
customer loyalty and their lifetime value.
6.
Signifo is at the crossroads in its
development and growth. Produce a
strategic marketing plan which will ensure
increased revenue from expense
management and negate the marketing
strategies of domestic and international
predators.
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Possible questions
7.
Prepare a corporate social responsibility
charter for Signifo in the light of the
recent tightening of security legislation,
such as SOX in the U.S. and the FSA in the
UK.
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