Outlining direct marketing features of companies applying this approach when measuring their market orientation

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OUTLINING DIRECT MARKETING FEATURES OF COMPANIES APPLYING THIS APPROACH WHEN MEASURING THEIR MARKET ORIENTATION

Mihaylova Mihaela

ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯ ОСОБЛИВОСТЕЙ ПРЯМОГО МАРКЕТИНГУ КОМПАНІЙ ПРИ ВИЗНАЧЕННІ ЇХ РИНКОВОЇ ОРІЄНТАЦІЇ

Міхайлова Міхаела

Актуальність теми дослідження. Необхідність збору інформації та її аналізу відіграє вирішальну роль, коли йдеться про задоволення споживачів краще, ніж це роблять конкуренти. Планування та координація діяльності компанії відповідно до вимог споживачів задля досягнення довгострокового успіху є важливими питаннями, що підлягають дослідженню в даній статті.

Аналіз останніх досліджень і публікацій. Існуюча література в галузі прямого маркетингу була проаналізована в аспектах визначення прямого маркетингу, спілкування з клієнтами на індивідуальному рівні, підходу до побудови довгострокових відносин з ними, зберігання та аналізу інформації, що стосується реакції споживачів.

Постановка завдання, мети дослідження. Представляючи нещодавно розроблену методологію дослідження особливостей прямого маркетингу компаній, що застосовують цей підхід, ця стаття має на меті запропонувати інструментарій для диференціації таких компаній при визначенні рівня їх ринкової орієнтації.

Метод або методологія проведення дослідження. Дані було зібрано за допомогою Інтернет- опитування онлайн. Ринкова орієнтація компаній вимірюється з застосуванням шкали MARKOR.

Викладення основного матеріалу (результати роботи). Ця стаття являє собою один з етапів дослідження, проведеного в Болгарії в 2018 році, метою якого є оцінка рівня ринкової орієнтації компаній, що застосовують підхід прямого маркетингу, пов'язаний із взаємодією споживачів та компанії і спрямований на збір, обробку, представлення та зберігання фактичної інформації. В якості респондентів виступили компанії, що працюють на болгарському ринку та активно застосовують підхід прямого маркетингу. Процес диференціації компаній проходить крізь два послідовних та взаємопов'язаних етапи. Перший етап має на меті дослідити діяльність компаній щодо прямого маркетингу, встановлюючи, чи мають місце декілька з його заходів в роботі компанії. Другий етап складається з аналізу специфіки застосування кожного такого заходу. Перелік запитань до респондентів на обох етапах обґрунтовується у дослідженні відповідно до підходу прямого маркетингу.

Висновки відповідно до статті. Прямий маркетинг та його застосування в болгарських компаніях здійснюється згідно з принципами збереження актуальної для покупців інформації; моніторингу, запису та аналізу відповідей покупців; розробки різних пропозицій для різних клієнтів виходячи з їх цінності для компанії.

Ключові слова: прямий маркетинг, ринкова орієнтація, продукт, інтерактивний процес, комунікація, довгострокові відносини.

ИССЛЕДОВАНИЕ ОСОБЕННОСТЕЙ ПРЯМОГО МАРКЕТИНГА КОМПАНИЙ ПРИ ОПРЕДЕЛЕНИИ ИХ РЫНОЧНОЙ ОРИЕНТАЦИИ

Михайлова Михаэла

Актуальность темы исследования. Необходимость сбора информации и ее анализа играет решающую роль, когда речь идет об удовлетворении потребителей лучше, чем это делают конкуренты. Планирование и координация деятельности компании в соответствии с требованиями потребителей для достижения долгосрочного успеха - важные вопросы, подлежащие исследованию в данной статье.

Анализ последних исследований и публикаций. Существующая литература в области прямого маркетинга была проанализирована в аспектах определения прямого маркетинга, общения с клиентами на индивидуальном уровне, подхода к построению долгосрочных отношений с ними, хранения и анализа информации, касающейся реакции потребителей.

Постановка задачи, цели исследования. Представляя недавно разработанную методологию исследования особенностей прямого маркетинга компаний, применяющих этот подход, эта статья имеет цель - предложить инструментарий для дифференциации таких компаний при определении уровня их рыночной ориентации.

Метод или методология проведения исследования. Данные были собраны с помощью Интернет-опрос онлайн. Рыночная ориентация компаний измеряется с применением шкалы MARKOR.

Изложение основного материала (результаты работы). Эта статья представляет собой один из этапов исследования, проведенного в Болгарии в 2018 году, целью которого является оценка уровня рыночной ориентации компаний, применяющих подход прямого маркетинга, связанный с взаимодействием потребителей и компании и направлен на сбор, обработку, представление и хранение фактической информации. В качестве респондентов выступили компании, работающие на болгарском рынке, которые активно применяют подход прямого маркетинга. Процесс дифференциации компаний проходит сквозь два последовательных и взаимосвязанных этапа. Цель первого этапа - исследование деятельности компаний по прямому маркетингу, устанавливая, какие из его мероприятий используются в работе компании. Второй этап состоит из анализа специфики применения каждого такого мероприятия. Перечень вопросов к респондентам на всех этапах обосновывается в исследовании соответственно с подходом прямого маркетинга.

Выводы соответствии со статьей. Прямой маркетинг и его применение в болгарских компаниях осуществляется в соответствии с принципами сохранения актуальной для покупателей информации; мониторинга, записи и анализа ответов покупателей; разработки различных предложений для разных клиентов исходя из их ценности для компании.

Ключевые слова: прямой маркетинг, рыночная ориентация, продукт, интерактивный процесс, коммуникация, долгосрочные отношения.

Relevance of research topic. The need of gathering of information and its analysis plays a crucial role when it is question about satisfying customer better than competitors. Planning and coordinating the company's activities according to customer's requirements in order to achieve long-term success are important themes commented and present in the article.

Analysis of recent research and publications. The existing literature in the field of the direct marketing was analyzed on issues of Direct Marketing definition, communicating on individual level, a long-term relationship approach, keeping and analyzing the information related to the customer's reaction.

Setting the task, the purpose of the study. Presenting a newly developed methodology of outlining direct marketing features of companies applying this approach, this article aims to offer a tool to distinguish these companies when evaluating their level of market orientation.

Method or methodology for conducting research. The data has been collected by an Internet online survey. The market orientation of the companies is measured by the scale MARKOR.

Presentation of the main material (results of work). This article represents one of the stages of a study taken in Bulgaria in 2018 aiming to evaluate the level of market orientation of companies applying direct marketing approach related to the interaction between the customer and the company, and aimed to collection, processing, presence, maintaining and storage of actual information. The respondents are companies operating on the Bulgarian market which actively apply direct marketing approach. The process of differentiating the companies passes through two consecutive and interrelated phases. The first phase aims to outline the direct marketing activities by checking if several of them are present and applied by the company. The second phase consists of analyzing the specifics of each activity. The set of questions to the respondents within the both phases is substantiated in the study according to the direct marketing approach.

Conclusions according to the article. In Bulgarian companies the direct marketing and its application is guided by the principles of maintaining the information actual for customers; monitoring, recording and analyzing the customer's response; developing different proposals for different clients based on their value for the company.

Key words: direct marketing, market orientation, customers, product, interactive process, communication, long-terms relations.

This article represents one of the stages of a study taken in Bulgaria, in 2018 aiming to evaluate the level of market orientation of companies applying direct marketing approach. The data has been collected by an Internet online survey. The respondents are companies operating on the Bulgarian market which actively apply direct marketing approach. This means that they have communicated during the last 24 months with their clients without using an intermediary. The observed units represent employees working in different department within these companies, taking into consideration that market orientation is a conception which affect the organization as a whole. Mainly these are employees from Marketing, Sales, Project management and Customer Service departments. The sample is composed by 97 respondents.

The process of differentiating the companies - object of this article - passes through two consecutive and interrelated phases: The first phase aims to outline the direct marketing activities by checking if several of them are present and applied by the company. Such activities are: offering products or services directly and without an intermediary, collecting and using actual information based on individual level, possibility of monitoring and measuring customer's reaction, drive to provoke a reaction and a drive to initiate and maintain an ongoing interactive process between the customer and the company. The second phase consists of analyzing the specifics of every concrete activity (its manifestation and impact) which is typical for the direct marketing approach.

The first phase starts with the following question: «Taking into consideration the interaction with your customers [1, 2] The term “customer interaction has been chosen based on the conception supported by academics like Arens and Marinov Kr., please select the level of your agreement with the following statements». These statements are framed after analyzing the existing literature in the field of the Direct marketing. In addition, the respondents can choose the following levels of agreement: (1) Strongly disagree; (2) Disagree; (3) Neither agree nor disagree; (4) Agree; (5) Strongly agree.

Statements one and two:

1. When offering our product, we aim for customers to contact us (by phone, by mail, by visiting our physical store, etc.) and this to happen without an intermediary.

2. When offering our product, we aim for the customer to provoke immediate reaction on their behalf.

They are related to the reaction which is provoked as a consequence of the applied direct marketing as this is an essential element of its conception. When interpreting the Direct Marketing, Marinov Kr. comments that it is «... the interactive use of advertising media targeting to stimulate an immediate behavior change» [2]. We find a similar position exposed in the definition of the American Marketing Association: «The set of all activities targeted to the audience by the seller when one or more media are used (...) during the exchange of products and services with the buyer» [3]. The goal of this activity is provoking a response by phone, mil, e-mail or initiating a personal visit by the client or potential customer.

3. Our company possesses information for every single customer who has bought our products and to whom they have been offered.

Communicating on individual level is one of the distinctive characteristics of the direct marketing as mentioned by Bauer L. C. and Miglautsch J. [4]. This is a feature defining the appropriate applying of personalization approaches, establishing and maintaining long-term relations, as well as building customer loyalty approach. Desmet [5] is one of the scientists commenting the «systematic use of information on individual level» and for «management of (...) personal transactions»

4. We make efforts to maintain the information actual for our customers (personal data, contact data, proposal history, order history, etc.).

This statement is based on the apply of direct marketing approaches. When commenting the appropriate applying of personalization approach, it could be achieved only if an actual information is present. The long-terms relations, in the context of long-term relationship approach, are possible when historical data, based on the interaction between the company and the customer, is present. And although Zeithaml, V. A., et al. [6] report the historical nature of the data in the systems for managing information as a defect (i.e. they register events that are already passed), it is exactly the historical element which helps in outlying trends - i.e. it is a reference point when applying the long-term relationships approach.

This statement is based as well on other direct marketing characteristic - the striving to initiate an immediate customer response. As a consequence, this response helps on actualizing the customer's profile.

5. We develop different proposals for different clients (or clients' groups) based on their value for the company.

The term «long-term customer value» could be found in the expression - customer value for the company. This statement aims to track the application of the long-term relationships approach which is based on the evaluation of the long-term customer's value.

6. We develop different proposals (e.g. different products' modification; products with different related services, etc.) for the different clients (clients' groups) based on the whole information that we posses about them.

For the direct marketing is crucial to select the right segments in order to target them with an offer representing an actual and valuable possibility for satisfying their needs. In this way an immediate response could be provoked.

7. Customer's response to the offers is being monitored, recorded and analyzed.

Keeping and analyzing the information related to the customer's reaction is one of the main direct marketing subjects. When defining the direct marketing Marinov Kr. [2] stresses on the fact that it aims an «immediate behavior change... so, this could be monitored, recorded, analyzed and stored into databases... and used in the future». Bauer L. C. and Miglautsch J. [4] confirm this by using the term «tracking codes» and more concretely: this is a process, related to the marketing of searching, transforming and maintaining, which includes feedback on individual level.

8. We strive to personalize our communication with the clients.

Personal approach is a starting point when creating long-term relationships with the customers. Personalization is based on the technologies application in order to obtain and to confirm the specific customers characteristics which can be used during the offer creation or during the communication with them.

9. Our customers have the possibility subscribe for our newsletter.

Several dimensions can be commented within the context of the subscription:

- First dimension of this subscription is related the customer's reaction and their wish to affiliate to the company;

- Second dimension represents the direct relation between the company and the customers is being established;

- The third one is oriented toward the company and its possibility to acquire actual contact information for the customers;

- The fourth one is that the subscription can be a prerequisite for communication's personalizing

10. We prefer offering our products to customers who are being previously subject of research.

This statement aims to check if the companies are oriented to an auditory which is being researched in advance. It is based on the American marketing association definition for direct marketing which includes «the total of all activities by which the seller, in effecting the exchange of goods and services with the buyer directs efforts to a target audience». Desme's opinion has its impact on compositing our statement as well because of the presence of the term «systematic information use» within the direct marketing context and more precisely: «marketing activities, which are related to offers and personal transactions management as a consequence of the systematic use of information individual level information» [6].

Another reason for our statement could be found in our purpose to check if the phase of products/services offering happens after the process of gathering information for the customers.

The second phase consists of analyzing the specifics of every concrete activity which is typical for the direct marketing. In addition, its manifestation and impact are also subject of this part of the process of differentiating the companies applying direct marketing. For example - if during the first phase the respondent confirms the presence of activities related to provoking of customer's response, then during the second phase the possibility of specifying this activity is being provided.

The question is formulated into the following way:

«The offer oriented towards our potential customers often aims to provoke them to» Please select up to 3 answers.

a) do a purchase;

b) search an additional information for the company or for the product;

c) ask for a product demonstration;

d) share their opinion;

e) provide us with their contact information;

f) other (please specify)

The term «offer» The content of the offer in the direct marketing is not limited to the product or to the service to which it is being related. It includes pricing, warranting and additional features, related to the products and the services, as well as different reliefs. is present into the question as one of the direct marketing elements. Taking into consideration the clarification done by the expression «often aims» the respondents are given up to 3 options for an answer. This is due to the fact that we should check which are the consequences that the company aims to generate when contacting potential customers.

Other example for specifying and detailing a concrete activity is expressed into the following question:

Which channels/media are used by your company in order to reach your customers? Please select as many answers, as you want.

a) e-mail (sending mail);

b) classical mail;

c) telephone (outbound calls);

d) print media (publishing direct marketing message in newspaper or in a magazine);

e) an insert;

f) television;

g) radio;

h) Internet;

i) ether (please specify).

The explanation of the presence of this question is the following: if after the first phase a given company is defined as a direct marketing applying one, and as one of conditions of being such is to reach the customers by one or several media, then during this second stage the concrete type of the media used will be revealed.

The analysis of the existing literature gives us the reason to add this question. Scovotti, C. and Spiller, D. L. define the direct marketing as «a process driven by data extraction from the direct communication with targeted or potential customers when using whichever one mean in order to obtain a measurable response or transaction via one or more channels» [7]. They track direct marketing development in the context of using the phone, computer, databases, Internet and the e-mail. The presence of so many options to select as answers of the question and without any restriction on their number, is based especially on this fact. Also, we can confirm that even the possibility of using one media exists, the addition of any other media could only generate a bigger positive effect because media in direct marketing are the complement of one another.

As the direct marketing features are analyzed in the context of market orientation, the market orientation is being measured by the scale MARKOR [8] developed by Kohli, Jaworski and Kumar.

In brief, the conclusion that could be done after conducting the research is the following. In Bulgaria, the direct marketing and its application is guided by the principles:

- We make efforts to maintain the information actual for our customers;

- Monitoring, recording and analyzing the customer's response;

- Developing different proposals for different clients (or clients' groups) based on their value for the company.

The most preferred media are the e-mail and the phone, and the main goal when contacting customers is to make them order.

bulgarian marketing maintaining response

Sources

1. Arens, F. W. (1999), Contemporary Advertising: 7th Edition, Irwin McGraw-Hill, Boston, MA.

2. Marinov, Kr., (2011). Direct marketing. Conceptions and creative solutions. Sofiya, University Publishing House «Stopanstvo».

3. Bauer, L. C. and Miglautsch, J. (1992). A Conceptual Definition of Direct Marketing. Journal of Direct Marketing, Vol. 6, (2) pp. 7-17.

4. Desmet, P. (2005). Marketing Direct: concepts et methodes. Dunod, 3e edition, p. 7.

5. Zeithaml, V. A., et al., (2006). Forward Looking Focus: Can Firms have Adaptive Foresight? Journal of Service Research, Vol. 9 (2), pp. 168-83.

6. Scovotti, C.; Spiller, D. L. (2006). Revisiting the conceptual definition of direct marketing. Marketing Management Journal, Vol. 16, No.2, pp. 188-202.

7. Kohli, A., Jaworski, B. & Kumar, A. (1993). MARKOR: A measure of market orientation. Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 30, pp. 467-477.

8. Kohli, A. K. and Jaworski, B. J., (1990). Market Orientation: The Construct, Research Propositions, and Managerial Implications. Journal of Marketing, Vol. 54, (2), pp. 1-18.

9. Lambin J. J. and Caceres Ch. R. (2006). L'orientation-marche est-elle une strategie rentable pour l'entreprise? Recherche et Applications en Marketing, Vol. 21, (2), pp. 1-29.

10. Narver, J. and Slater, S., (1990). The Effect of a Market Orientation on Business Profitability. Journal of Marketing, Vol. 54, (4), pp. 20-35.

11. Payne, F. A. (1988). Developing a Marketing-Oriented Organization. Business Horizons, May-June, Vol.31, (3), pp. 46-53.

12. Shapiro, P. B. (1988). What the Hell is Market Oriented. Harvard Business Review, pp.119-125.

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