I hope that you have enjoyed the article \u201cHow Supply Chain Can Woo Marketing.\u201d<\/p>\n
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In the article, I provided three ways that a supply chain department can be a perfect marketing collaboration partner.\u00a0 I wanted to expand upon the first way here.<\/p>\n
Part of Marketing\u2019s job is to communicate the organization\u2019s competitive advantage to prospective customers.\u00a0 Competitive advantage can be a number of things:\u00a0 quality, low cost, service, speed, social responsibility, agility, etc.<\/p>\n
So, if Marketing is touting quality as the organization\u2019s competitive advantage, the entire organization \u2013 including Supply Chain \u2013 needs to work to ensure that it is contributing to that competitive advantage.\u00a0 Otherwise, it might not actually be an advantage or differentiator.\u00a0 At worst, Marketing\u2019s pitch could be a lie.<\/p>\n
Think about this.\u00a0 You may be like me, a Starbucks junkie.<\/p>\n
Now, do you or I drink Starbucks because it is the least expensive coffee available?<\/p>\n
Heck no!<\/p>\n
So, why do we drink Starbucks?<\/p>\n
Because of its superior taste, right?<\/p>\n
Well, that and maybe that little extra jolt we get that helps us make it through a Monday in the office *winkwink*.<\/p>\n
So, it is quality \u2013 and not low cost \u2013 that is a competitive advantage for Starbucks.<\/p>\n
Now, think about Ford.\u00a0 You\u2019ve probably heard their marketing\u00a0slogan \u201cBuilt Ford Tough\u201d a gazillion times.\u00a0 Ford has been using it for over 35 years to advertise their trucks!<\/p>\n
Those three words communicate durability.\u00a0 Every department \u2013 and employee \u2013 who contributes to the manufacture of a Ford truck should have durability first and foremost in their mind.<\/p>\n
In this USA Today article, a Ford marketing manager said of the slogan, \u201cIt\u2019s much more than a tagline. It\u2019s the brand promise\u2026We\u2019re going to deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, I personally don\u2019t know how Ford measures its\u00a0supply chain\u00a0performance.\u00a0 But I bet that it\u2019s not like many less-successful organizations, who measure\u00a0supply chain\u00a0performance by only one metric:\u00a0 cost savings.<\/p>\n
In some organizations who compete solely on price, perhaps cost savings should be the primary\u00a0supply chain\u00a0performance measure.\u00a0 But when the marketing message is all about durability, there has to be organizational alignment.\u00a0 You don\u2019t want your supply chain people blindly accepting every low bid without regard to the suppliers\u2019 quality.<\/p>\n
Ford clearly believes that it is \u201cgoing to deliver.\u201d\u00a0 And the facts cited in the article \u2013 that there are more Ford pickups on the road with more than 250,000 miles than any other brand \u2013 suggest that the mentality of durability has indeed permeated the supply chain.<\/p>\n
So, I hope that I have made the case for close supply chain-marketing collaboration.\u00a0 If there is misalignment in your organization, you may be contributing to your organization\u2019s loss of market share.\u00a0 Supply chain priorities should\u00a0help market share maximization, not hurt it.\u00a0 The right measurements ensure alignment of priorities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I hope that you have enjoyed the article \u201cHow Supply […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":4102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-procurement"],"yoast_head":"\n