An IoT spin-off of a large technology group in the field of Industry 4.0, connected mobility and logistics had previously only been marketing an innovative automotive IoT product within the group. Marketing activities were now to be significantly stepped up in order to boost B2B business and also target end users with B2C advertising for the first time.
As a marketing and communications expert, the interim manager was tasked with developing a B2B and B2C marketing strategy as part of a task force. Based on this, she was to introduce a marketing plan to increase product sales to business customers and raise awareness of the product among end customers.
Brand positioning derived on the basis of a SWOT analysis
The interim manager used a SWOT analysis to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and risks of the product. On this basis, she derived strategic fields of action and specific measures as well as the brand positioning.
One of the particular challenges of the project was that the interim manager had to convince top management (C-level) in particular to provide the necessary structures and resources for marketing. Once this had been achieved, the interim manager drew up and implemented a resource-focused marketing and communication plan for the product for the first time. In order to promote an understanding of possible and necessary marketing measures within the company, she trained employees across departments on the topic of marketing.
Developed benefit argumentation and international use case guide
The interim manager drafted a benefit argumentation for marketing and sales promotion and developed an international use case guide for the product. To this end, she collected application examples worldwide and clarified the publication of these success stories with the respective companies, engineers and decision-makers. This use case guide is used by sales with international business customers and in new customer acquisition, and selected applications are also published online.
Advertisements for end customer communication and organization for the leading IoT trade fair
The interim manager was also responsible for designing and implementing advertisements for the product for the first-time end customer communication. She coordinated external service providers as well as liaising with central Group communications and selected sales partners. In addition, the interim manager was involved in the organization of the leading global IoT trade fair "Bosch Connected World" and carried out personnel deployment planning and trade fair team training.
The particular challenge for the future of the company is to consistently continue its marketing activities. It is also important to continue working through open areas of action and measures and to review the strategy at regular intervals in the future and optimize it if necessary.
