Question

Topic: Student Questions

Marketing Mix Strategy For Metavante Corporation

Posted by Anonymous on 12/7/2008 at 4:50 PM ET 75 Points
Based on all the information below that I provide of Metavante Corporation, identify an effective way to reach potential customers by using marketing mix.

I research Metavante Corporation company and the following information in order to provide an effective way to reach potential customers by using marketing mix.
a. Company Name: __Metavante Corporation_
b. Company Location: 4900 W Brown Deer Rd, Milwaukee, WI 53223-2422
c. Product line description: Delivers virtually all the technology that an organization needs to offer financial services.
Products:
*Online payment file transfer software and application hosting services
*Internet-based bill payment services and software consulting services
*Customer relation management software: cash management and funds transfer software (Account activity software)
*Report generators, encryption and authentification security software
d. Primary SIC code: 7372 - Prepackaged software
e. Company’s primary customer segment: Primary segments include financial institutions. In another words, Metavante delivers banking and payment technologies to over 8,600 financial services firm and businesses worldwide.

I also Identified two leading competitors of this company, which are:
a. Competitor 1 Name: BA Merchant Services
b. Competitor 1 Location: 1231 Durrett Ln, Louisville, KY 40213-2008
c. Product line description: BA Merchant Services: Handles more than 7 million check and credit, debit, stored value, and electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card transactions annually.
Products:
*Financial Services: Transaction, Credit & Collections: transaction processing and settlement
d. SIC codes: 6099 - Functions related to deposit banking
7374 - Data processing and preparation
e. Competitor 2 Name: First Data
f. Competitor 2 Location: 6200 S. Quebec St, Greenwood Village, CO 80111
g. Product line description: First Data is in charge of transaction processing and funds transfer.
Products:
*Financial Services: TRANSACTION, CREDIT & COLLECTIONS
* Check Guarantee, Electronic payments, Transaction Processing & Settlement
*Accounting and Banking :Automated Teller Machine Operators
h. SIC codes:
4822 - Telegraph & other communications
6099 - Functions related to deposit banking
7374 - Data processing and preparation
7375 - Information retrieval services
7379 - Computer related services, nec
7389 - Business services, nec

I thought that the effective way to reach potential customers was to analyze all the elements of marketing mix which I did below this message, however, I was told I need to be more specific, can you help me?

Metavante Corporation could use all of the elements found in marketing mix to reach potential customers based on strategic marketing by promoting themselves through the Internet or financial magazines. Below is an analysis of the marketing mix for the Metavante Corporation.
Product: Provide better software that includes a more advanced tool to manage the use of accounts online. An online guidance tool that will provide help in answering questions for new customers.
Promotion: Attract new customers worldwide through online adds, software trials, and online guidance tools trial. Reach customers through financial magazines, financial tv programs, and newspapers providing detailed information of the online database. Have service professionals in stores to explain to new customers how convenient and easy the software is compare to other ones.
Price: Value based pricing because customers will assume a higher price with higher quality. Place: Primarily online since it conducts e-business. This allows convenient to access and easy to manage accounts.

Overall, Metavante Corporation could use these marketing strategies to customize marketing messages and promote the products the customers seek.

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RESPONSES

  • Posted by wnelson on 12/7/2008 at 5:56 PM Accepted
    Nice job of providing your input on this question. I enjoy helping students who put some effort and time into the questions. I would recommend that you place all your questions in the "student" category, as the team of experts gage their answers differently for students to be more in line with their needs. Since you have been asking a few questions now. If you need to pick up some quick points, feel free to answer my "Just for Fun" question https://www.marketingprofs.com/ea/qst_question.asp?qstID=26766.

    As far as your analysis goes, please take note that in all of marketing, we must keep the customer first. Your analysis is aimed heavily at what the company is doing, not the customers. You do mention in one spot that the customers are: Primary segments include financial institutions. On quick look at their website, I think that the geography of where these customers are is significant and should be mentioned. Take a look at this for the competitors too. You also missed one emerging, perhaps segment, given one of their products. Another opportunity for you to point up your analysis is to discuss what their 4 P's strategy is today. Add in competitive 4 P comparisons and you can point out potential weaknesses and opportunities for the company with respect to the 4 P's.

    With respect to your 4P's recommendations - The recommendations are a bit general. Largely, the recommendations you provide could fit almost any company in any business segment. By using the approach I mentioned above - analyze the 4 P strategy of the company and its competitors, your recommendations become more specific to the company and the situation.

    One point to make: The customers mentioned as their main customers are "Top 50 financial institutions." For Promotions and Place, you cite "Online" as an furtive area for them. I disagree! It's a little hard to tell from the financial reports, but I believe that their product is a high cost product - probably in the hundreds of thousands of dollars to low millions of dollars. These kinds of decisions are not made based on internet ads nor are they purchased over the internet. The buying decisions are made through direct sales efforts and corporate-level relationships forged (the CEO of the company meeting with the CIO or CEO of the target company). I would believe that while ads on the internet may have a place in the promotions strategy, the internet is probably not the prime effort. If at all, the internet would be a place for user's groups, perhaps. I would look to trade magazine ads and to direct sales as promotions efforts. And for place, I doubt that the internet even has a place in their strategy. They wouldn't be able to sell a million dollar software package over the internet, nor would anyone buy it. The more common place would be a board room.

    Your Price assessment is probably correct: value-based. Price is likely set based on a customized package of software and services on a customer-by-customer basis delivered in a detailed proposal and in several stages. This lines up nicely with value-based.

    For the Product dimension, high among the strategies would be to provide the client with every piece of software they might use. The company should provide software extensions for every area of a financial institution's needs. You will have to look at what financial institutions might need to effectively run their business and specifically list areas for expansion.

    Again, good start and I appreciate your effort. I hope this helps.

    Wayde
  • Posted on 12/7/2008 at 6:03 PM Author
    Metavante Corporation offers the intangible product of online software service which includes: file transfer information, cash management, consulting, and bill payment. In the market place, promotion takes an important role in Metavante Corporation. Is for this reason, I have chosen this element to illustrate in a deeper level how with its right management, marketers could explain to potential customers how convenient and easy the software is compare to competition. Promotion has different elements, but based on what I have studied in this class, my suggestion for Metavante Corporation is to use Informative Advertising early in each campaigns to educate consumers about the intangible service. Furthermore, due to that competition is more intense with BA Merchant Service and First Data as Metavante’s leading competitors, persuasive advertising is suggested to be used in order to reposition established brand for the company. The best way to reach potential customer is with Sales Promotion. The reason behind is that by providing deals to consumers like offering software trials and online guidance tools trials, it will encourage them to try the software and reduces consumer risk. The main disadvantage is that it may reduce perception of value. Another tactic that can be used is to offer loyalty programs where service professional agents go to malls, schools, stores, etc to explain to audience and potential customers how Metavante software is a better loyal service than other companies. The only disadvantage of this tactic is that is very expensive for the company.


    With the right management of the four Ps, this company continues to improve results and marketing
    effectiveness. Overall, the tactical changes I suggested to this company deal with improving how company
    informs and persuades potential customers to use this software.
    Do you have any suggestions that I missed to talk about in the Promotion stage of this company?
  • Posted by wnelson on 12/7/2008 at 7:15 PM Member
    I'm not trilled with the one line: Another tactic that can be used is to offer loyalty programs where service professional agents go to malls, schools, stores, etc to explain to audience and potential customers how Metavante software is a better loyal service than other companies. Remember this is a business-to-business company. Malls and schools would be more business-to-consumer oriented. I wouldn't think this would be effective. You mention persuasive ads but you don't mention where? Trade magazines? Financial newspapers (like Wall Street Journal)? You may want to make some specific suggestions - like names of magazines and papers. What about trade magazines and trade shows, and technical conferences in their promotions mix. Another tactic for b2b clients for technical products is the customer-specific conference. This is where companies hold a conference for one customer - where the customer has a lot of employees with jobs using or specifying the product in one location. They schedule customer-specific demos and delivery of papers, etc. Also, the company has high level meetings with the customer management.

    Also, what are they presently using for promotions and what are the competitors using for promotions now? Including this aspect will make your analysis and recommendations much more solid.

    Wayde
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 12/8/2008 at 9:07 AM Member
    I haven't hear what Metavante's unique selling proposition (USP) is - what makes their offering better than their competition in tangible ways. I'm not asking about features or products - I'm asking about the overt benefit that using them will produce for their client that their competitors don't have. That's where I'd start - otherwise Metavante's will be spending their time/$ chasing their competitors instead of leading them.
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