| Steelco | | | Week 3 | Case Analysis of Marketing | | |

Steelco

Case Analysis of Marketing
Introduction
The so-called I-beams are a standard element in modern construction used to build e.g. bridges, stadiums and super high-rise buildings. The I-beam market can be further segmented into small size beams up to 14-inches, in which a number of firms are active and a kind of perfect competition is taking place. As for the 14-inch to 24-inch range only Steelco and USX remain in an oligopoly. Above 24-inches though, USX holds a monopoly. Looking at the steel wide-flange beams in the US as a whole, one can see that Steelco and USX are the two major oligopolists. With Steelco pushing into the large range sector, ideally it can gain a …show more content…

Promotional activities have been pursued, but since there has been zero demand for a functioning product with a market, the failure must be connected to either the way of promotion or the wrong recipient of the promotion or both. Since there was absolutely no advertising, only some general information via email and explanations at shows to fabricators, it can be seen that both the promotional means and the recipients are wrong, since fabricators do not drive demand in this industry, but the constructors and the consumers that hire constructors. The main challenge for a new product in this industry is that the end consumer needs to be persuaded and convinced that the product will add value to him/her. If the customer perceives it as valuable there will be demand. Steelco did try to persuade its direct customer, the fabricators, of its product, but since the fabricators are only the intermediaries between the product and the end-customer, the constructor, the effort is largely futile. Recommendation
Although some information given to fabricators can be useful to the extent that they can prepare for the new large size beams, it is the constructor that needs to be awed by the possibilities and advantages of the product since it is absolutely new to the market with no demand. Therefore, it is reasonable to send out some general information via email or some Steelco representatives to fabricators, but focus on end-customers’ (i.e.