Hiperbaric: Evaluating Multi-Channel Integration for Communications

This project provides a comprehensive analysis of Hiperbaric's multi-channel integration strategy, examining various communication, sales, and delivery channels. The analysis begins by identifying the tasks performed within each channel, assessing their value, and evaluating their effectiveness in achieving channel objectives. The project explores the performance of direct sales, digital communications (email, forums, social media, blog, website), and traditional communication methods (cold calling, trade shows). The evaluation includes an assessment of each channel's impact on lead generation, qualification, sales closure, and customer support. The project highlights the strengths and weaknesses of each channel, such as the limited activity on social media platforms and the challenges in interacting with public administration. Finally, the project identifies areas for improvement, focusing on enhancing customer engagement, optimizing digital presence, and strengthening the overall communication strategy. The project is based on the provided data on Hiperbaric's communication and sales efforts.

Multi-Channel Integration Map
Company Name: Hiperbaric COMMUNICATIONS TASK SALES & DELIVERY TASK
SALES
VALUE
High
to
Low
Sales Task LEAD GENERATION
(PROSPECT) QUALIFICATION BID & PROPOSAL
(PROVIDE INFO)
NEGOTIATION/SALES
CLOSURE FULFILLMENT CUSTOMER CARE AND
SUPPORT
Channel
Direct Sales
Channel
( Field
Representatives)
Teacher &
Scientists Effective to an extent Experts in high pressure and
other technologies.
Can be managed in a better
manner
They are regular participants
in fairs, forums and
congresses as speakers.
Moderate Interaction level can be
strengthened
Public
Administration Difficult
They brought about
significant regulatory
changes.
Challenging for the business
They are important since they
give a push to latest
technology.
Limited New interaction model needs
to be developed
Business
Partners
Distributors Least effective at events They promote use of best
technological methods.
Can be managed in a better
manner
The objective is to improve
the overall quality of the food
products.
Limited Interaction level can be
strengthened
Agents They form an important part
of the communication model
They help business to be
more prominent
Presence is there which can
be further explored.
Agents like to be in control of
the situation Moderate
Better involvement of these
instruments can help the
business.
Digital
Communications
Channel
Targeted
(Email) Effective to an extent Email is sent with business
newsletter every 3 months
Interaction could be
enhanced and made more
personalized.
Limited and ineffective since
many emails cannot be
converted into sales
Limited Customer’s curiosity needs to
be tapped.
Forums The business understood its
relevance.
The business could work on it
to share more level of
information.
Further Scope to establish
better interaction. Effective to some extent Further scope is there
Still better interactive
opportunities must be
created.
Linkedin Limited activity – Does not
add much value to business
Basic details are captured.
Not active. It has 68
followers.
It appears under its old name
– NC Hyperbaric SA. Poorly managed Limited More engagement with
customer is necessary.
Facebook Limited activity – Does not
add much value to business Joined in 2011.
It does not post on a frequent
basis about its business and
operational activities.
Poorly managed Limited More engagement with
customer is necessary.
Twitter Limited activity – Does not
add much value to business
It is on Twitter since 2 years.
Its average tweet is 1.5
tweets a month.
It has 125 followers on its
Twitter account due to its
limited activity on the
platform.
Poorly managed Limited More engagement with
customer is necessary.
Youtube Limited activity – Does not
add much value to business
Minimum updation. Last
update was 10 months old
It has only 15 subscribers in
its channel Poorly managed Last update on its channel
was 10 months ago.
Ineffective. Needs to update
the customers on its new
offerings.
Blog Blog is situated on the main
homepage of the website
The official blog acts as an
interaction platform
Positive step for business to
communicate with
stakeholders
Effective Managed in an effective way Could be further
strengthened.
Websit
e(Hiperbaric.com)
Basic website – Limited
impact
Limited to corporate and
product description without
transactional characteristics.
Presentation purpose only
Nott very active since no
transactional features of
offerings are included.
It is used to send newsletter
to the collected email ids
every 3 months.
Limited
Customer training is needed
to take advantage of the
online website environment.
Traditional
Communications
Channel
Cold Calling Limited effect depending on
their needs and requirements It is uncertain in nature. Moderate and varies in
nature
Business could focus on
better interaction strategy. Limited Difficult to build rapport with
customers
Call A moment of individual
discovery
Unpredictable but sometimes
it works.
Moderate and varies in
nature
On a few occasions it is
converted into sales Moderate
Better communication with
customers must be
established
Trade Shows Presence is positive.
Seminars, congresses, and
other events are useful for
business but they require
immense effort.
Presence is limited due to
lack of necessary resource
support
Due to various constraints,
the business cannot attend
more number of events.
Moderate to positive
Needs to further strengthen
the channel through better
interaction model.
Physical
(Distribution)
Presence in form of
distribution channels
Help overall objective of
business by linking business
with customer
Important role in the business
set-up.
Effective Moderate Their role can be
strengthened in the process.

SALES CYCLE
Summary
Direct Sales Channel
Teacher & Scientists – The Hiperbaric business makes a sincere attempt to reache the teachers and scientists at different events that they both attend so that the B2B
business can grow in size.
Public administration – The business fids it challenging to interact with public administration. One of the key reasons is that the audiences are very scattered on this platform
which makes it hard for the business to reach them (Ellis, 2016).
Distributors – According to Hiperbaric business’ commercial director Mr Correa, they face a similar issue with the distributors as well in the business to business marketing
scenario. The business has failed to focus on such groups since its limited business size prevents it from doing so and these important members of the B2B market do not attend
such kinds of events.
Agents – They form an integral part of the communication model since the help the business to expand its reach in the market.
Digital Communications Channel
Email – The business concern sends business newsletter to the various email ids every 3 months. This model is ineffective a number of times since not all the emails are
sent to the prospects that genuinely show interest. Thus many emails cannot be converted into sales.
Forums – The business understands its significance but needs to further work on this aspect so that vital information regarding high pressure technology can be shared on the
communication platform. It is a vital tool in the B2B marketing scenario for the business firm (Gummesson, 2014).
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube – The business’s presence on various social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube is limited. The last update on
its official YouTube channel was 10 months old. It shows that it must gear up to be more active on the online social media platform. On Facebook it does not post on a
frequent basis about its business and operational activities. On Twitter account it has 125 followers which is very low for a business. The reason could be its limited
activity on the platform. Information on LinkedIn is very basic and it has not even updated its new name on the website.
Blog – The Hiperbaric blog is located on the official website of the business and it covers a number of topics that relate to its business and other operational activities. It is a
positive step in its communication model (Hadjikhani & LaPlaca, 2013).
Website – The business website is somewhat basic in nature since it incorporates the corporate and product description of features. It is only used by the concern for
presentation purpose.
Traditional Communication Channel
The CEO segregated the customers into two types – customers contacted through cold calling and customers proactively interested in the pressure technological aspects. The
latter customers are a form of individually discovery for the business.
In trade shows the business’ presence is better since it takes part in seminars and events. But still it is not able to totally exploit this traditional communication channel due to the
unavailability of resources (Wiersema, 2013).

Step 1: Identify the Communications Channels
What are the tasks that are performed?
Step 2: Identify the physical Product / Service Delivery Channels
What are the tasks that are performed?
Step 3: What Value does each channel add to each task?
Step 4: How does each channel add value in achieving the Channel Tasks from Fig. 4.1?
Step 5: Can you see any areas for improvement?
References
Ellis, N., 2016. Constructing identities in Indian business networks: discourse analysis in B2B marketing research. Palgrave Macmillan.
Gummesson, E., 2014. The theory/practice gap in B2B marketing: reflections and search for solutions. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 29(7/8), pp.619-625.
Hadjikhani, A. and LaPlaca, P., 2013. Development of B2B marketing theory. Industrial Marketing Management, 42(3), pp.294-305.
Wiersema, F., 2013. The B2B agenda: The current state of B2B marketing and a look ahead.