Marketing Strategy Analysis: Stihl Inc.'s Go-to-Market Approach

This report analyzes the marketing strategy of Stihl Inc., focusing on its distribution channels and go-to-market approach. It examines the advantages and disadvantages of utilizing home centers versus independent retailers, considering factors such as convenience, price, after-sales support, and resource management. The report also explores potential future market and customer changes, including shifting demographics and evolving consumer needs. Based on this analysis, the report recommends that Stihl Inc. reduce its dependence on home centers and invest more in independent dealerships and social media marketing to enhance customer service and promote its products effectively. The analysis uses insights from the provided case study and supporting research to develop these recommendations.

Running head: MARKETING STRATEGY
MARKETING STRATEGY
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Author Note

1MARKETING STRATEGY
BOARD 1 – Home Centres V’s Independent Retailers
 Positives: The Home Centres of Stihl Inc. are huge in size and even present in the
remote communities in the US and have secured great benefits for the customers.
The Home centres offer convenient shopping as they provide the customers with a
range of products, centralized information, supply chain efficiencies and
rationalized category management within a very reasonable price range. Hence,
they had net sales of $50 billion in 2008 due to the sheer efficiency of the retail
systems (Wilson 2017).
 Negatives: The vast size of the Home Centres, which can be as huge as three
football fields, often makes shopping tiresome and the floor staff even fails to
perform their best (Kalyanam and Tsay 2013). There is also an absence of proper
after sales technical support. In order to achieve the lowest price for the product,
the Home Centres neglected the other facets for profit margins and hence resulted
in dysfunctional management of the resources provided by the manufacturer.
BOARD 2 – What is likely to happen in the future when invested in a single strategy?
 Market Changes: The single strategy of working closely with dealers and
investing in independent dealers than relying on the Big Boxes shall result in big
dividends for Stihl (Thomas and Wilkinson 2015). The market share of the
company will also improve and more so by acquiring home and garden partners.
The independent dealers shall also locate the shifting demographics of the
customer needs in the market and hence provide better profit margins for Stihl.

2MARKETING STRATEGY
 Customer Changes: With the changing demographics of the contemporary
world, the types of customers and their needs are changing and Stihl shall
incorporate the same to function better (Albers et al. 2018). The number of single
people purchasing homes are increasing and hence the supply of the Stihl products
shall increase. Focusing on these changes the company can readjust the
distribution system of motorcycle and home appliance dealerships to incorporate
the needs of the younger generation customers.
BOARD 3 – Changing Strategy
 Recommendations:
1. Stihl should reduce their dependence on the home centres and
focus more on the independent dealerships and other distribution
channels as the efficacy of the huge home centres is reduced since
the customers want fast service and proper after sales services.
2. The company also needs to focus more on the promotional
strategies involving the varied social media platforms.
 Reasons:
1. By reducing the dependence on the Home Centres, the customers
shall be benefited as it would be easier for them to access the
products. A better customer service system can also be
incorporated by the individual dealers resulting in the mutual
benefit of the customers and the company.
2. The company should utilize the varied strategies for social media
marketing in order to enhance the promotion of the products and
thereby the sales of the company. The widespread reach of the

3MARKETING STRATEGY
social media platforms makes the information regarding the brand
and its products reach the customers faster and in a more effective
manner that lures the customers to purchase the products.

4MARKETING STRATEGY
References
Albers, A., Heimicke, J., Walter, B., Basedow, G.N., Reiß, N., Heitger, N., Ott, S. and
Bursac, N., 2018. Product Profiles: Modelling customer benefits as a foundation to bring
inventions to innovations. Procedia CIRP, 70(1), pp.253-258.
Kalyanam, K. and Tsay, A.A., 2013. Free riding and conflict in hybrid shopping
environments: Implications for retailers, manufacturers, and regulators. The antitrust bulletin,
58(1), pp.19-68.
Thomas, A.R. and Wilkinson, T.J., 2015. The STIHL Story. In The Customer Trap (pp. 75-
90). Apress, Berkeley, CA.
Wilson, R.E., 2017. Stihl incorporated: Go-to-market strategy for next-generation consumers.
Kellogg School of Management Cases, pp.1-32.