SME COMMUNICATION TRENDS IN B-TO-B MARKETS. AN EXPLORATORY SURVEY IN AN ITALIAN INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT

Due to several emerging market drivers (the co-creation of value, the increasingly global competition, the diffusion of ICT), the traditional factors relating to the success of SMEs (i.e., flexibility and specialization) are no longer enough to ensure sustainable competitive advantage. Other key factors, mainly intangible (relationships, trust, reputation, etc.), seem to lead to a value proposition in which the role of marketing and communication becomes crucial. The main aim of this contribution is therefore to analyse the relevance of corporate/marketing communications in the management of SMEs. In other words, the goal is to show whether SMEs take into account corporate/marketing communication activities in b-to-b markets and how the approach to those activities differs among them. For this purpose, we are introducing a framework to classify and compare the attitude to communication of industrial companies. Starting from a literature review on communication in industrial marketing, our taxonomy aims to identify specific levels of awareness in engaging in communication activities. Each level of communication orientation adoption brings different skills in developing profitable relationships with relevant stakeholders. On this basis, an exploratory study is presented regarding a sample of firms operating in the leather tanning district of Solofra (Italy). In addition to the assessment of the current state of communication in the district, this survey allows to verify whether frequent marketing/corporate communication behaviours exist in b-to-b contexts.. The present investigation might have interesting effects both in terms of managerial implications as well as future research directions in this field of study (industrial SMEs’ marketing communication), in which a lot of areas can still be considered “grey”.