Product details

The case study is about a successful strategy formulated at Dow Corning for marketing commodity silicones, a chemical used in diverse applications. It deals with important issues in B2B marketing: refocusing on user needs and developing a 'needs-based' segmentation of industrial customers; bundling and de-bundling of technical services; branding of commodity chemicals; web-based low price/no-frills value proposition; making money with commodities. The case also describes a 'tipping point' in Dow Corning's history and strategy where their leadership in the silicone business was at stake; management had to chart radically new ways to compete in commoditized markets - what they call their 'disruptive innovation'. At the end the students are asked to look at the success of Xiameter (the company's web-based brand) and decide its future. The choices are: maintain status quo; incrementally fine tune the strategy; go for a major overhaul.