The marketing communications industry in flux: Large B2C advertisers’ viewpoint

The recent digitization, fragmentation of the media landscape and consumers’ changing media behavior are all changes that have had drastic effects on creating marketing communications. In order to create effective marketing communications large advertisers are now co-operating with a variety of marketing communications companies. The purpose of the study is to understand how advertisers perceive these different companies and more importantly how do advertisers expect their roles to change in the future as the media landscape continues to evolve. Especially the changing roles of advertising agencies and media agencies are examined as they are at the moment the most relevant partners of the advertisers. However, the research is conducted from a network perspective rather than focusing on single actors of the marketing communications industry network. The research was conducted using a qualitative theme interview method. The empirical data was gathered by interviewing representatives from nine of the 50 largest Finnish advertisers measured by media spending. Thus, the research was conducted solely from large B2C advertisers’ perspective while the views of their other relevant actors of the network were left unexplored. The interviewees were chosen with a focus on variety of points of view. The analytical framework that was used to analyze the gathered data was built the IMP group’s industrial network model that consists of actors, their resources and activities. As technology driven media landscape fragmentation and consumers’ changing media behavior continue to increase the complexity of creating marketing communications, advertisers are going to need to rely on a growing number of partnerships as they see that the current actors of the network will not be able to widen their expertise to answer to these new needs. The advertisers expect to form new partnerships with actors that are more specialized and able to react and produce activities more quickly than at the moment. Thus, new smaller and more agile actors with looser structures are going to appear to fill these new needs. Therefore, the need of co-operation between the actors is going to become more important. These changes pose the biggest threat for traditional advertising agencies as they were seen as being most unable to cope with the ongoing change. Media agencies are in a more favorable position for remaining relevant for the advertisers as they will be able to justify their activities and provided value by leveraging their data handling abilities. In general the advertisers expect to be working with a limited number of close actors and in addition having a network of smaller actors, which are used on a more ad hoc basis.

Design of an amplifier and an instrumentation setup for a harsh environment heat flux measurement application – case axial flux electric machine

Measurement is a tool for researching. Therefore, it is important that the measuring process is carried out correctly, without distorting the signal or the measured event. Researches of thermoelectric phenomena have been focused more on transverse thermoelectric phenomena during recent decades. Transverse Seebeck effect enables to produce thinner and faster heat flux sensor than before. Studies about transverse Seebeck effect have so far focused on materials, so in this Master’s Thesis instrumentation of transverse Seebeck effect based heat flux sensor is studied, This Master’s Thesis examines an equivalent circuit of transverse Seebeck effect heat flux sensors, their connectivity to electronics and choosing and design a right type amplifier. The research is carried out with a case study which is Gradient Heat Flux Sensors and an electrical motor. In this work, a general equivalent circuit was presented for the transverse Seebeck effect-based heat flux sensor. An amplifier was designed for the sensor of the case study, and the solution was produced for the measurement of the local heat flux of the electric motor to improve the electromagnetic compatibility.

Exploring relationship between marketing and sales - a case study of B2B ICT solution sales

Following the current trend of companies in changing and developing their businesses from transactional approach to relationship and solution oriented approach has set new requirements to internal cooperation of companies too. The relationship between marketing and sales has been identified to be critical to company's success here, but surprisingly little is known about it. The purpose of this study was to deepen understanding of the relationship between sales and marketing in business-to-business sales from operative sales employees' perspectives in solution selling context. The aim was to develop an explorative analytical construction and framework of the interface. The study was conducted as a literature review and an empirical qualitative explorative single case study. The data was collected by conducting six thematic interviews with sales employees of the case company. Observing sales and marketing, written documents and other materials used in sales were used as secondary source of information. The data was analyzed using qualitative case study analysis methods. The findings of the study support previous research findings of the interface between marketing and sales but also bring new propositions as analytical framework to construct the interface. As such, the interface was found to be a multi-dimensional and complex dynamic construction. As results of this study, there was an exploratory framework constructed. The construction consists of three explorative contexts of the interface: internal context, relationship emphasizing context and solution selling context. These contexts are further divided into lower levels as an outcome of the analysis. In addition the identified contexts, there are also conceptual domains identified, which are common to all the contexts. The role of mutual, cross-functional knowledge creation was found to be central in the interface.

Heat flux measurement inside internal combustion engine with gradient heat flux sensor.

This master’s thesis is devoted to study different heat flux measurement techniques such as differential temperature sensors, semi-infinite surface temperature methods, calorimetric sensors and gradient heat flux sensors. The possibility to use Gradient Heat Flux Sensors (GHFS) to measure heat flux in the combustion chamber of compression ignited reciprocating internal combustion engines was considered in more detail. A. Mityakov conducted an experiment, where Gradient Heat Flux Sensor was placed in four stroke diesel engine Indenor XL4D to measure heat flux in the combustion chamber. The results which were obtained from the experiment were compared with model’s numerical output. This model (a one – dimensional single zone model) was implemented with help of MathCAD and the result of this implementation is graph of heat flux in combustion chamber in relation to the crank angle. The values of heat flux throughout the cycle obtained with aid of heat flux sensor and theoretically were sufficiently similar, but not identical. Such deviation is rather common for this type of experiment.

Betonielementtien myynnin ja markkinoinnin kehittäminen

Työllä oli kaksi tavoitetta: tutkia betonielementtejä valmistavan Lipa-Betoni Oy:n myynnin ja markkinoinnin tilaa sekä laatia markkinointisuunnitelma Sepa Oy:n kanssa yhteistyössä kehitetylle puubetonivälipohjalaatalle. Tutkimus jakautui nähden tavoitteiden mukaisiin tutkimusosioihin. Rakennusalan markkinointi, tarkemmin betonielementtien markkinointi, voidaan suurelta osin nähdä projektien markkinointina. Siksi työn teoriaosuudessa käsiteltiin rakennusalan markkinointia projektimarkkinoinnin näkökulmasta; erityispiirteitä, vaiheita, referenssien ja asiakassuhteiden merkitystä sekä proaktiivista markkinointistrategiaa. Lisäksi tutkittiin markkinoinnin suunnitteluun, markkinoinnin kilpailukeinoihin sekä markkinoinnin tehokkuuden mittaamiseen liittyviä teorioita. Työn tuloksena esitettiin kehitysehdotukset Lipa-Betoni Oy:n myynnin ja markkinoinnin tehostamiseksi. Konkreettisimmat tulokset tästä tutkimusosiosta ovat asiakkuuksien hoitomalli segmenteittäin ja markkinoinnin tehokkuuden mittaristo. Kehitysehdotuksien yhteenvetona laadittiin Lipa-Betoni Oy:n markkinoinnin prosessimalli. Puubetonivälipohjalaatalle laadittiin markkinointisuunnitelma. Puubetonivälipohjalaatan markkinoinnissa korostuu proaktiivinen markkinointistrategia, jonka avulla saadaan tärkeitä referenssejä tukemaan tulevaisuuden markkinointityötä.

Jännitevälipiiritaajuusmuuttajan moottorikaapelin maksimipituuden määrittely

Työssä tutkitaan, kuinka pitkää moottorikaapelia on jännitevälipiiritaajuusmuuttajan kanssa mahdollista käyttää niin, että määritellyt reunaehdot vielä toteutuvat. Tavoitteena on tuottaa tietoa myynnille, markkinoinnille, tuotehallinnalle sekä tuoteylläpidolle siitä, miten taajuus-muuttaja toimii pidemmillä moottorikaapeleilla kuin valmistaja suosittelee. Tutkitut moottori-kaapelipituudet olivat 175…1025 metriä ja tutkitut laitteet nimellislähtövirroiltaan 2,4...25 A. Työssä aihetta käsitellään jänniteheijastusten näkökulmasta. Lisäksi tutkitaan moottorikaapelin pituuden vaikutusta taajuusmuuttajan eri komponenttien lämpenemiseen. Taajuusmuuttajan toiminnallisuutta arvioidaan moottorin suunnanvaihtojen avulla sekä turvallista toimintaa oikosulkutestein. Tutkittujen taajuusmuuttajien kohdalla on mahdollista käyttää taajuusmuuttajavalmistajan suositusta pidempiä moottorikaapeleita. Moottoriliittimien ylijännitteitä aiheuttavat jännite-heijastukset eivät aiheuttaneet raja-arvoja ylittäviä huippujännitteitä tutkituilla laitekokoon-panoilla. Myös lämpötilannousu oli maltillista tai jopa vähäistä taajuusmuuttajasta mitatuilla komponenteilla. Moottorisäätö havaittiin toimintakykyiseksi pidemmilläkin moottorikaape-leilla, tosin moottorin vääntömomentti heikkeni moottorikaapelien pituutta kasvatettaessa. Virranmittaus toimi hyvin myös pitkillä kaapeleilla, tuottaen vikalaukaisun kaikissa tehdyissä oikosulkutilanteissa. Moottorin ja taajuusmuuttajan melutaso nousivat moottorikaapelien pi-tuutta kasvatettaessa, vaikkakin moottorin käynti oli tasaista ja katkotonta Moottorikaapelin pituutta voidaan kasvattaa 325 metriin kaikissa tutkituissa laitteissa ilman, että mikään tutkittu ominaisuus vielä olennaisesti heikkenisi. Vielä 525 metrin moottorikaape-leita on mahdollista käyttää, mutta tällöin vääntömomentin tuotto on jo heikompaa.

Inbound marketing in practice. Case study: Lainaaja.fi

The general purpose of the thesis was to describe and explain the particularities of inbound marketing methods and the key advantages of those methods. Inbound marketing can be narrowed down to a set of marketing strategies and techniques focused on pulling prospects towards a business and its products on the Internet by producing useful and relevant content to prospects. The main inbound marketing methods and channels were identified as blogging, content publishing, search engine optimization and social media. The best way to utilise these methods is producing great content that should cover subjects that interest the target group, which is usually a composition of buyers, existing customers and influencers, such as analysts and media The study revealed increase in Lainaaja.fi traffic and referral traffic sources that was firmly confirmed as statistically significant, while number of backlinks and SERP placement were clearly positively correlated, but not statistically significant. The number of new registered users along with new loan applicants and deposits did not show correlation with increased content producing. The conclusion of the study shows inbound marketing campaign clearly increasing website traffic and plausible help on getting better search engine results compared to control period. Implications are clear; inbound marketing is an activity that every business should consider implementing. But just producing content online is not enough; equal amount of work should be put into turning the visitors into customers. Further studies are recommended on using inbound marketing combined with monitoring of landing pages and conversion optimization to incoming visitors.

Content marketing and the significance of corporate branding

Tämän tutkielman tavoite on tutkia vahvan brandin merkitystä ja syitä, miksi yritykset käyttävät sisältömarkkinointia brandin rakentamisessa, sekä selvittää mitkä ovat yritysten sisältömarkkinointi-investointien tavoitteet, odotetut seuraukset ja koetut hyödyt ja tulokset. Teoriaosassa esitetään empiriaosaa varten tarvittava akateeminen taustatutkimustieto. Empiria on toteutettu puoli-struktroiduilla kahdenkeskisillä puhelinhaastatteuilla. Haastateltavina ovat työn toimeksiantajan Calcus Kustannus Oy:n viisi asiakasta. Näiden yritysten liikevaihto vaihtelee 23-75M€ välillä, ja yritykset toimivat pääosin suomen B2B yritysmarkkinoilla. Haastateltavat henkilöt ovat yrityksissä vastuussa markkinointipäätöksistä. Tulokset osoittavat, että vahvalla brandilla on erittäin suuri merkitys yrityksen kasvun ja menestyksen kannalta, ja että yritykset käyttävät sisältömarkkinointia brandin rakentamisessa, koska se kasvattaa brandipääomaa tehokkaasti. Sisältömarkkinoinnilla yritykset pyrkivät kasvttamaan heidän asiakkaidensa branditietoisuutta ja brandiuskollisuutta, sekä brandinsa uskottavuutta jakamalla aidosti kiinnostavaa ja lisäarvoa tuottavaa sisältöä. Lisäksi yrityksen asiantuntija-, sekä mielipidejohtajaroolin vahvistaminen koettiin erittäin tärkeäksi. Sisältömarkkinoinnin koetaan olevan brandin rakentamisessa tehokkaampaa kuin traditionaalinen markkinointi, minkä vuoksi yritykset tulevat kasvattamaan sen osuutta markkinointisuunnitelmissaan tulevaisuudessa.

Experimental validation of a 3-D vision-based measurement system applied to robot calibration

One of the problems that slows the development of off-line programming is the low static and dynamic positioning accuracy of robots. Robot calibration improves the positioning accuracy and can also be used as a diagnostic tool in robot production and maintenance. A large number of robot measurement systems are now available commercially. Yet, there is a dearth of systems that are portable, accurate and low cost. In this work a measurement system that can fill this gap in local calibration is presented. The measurement system consists of a single CCD camera mounted on the robot tool flange with a wide angle lens, and uses space resection models to measure the end-effector pose relative to a world coordinate system, considering radial distortions. Scale factors and image center are obtained with innovative techniques, making use of a multiview approach. The target plate consists of a grid of white dots impressed on a black photographic paper, and mounted on the sides of a 90-degree angle plate. Results show that the achieved average accuracy varies from 0.2mm to 0.4mm, at distances from the target from 600mm to 1000mm respectively, with different camera orientations.

Performance measurement and management in a collaborative network

This study concerns performance measurement and management in a collaborative network. Collaboration between companies has been increased in recent years due to the turbulent operating environment. The literature shows that there is a need for more comprehensive research on performance measurement in networks and the use of measurement information in their management. This study examines the development process and uses of a performance measurement system supporting performance management in a collaborative network. There are two main research questions: how to design a performance measurement system for a collaborative network and how to manage performance in a collaborative network. The work can be characterised as a qualitative single case study. The empirical data was collected in a Finnish collaborative network, which consists of a leading company and a reseller network. The work is based on five research articles applying various research methods. The research questions are examined at the network level and at the single network partner level. The study contributes to the earlier literature by producing new and deeper understanding of network-level performance measurement and management. A three-step process model is presented to support the performance measurement system design process. The process model has been tested in another collaborative network. The study also examines the factors affecting the process of designing the measurement system. The results show that a participatory development style, network culture, and outside facilitators have a positive effect on the design process. The study increases understanding of how to manage performance in a collaborative network and what kind of uses of performance information can be identified in a collaborative network. The results show that the performance measurement system is an applicable tool to manage the performance of a network. The results reveal that trust and openness increased during the utilisation of the performance measurement system, and operations became more transparent. The study also presents a management model that evaluates the maturity of performance management in a collaborative network. The model is a practical tool that helps to analyse the current stage of the performance management of a collaborative network and to develop it further.

ERP Systems: Marketing to Finnish Small and Medium Sized Enterprises

This paper takes a fresh approach to ERP projects by examining the upstream organizations and their sales and marketing processes.

Green Marketing and its Role in Firm’s Strategy

Tässä kandidaatintutkielmassa tutkitaan vihreän markkinoinnin strategista roolia ja sen tuomaa lisäarvoa yritykselle. Tutkimuksessa selvitetään, mitä vihreä markkinointi on, mistä syistä yritykset harjoittavat sitä ja tuoko se lisäarvoa yritykselle. Case-yrityksinä tutkielmassa ovat UPM-Raflatac ja Lappeenrannan Energia Oy.