Ask HN: Examples of this marketing / sales pattern?

2 pointsby nudge15 anni fa1 comments

One piece of advice that pops up on HN and elsewhere is that it is easier to sell to companies than to consumers (or that it is easier to sell at a sustainable price, anyway).

Assuming that's the case, are there any examples of selling services intended for consumers to other companies who can then bundle it as part of their service to consumers (to make their own offering more attractive)?

My hunch is that this pattern must work in quite a few situations. You can't easily sell after-dinner mints to people leaving a restaurant, but you can sell them to the restaurant to give to people on the way out / with the bill.

It's similar to white-labelling, but that's not exactly what I mean, as there would be no reason for the company to pretend that they are the ones delivering the service. It would just be an added extra to help them make sales / make their customers happier, etc.

So my questions are: (i) is there a name for this approach; (ii) what are some good examples to study; and (iii) in what situations does this tend to work / not to work?

1 comments

tst15 anni fa

(ii) I can think of oil companies owning gas stations.

(iii) You have to add value to the main experience, I think. If you offer mints their experience of eating in a restaurant is improved because they don't have bad breath. If you offer beverages in a gas stations people won't be thirsty while driving.