• This article is not a research paper but a testimony.

He carries the reader through his

successful methodology and gave us following marketing learnings

• He set right to work applying marketing’s most basic and powerful tools –segmentation and
pricing strategy. Segmenting customers allowed people to see that they were selling to
different groups that required different products, which in many cases could be sold for
higher-than-commodity prices.
• Centralized Marketing Operation and Customer Surveys led them to improve supply chain
execution and, ultimately, to change what they sold, so that their offerings were suited to a
range of customer requirements, increasing value both for them and for the division.
• He wove marketing into Lafarge’s mainstream management processes by becoming a fixture
at the company’s strategic-planning, performance, and budgeting discussions.
• Conclusion: Many firms have a marketing function in name only. These lessons can serve as a
model for such companies looking to escape the commodity trap.