Advances in digital IT and client savvviness have made marketing more specialized and strategic than ever. To thrive in this changing, high-stakes world, business leaders must invest in professional marketing capabilities. At many tech firms however, the focus placed on technical skills makes it hard to attract top-rank marketing professionals who can make a difference. External marketing offers such firms flexible, timely expertise for creating new value and growth. In particular we've identified 8 specific jobs-to-be-done at tech start-ups and growing businesses, where external marketing helps firms enhance their position, while delivering new customer value and growth. (Published April 2013)

1. When outsourced marketing makes sense
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EXTERNALIZE MARKETING?
WHY IT MAKES BUSINESS SENSE
INTEGRATED MARKETING FOR
TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES
Advice | Assistance | Methods

2. 2 Externalize marketing? Why it makes business sense
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
MARKETING HAS BECOME MORE SPECIALIZED AND STRATEGIC THAN EVER
Even small companies now compete across borders
Like it or not, marketing is now a 2-way street
Integrated marketing is the new norm: On & offline
There is a growing thirst for quality content
Budgets continue shifting to online activities
Digital metrics are maturing
TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS LEADERSHIP MUST INVEST IN PROFESSIONAL
MARKETING TO COMPETE
Marketing investment is a priority in both small and large companies
Technology firms now view marketing as strategic, but must find the best ways to
invest
Externalizing marketing offers tech firms flexible and timely expert assistance for
creating new value and growth
THE MARKETING JOBS-TO-BE-DONE DEPEND ON A COMPANY’S GROWTH-
STAGE AND CAPABILITIES
Start-ups – Marketing jobs to kick-start growth
Growing Businesses – Marketing jobs to support continuing development
MERKADO HELPS TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES BRING TO MARKET GREAT
CLIENT OFFERS SO THEY CAN THRIVE
Merkado offers clients a full range of integrated go-to-market services
Clients benefit from a unique blend of joint marketing expertise, with proven
international experience bringing great tech offers to market
GET STARTED NOW

3. es.com
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4. 4 Externalize marketing? Why it makes business sense
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Marketing has become more specialized and strategic than ever. Now, more
than ever, customers have greater choice and more influence with companies;
Any company can compete with established ones and serve clients in new
markets; Firms have an increasing number of ways to create and deliver value to
clients using more precise techniques, while accurately measuring their effects.
To survive and thrive in this high-stakes, ever-changing world, technology
business leaders must invest in professional marketing capabilities in order to
satisfy clients and compete.
At many technology companies however, where the importance of specific
technology skills makes it difficult to attract top-rank marketing talent able to
make a real difference to the business, company leaders need to find more
practical and effective ways to invest.
Externalizing selected marketing initiatives offers technology firms flexible and
timely expert assistance for creating new customer value and business growth.
Depending on a technology company’s growth-stage, on its existing
capabilities and needs, there is a range of important marketing jobs-to-be-done
where externalizing makes real business sense:
§ Start-up marketing jobs: Saving founders’ time by offloading marketing
activities, and accelerating company growth.
§ Growing businesses marketing jobs: Quickly completing essential
marketing deliverables; providing interim marketing services; improving the
effectiveness of existing product and marketing programs, testing new ones
while controlling costs; leveraging an external client and market-focused
viewpoint, and innovating new products and client experiences.
Working with the right external marketing partner will help kick-start an early-
stage company, or support the evolving business needs of a growing firm.

5. Executive Summary
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6. 6 Externalize marketing? Why it makes business sense
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MARKETING HAS BECOME MORE SPECIALIZED AND STRATEGIC THAN EVER
Marketing is the process by which companies
use market insights to design a strategy for
finding the best ways to offer value to
customers, and create strong relationships. In
return they capture value from clients, leading
to growth.
While new ideas and techniques continue
fuelling the development of marketing as an
essential business management practice,
advances in information technology and
digital media, combined with a growing
customer savviness among consumers and
businesses alike, has led to an increasing
sophistication and specialization in the way
that marketing is used today.
There are several trends driving this evolution of marketing today:
Even small companies now compete
across borders
The number of companies operating with some
type of Website or Internet storefront continues
to grow. This gives firms of all sizes the ability to
directly market, sell and even deliver their offers
to clients beyond their traditional national
boundaries. Those that are able to compete in an
expanding setting – by serving customers in their
local language, providing adapted offerings, and
delivering market-specific customer support and
service - will thrive in a growing, international
marketplace. However, to compete across
borders firms must first seek out the practical
business knowledge and the local language skills
to develop and roll out adapted, multinational
commercial initiatives.
Like it or not, marketing is now a 2-way
street
Marketing is experiencing drastic changes as
interactive and digital technologies begin to
replace mass media as its foundation. Consumers
and business clients are no longer a passive
audience waiting to be showered by companies.
Today’s digital, interactive and social media
capabilities empower any consumer or business
client to speak-up on their experiences and
opinions, whether good and bad. This has created
a fundamental shift in the customer-supplier
relationship. This two-way communication
between customers and companies requires
marketers to adopt a more flexible and an always-
on approach when it comes to developing new
product ideas, adapting them to suit changing
tastes, and engaging with clients. It is also forcing
companies to monitor and be more attentive to
customer reviews and sentiments, and quickly
resolve any negative complaints or risk being
marginalized. Companies that can embrace and
leverage this new model will be better able to
connect with, please and even anticipate the
evolving demands of their clients much better
than the competition.

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Integrated marketing is the new norm:
On & offline
With the ongoing proliferation of digital media,
most anyone can now choose their preferred way
of getting the information they want. As a
growing number of customer channels become
an effective means for companies to create
awareness and generate leads (e.g. social media,
online content creation platforms), and new
channels and tactics emerge (e.g. mobile,
location-based campaigns), the focus is shifting to
integrated marketing programs. In this setting
effective marketing and product leaders must
concentrate their efforts on building innovative
products and rolling out them out using
integrated programs across multiple customer
channels, all working in unison and leveraging the
best elements of each one. This will also drive the
emergence of integrated marketing solutions to
manage and measure actions in one place. These
changes require product and marketing teams
that can develop and deliver multi-faceted
products, including both digital and physical
elements, and that can implement supporting
marketing programs with directed impact.
There is a growing thirst for quality
content
Within today’s growing digital world relevant
online content is becoming the core for all B2B
and B2C marketing initiatives. Relevant content
allows prospective clients to conduct meaningful
research, discover new offers, learn about others’
experiences and build a case to justify a new
purchase. In addition, the growing interrelation
between new technology and customer channels
is creating demand for content producers who
can think conceptually and deliver across several
different platforms. At the same time, many
organizations are finding out that they need
additional content specialists – to create blogs,
videos, tutorials, white papers, etc. – in order to
produce relevant, high-quality material with
customer-appeal. Marketing leaders need to find
ways to attract and develop talent capable of
producing quality content that is both interesting
and compelling to clients.
Budgets continue shifting to online
activities
Across most sectors, consumers and businesses
alike are increasingly using a variety of online
channels to actively engage with companies with
specific purposes in mind: identify suppliers, learn
about companies and brands, research products
and services, make purchases and carry out
diverse after-sales activities. Companies that wish
to go where their clients are going must continue
investing in and developing their digital and
online customer touchpoints. In addition to the
right technologies, this requires client-focused,
online-savvy marketing resources that are able to
shape and harness a variety of online platforms
(e.g. company website, social media, customer
feedback channels, online catalogues,
newsletters, etc.) to create effective, integrated
programs supporting specific commercial
activities and meeting business objectives. The
failure to invest appropriately in online activities
will mean losing touch with the expectations,
changing habits and the purchase decisions of
today’s customers.
Digital metrics are maturing
Until now companies have used a range of
marketing techniques applied to digital media in
order to create awareness and attempt to
generate sales. To date many have been tracking
a variety of ‘vanity’ metrics (i.e. page views,
newsletters opened, followers, mentions, ‘Likes’)
that may look promising and suggest customer
engagement, but don’t actually create business
value. Marketers have since started to refocus on
more relevant business metrics – related to things
like new revenue, sales volume, or retained
customers – using digital methods. In parallel new
digital solutions are emerging, offering ways to
track and measure previously immeasurable
tactics, while linking their contribution to key
business metrics, including the top and bottom
line. All of this requires multidisciplinary
marketing teams – blending digital, technical and
financial and strategic skills – that are able to
create integrated, business results-driven
programs that deliver a clear ROI. Initiatives that
can clearly generate business value will receive
support from the company’s leadership team.

8. 8 Externalize marketing? Why it makes business sense
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These trends are changing the market dynamics, and are leading to a more level playing field where:
§ Customers now have a voice and can increasingly deal with companies on their own terms;
§ Any company, regardless of size, can compete with established firms and serve clients in new markets;
§ There are new and innovative ways for companies to create and deliver value to their clients;
§ A company’s client-focused efforts can be harmonized and aimed more precisely, and the effects measured
with greater accuracy.
To benefit from these far-reaching and on-going changes, companies must invest in the right type of marketing
resources. In particular they need the skills of creative yet pragmatic, client-focused professionals who are able to
blend business, marketing, and digital technology expertise for developing new forms of customer value and
generating business growth – and all within a complex and unpredictable environment.

9. Marketing has become more specialized and strategic than ever
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To thrive in today’s ever-changing world
companies must invest in the right types of
marketing resources: creative yet pragmatic,
client-focused professionals who are able to
blend business, marketing and digital technology
expertise to generate new forms of customer
value and business growth.

10. Externalize marketing? Why it makes business sense
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TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS LEADERSHIP MUST INVEST IN
PROFESSIONAL MARKETING TO COMPETE
Within today’s volatile environment, marketing helps light the path for
companies by providing key insights into markets and customers that help
direct the strategy for better satisfying clients’ needs, while fighting off
competitors.
To remain relevant to clients and to stay ahead of the competition, companies
must actively invest in the right types of marketing capabilities and in the best
ways.
Marketing investment is a priority in both small and large
companies
In its 16th
Annual Global CEO Survey1
, PWC, a global professional services
firm, asked over 1300 CEOs from small to large firms worldwide what they saw
as today’s business challenges and opportunities.
When discussing the key potential opportunities for business growth over the
next 12 months, 74% of CEOs cited a combination of organic market growth
and new product development as their main vectors for growth.
Similarly, when asked about the big changes expected within their companies
over the next 12 months, 82% of CEOs said that the priority would be on
attracting and retaining customers.
To take advantage of these growth opportunities while preparing for the future,
CEOs must invest further in a range of product and client-focused marketing
initiatives, and in the expertise to make it all happen.
According to the CMO Survey2
, a bi-annual opinion poll of senior North
American marketers, despite a tough economy, over the past 2 years
companies’ marketing budgets have grown by 2.5 pts. compared to firms’
overall budgets (Figure 1).
1
“Dealing with disruption: Adapting to survive and thrive”, PWC, January 2013
2
CMO Survey: Headed by Prof. C. Moorman, Duke University; Sponsored by McKinsey & Co, Duke
– Fuqua School of Business, and the American Marketing Association. This Web-based survey is
used to predict market trends, track marketing excellence, and improve the value of marketinginfirms.
74% of CEOs are
pursuing a mix of
organic growth in
existing markets and
new product
development
opportunities
– Global CEO Survey

11. Technology business leadership must invest in professional marketing to compete
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While many companies have significantly cut spending in traditional media
advertising activities (i.e. TV, radio, print advertising, events) and to a lesser
degree in online advertising, a large majority of firms are re-allocating budgets
to those activities more directly linked to revenue and profit growth:
• The development and introduction of new products and
services;
• The management of existing customer relationships using new
channels.
Furthermore, to improve and consolidate their marketing capabilities and
increase competitiveness, many firms continue investing in varied forms of
marketing knowledge (Figure 2).
In particular, firms expect to significantly increase spending in consulting
services, in order to complement and improve their existing marketing
practices and activities.
Figure 1 – Marketing spend as % of a firm’s total budget
Source: CMO Study 2013
Figure 2 – Changes in firm spending on marketing knowledge in
the next 12 months
Source: CMO Study 2013
North American
companies expect to
boost investment in
marketing consulting
services and selected
training
– CMO Survey 2013

12. 12 Externalize marketing? Why it makes business sense
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These investment trends in marketing knowledge reflect the growing
importance that companies are placing on leveraging professional advice and
assistance from external sources in order to improve their marketing practices
and related activities, while spreading marketing know-how to a broader
employee base, including both marketers and non-markets alike.
Technology firms now view marketing as strategic, but must
find the best ways to invest
In a recent report from Forrester Research3
- an IT research and advisory firm –
examining the marketing practices among North American and European tech
companies, they found that a growing number of European firms view
marketing as a strategic activity rather than just a tactical promotional function.
Many European technology firms are starting to see the importance of seeking
out new skills and best practices in order to improve the way they do business.
In particular, the outsourcing habits of French and German technology
companies are catching up to North American levels.
Against this evolving landscape where marketing is critical for generating
growth yet where it is becoming more specialized, technology companies must
look out for better ways to develop their marketing capabilities and know-how.
To quickly gain access to fresh skilled marketing expertise, and new ideas and
insights in today’s market, technology firms generally have two options:
1. Hire experienced, marketing professionals to cultivate and
develop the company’s marketing capabilities, from the
inside-out
2. Externalize certain initiatives to specialized marketing firms
Externalizing marketing offers tech firms flexible and timely
expert assistance for creating new value and growth
Within companies the natural inclination is to hire marketing staff into their
ranks. However, in many technology companies the importance placed on
specific technology skills often come at the expense of considering people with
fresh, top-rank marketing skills. This makes it hard to identify and attract the
right type of experienced marketing professionals who are able to make a real
difference to the business. Fortunately externalizing selected marketing
initiatives offers a solution for filling the marketing expertise gap.
Externalizing selected marketing initiatives gives technology companies timely
access to expert marketing assistance and advice; it can help improve the
effectiveness of their existing marketing investments; and it provides a quick
and flexible way to tap into many of the new capabilities and practices needed
to create new forms of value and growth, all while managing costs.
3
“European Tech Marketing Continues to be Different”, Forester Research, April 25, 2012
European technology
firms increasingly view
marketing as a strategic
activity
– Forrester Research 2012

13. Technology business leadership must invest in professional marketing to compete
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The importance placed on specific technology
skills often come at the expense of attracting
top-rank marketing professionals who can
make a real difference to the business.

14. Externalize marketing? Why it makes business sense
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THE MARKETING JOBS-TO-BE-DONE DEPEND ON A COMPANY’S GROWTH-STAGE AND
CAPABILITIES
To survive and thrive in today’s uncertain and fast-changing marketplace companies are focusing on a range of
client and market-driven programs and new product initiatives, which are needed to better serve existing clients
while developing new sources of growth.
In this setting, many technology companies have realized that marketing is a strategic activity, but that it is more
sophisticated and complex than ever. At the same time many also find it difficult to recruit top-rank marketing
professionals able to deliver a real business impact across all of the key areas. Rather than just hiring staff to handle
each and every marketing job, tech companies can actually benefit in many ways from externalizing selected
initiatives to specialized marketing firms.
Depending on a technology company’s stage of development, its existing marketing capabilities and specific
needs, there is a range of marketing jobs-to-be-done where externalization makes real business sense:
Start-ups – Marketing jobs to kick-start growth
Technology start-up companies are generally new, temporary business organizations that have been designed to
search for a repeatable and scalable business model with high-growth potential.
One of the critical tasks for any tech start-up is to assess, validate and develop new business ideas in order to
maximize the commercial potential and quickly kick-start the company’s growth. Within this context, there are a
few key jobs-to-be-done where external professional marketing advice and/or assistance can play a valuable role in
enabling initial growth:
Save founders’ time by offloading marketing
activities
In the early stages of a start-up, the founders may
have been directly involved in the basic marketing
activities: defining the first products and services,
establishing pricing policies, creating basic
promotional material or seeking resale partners.
As a start-up grows, the founders are faced with
new demands and have to offload marketing
activities. While many companies may
automatically look to hiring as the main solution, it
can be extremely difficult to find one or two
experience people with a broad enough skill base
to effectively plan and execute all activities. In
such as case, externalizing selected marketing
initiatives offers evolving start-ups several
benefits.
A specialized marketing firm can provide one or
few dedicated experts that are already trained in
Marketing Jobs-to-be-done at Start-ups

15. The marketing jobs-to-be-done depend on a company’s growth-stage and capabilities
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many of the latest marketing areas, skills and
techniques. Compared to most in-house staff,
they offer broader capabilities and proven track
records for helping firms develop, and can be
deployed according to the company’s evolving
needs. Using external assistance also allows a
start-up to gain more flexibility in quickly and
easily stepping-up or down resources and skill-
sets according to changing needs, allowing them
to easily manage their costs according to their
budget.
Accelerate company growth
Once a start-up has settled on a viable business
model, the next vital challenge is to effectively
accelerate its growth. As a temporary, small-scale
organization, most tech start-ups do not always
have a broad enough set of capabilities to design
and deliver on all of the commercial activities
needed to generate fast growth.
In particular, there are several important
commercial activities that must be developed to
support and stimulate the growth of a new
company’s offers. This includes simple yet
effective product launch material to help market a
new offer; minimal supporting promotional
campaigns to increase market awareness at the
lowest effective cost; a set of simple and practical
sales tools and processes to facilitate sales;
effective, low-cost customer acquisition programs
to drive new, repeat sales and generate
continued growth; and a customer care program
to assure satisfied customers and create loyalty.
Seeking advice and practical assistance from a
professional source can offer early-stage tech
companies new perspectives to increase their
chance of success, while reducing the time, the
net financial investment and the other resources
needed implement winning growth strategies.

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Growing Businesses – Marketing jobs to support continuing development
Following an initial period of mid-to-high growth, perhaps as a start-up, most young technology-based companies
with a proven business model continue growing, but at a lower rate. By this point such firms have managed to
build up a solid and diversified customer base, and have become profitable, mostly self-funded entities, able to
feed their top and bottom lines.
To continue growing and remain competitive, an emerging technology firm must build upon its rising position by
continuing to professionalize itself as a company and by honing its business model and supporting functions, all to
better serve clients within its evolving marketplace.
Depending on the company’s current situation, this might imply:
§ Projecting professionalism and scale beyond its existing resources
§ Strengthening its reputation and brand promise by better meeting client expectations
§ Enhancing its existing customer value propositions
§ Developing new and innovative client value propositions to enter or establish new markets and drive
further growth
Within this increasingly high-stakes environment, there are several marketing jobs-to-be-done where external
expertise and assistance can support a growing firm’s product and marketing staff in enhancing the firm’s
competitive position, while helping deliver value and new business growth:
Quickly complete an essential marketing
deliverable
Within a growing technology company marketing
and product leaders usually have a large range of
important jobs to tackle at any given time. Due to
existing workloads, changing conditions and
possible skills gaps among staff however, they
may not have sufficient resources to get things
done as quickly or as effectively as needed.
Furthermore, hiring may not always be a viable
option due the urgent and often specialized
nature of the job to be completed.
Essential marketing deliverables that a growing
technology company will need at some point
include generating customer insights by
researching an emerging client topic; thoroughly
analyzing market and competitor trends to
understand the business implications; creating
thought-provoking content to support new offers;
converting prospects to clients using engaging
customer case studies.
Externalizing such marketing initiatives is an
effective way to get professional results quickly. In
many cases it also provides new techniques and
Marketing Jobs-to-be-done at Growing Businesses

17. The marketing jobs-to-be-done depend on a company’s growth-stage and capabilities
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insights to the existing in-house teams involved in
the initiatives.
Provide interim marketing management
Marketing and product organizations are a
fundamental part of any structured, customer-
driven company. However, if a marketing and/or
product leader finds himself lacking staff
resources – due to employee sickness, staff
turnover, a maternity leave or for other reasons –
this can affect a company’s commercial
operations and impact business.
While hiring may be seen as the natural fix for a
staff shortage, it can take up to several months to
identify, hire and train a new employee. This is
also unsuitable for covering staff leaves that only
last a few months. Without a workable solution to
such problems urgent projects may be
unacceptably setback.
Such situations can be avoided with professional
interim marketing management services. Interim
marketing managers are accustomed to working
in different environments, quickly getting up to
speed on new topics and issues. They focus on
delivering high-quality, professional results that
offer tangible value and meet their client’s
expectations.
Improve the effectiveness of existing product and
marketing programs
A well-run technology company must perform a
range of key marketing activities to effectively sell
and satisfy customers; this is especially true for
growing companies. Such activities include
creating effective corporate-level positioning
campaigns; launching new client offers; managing
and commercializing existing ones; researching
emerging client needs and behaviour, and
assuring customer satisfaction. With the right
understanding and know-how, the effectiveness
and business impact of activities like these can be
improved.
Working with a specialized marketing firm allows
a growing technology company to benefit from an
unbiased, external view on the effectiveness of
existing marketing programs. They benefit from
an accumulated knowledge on the successful
strategies used by other companies (e.g.
innovation programs for creating new client value
propositions, sales programs that generate
incremental sales; marketing campaigns that have
generated new client growth) as well as the
related tactics, tools and metrics to help them
track and improve the effectiveness of their
existing programs and ensure a solid ROI.
Test new product and marketing initiatives while
controlling costs
When it comes to designing or executing a new
marketing strategy it is difficult to build a team
with expertise in all areas. As a company grows, a
marketing and/or product leader may want to try
out new initiatives that were once hard to justify.
For example they might invest in strategic
thought leadership programs, digital marketing
activities, a joint go-to-market program to enable
partner sales or a customer loyalty program to
reduce churn. However, a company will often only
have one person handling new initiatives.
Working with an external marketing firm allows a
growing tech company to quickly and flexibly try
out new programs, while controlling costs. A
specialized firm can be hired to undertake specific
initiatives based on a well-defined, desired
outcome, and according to their budget. In the
process, in-house teams gain from the transfer of
new knowledge, allowing them in many cases to
take over the initiative once the pilot projects
have been successfully completed.
Leverage an external, market and client-focused
viewpoint
Within a technology company’s daily commercial
operations there are certain situations that arise
that may be sensitive or may lead to conflicts of
interest between a business’ internal and external
stakeholders.
For example, in many technology firms, it is not
uncommon to have differing views surrounding
existing technologies, the evolution of product
lines or which types of customer programs to
invest in. Effectively resolving issues like these
often requires the help of a non-biased, third-

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party, able to reconcile differing views by firmly
focusing on what matters most: the interests and
demands of customers.
Similarly, some market-facing tasks may lack
credibility if performed by company personnel.
Such tasks include interviewing end-customers on
sensitive company-related subjects, performing
market surveys or doing other field intelligence
work.
Partnering with an external professional marketing
firm offers the benefit of a non-biased, client-
driven viewpoint, while helping to avoid any
conflicts of interest. It provides a higher degree of
objectivity and credibility when it comes to
recommendations based on customer and
market-related views and insights.
Innovate new products, services and customer
experiences
New products and services are the lifeline of any
technology company. While many companies
invest large sums in R&D, by some estimates only
14% of innovative ideas come from this traditional
route4
. To sustainably generate value and fuel
new growth, companies must establish a practical
innovation framework, with access to adapted
resources to make it work.
Innovation is about executing new ideas to create
value. At the same time there are different ways
of innovating:
§ Evolutionary innovation – Resulting from
predictable, incremental improvements to a
customer offer in an existing market (e.g. Laptops
offering more computing power and storage).
§ Disruptive innovation – Creating a new market
through an unexpected technology or value
process, which ultimately overtakes an existing
market (e.g. digital song downloads disrupting the
physical album sales)
§ Breakthrough innovation – Solving a well-
defined problem in an unconventional or
unexpected way (e.g. Twitter emerged from a
brainstorming session, as a way to allow SMS-based
communication within small groups)
4
J. Peppers, M. Rogers, “The buzz on customer-driven
innovation”, Sales and Marketing Management, June 2007
Innovation is usually an iterative process where
companies generate new ideas, select those with
the best potential, and execute them.
Furthermore, in each case there are common
steps for transforming ideas into value: Defining a
growth strategy; Creating innovation capabilities;
Generating customer and market insights;
Designing new business models, and creating
prototypes and pilot programs.
Working with an integrated marketing partner
that understands the challenges of innovation
provides many benefits to tech companies
looking to build or improve their innovation
capabilities. This includes: Exploring and charting
new market opportunities through research into
identified, unmet or unarticulated customer
needs; Helping design and kick-start selected
innovation capabilities; Generating invaluable
user insights using various methods; Developing
new and innovative business models; Delivering
winning client offers by testing new concepts and
analyzing the experiences of early user trials.
Tech companies looking to grow and prosper
must invest in innovation beyond traditional R&D,
and in the resources to make it happen. Those
that do not will be overtaken by those that do.
Ultimately, companies can benefit most from a mixed
approach that combines a significant degree of in-
house marketing activities with selected externalized
initiatives. This approach will help fill skills gaps and
resource needs, meet specific and immediate
business demands, all while helping enhance a
growing company’s development and
competitiveness.
With externalized marketing on the agenda of more
and more technology companies, the challenge then
becomes finding the most suitable external
marketing partner who can deliver the benefits and
results that today’s technology marketing and
product leaders demand.

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Companies can benefit most from a mixed
approach combining in-house marketing activities
with selected externalized initiatives. This will
help fill skills gaps and resource needs, meet
specific and immediate business demands, all
while helping enhance a growing company’s
development and competitiveness.

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MERKADO HELPS TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES BRING TO
MARKET GREAT CLIENT OFFERS SO THEY CAN THRIVE
Today’s technology companies must focus on better serving their clients
through new and innovative offers and on strengthening customer relations,
while developing their new growth opportunities. Externalizing selected
marketing initiatives is an ideal way of complementing existing marketing and
product capabilities, while delivering various business benefits.
There are many marketing firms that offer specific services like market research,
content creation, and digital marketing. However, they are often delivered in a
standalone manner, with a partial understanding of technology companies’
business context, commercial offers and the underlying technologies.
Merkado was created to help technology companies quickly and successfully
bring the right technology offers to market, generating value for their
customers and fuelling business growth.
Merkado offers clients a full range of integrated go-to-
market services
At Merkado we realize that every technology company operates in a specific
environment, each with its unique set of challenges, resources and constraints:
§ Software – Once driven by a yearly license business model, generating
costly upkeep for consumers and companies, software is shifting to the Web
and is increasingly accessible through mobile devices. Software firms must
adapt to these changes, while leveraging existing assets in distinctive ways.
§ Web – An innovative and fast-changing yet very competitive area, where
new, multi-device services come online daily. Web services are accessible
across borders, but only best ones will transform established industries,
reshaping markets. Beyond designing elegant services, to thrive Web
companies must operate less like products and more like businesses.
§ Telecoms – Operating mostly at a national level, fixed and mobile network
service providers are strained from ongoing technology upgrades and the
arrival of smart devices and over-the-top Web services and Apps. As the
balance tilts towards end-users, to remain relevant they must focus on
creating better value propositions for their diverse clients.
§ Information Technology – Supplying the elements that also power other
tech industries (e.g. processors, devices, programming languages, network
equipment and Internet devices), progress and breakthroughs in IT can offer
users new capabilities, while enabling advances in Web, Telecoms, Software
and beyond. Successful firms are those that marry new technologies with a
strong marketing-focus.

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For such reasons we offer a complete range of integrated go-to-market service
solutions to help tech companies create value for their customers and generate
added business growth (Figure 3).
Based on a joint assessment of each client’s particular situation and needs, we
develop customized solutions including the right mix of professional advice,
practical assistance and proven methods to get the job done.
Merkado’s client services are built around our full set of integrated go-to-
market capabilities (Figure 4); from characterizing new client value and business
growth opportunities to delivering customer value-driven sales support.
Our services are designed to enhance our clients’ existing product innovation,
product management and product marketing activities, helping marketing and
product leaders achieve their specific business objectives: identifying new
market opportunities; successfully launching new client offers; enabling new
and quicker sales; facilitating repeat business; increasing client satisfaction and
loyalty, and generating continued revenue and profit growth.
Figure 4: Merkado’s joint go-to-market expertise
Figure 3 – Merkado’s client services

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Clients benefit from a unique blend of joint marketing
expertise, with proven international experience bringing
great tech offers to market
Merkado offers clients a unique combination of practical and integrated, joint
go-to-market expertise and methods, with proven experience helping
technology companies successfully bring to market great products and services.
Here are two examples of real-world results that we have delivered:
Case Example 1: Integrated commercial program boosts client growth rate
by 2x after the launch of SaaS offer
A French Web and Software agency needed to launch its latest SaaS offer –
Factomos Xpert – targeting accounting firms.
To ensure the successful commercialization their new offer, Merkado designed and
implement a custom, integrated commercial program, which included the
development of adapted marketing strategy; a study of customer usage and
expectations; implementation of a commercial product roadmap process; creation of
various sales and marketing tools, and management of external partners.
In the first 9 months following the commercial launch, our efforts helped grow the
number of customers by 2x the previous rate.
Case Example 2: Joint value-selling of indoor network coverage leads to a €10M
client contract
Working with a leading network equipment supplier we led a consultative value selling
engagement with a major mobile service provider. In addition to rolling-out out standard
outdoor network coverage, they needed to understand if there was a business case for
offering in-building, high-speed mobile services coverage within major city centers.
Based on a comparative business case analysis of ‘indoor & outdoor’ vs. ‘outdoor-only’
service coverage scenarios, our results showed that the ‘indoor & outdoor’ coverage
generated greater cash flow.
Our approach led to the approval of a €10M 3G indoor coverage contract for the equipment
supplier, paving the way for incremental revenue and profit growth for the service provider
and a better service experience within indoor settings for end-customers. Comparative Economic Analysis
Factomos Xpert Homepage

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By choosing Merkado, each of our clients also benefit from:
Specialized, tailored and independent go-to-market solutions
Merkado is an independent and specialized firm, focused on helping
technology companies create value and growth by supporting and
enhancing their complete go-to-market process.
By combining the proven track records of our professionals with primary and
secondary information sources and insights, Merkado offers tailored, real-
world solutions addressing each of our clients’ practical challenges.
Proven experience and methods
With 15+ years of professional experience, each Merkado experts has
occupied Senior-level roles at leading technology companies, where they
have been involved in all facets of designing and delivering the latest tech-
based offers to markets worldwide.
Based on these rich experiences, we have developed integrated and
repeatable methods and best practices that are systematically applied to
help clients quickly and effectively address their go-to-market challenges,
delivering measurable business results.
Demonstrated ability working across cultures and borders
Merkado relies on the practical experience of a network of seasoned, multi-
cultural professionals, who have worked in more than 35 distinct markets and
cultures worldwide, assisting numerous types of technology companies.
Passionate about globalization, yet inherently sensitive to cultural and local
differences, Merkado’s people are able manage this complexity and operate
effectively in multicultural environments and markets with distinct
characteristics, while bringing new ideas and insights across boundaries.
First-hand understanding of the latest consumer and business technology
Merkado’s people are first and foremost avid users – and often early
adopters – of innovative technology-based products and services that
enhance different aspects of our lives: communicating, collaborating,
effective working, entertainment, staying informed, learning, socializing,
sharing, shopping, transacting, staying healthy.
This passion for the latest consumer and business technology, combined
with our curious, yet practical and forward thinking nature, creates the right
combination of experience and insight to offer our clients relevant solutions
to their business challenges.

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GET STARTED NOW
Today's technology companies operate in uncertain and fast-changing
environment. To be successful in this challenging world they need to focus on
bringing to market new and successful tech-based offers, strengthening
existing customer relationships, and finding new ways to develop and improve
their underlying marketing know-how.
Whether your company is a new upstart or a growing technology business,
there are several distinct and important marketing jobs-to-be-done. Working
with the right professional marketing partner will help kick-start an early-stage
company or support the evolving needs of a growing firm.
Merkado delivers a full range of integrated go-to-market services, combining
professional advice, practical assistance and proven methods to help
technology companies quickly and successfully bring the right offers to market,
creating customer value and fuelling business growth.
To learn more about the real-world results that Merkado has delivered to its
clients and see how we can assist you in achieving your company’s business
objectives, contact us through our website at: merkadoservices.com

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About Merkado
Merkado helps technology companies
create customer value and business
growth through our integrated
go-to-market solutions.
From characterizing new market
opportunities to providing customer
value-driven sales support, we deliver a
full range of tailored go-to-market
services, combining proven international
experience with a first-hand
understanding of the latest consumer
and business technology trends.
Contact Us
To see how Merkado can help your
organization create customer value and
generate added growth, please contact:
Juan Carlos Sanchez
Managing Director
jcsanchez@merkadoservice.com
For more information visit:
www.merkadoservices.com
Merkado SAS
10 rue de Vouillé
75015, Paris
France
Copyright © 2013 Merkado Services. All rights reserved