Kennametal seeks a Manager / Director of Digital Marketing & Ecommerce (Latrobe, PA)

But here’s what’s fascinating: Since Amazon entered the B2B space last April, major multibillion dollar corporations have begun to reevaluate their ecommerce initiatives to manage this new entrant.

Take Kennametal, for example.

Twice I have closed ecommerce searches for Kennametal, and I’m hard-pressed to think of a better managed business. Founded in 1943, Kennametal supplies tooling, engineered components, advanced materials, and consulting for the world’s manufacturers. Kennametal is hard-core B2B, and 2012 sales will approach $3 billion.

These folks are pros.

Kennametal is active in two primary industries: Metalworking Machinery Manufacturing (NAICS 333) and Machinery Manufacturing (NAICS 3335). The company’s offerings include a wide selection of standard and customized technologies for metalworking, such as metal cutting tools, tooling systems and services, as well as advanced materials, such as cemented tungsten carbide products, super alloys, coatings and investment castings to address customer demands.

If that sounds boring to you, … KEEP READING!!

The US metalworking machinery industry (NAICS 333) consists of about 9,500 companies with combined annual revenue of ~$25 billion. Major companies include Kennametal, Hardinge, Hurco, and MAG Giddings & Lewis. The industry is fragmented, with the largest 50 companies generating ~30% of revenue.

The US machinery manufacturing industry (NAICS 3335) includes more than 23,000 companies with combined annual revenue of about $315 billion. Major companies include Applied Materials, Baker Hughes, Carrier, Caterpillar, Deere, Kennametal, and divisions of General Electric. The industry, which is fragmented overall, is made up of numerous segments that are concentrated.

The industry is capital-intensive: Annual revenue per worker is about $315,000, and the profitability of companies depends on engineering expertise and efficient production. Large companies have economies of scale in purchasing. Small companies can compete effectively by specializing in a particular niche. Some of those niches are tiny – but with individual order values of up to $10,000, it pays for companies like Kennametal to pay attention to even the smallest operators.

Take a look at this video. Does it look like these machine parts wear out frequently? Not Kennametal’s. Sure, they wear out, but they usually last longer, which translates into higher yields on the machines and less downtime. Nirvana for small operators.

So, what does Amazon have to do with all this?

On April 23rd, 2012, Amazon announced the launch of AmazonSupply.com, which markets more than 500,000 essential products for business and industry. AmazonSupply offers everyday low pricing plus a 365 day return policy. Amazon’s not stupid; They know there’s a shocking amount of money to be made in the enterprise space.

AmazonSupply allows customers to place orders online with no minimum, paid for with a line of credit, and it offers technical product support. Additionally, AmazonSupply offers free shipping and guaranteed accelerated delivery along with a range of shipping options, including order tracking and the ability to ship hazardous materials.

For now, Amazon Supply has had very little effect on Kennametal’s business, but the pressure is on for Kennametal to take its $550 million ecommerce business to the next level in terms of marketing, innovation, and customer service.

Who’s the customer?

According to a US Department of Labor profile, machine operators tend to be pragmatic people who prefer practical solutions to their problems. They value dependability, simplicity, flexibility, adaptability, and innovation. They are logical people who do their homework, and when they don’t know something they are likely to ask a respected peer.

Perhaps more than anything, when they encounter something that works consistently, they are not inclined to make changes with it. This fierce loyalty is to Kennametal’s advantage, but it’s not a Divine right.

Take a look at this crude rendition of Kennametal’s customer base:

Currently, 90% of Kennametal’s business exists with 40% of its customers. The customers in the top two quintiles of Kennametal’s customer valuation skew have high lifetime values, and they receive a great deal of advice and consulting from Kennametal’s brokers and field reps. Kennametal enjoys very solid relationships with these manufacturers and it can use its deep knowledge of these manufacturers to develop leading-edge solutions for them. That’s important.

But what about the other 60% of the customer base with whom Kennametal does 10% of its business? Obviously, the 3rd, 4th, and 5th quintiles represent Kennametal’s greatest relative growth opportunity. That opportunity pits Kennametal squarely against AmazonSupply.

So here we are: Deep in the B2B space, grappling with Amazon. Sound familiar?

What’s really cool about Kennametal’s situation is that the lifetime value of these customers is incredibly high, so one might be able to justify spending a lot to acquire or reactivate these customers. Plus, Kennametals products are extremely information intensive, so tightly-choreographed, multistep drip marketing campaigns with tools similar to HubSpot or Infusionsoft might be effective.

Content marketing, paid search, rich media, display advertising, social media, and organic search will all have their place in the marketing mix. Plus you can coordinate your efforts with Kennametal Marketing on things like direct mail and event marketing. Moreover, given that Kennametal’s customers tend to seek each others’ input on things, you might want to explore community functionality similar to StackOverflow or Quora.

The possibilities are endless, and it’s your job to figure it out.

Again, Kennametal is an exceptionally well-run company. Lovely people, too. And they know what it takes to stay competitive. Remember, the company manufactures its own parts and it maintains tight control of every aspect of the value chain right down to knowing everything about its customers’ business. Amazon doesn’t do that (and won’t). Kennametal is loaded with engineers who actually speak the customer’s language. Amazon doesn’t. This is a critical distinction because parts sales at this level are highly consultative.

In fact, according to the hiring manager for this position, “Even if Kennametal gave its tools away, many machine shops would lose money because they have no idea how to use them. Nor would they know under what circumstances to use our tools even if they did know how to use them correctly. In addition to selling the tool – we offer a best practices understanding of who, what, when, where, how and why the operator should use our tools. In the future, our website will reflect that philosophy.”

What exactly is the job?

As Manager / Director of Digital Marketing & Ecommerce, you will be responsible for leading global team to find, convert and retain customers via the digital marketing channels. You will define the overall strategy, objectives and deliverables to ensure that strategic goals are met for all digital channels — including mobile, social, and web. You will evaluate and execute initiatives to increase digital traffic, improve conversion rates, drive incremental revenues, and improve customer satisfaction using intimate, personal experience via all digital marketing channels.

And you’ll make sure that every Kennametal stakeholder knows how and why to use the firm’s digital assets to assist the customer.

The position has direct supervision responsibility for a global team of five people whose wide range of responsibility include the global product data architecture, Web and digital development, ecommerce, global social interaction, digital asset structure as well as content development and maintenance.

It’s a big job, but it pays fantastic money.

At the end of the day, your job will be to generate sales leads for Kennametal while growing that 10% of the customer base that is most cost-effectively reached via the web. Kennametal has the history, the products, the R&D pipeline, the distribution infrastructure, the customer relationships, the knowledge, the street credibility, and THE WILL to stop Amazon before it gets started. In fact, it would be much easier for Kennametal to knockoff AmazonSupply than vice versa.

That’s not something I get to say every day. Apply below.