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Unique in the steel industry: high-level marketing gets serious

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Posted on January 1, 2007 by Stefan Schwarz

Part think tank, part support group, a new, high-level marketing organisation, established at the CEO/corporate level, has been set up to help local marketing teams network with one another to share expertise, and provide economic and demand analysis, and is open to everyone.

When fully staffed, the organisation will have a team of up to 30 people. Mr Bossche, an Arcelor veteran with long experience in flat steel production and sales, who has spent much of the last 14 years integrating commercial networks and sales divisions, said “We don’t want a large, cumbersome organisation. A lot of the information is at local level, so we will have permanent contact with local marketing officers.”

The organisation has three main functions:

Macro-economic environment. The team, headed by an in-house chief economist, will provide monthly “flash” reports, and more extensive quarterly, annual and multi-annual reports on worldwide economic issues. Based on its own data collection and economic model, the team will look at the development of current and future Arcelor Mittal markets to predict changing supply and demand patterns three to six years ahead.

Steel market research. One team will be responsible for gathering and warehousing market data. It will be the central library on the steel markets. The information will be available to everyone.

A second team will be providing detailed market research and intelligence on each segment of the market – from automotive and domestic appliances to oil and gas and stockholding. It will also look at ways of maximising the potential of each product.

Internal communications/steel contact groups. This department will manage Arcelor Mittal’s links with associations and steel contact groups, and commercial communications and trade issues. It will ensure the group is always represented at a high level in key associations and has a voice in contact groups designed to avoid trade friction. It will also support internal communications.

One important role for the new organisation is to ensure marketing expertise in one area of the group gets shared among counterparts elsewhere. “We are now putting the finishing touches on a network that is designed to capture local expertise and help share it around the group. We want the marketing officer for tinplate in Europe, for instance, talking to his equivalent in the US.”

We are excited about this new organisation, as it is unique in the steel business and will enhance communication throughout the integration process.



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6 comments


  • January 3rd, 2007 by Serge

    These kinds of teams are effective, I wonder what they’ll do with the investment…



  • January 15th, 2007 by Krunal Odedra

    yes the investments are effective.. with this investment they will be 10 years ahead of the competition in the Steel Industry..simple as that..



  • January 18th, 2007 by Dheeraj Anand

    I am sure the team would be effective in deciding the strategies…I wonder what they would have in store for the developing and growing economies of India and China? Not a strong presence in terms of a manufacturing unit in this side of the globe and with competitors like POSCO and the Japs, it ain’t easy to penetrate the market…



  • February 19th, 2007 by prasad kamat

    what are the future prospects of steel industry.



  • April 13th, 2007 by Kumar

    Mittal Steel intelligently took the initiative to be the vanguard in consolidating the steel industry. While everyone else thought it was a foolish gamble, Mittal forged ahead with excellent results. The Asian producers are large, but have not been consolidated, and now they are forced to consolidate. The steel business will definitely see increased demand from Asia and Eastern Europe. Even in developed countries, there is brisk demand for steel. Arcelor Mittal is destined for even greater success.



  • March 15th, 2011 by monty

    I am a MSc Marketing student in UK and I am stuck at my dissertation topic. I want to carry out my dissertation on a steel organization or steel sector, but I just can not figure out what topic shall I opt for? Though I have selected few but seems vague they are
    a) Inventory management in steel manufacturing organization in India.
    b) Digital Marketing in Steel Industries (India)
    c) Customer Relationship Management in Steel sector or SREL in India
    d) Consumer Behaviour towards SREL products
    e) Advertising and promotional strategies in Steel industries in India
    f) Pricing Strategies of Private steel organizations in India
    g) How can CRM be applied in a mobile marketing environment to enhance customer loyalty? ( I ain’t certain about this topic)
    h) How does the organisation site effects its identity/image or product attitude?
    i) How does Product quality affects the customer loyalty amongst high and low touch products? (SREL)
    j) How is brand image affected by product availability? (SREL)
    k) How does unethical behaviour effects brand image? (SREL)
    l) How do firms use corporate social responsibility to build brand equity? example SREL.
    Or supply chain mangement.

    Need your advice guys. If you have any topic that you would like to reccomend do it. I will be appreciated. mail me abhi_8812@yahoo.com. In deep trouble I am.




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