Value Proposition

• In an interview with SAP Concur chief product strategy officer Mike Koetting, he stated that the "foundation of their value proposition is spend management."

• Collectively within SAP and the partnership with Ariba and Fieldglass, they have a "shared vision of delivering spend management in ways that are augmented by better analytics, machine learning, AI and customer experience."
• Concur plans on "continuing to elevate the experience and value of their core proposition of spend management."

Customer Experience Marketing

• An interview with SAP Concur CEO Jim Lucier and chief product strategy officer Mike Koetting, suggests that SAP Concur's 2020 marketing strategy will focus more on enhancing customer experience marketing.

• According to CEO Jim Lucier, customers keep asking for new technologies around artificial intelligence and machine learning and appear to be delving into the potential of this.
•  Traveler experience is another area they are looking into. CEO Jim Lucier, notes that they are at "a tipping point in travel management where buyers have squeezed out most of the costs that can be squeezed, so experience is the next dynamic to work on. The focus on the traveler experience is in the heritage of our business and has been the magic of integrated travel and expense."
• Concur is also "very early into mobile and are exploring how Concur technology can help the traveler."
• CEO Jim Lucier, notes that they are constantly "listening to customers to understand where they want to go."
• In terms of customer experience, SAP (in general), has "introduced Experience Management to the SAP C/4HANA suite, creating powerful cloud solutions for sales, marketing, commerce and service experience management. This provides an end-to-end customer experience platform in the industry, allowing organizations to listen, understand and act on insights that will drive purchasing decisions and customer loyalty."

Market Growth

• CEO Jim Lucier, stated in an interview that they've grown more in the last four years and that their international business continues to grow quickly.
• "Small business has also been a growth engine for five years. The awareness around AI and machine learning has fueled their existing client business."
• They are making investments into "helping customers see the value they are providing, because as they see more value, they tend to want to buy more."
• They are also pushing more into the public sector and have set up a team to pursue central government business around the world.

India Expansion

• In 2019, SAP Concur announced an expansion in India since they renewed its existing partnership with Thomas Cook.
• SAP Concur's collaboration with Thomas Cook India "will connect joint business clients to integrated travel and expense (T&E) and invoice management solutions. "
• “SAP Concur’s value proposition is simplicity, integrated travel and expense management, and they look at partnerships that help them translate these into customer experiences and brand loyalty.”
• The collaboration aims to "transform the way organizations manage their business travel, expense and invoice in a highly visible marketplace.”

Marketing in SAP

• While not specific to Concur, SAP marketing (in general), has used storytelling-based campaigns.
• SAP’s Chief Marketing Officer Alicia Tillman tried recreating SAP’s brand narrative by looking to its roots and focused on messages that tell stories of how "SAP supports businesses, the economy, the environment and drives societal change."
• SAP's campaigns, in general, appear to focus on customer experience and try to show how their products "will improve their customer's lives to earn their loyalty."