In search of market orientation: An experiment in key account management

The growth in literature on relationship marketing which accelerated during the 1990s continues apace in the twenty‐first century. However, as a number of authors have noted, to date, little empirical evidence of relationship marketing strategies has been presented. This article focuses on Romalia (a pseudonym used to protect the anonymity of the company), a large (£8 billion turnover) UK distribution service supplier. Between 1999 and 2002, Romalia implemented a key account management (KAM) strategy targeted at its top 50 UK corporate clients. A designated KAM unit was created, configured to a large extent as virtual KAM teams. This article offers empirical evidence of a large service supplier's relationship marketing strategy and the problems it encountered in its implementation. The purpose of this study will be to offer insights into Romalia's approach to B2B relationships and to locate the phenomenon in the extant literature. In particular, the literature on internal marketing and market orientation will be evaluated in the light of the evidence from this case study.