Last night we hosted an interactive evening of B2B Excellence. Our very own B2B Ambassador, Caroline Taylor, IBM’svice president of marketing, communications and citizenship, chaired the evening, joined by some key B2B industry leaders.
The line-up included Richard Robinson, Google, Vince Kerr, Fujitsu, and Tricia Weener, HSBC. Members of The Marketing Society discussed their unique B2B challenges around our streams: Digital, Customer, Growth and Green. The evening offered a chance for us to step back and think again. Here’s a summary of the tips on how brands can achieve excellence in B2B marketing.
Top Tips for Growth, led by Vince Kerr, Fujitsu
1) Market to your customer’s customer
2) Power to your people: train and enable your team to be brand ambassadors
CBS Outdoor created the multimedia London Long Copy Challenge activity to position London Underground’s 48-sheet ads as the top choice for reaching commuters and increase the medium’s revenues. Below is how CBS Outdoor’s Mike Hemmings felt after picking up the top award for B2B marketing at The Marketing Society’s Awards for Excellence…
Championing the art of long-copy writing, the campaign used digital, direct mail, a bespoke microsite, social media and PR to capture the imagination of the creative community, as well as the public. Read the rest of this entry »
Yesterday evening at our B2B Marketing Excellence Workshop, the results of the significant What Works Where research conducted by Omobono in partnership with us and Circle Research were unveiled. A question central to it all: what matters in B2B marketing?
Respondents were asked: what is the highest B2B marketing priority for your organisation over the next 12 months?
36% said deepening customer relationships 26% said raising brand awareness 10% said deepening understanding of target market 9% said developing brand position 9% said launching a new product/service 7% said strengthening ‘thought leadership’ position 4% said ‘other’ 0% said ensuring the organisation is living the brand.
At the workshop, we asked Caroline Taylor, IBM, one of our distinguished speakers, what matters most in B2B marketing?
We also caught up with Simon Rhind-Tutt from Relationship Audits and Management, to ask the same question.
A question that came up in the Q&A discussion was around social media, specifically how can marketing, B2B or B2C, make use of all the channels available? Caroline Taylor had a very simple answer: ”Go where the people are.” Maddie, our editorial and social media assistant, cornered Simon Birch at DNX Ltd for his opinion on the roles social media channels can play in marketing.
A big thank you to Omobono, our partner in the B2B programme stream.
Want to get involved in more discussions around how your business can be sustainable? From today until Thursday, IBM are hosting Start Jam, online brainstorming forums and members of The Marketing Society are invited to take part.
This is how Caroline Taylor, VP Marketing, Communications & Citizenship, IBM UK & Ireland describes Start Jam. As the name suggests, these jams are like jazz improvisations, connecting people who might otherwise never meet, allowing them to formulate and build on each others thoughts, and in the process, create something entirely new. As one of my colleagues, Irene Greif, explained in a recent MIT Technology Review article, “collaboration is most meaningful when you are really creating something together and when you are sharing your thoughts before they are finished products”.
The sessions will explore the role businesses need to play in building a sustainable economy, a sustainable society and a sustainable environment for the UK. The Jam takes place from the 5th to 7th of April and you can log in at any time that’s convenient, whether it’s 10 minutes or three days. Just visit the Start Jam website to register and find out more.
Caroline Taylor, VP Marketing, Communications & Citizenship, IBM UK & Ireland will also be speaking at our B2B Excellence Workshop on 13 April.
Laurie Young, marketing consultant and former global marketing partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, talks to Marketing Society editor Elen Lewis about B2B and what it can teach B2C.
Francesca Brosan of Omobono, our new B2B sponsor tells us…
Thank goodness for Shakespeare. He knew how to coin a phrase which you can use and abuse to your heart’s content. In this instance it’s to make a point that was well expressed at last week’s B2B dinner hosted by Sir Paul Judge on behalf of the Marketing Society. ‘People respect the techniques (of marketing) and use them. But they don’t call them marketing.’ This sentiment was echoed round the table. Marketing was thought of by senior executives, partners and board directors as ‘brochures and balloons’. The activities which marketers themselves would described as marketing were variously referred to by senior management as ‘revenue generation’, ‘business development’, ‘key account management’, ‘contract management’, ‘growth drivers’, ‘relationship development’ and ‘business networking’.
In common with other marketing discussions, how best to measure ROI was a major theme. What was definitely new in a B2B context was the open acknowledgement of the role of emotion in contributing to the actual purchase decision. Hence perhaps the difficulties in producing a clear ROI, not only because of the recurrent problem with linking broader activities directly to sales, but because they are actually part of the business process, not a separate function.
So B2B marketing is alive and well in large corporates. Just don’t call it marketing.
Omobono are now sponsors of The Marketing Society’s B2B stream, click here to view their blog.
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Last night we hosted an interactive evening of B2B Excellence. Our very own B2B Ambassador, Caroline Taylor, IBM’s vice president of marketing, communications and citizenship, chaired the evening, joined by some key B2B industry leaders.
Laurie Young, marketing consultant and former global marketing partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, talks to Marketing Society editor Elen Lewis about B2B and what it can teach B2C.
