I couldn't resist a dig. Lord Heseltine (nicknamed Tarzan) spoke brilliantly and masterfully at the Gyro HSR 'Brand versus Demand' event on Tuesday 23rd, but for me there was a certain irony to his appearance.Here was a man whose company Haymarket Publishing is largely B2B in focus but through its individual publications (think Campaign and Marketing) had arguably done more to sideline and marginalise B2B Marketing than anyone else in the UK over the past 20 years.If you'd read those august titles (and fine publications they are, I genuinely believe) you'd think B2B did not exist. And despite the mass...

Spent Tuesday at a CBI Council meeting.  As always, fascinating to listen to how a wide variety of companies are dealing with the world as we know it.  The good news for agencies is that service businesses in the main came out well – perhaps because they are more agile and able to adapt their services to what’s needed in the current marketplace.  So law and accountancy firms are seeing a reduction in contract briefs but an increase in resolution or winding up orders.  All sounds a bit ambulance chasing but it means that they’re still in business, still employing people...

Brand or demand? That was the question posed by Gyro HSR at its half day conference on February 23rd, held in the gothic splendor of Manchester Town Hall. The global B2B agency had assembled an impressive range of speakers from its varied client portfolio, all focused around where marketers should be focusing their attention: building their brand or generating demand.Personally, I thought the premise for the event was excellent, and the speakers offered some genuine insight and elaboration on the theme. Gyro HSR even managed to get Lord Heseltine (B2B by association of his involvement with Haymarket Publishing) to do...

Is the word ‘business’ unsexy, or uncool? That’s the question I asked Sir Richard Branson, in a manner of speaking, at the relaunch of NTL Telewest Business as, unremarkably, Virgin Media Business. (Yes that is the most shameless bit of namedropping I’ve ever done in an article.) Was the fact that the word ‘business’ is uncool, and associated with lots of boring stuff, the reason why Virgin clung on to the NTL Telewest brand for its B2B operation for three years after it rebranded the consumer operation? “No,” said Sir Richard. “Business is fun – Virgin companies are certainly fun,”...

I admit I went to see Miley Cyrus at the O2. Whatever rumours exist to the contrary, it was my kids that wanted to go. They badgered me at least once to buy tickets. I spent the first few tracks ogling a blonde dancer with my daughter's binoculars, and then there was a pause. The music lowered and Hannah, I mean Miley, addressed her adoring fathers. I mean fans. "This Summer I had to, you know, get away from everything and everyone and do some growing up. So I made a movie called ‘The Last Song'," she husked. I...

In the next few weeks I become a Dad. So, over the last few months I have spent a lot of time reading about what my wife can and can’t eat or drink, buggies that cost the same as a car, sleeping routines, leaving your baby in the garden with the foxes and a lot more – what did people do before the internet? You may think that, true to form, I am now going to go on a rant about something -  paternity and maternity leave as a business owner, perhaps? But no, I actually want to share with...

By  Ian Irving, Director of Corporate at leading experiential agency RPM The B2B industry has a more wary approach to embracing new mediums in comparison to the B2C market.  Whilst consumer brands have been quick to jump on emerging communication methods, business brands have often relied on more traditional mediums. Whilst it can be argued that this approach has proved effective in the past, I don’t think that the traditional thinking behind B2B marketing and events has been challenged enough.  With the recession still taking hold, it's time for B2B marketers to reassess the marketing mix and take a closer look at...

By Anna Goldie, online editor The time of year is upon us when some of us start thinking about our New Year’s resolutions and I want to hear about yours. No, I don’t want to hear about you resolving not to clean your finger nails with your pen lid anymore or finally admitting that you are more than a social smoker. I want to hear about the resolutions that are really important in 2010— the ones about the world of B2B marketing. Maybe you have learnt a valuable lesson in 2009 that you are determined to put into practice in...

By Tim Hazlehurst, N.E. Chairman IAS b2b Marketing Now that the B2B marketing chips are down, it is easy for Marketers to be drawn into tempting but subjective routes that are offering sales salvation when the board is desperate for results. A lot of people (Bob Lauterborn, Jack Trout and Michael Treacy etc.) spent a lot of time researching, identifying and highlighting certain fundamental rules.Rules about the marketing process. Rules that can be accelerated but not ignored!  Technological and tactical advances can lead you astray I’ve seen communication tactics evolve from the commercial traveler with the Bell and Howell presentation, through video...

Leaving just one customer dissatisfied could damage your brand's reputation more than you might think I used to drive BMWs. It's reasonable to say I was your archetypal BMW 'brand evangelist.' I walked into a BMW showroom a couple of months ago and tried to buy a new one. I was ready to pay the cash equivalent of a small neighbourhood in certain parts of Manchester, but the salesman just wanted me to have a test drive. I had no need of testing, so I left. No big deal. But then the 'tapakata, pakata' noise started, swiftly accompanied by coloured...