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Tweet-sized B2B

July 14, 2010 10:39 AM | By Francesca Brosan
B2B marketing often faces being pigeonholed as the  ‘undefinable’ – or worse, the ‘boring’ – sibling to the glam of B2C marketing. But B2B is on the rise. As a group, we’ve embraced digital. Integrated social media, microsites, video, mobile and web apps have all become a big part of a lot more marketing mixes (of course, true to our nature, not without very careful consideration first, asking ourselves ‘is the investment worth it?’). But even though we’re rising up, it still seems we struggle for an accurate definition of the work we (as a whole) do. Last week, a...
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Should B2B brands be excited by the marketing opportunities the iPad presents?

July 13, 2010 2:03 PM | By Victoria Paley
Image via CrunchBase NO - More than excitement, the iPad in the B2B arena needs specialisation and broadening horizons Lau, Moyano, digital planner at Publicis Modem The iPad is not a revolutionary new channel, but just a new component of the marketing mix. I don't think that B2B brands should necessarily be excited about the opportunities that this new device presents but they should definitely start to factor it in to their communication channels. However, there is no need to re-invent the wheel: the same principles that we apply everyday in digital B2B comms should be the ones that...
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Data Q&A: What criteria qualifies a lead?

June 10, 2010 3:34 PM | By Victoria Paley
Sales and marketing accept that lead qualification is now essential to achieve business objectives, but how should they go about agreeing mutually acceptable criteria? Are there some fundamental criteria which all brands must adopt, or will this vary widely between organisations? Andrew Colwell, marketing director, B2Group“There will always be internal politicking between sales and marketing as they have different agendas: marketers would say sales teams do not provide strong enough leads, with sales retorting that marketing are not doing enough to maximise the prospects they are given. “But it’s time both sides thought more broadly about overall business objectives rather than...
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YES: Confidence is still lacking in forging ahead with real innovation Chris Wilson, chair of ABBA and managing director at Earnest Did the spirit of innovation really characterise marketing in the recession? I'm not convinced. Marketing got a lot 'quieter' in the recession. Plenty of organisations cutting budgets didn't equate to clever/innovative thinking or bravery. Quite the reverse. Marketing departments went for the 'let's keep our heads down and hope no one notices us' approach. There was also plenty of earnest-sounding team discussions – 'let's re-evaluate our approach and our tactics – we need to think differently'. Sure, there was...
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Twitter = "The Emperor's New Clothes"

April 28, 2010 12:06 PM | By Edward Weatherall
I am talking serious B2B here, you know when we have face-to-face meetings before deals are done. I am talking deals of five figures upwards, no shopping baskets in sight. I’m talking multiple meetings, wining and dining, a round of golf or tickets to lady’s day at Ascot. I’m talking months to do a deal not minutes. Now let’s look at what is currently going on in a lot of marketing teams – Twitter account set up, why? Facebook page done, why? LinkedIn profile and connections created, why? What I see is a parable based on the emperor’s new clothes....
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What Women Want

March 8, 2010 3:38 PM | By Francesca Brosan
International Women’s Day today.  Where to start?  Anyone who's been watching Mad Men knows women in our industry have come a long way (as Peggy Olson is learning).  When I trained the mantra of (male) creatives was 'The consumer is not an idiot.  She is your wife."  It was meant to be complimentary but seems, in retrospect, somewhat insulting.   Despite that only 1 in 4 FTSE board directors are female, which is leading the Government to talk about legislation to force big business to hire more women.  But I wonder if the problem is not so much that there is...
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I'll tell you want I want, what I really really want

January 27, 2010 2:24 PM | By Francesca Brosan
At the beginning of the 'recession' I was interviewed by Radio 4's World This Weekend about what we wanted the Chancellor to do in his first recession budget.  I said nothing.  I don't mean that I didn't say anything, I mean that I said could he please leave us alone.  Instead they increased NI to a laughable amount which penalises anyone like us who wants to hire people and put up taxes for high earners (great, thanks for that).  Have just asked local MP (Jonathan Djanogly, Conservative) what they will be doing for business if we all vote for them....
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Will the predicted 'fragile' recovery in 2010 mean marketers will innovate less?

November 24, 2009 2:03 PM | By Guest Blogger
YES - Focus on consolidation and you could emerge stronger as a result Nick Washbourne, business development manager, Market Location The last two years have been difficult for the majority of businesses, and there are challenging times ahead. Good business sense points towards a proactive approach to shoring up an organisation, so it can not only weather a still turbulent market, but also be best placed to capitalise on a return to more buoyant times. With budgets tight, and little room for error, I'd suggest that consolidation is a more worthwhile approach than excessive innovation. However, the term 'consolidation' tends...
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Have a merry merry ....

October 20, 2009 11:55 AM | By Edward Weatherall
I actually wrote this blog last year but was persuaded by my business partner, to just leave it. Now we are having exactly the same conversations, internally as well as with clients and I cannot be silenced anymore.   What is wrong with Happy Christmas?   My business partner says, “No, it’s Season’s Greetings, we don’t want to offend anyone.”   Who are we going to offend?   So the question is - would anyone be offended if a company card said “Have a Merry Christmas”? We are wishing good will to all. Every shop we walk past from as...
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