We all need to feel appreciated; to feel like those out there care about us. And that’s not just as people, but as customers. There are various ways to describe the kind of marketing that’s designed to do this (loyalty, retention etc.) but ultimately it’s about love. So what better opportunity to show your customers how you feel than Valentine’s Day? It never ceases to amaze me how rarely B2B marketers use this annual kitsch-fest as an opportunity to talk to their customers. After all, Valentine’s day has massive marketing potential. Unlike Christmas and Easter, it’s applicable regardless of race,...

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...

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,”...

‘Automation’ is a word that could strike fear into the minds of the average cinema-goer, back in the golden age of science fiction last century. It conjured up images of soulless robots, marching relentlessly to subjugate us under their tyrannous regime and enslave or kill us... It’s a theme that starts with Metropolis and runs right through to The Terminator and The Matrix – more recently revived by David Tennant in Doctor Who. So when we add the word ‘automation’ to marketing, should we be fearful? Are marketers about to be replaced by a wave of sinister robots hell bent...

What do you want to see recognised in the B2B Marketing Awards 2010? It seems bizarre that I should even ask that question bearing in mind the 2009 event only took place in November, and the winners are still staring goey-eyed at their nice shiny trophies. But believe it or not, we started the planning process last week, and a key part of this is to make sure we’re rewarding and recognising the right things!The categories that we offer have evolved a little since we launched in 2004 – here’s the list of those that were offered last year.Section A:...

A year is a long time in social media. Way back in February 2009, at B2B Marketing’s first social media event, the audience were asked whether they used Twitter or not: only a tiny minority raised their hands.Fast forward ten months to December’s B2B event organised by Dell, and the proportions were reversed: it was only the minority who didn’t actively use Twitter.Amazing that inside 12 months this niche microblogging platform has become a mainstream B2B marketing platform. For anyone out there who is still has their head in the sand, it’s time to wake up and smell the coffee....

How ironic that Accenture has decided to drop Tiger Woods as its long running brand ambassador just as he actually appears to be developing a personality.Don’t get me wrong: I understand the point of this multi-million dollar brand association was to relate Accenture’s safeness and security with Tiger’s tedious, ruthless and personality-free predictability. From Accenture’s point of view, it was a marriage made in heaven. That was, of course, until the rumours about his private life started flying about. However, from a personal perspective, I’m pleased to see the back of this campaign, which I found one of the most...

A recurring theme within these pages seems to be creativity in B2B marketing… or more specifically, the lack of it, writes Joel Harrison. The ‘big idea’ is all too often conspicuous by its absence in B2B campaigns, and real cutting edge creative thinking is almost an endangered species. As my fellow commentator Scot McKee would most likely explain, this is largely due to a ‘lack of balls’ on the parts of brands and agencies (I’m paraphrasing here)… but the migration to a more ROI-centric and lead-focused approach has hardly helped. Suffice to say, the situation is petty dire, and both...

RM: those three little letters have been the cause of so much pain for so many marketers. Given the many and varied examples of CRM catastrophies from the 90s, it’s really no wonder that many marketers still run for cover when they hear that particular TLA. Of course, CRM’s fundamental premise (a centralised approach to customer data and contact) was sound, and remains so. However, the problem came – arguably – once this philosophy had become confused with technology. CRM solutions became an end rather than a means, with many implementations failing because they were either too complex, or because...