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Brand makeover
Word count: 400 - 500
The ‘rebrand of the month' is a case study illustrating the rebranding process that a B2B brand has undertaken, and demonstrating the visible, graphical incarnations of the new brand.
The article should be attributed to a marketing decision maker working directly for the organisation in question. They don't need to be the marketing director, but do need to have had some direct involvement with the project from a decision making perspective. It must be provided with a photo of the individual who it is attributed to.
The article should be relatively conversational in style, and the following questions must be addressed in this order.
- Who or what are you? What is the company behind the brand? What products/services does it offer? Who does it target?
- What's the problem? Why rebrand? What was the problem with the old brand and how is the rebrand trying to address this?
- What's the ‘big idea'? How does this project relate and tie in with the broader strategic objectives of the organisation? Where did the inspiration come from
- When and how? How was the rebrand actually put into practice? Who did you speak to and through what mediums? What timescales were involved, from planning to ongoing communication? What kind of budgets were involved?
- Did it work? How are you measuring or understanding success? What measurements are being used? Can you prove ROI?
Notes:
The bold questions will appear in the final articles - the standard text appearing afterwards is a guide to help you explain what to write in this section. You don't have to follow this to the letter.
Only ‘clients-side' brands are relevant for this column - brands belonging to agencies or marketing services firms will not be used.
Images: hi-res jpg (at least 300dpi) of the new and old logo and of the person the article should be attributed to.
Features
Scheduled features are largely written by freelancers. To contribute, please check out the synopsis in the forward features section of this site, and email a proposed contribution to the editor Joel Harrison. If this is of relevance, it will be forwarded to the appropriate writer, and an interview will be arranged. Please note: names of authors will not be made available.
Suggestions for forward features are also welcome to Joel Harrison.
Book reviews
Word count: 300 max
All book reviews are approved by the editor and one will be chosen each month to also go in the printed magazine.
Reviews should be:
- Written in the first person
- Submitted within two weeks of receipt of the book (exact dates will be issued when the book is allocated and dispatched to a reviewer).
- Submitted with a high res image of the reviewer (at least 300dpi)
- Written in good English with opinions expressed in a balanced, unbiased way - the language style adopted can be fairly informal due to the nature of review writing, but standard English spelling and grammar must always be used (no slang or colloquialisms).
- Please keep in mind that you are reviewing this book for a B2B marketing audience, and to consider your review from this angle.
Reviewers do not need to return the books to B2B Marketing after the review has been written.
Submit a book review or nominate yourself as a reviewer to joel.harrison[@]b2bm.biz
DM File
Word count: 350
View an example here
Mini B2B DM case study
Format and location in magazine: Half page case study explaining your DM, half page of comment from a creative commenter and Royal Mail
Word count should be split between the following:
- Brand
- Campaign objectives: What the DM activity was aimed at achieving
- Target audience: Job titles and industries, number of individuals, types of companies, and any other pertinent information
- Solution: General points about the creative solution, how it met the objectives
- Description and specifications: More detailed information on matters such as size, delivery, packaging, format.
- Timescale
- Results: Information on results is critical, the more the better.
Image: At least two 300dpi images relating to the mailer is essential, to be submitted along with copy.
Submit a DM file
DM File comment
Word count: 220
B2B Marketing is keen for comment to accompany its regular DM File case study page. The contributor would be required to produce a comment article on a specified DM campaign, for which detailed specifics and imagery will be supplied.
The comment should provide a creative critique on the mailer, and explain what the contributor thought was good, bad or notable etc. Suggestions for alternative approaches would be welcome. Although the DM initiative may be part of a broader campaign, including email, the comment should only relate to the DM element specified.
An image, email address, company name and job title of the contributor must accompany the article.
Digital masterclass
Word count: 750 max, written in up to 10 headed points.
Click here to view an example.
A page covering one aspect of digital B2B marketing, offering the reader practical advice and easy-to-read hints and tips on how to get the best out of that particular subject.
The writer should be an expert in the field and include points such as:
- the benefits of using the technology
- how to implement it into a strategy
- how to find the right supplier
- the kind of creative that can be associated with it
- any other important hints, tips and what to watch
There should also be a small box on ‘What to watch out for', which should contain a short list of potential downsides and how to avoid common mistakes.
Subjects could include:
- Affiliate marketing
- Online advertising
- Web 2.0
- Email marketing
- Pay-per-click
- Virals
- Podcasting
- Webinars
- Social Networking
- Blogging
- Websites
- Mobile marketing
- Web TV
- Online PR
- NB. SEO marketing will NOT be covered
The piece will have a image of the author, a byline and also their email address at the end.
Submit a digital masterclass
Guest blogs
B2B Marketing is always keen to hear about the latest opinions and water-cooler topics affecting the world of B2B marketers. If you, or someone you know, wants to contribute a guest blog you just have to follow these simple guidelines:
- Make it full of personality, your views and your perspective. You don't have to be controversial for the sake of it, but you must believe in what you're writing about
- It shouldn't be too long, too technical, too detailed or too impersonal
- It sould be 100-400 words, broken up into digestible chunks
Jargon buster
Word count: 250
Click here for an example.
This column is designed to highlight new or emerging ideas or concepts in B2B marketing, broadening readers' horizons in a gently humorous way. It is attributed to one individual, and should be supplied with an email address and pic.
Contributors must suggest their own topic to the editorial team for approval, the more unusual or quirky (but genuine!) the better.
Required:
- [heading - ie. what the name of this is]
eg. Influencer marketing - What does that mean?
- And in English?
- Where does it come from?
[or]
Who invented it? - What does it mean for my business?
- What do I need to do about it?
- How or where do I find out more?
- Jargon rating: [star rating out of five]
- Is it a paradigm shift or just another TLA?
Case studies
Word count: 800
Click here for an example.
These following areas of discussion are essential. Using each point as the basis of a paragraph or at least section is required.
- Who is the client company? What products/services do they offer? To what target audience? Any other pertinent information - please keep this brief, less is definitely more.
- What was their marketing problem?
- Why did they chose to work with the agency/service provider?
- What solution was devised? How did it work and how did address the business issue.
- This section should make up the bulk of the article. It should explain the approach that was adopted, and why this was chosen, and look at any problems encountered and how they were resolved.
- What results were achieved?
- Quote from the client - this must be attributed to a marketing decision maker within the client company.
- Activity going forward - how is the success being carried forward?
Images: pic of client decision maker quoted, logo of client company and an image of relevant marketing activity
Submit a case study
Sponsored editorial
The following information must be considered before compiling sponsored editorial articles for B2B Marketing.
- All content must be supplied to the agreed deadline and wordcount, as discussed with the editorial team.
- Content must be primarily aimed at increasing the reader's understanding and knowledge of B2B marketing, preferably through the supply of ‘best practice' information on achieving specific objectives or addressing specific business challenges (which can be determined by the contributor).
- Content must at all times be objective and unbiased, and not overtly promotional of the contributor's products or services.
- Content must be written in the first person, and be attributed to one specific individual.
- Quotes from other individuals are permissible, but must be kept to a minimum. For a series of articles, this individual must be agreed from the beginning of the relationship.
- Box-outs of approximately 100-150 words are desirable - this must be subtracted from the overall wordcount.
- Completed copy must be supplied with a high res image of the nominated contributor (300 dpi) and their email address, to be included in the completed article
- The editor's judgement on what is relevant and unbiased is final and B2B Marketing reserves the right to ask for copy to be amended until all issues are addressed.
Please note: failing to comply with these guidelines may result in copy being excluded from the publication.
If you have any questions regarding these guidelines or any other issue related to sponsored editorial, please contact the editor at joel.Harrison [@]b2bm.biz
Submit sponsored editorial
Please note: contributions are liable to be edited and publication cannot be guaranteed.