The Science of Marketing

In January, we wrote a post, "Getting The Brand Together: Consistency", which discussed brand promises - that what you say better be what you do.   Well, to do this you need to sit down and think hard about what it is you do and how to reflect that in your brand.  Consumer product companies have institutionalized this process.  High tech B2B companies to a less extent and high tech B2B start-ups not so much.

In the beginning, the usual process with a high tech start-up is: start a company, get a creative designer to design a logo, pick some colors and fonts.  Sometime later, messaging is developed.  So, the look and feel (visual brand) and the language (verbal brand) of the company are disjoint and possibly out of sync.  With so many companies vying for your audience’s attention these days, consistency is critical - so it is critical that the visual and verbal brand act as one.

There are three main concepts to think about when architecting an integrated brand.

1. The Word - Think about what your company does.  What word does it bring to mind?  Now, how can you get your brand to look like this word?
2. The Core Values - Think about how your company does what it does.  What values does it bring to the market.  Now, how can you add flavor to your brand that reflects these core values?
3. The Market - Think about your competitors, partners and customers.  What do their brands look and sound like?  Now, how can your brand stand out while fitting in?

By approaching your brand development in this structured way, you are more likely to have a tighter bond between what you say and what you look like.

Almost every comedian starts off by asking something like, "I’m from Chicago. How many here are from Chicago?"

The comedian is making a connection with members of the audience before launching into his act. By making this connection, the audience will be more receptive to what follows (and more likely to laugh).

This technique also works in the world of B2B communications. I first heard of this idea in a seminar by Kare Anderson. She said to start a conversation with "something about you, something about me, something about us". Like the comedian, you can instantly form a bond with a common interest and increase the chances that the person on the other end of the conversation will engage. I have used what Kare told me quite successfully over the years with media, analysts, customer and partners.

Do some homework, make some guesses or just probe areas to connect with people, such as…

• Geography
• Sports
• Hobbies
• Educational background
• (Stay away from politics and religion)

And start conversations with common interests.

It is a fact of life that people are more receptive to those who they have something in common with. So, don’t worry about getting right down to business, connect on some other, non-business, level and your conversations will be much more meaningful.

Now, how ’bout those Tampa Bay Rays?

On Monday, my wife and I found ourselves in New York at the XM Radio studios - sitting in on a live broadcast of The Opie and Anthony Show.  As I peered into the studio and listened to the hosts assuming their contrarian stances on the events of the day, it got me thinking about controversy and its role in B2B marketing.  Now, I know that morning radio personalities are a lot different than software companies, but I still wonder if there’s anything to be learned from the art of using shock value to attract and build a loyal following.

A few years ago, I was at a high tech startup that launched "The Carcass Campaign," a series of advertisements that used images of predators and their fallen prey to emphasize the importance of speed in the animal kingdom (and in telecommunications).  Despite the occasional letter from PETA, the reaction was overwhelmingly positive, with most onlookers saying "I get it."  But The Carcass Campaign is the only example I can think of that taps controversy to break through the humdrum clutter and reach the corporate world, and I wonder if today’s overloaded business audiences demand a little more edge from the companies trying to strike up a conversation with them.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that the CEOs of B2B companies begin pulling a Mark Cuban, or that four-letter words start showing up in press releases, but as I flip through the pages of Network World and check out the ads, I’m bored stiff.  Big headline…picture of a person’s face…picture of some hardware…company logo….repeat.  Can’t we do a little better than this, or is the high road good enough?

Please someone…anyone…point me to a good example of a business to business company that isn’t afraid to be edgy.  Or is there just no room for controversy in B2B marketing?

Jay Ehret wrote a good post on Starbucks "loyalty" programs. I say "loyalty" because, as Jay points out, most of these benefits - cards, free WIFI - are more of a pain in the java bean than anything else. I’m not a huge Starbucks fan, anyway, so reading Jay’s post won’t make me go to Starbucks any less (which is zero times a week). But, it did get me thinking about my coffee joint, why I go there and if B2C loyalty tactics can successfully be adapted to the B2B world.

Unlike Starbucks, the BeanTowne Coffee House has meanigful customer loyalty programs: buy ten coffees and I get one free, a drawing to win a free lunch after you buy ten coffees and free WIFI that just works. These benefits, along with a constant, friendly staff and good coffee, make the early morning choice easy. Now that’s the B2C world, where, it seems to me that customer loyalty programs are straight forward (if executed properly).

But, a lot of us live in the B2B world where, beyond providing great products and services, customer loyalty seems a little more complicated. So, have any of you adapted customer loyalty tactics of the B2C world to the B2B world? If so, What has worked brilliantly and what has failed miserably?

As I was surfing the YouTube the other day, I decided to tune in to the Politician Channel and was surprised at what I saw.

Barack Obama: 1,150 videos and 55M views

John McCain: 219 videos and 4M views

That’s a 5-to-1 difference in number of videos posted and close to a 14-to-1 difference in views.

I’m not trying to wax political (something I would never do in a blog) and I know the whole John-McCain-is-old-doesn’t-use-the-computer-and-hates-bloggers thing, but, with all due respect, what the fig?

There are something like 60M broadband subscribers in the US. Now, knowing that, if you

1.) Needed to get the word out to a large audience

2.) Had a communications tool that hit that audience and was (practically) free

Wouldn’t you take advantage?

Something for us B2B marketers to think hard about. If social networking tools could change the outcome - why not?

Every now and then, it’s fun to take a walk down memory lane.  So today, I logged into Google Analytics and punched up the content page to find out what our ten most popular posts are.  I was surprised at how diverse the list is, ranging from the very tactical to the very strategic, and covering just about every topic we’ve ever written about.  I’m glad to see that our readers enjoy variety, so we’ll continue to mix things up.  If there’s anything you’d like us to write about, please comment below or send us an e-mail - we’d love to hear from you.

With that, Our Ten Most Popular Posts: 

1. Internal Communications: Own It
2. The Blogosphere: You Don’t Have to Blog to Belong
3. Mission Statement: Make it Possible
4. Slogans: Say What You Do
5. Market Segmentation: How to Prioritize Targets
6. High Tech Blogging: Why?
7. Lead Generation: The Bell Curve
8. Communications Part II: To the Right People
9. Age of Conversation 2: The Deadline
10. The SEO Triple Play: Message, Mechanics, Maintenance

By now everyone knows that George Carlin passed away last Sunday at the young age of 71. He has been one of my favorite comedians since I could laugh. One of my favorite Carlin bits is "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television". As a tribute to George, I have devised "Seven Things You Can Never Do on a B2B Blog".

1. Get Personal

Everyone’s got an opinion. By the US Constitution they are free to express it and now, with social media, they are free to blog it. As bloggers, our responsibility is to listen to different points-of-view and respond to these points-of-view without attacking the person - a surefire way to drop readership.

2. Clam Up

Blog readers expect not only to hear, but to be heard. Bloggers should respond quickly to every reader comment. Not only will this help generate ideas, but it will help build a loyal following.

3. Self Promote

If a blog is filled with self serving product links, readers probably won’t stay long or come back. But the occasional URL for an author biography, solution overview or even a product page is perfectly acceptable. The important thing to get right is the context of the links. Using links to clarify an issue? Great. Riddling a blog entry with links to your "Buy it Now" page? Not so much.

4. Be Quiet

Posting frequency and rhythm is important in building reader loyalty. If readers take the time to visit a blog or to subscribe to an RSS feed, they expect to be rewarded with a fresh post for their efforts.

5. Isolate Your Blog

The real power of the blogs is not how they work on their own, but how they work together to create new online conversations. So as part of your strategy, consider what role your blog will play in the overall conversation and, by all means, be social. This means building a blog roll and reading, commenting and linking to other blogs.

6. Drift Off Topic

Presumably readers are coming to a blog to socialize about a common business interest. So, while it’s OK to use hooks and opening gambits that embrace popular culture (comedians and golf, for example), a blog should not combine politics, religion, and lawn care with business.

7. Seven Words You Can Never Say on a Blog

OK, I’m actually using George’s "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television" (WARNING: The words in this link are rated R) but it’s probably a good idea not to use them in a blog either.

Here’s to you, George. You will be missed.

Photo Credits: © Home Box Office - Jerold Hamza, Creative Commons License Terms

Once a company has segmented its target markets and positioned itself in context of the business issues and market requirements its customers care about, it is important to conduct a differentiation exercise to examine how its offerings stack up to those of its chief competitors. Understanding a company’s differentiation means knowing the areas in which it excels, as well as those where it may be vulnerable against a particular competitor. Armed with this information, the company can be prepared to attack its competitors’ weaknesses, while defending against their strengths.

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There are a few simple ways to promote your blog through the social networks that you probably already use. I’m talking about LinkedIn, Plaxo and Facebook. Here’s a few things that I do to promote this blog to my network.

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This week’s Network World highlights a major challenge in modern communications. In his latest Netbuzz column, Paul McNamara describes the bizarre series of events that followed a major security breach at the grocery chain, Hannaford. After the potential compromise of 4.2 million credit and debit cards, Rapid7, one of Hannaford’s security vendors, immediately removed almost all records of its dealings with the grocer from its web site. And to make matters worse, when McNamara called multiple Rapid7 contacts for comment on the mysterious deletions, he heard a different story from each.

While Rapid7 was ultimately exonerated for the breach, the resulting Network World coverage hinted that by removing its link with Hannaford from the  web site and contradicting itself on its rationale, Rapid7 created the impression of guilt. The Rapid7 incident highlights a valuable lesson in media relations, and all marketing communications activities for that matter. Consistency is critical.

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