Read Between the Ps

Jason, from Centric , a media agency, had given an interesting perspective on the essentials of B2B branding , and certain misconceptions that marketers have, with regards to the techniques that qualify as B2B. In his post, The Key Failure of B2B Branding , Jason believes that most of the marketers consider B2B as a microcosm of B2C branding , and attempt to incorporate B2C marketing components in the B2B space, too. His innuendoes on how consumer marketers, specifically, Procter & Gamble has some of the strongest brands, are worth mentioning… "..if you throw tens of millions of dollars at promoting a product over a period of decades, of course it’ll have a strong brand. It’s been seen so many times that it’s become part of the culture. So yes, when you look at the strongest brands, they’re going to be consumer brands ." But where most of the marketers go wrong is when they take this understanding of “ successful branding ” and use the same recipe for their industrial br...

Found an interesting perspective on what should marketers looking for a long-term marketing career invest in, to ensure that their businesses are sustainable and successful. John Jantsch , author of Duct Tape Marketing , recommends 3 imperatives for Long-term marketing - the 3 essential marketing practices required for producing results - the 3 Cs: Content, Connection and Community . Content - self-growth and increasing self-worth and market credibility. This could be done through blogs, white papers, workshops, articles, etc. Connection - personal relationships need to be reinforced to be leveraged subsequently - through co-creating experiences with them, by way of stories, training and other brand elements Community - a social network, that moves beyond personal relationships and penetrates into the local communities, and social circles. This can be done by way of investing time & money in social projects, get-togethers planned with clients, initiating and maintaining forums,...

Mobile Marketing is no longer an emerging concept. It is a buzz word being talked about with a bit of apprehension but a lot of enthusiasm . Every marketer would want to introduce the concept in his peer group, but from what I have read, it has still not been fitted into the marketing planner of companies. A recent article at Marketing Profs “ Marketing Challenge: Is It Time to Move Into Mobile Marketing? ” by Meryl K. Evans and Hank Stroll explores this apprehension and enunciates both sides of the story… those who are doing something about it, and those who are waiting for those who are doing something about it ! Those who want to go for the kill believe that even though there are grey areas , it is a path worth exploring and holds a high potential. Customer behavioral data is an iterative process, and trends & patterns would evolve with usage. On the other hand, some want to wait for a consistent data pattern to emerge and then jump into the water! Though this is something...

Found a nice piece of ad in the latest edition of Harvard Business Review . Following the lead, these 2 ads are featured as posters at the website of PI Worldwide. A nice analogy to present and market the need of a behavioral Assessment tool – tools that are required to improve performance and productivity of human assets. Human resources cannot be taken as commodities, and there is a concerted subjective assessment required to make the most of these resources – this is the basic purpose of this tool by PI Worldwide - to hire, develop and retain talented people . A nice way to put across the point in the B2B space for corporates.. As the title of its brochure reads "Uncover the hidden value in your most valuable resource" PI Worldwide is a HR management consulting firm, with its famous tool “Predictive Index” process “ The Predictive Index process improves effectiveness and productivity across all levels of an organization. As a practical, reliable indicator of workplace ...

Most of the times, advertisements in the B2C or C2C space are discussed and stressed upon in the marketing circles. This time, however, I found a piece, which is supposedly* in the B2B space – Dennis Coir Mills . This simple ad highlights the source, as well as the target markets in this print piece. As mentioned at Adland , Coir is made from coconuts and is used in the making of floor mats and doormats, brushes, mattresses, etc. Therefore, the copy “ Taking Coir across the world ” holds relevance to the products offered by the company. In marketing terms, it is a smart application of Gestalt psychology , wherein the consumer would follow the " Closure " principle of perceptual organization , and take the coconut as the world, and perceive it to be closed like the globe. It is simply the stimulus created by the patterns of the continents drawn, which leads to filling the so-called gaps drawing analogy between the coconut and the earth.. Part of new campaigns list at Agen...