What is B2B Rising? What does it mean? Listen to what Kathy Button Bell, CMO of Emerson and BMA National Chair has to say about B2B Marketing and the Regional B2B Marketing Conference in St. Louis on October 3rd at the Four Seasons.
One of the things I love most about my role on the BMA Board of Directors is the people I meet. In the last few years, I've visited with members around the country and spoken at many chapter meetings. While many people came to hear about my experience, I'm always fascinated by what I learn from them.
During all of our conversations, there's a strong common denominator that stands out - change. Change in our industries, change in the business world, change in how we need to function as marketers.
This is why I've worked with the BMA board over the last few months to put together a smart, strategic plan for the next two years - because change is here to stay. We've already tallied significant progress since the national conference in June. Much of this comes from tapping the expertise of past Board Chair Al Maag to serve as the association's executive director.
As a board, we've rolled up our sleeves and begun to improve the BMA infrastructure so we can better support chapter leaders and improve service to members - from branding and the marketing.org web site to the tools and guidance to help chapters deliver a strong local community.
Where We're Headed
BMA's vision ties directly to the research we conducted with Forrester and released at our national conference in June. We're keen on helping marketers navigate the accelerated pace of change by delivering relevant content, studies and resources. Helping chapters cultivate a strong base for local events means creating opportunities for connection and growth that leads to member recruitment.
As an association, my vision is that BMA serves as the inspiration and access to conversations about how our profession is changing. The board's purpose is to help B2B marketers navigate the change we're all feeling and help each of you realize that, while we can't control what changes we face, we can control how we deal with them and move our profession forward.
One of the things I struggle with is being the person in my company who's trying to span the chasm between the pace that the market sets and the pace at which my company is willing to move. It's a challenge for me to set a strategy that will pave the way for my company not just to keep up, but to stand as a leader in our industry. This is the type of challenge BMA wants to help marketers cope with. We want to help people make better choices during a time of disruption and rampant change.
No Excuses
For many years, B2B marketers have talked about how the pace of change in our industries is much slower than that of B2C. That's no longer the case. Just because you're a B2B marketer, doesn't mean you can move slowly. If you expect to stay relevant to your customers, then you have to educate yourself on what's going on and how to improve your skills as a professional. Because when it comes down to it, you can't opt out of the change we're experiencing.
At BMA, we believe it's our job to help educate you, connect you and stand in front of you to show you the way. Since I've been involved with BMA, I've found that it's the heartfelt conversations I've had with small groups of members all around the country that stick with me. We'll all very different, but it's our different point of views that help us look at the work we do and have more well-rounded perspectives.
In our accelerated pace of change, remember that time is our friend. Remember not to overreact to the challenges we're facing. It's never too late to make marketing better. BMA is here to help you continually get more information to make your decision making better and easier.
Here's to a year of building a stronger B2B marketing community,
B2B Rising is the theme of our 2013 B2B Regional Marketing Conference. Here's what a few people are saying when asked is what B2B Rising means to them. If you're not registered for the October event, be sure to register NOW. Also, consider being a sponsor at this year's event.
On November 8th, we had the pleasure of hearing Laura Ramos presentation at the BMA- St. Louis luncheon. Laura's topic was "How Xerox Uses Digital and Social to Engage Business Buyers".
With sales of more than $22 billion, Xerox is the world's leading enterprise for business processes and document management.
In Feb of 2010 Xerox acquired Affiliated Computer Services (ACS). Services represent 1/2 of overall business.
Successful marketing of services depends on developing engaging content that builds business and deepens relationships.
What happens when you are no longer Xerox the Copier company.
How do you use digital media to:
Evolve the brand from technology-led to service driven
Retain value of our shared history
Share how Xerox solve customer problems, not simply sell
Impact demand generation and the purchase process
In using digital to address buyers:
Enable a sales conversation
Introduce and "promote" your experts
Feature your customers
Lessons Learned:
Know your audience
Executive support is critical
Focus on your first adopters then iterate, test, iterate, test...
Tell the customer's story, not yours
- Real people and places
-Highlight the problem/pain, don't hide it
-Show both sides of the solution - what went wrong as well as right
The Shorter the Better
Humor is useful, but know your audience
Make Content Easy to Share
Video makes customer success tangible
Social is part of the mix, not a separate channel
Multimedia enhances the brand experience, educates potential buyers, and turns customers into advocates
We hear a lot about content marketing and story-telling as an effective element in B-to-B marketing communications, but have you ever really heard about and been inspired by one brand's program to tell a compelling story, in an integrated fashion across channels, that also led to quantifiable results?
The Business Marketing Association named MonsantoCorporate Marketer of the Year for 2011 and also awarded the company five B2 awards at its national award ceremony. Three of the awards were for Monsanto's "America's Farmers" campaign. And this multi-million dollar ad campaign truly does tell a story.
The America's Farmers campaign features real farm families doing what they do every day -- growing not only our food, but also our economy and our quality of life here in America. We're all connected to agriculture and it's time we, as a nation, learn more about the industry that provides for us every day.
Monsanto is proud to work alongside farmers as they work to provide food, clothing and energy for our growing world. And as a U.S.-based agriculture company, we believe it is our responsibility to help tell the real stories of America's farmers.
Monstanto tells consumers just how truly important America's farmers are to our economy and how they provide for us every day. The agricultural industry in our country exports $100 billion in crops and employs over 24 million Americans.
This campaign included TV, radio, newspaper ads, a micro-site,event marketing and social media. It's main objective is to correct misinformation about the farming industry and tell true stories about American farming families.
Join us on June 7th when Mark Halton, Monsanto’s VP of Global Corporate Marketing & Communications, his team members will speak at our luncheon in Clayton, MO. You'll learn about the background of the campaign, how it has morphed into other Monsanto brand campaigns, how they’re measuring results, and how their employees and agencies get psyched about awards.Register Here
The B2 Awards recognize business-to-business marketing programs and demonstrate the ability to transform new, creative ideas into strategic initiatives.
We are looking for summer interns to begin as soon as possible. This is a paid internship, great for anyone currently enrolled in school to gain experience in communications, promotions, advertising, etc... and to network with Saint Louis' marketing leaders.
If you are interested or know someone who may be interested, E-mail[email protected]
Marketing and Advertising Awards Program Producer
Awards Program - Judging Responsibilities:
• Create and execute integrated marketing plan across all channels: telephone, mail, e-mail, web, social, face-to-face, etc.
• Coordinate team efforts in promoting the upcoming TAM awards nominations, judging and awards ceremony
• Develop and implement new categories and judging criteria
• Interact with nominees, support throughout entry process.
• Manage digital online awards judging process • Coordinate, staff and manage judging process • Develop and push out winner & loss notifications, organize materials for winning entries • Manage records of incoming funds, awards program budget
Awards Event - Event Planning and Event Day Responsibilities:
• Create and execute integrated marketing plan across all channels. Telephone, mail, e-mail, Internet, social, face-to-face, etc.
• Coordinate event details with sponsors and partners assisting in promotion.
• Develop party theme and create activities for event night.
• Develop and coordinate entertainment
• Coordinate logistics on event venue, hospitality, room design, etc
• Maintain contact with awards entry participants and winners
• Write script and develop presentation for events ceremony
• Set up exhibition, manage party operations, presentation, stage activities, tear down exhibition
The TAM Awards is one of the biggest advertising and marketing party in Saint Louis each year. There are two interns needed to fill this role. This role will work closely with leadership oversight and mentoring from BMA board member and marketing leader, Russell Kroeker.
The internship begins on May 15 and ends Oct 1 at a set number of part-time hours per week.
Most of the work is leisurely. There are a couple of weeks of increased hours after July 4th and again in the weeks leading up to the awards party in the middle of September, specifically in August.
If you are interested or know someone who may be interested, E-mail[email protected]
We are proud to announce, in conjunction with the BMA National Organization, that the first B2B Marketing Summit in St. Louis, MO will be held this October 4th. Called "Go and Grow." We're bringing national and local B2B marketing leaders together in St. Louis for a half day summit followed by cocktails and networking. Attend sessions presented by CMOs leading major brands. These discussions will inform and inspire you in the following areas:
Marketing Integration
Mobilizing B2B Marketing
B2B Marketing Best Practices
Turning Marketing Complexity into New Opportunities
Have you ever watched an hour or so of TV bloopers, animated shorts or funny and clever advertisements? Some of the most fun I've had watching a film has been when I've had a chance to view the most creative and compelling work by advertising creatives. Luckily, on May 2nd, Saint Louis will have a chance to see the best television ads from last year, as awarded at the prestigious Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
This annual festival is held annually in France for the top advertisers and agencies around the world, and the most memorable one yet wrapped up last summer. This year, only one organization is bringing you an hour and a half of the winning TV ads. Everything from Google Chrome's clever science experiment ads to Old Spice's "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like", and all the hilarious ones you've never seen in between. BMA is hosting "Cannes Do", an special viewing at the Sheldon Concert Hall, on Wednesday, May 2nd from 6:00 to 8:30. Join us!
More About Cannes International Festival of Creativity
*It is considered the largest gathering of worldwide advertising professionals, designers, digital innovators and marketers.
* It was inspired by the famous, international film festival in Cannes and uses the same cinema screens.
Why 2011 was Special
* 2011’s Cannes Lions festival included talks from will.i.am, James Murdoch, Facebook's Carolyn Everson, Piers Morgan,Aaron Sorkin, David Simon and Eric Schmidt. In 2011, a record 28,282 entries were received.
* The seminars this year compromised of a mixture of established advertising agencies (Ogilvy, Saatchi & Saatchi, R/GA, Grey, Leo Burnett), super brands (Coca Cola, Ford, Time Warner) and tech giants (Google, Adobe, Facebook, Yahoo, Microsoft).
* In its 58th year, the International Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity rewarded agencies and marketers from around the world for excellence in creativity on many levels. Over 28,000 entries were judged by thirteen juries during the course of two weeks in June.
Who
should attend?
* Marketing and brand managers who want to learn what makes video go viral.
* Creatives who want to be
inspired.
* International marketers who want to see winning strategies from around the
world, for products ranging from insurance to plastic.
Emerson Electric, a product manufacturer and engineering services provider, is a multinational organization headquartered here in Saint Louis, MO.
They just announced the launch of some very creative and impressive television spots as part of their "It's Never Been Done" campaign, which aims to "provide innovative engineering solutions across its different business units, including network power, climate technologies, process management and industrial automation," according to a recent article by BtoB Magazine.
"With these customer stories, we want to show that we enable companies that are operating in extreme areas—whether they're hot, cold or far away—to conduct business 24/7, 365 days a year,” Kathy Button Bell (LinkedIn), CMO at Emerson, told BtoB.
Last night, BMA Saint Louis held an informative and thought-provoking event at Maritz, hosted by Director of Brand Strategy Paula Godar (@paulagodar), and featuring a presentation by Mary Beth McEuen, VP and Executive Director of the Maritz Institute (@marybethmceuen). Here are my notes from our session:
The topic was The Game Has Changed - A New Paradigm for Brand Engagement from the Inside-Out. Paula introduced Mary Beth, and McEuen began her presentation by telling us a little bit about what the Maritz Institute is all about. She said that the Institute is focused on advancing understanding of people through the sciences, through neuroscience in particular. It's about figuring out what makes people tick. And isn't that what marketing is all about as well? I know that at least, as we better understand what drives and motivates people, we can become better marketers.
When McEuen was over marketing and brand strategy at Maritz 10 years ago, she said they started down the path of "Brand Alignment" - This is what captured her attention and the attention of other senior marketers and leaders at that time. The leaders at Maritz began to have a conversation about authenticity. They began to understand that marketing needed to move beyond a place of simply communicating messages but to a place where you engage with people in an authentic way. Today this need is understood generally throughout the marketing community, says McEuen, "but it doesn't mean we're doing it just yet."
Her work at Maritz evolved into a fascination with the concept of a brand, what is a brand. McEuen gave us the metaphor of a bucket. "Our memories are not very good," she said. " We don't actually remember all facets of an experience." In fact, she went on to explain, many don't even enter our interpretation. We kind of filter through it.
"Even in this room tonight, everyone will have a different experience. But, everyone will walk away really remembering the emotion and feelings they hold surrounding that experience."
She explained that as the bucket fills with water, every time we have an experience with Maritz (or any given brand), it's like a drop in the bucket. The bucket might be crystal clear and beautiful or it may be kind of cloudy if you haven't had the greatest of experiences, but another drop will enter into the bucket. "Every single drop matters," she said.
"Every once in a while there's something that knocks you into the experience of truly positive, or truly negative, and those really shape things."
And so, as they continued their analysis of what it truly means to monitor experiences and engagement as they influence the brand impression, the team at Maritz developed a tag line.
Tag line of Maritz Institute: The Science and Art of People and Potential
"From the beginning, Maritz based client solutions on science," said McEuen. She mentioned B.F. Skinner and the "behavioralism" movement in psychology as having shaped our early thinking. Now Maslow has had an influence as well. But Skinner and Maslow have pretty different perspectives on things.
Maslow believed "Organizations designed right are vehicles for human potential," said McEuen. Steve Maritz realized that we were missing a link to the more recent sciences which is why he created the Maritz institute.
The "Art" is really important in this tag line, she explained. "Science for science sake is really not all that interesting."
Artful design of marketing and business practices means that "you know when you've done it well when it really connects with people."
"The Maritz Institute is really a network of people," said McEuen. It is made up of four people officially, but the network includes folks at Harvard, across academia, and about 300 people across Maritz.
The next stage of her presentation focused on: How do we need to think differently about engaging the key stakeholders within businesses.
"Ultimately our goal is to have a positive impact on stakeholders. It should be good for business and good for the individuals -- a win/win, enrichment midset," said McEuen.
This really gets us to "Why and How The Game Has Changed."
She said of Kotler's work that he shows us how Marketing 1.0 was product-centric, one to one. Marketing 2.0 is consumer-oriented, one to many. And Marketing 3.0 is values-driven, many to many (a network, collaboration). Hines believed that we are entering into the age of a more creative society and of human spirit, the rise of the cultural creatives, the knowledge worker.
McEuen discussed Maslow, revisited: When we hit the great recession, we saw that people in general reverted, as we expected, down the Maslow hierarchy toward basic needs such as security, but during this recent recession, it seems to be categorizing people up, toward expression.
McEuen said, "There are rapid changes going on in societal values, and business is going to have to keep up."
Regarding consumerism and "stuff", McEuen said "We've been living among the values of challenge, achievement, competition, materialism, prestige. Now we're hitting a stage of "when is there enough?" When we have less resources, some folks are saying, "This is enough. I have enough..." and then they move up the pyramid into trying to find meaning: collaboration, thrill-seeking, community, freedom, novelty, self-expression, experimentation, passion, authenticity.
Individual success starts to morph into collaborative expression.
When you think about consumers trying to find these values, what brands come to mind that are currently tapping into this? The audience replied with "Apple", "Target" and similar brands.
McEuen then said that it's going to be important that as marketers and brand managers, we understand how important it is the ways in which these shifts are impacting employees. And more importantly, how engaging employees properly due to these shifts will have an impact on your ability to engage your customers and/or prospects and drive the business forward. Thus, the importance of employee engagement, especially considering these recent developments in values.
Employees are most engaged at companies that seem to highly value: Stimulation, Self-direction, Universalism and Benevolence.
McEuen displayed a slide with the following quote: "Businesses are social systems. All social systems are underpinned with assumptions about human behavior. The problem is many of our current assumptions are wrong or out-of-date."
- Peter Drucker
Our new goal as marketers and as leaders is going to be:
Delivering on the brand promise from the inside-out so that it's authentic. We need to create places of "engagement."
Leverage reward and recognition, said McEuen. This has an impact on engagement, and ultimately on customer satisfaction.
Southwest Airlines is known for being a place of engagement for its employees. Think of companies, websites, group meetings, that are places of engagement.
Everything has to be participatory now. It can't be static or else it's missing the mark.
McEuen shared with us the Three People Principles That Guide Business Practices.
1. Humans are both emotional and rational in their decision-making. McEuen referenced the metaphor of the Elephant, the Rider, and the Path they follow:
Adapted from psychologist Jonathan Haidt), the Elephant represents emotion, the Rider is rationality, and the Path indicates the focus or direction. The Rider is analytical. She directs the Elephant, but the Elephant must be emotionally engaged in order to respond to the Rider (an Elephant is too big to move if it’s resisting). Once the Rider and Elephant are ready to go–once you’ve gotten your team, class, or self convinced and motivated– you need to give them directions down a Path.In order to create successful change in any context, leaders and teachers need to engage their employees, peers, students, or selves both emotionally and rationally while also providing a clear direction.
"If you think about the rider as reason, elephant as emotion," said McEuen, "when the two disagree, who's going to win?" The audience laughed. >
2. People are both emotional and rational in their decision-making. They are driven by multiple motivators.
3. People are both individual and social.
Lastly, McEuen gave us the four key motivational areas of individuals and explained their significance in our ability to engage and tap these motivators in our marketing initiatives. This is based on the work of Professor Paul Lawrence and Dean Nitin Nohria of Harvard Business School.
The Multiple Motivators
1. Acquire: driven to acquire stuff, status, resources
Emotions: competitive, powerful, superior
2. Defend: driven to defend status, stuff, ideas, relationships
Emotions: Angry, frightened, anxious
* We really "get" the first two as marketers.
3. Bond: drive to engage, cooperate, "fit in" to the community
Emotions: Cooperative, protective, grateful
4. Create: driven to create better self, team, organization, world
Emotions: Awe, curiosity, wonder
Emotions are highly contagious - we don't keep them to ourselves.
The brain is a meaning-making device, it's always trying to make sense of things.
It's much harder to understand and tap into the last two, but it's possible.
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With sales of more than $22 billion, Xerox is the world's leading enterprise for business processes and document management.
This campaign included TV, radio, newspaper ads, a micro-site, event marketing and social media. It's main objective is to correct misinformation about the farming industry and tell true stories about American farming families. 
This annual festival is held annually in France for the top advertisers and agencies around the world, and the most memorable one yet wrapped up last summer. This year, only one organization is bringing you an hour and a half of the winning TV ads. Everything from Google Chrome's clever science experiment ads to Old Spice's "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like", and all the hilarious ones you've never seen in between. BMA is hosting "Cannes Do", an special viewing at the Sheldon Concert Hall, on 
The topic was The Game Has Changed - A New Paradigm for Brand Engagement from the Inside-Out. Paula introduced Mary Beth, and McEuen began her presentation by telling us a little bit about what the Maritz Institute is all about. She said that the Institute is focused on advancing understanding of people through the sciences, through neuroscience in particular. It's about figuring out what makes people tick. And isn't that what marketing is all about as well? I know that at least, as we better understand what drives and motivates people, we can become better marketers. 
Her work at Maritz evolved into a fascination with the concept of a brand, what is a brand. McEuen gave us the metaphor of a bucket. "Our memories are not very good," she said. " We don't actually remember all facets of an experience." In fact, she went on to explain, many don't even enter our interpretation. We kind of filter through it. 
Tag line of Maritz Institute: The Science and Art of People and Potential