BtoB back issues from June 2007:
Small business suffering from 'inertia gap'; Warrillow study finds awareness of online applications doesn't always mean adopting them.(Warrillow & Co)
Jun 04, 2007; ... Byline: KATE MADDOX At the Warrillow Summit in Chicago last month, marketers discussed strategies for disrupting the inertia that often exists at small and midsize companies in order to influence the adoption of new products and services. The summit, presented by ...
Autodesk's blueprint for integration.(Tools & Metrics)
Jun 04, 2007 ... Byline: Christopher Hosford Autodesk Inc. is familiar to most every architect and interior designer for its AutoCAD design software. The company also supplies software for such diverse industries as construction, manufacturing, mapping, media and entertainment. San ...
With content the conduit to customers, marketers must keep up with user trends.(News)
Jun 04, 2007 ... Byline: RICHARD KARPINSKI B-to-b marketers need to be more sophisticated in their efforts to reach potential buyers with content and update their approaches to search marketing, content registration and syndication to keep up with recent user trends, according to a survey by ...
Behavioral targeting; Targeting prospects based on previous actions can have significant impact on marketers' conversion rates.
Jun 04, 2007; ... Byline: Karen J. Bannan In the past, commercial realtors had to count on their prospects for answers when determining where leads originated. They had to ask those prospects if, for instance, they'd picked up the phone book and called the first person they'd found, or if they'd ...
Corporate wikis offer close contact that could improve advertising.(News)
Jun 04, 2007 ... Byline: MATTHEW SCHWARTZ In the last few years, corporate wikis have become an online means for companies to keep track of what's going on internally. But can they help b-to-b companies improve their marketing communications? A growing number of b-to-b marketers that ...
Correction.(Corrections)(Correction notice)
Jun 04, 2007 ... Bob Bragdon's title was listed incorrectly in "`Media Business' ...
Consumer vision for b-to-b creative; Nicholson Kovac creative director says ads should address the human element.(Phil Gayter)(Interview)
Jun 04, 2007; ... Byline: KATE MADDOX Phil Gayter, who joined marketing communications agency Nicholson Kovac in February as director of creative services, brings broad expertise in b-to-b and consumer advertising to the Kansas City, Mo., agency. Gayter has held creative and ...
QuickHits.(Acxiom Corp. and Silver Lake Partners and ValueAct Capital Paertners merger)(Clear Channel Communications shareholders approve merger with Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital)(NBC Universal reduces time for television ads)
Jun 04, 2007 ... IAB: U.S. Internet ad revenue up 35% in '06 Internet ad revenue in the U.S. reached $16.90 billion last year, up 35% over 2005, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau. Internet advertising in the fourth quarter totaled $4.80 billion, up 35% over the same period in 2005, ...
Sense of urgency at ABM meeting; B-to-b media executives at annual gathering challenged to ramp up their online offerings.(American Business Media)
Jun 04, 2007; ... Byline: MATTHEW SCHWARTZ For b-to-b media executives who attended American Business Media's Spring Meeting in Naples, Fla., last month, the message was clear: Lose the old playbook and develop new marketing opportunities, particularly online, if they are to thrive in a media ...
Online video promising for small marketers; Streaming content can help firms beat competitors, capitalize on local markets.
Jun 04, 2007; ... Byline: MATTHEW SCHWARTZ During a recent seminar at the Streaming Media East conference in New York, Steve Safran, a senior VP at new media consultancy AR&D, screened an episode of "Flush TV.'' The five-minute Internet reality series features a humorous, yet ...
E-mail 'clown'-ing nets response from HR; Case study.(Zoom Information)(Case study)
Jun 04, 2007; ... Byline: ROGER SLAVENS Zoom Information is a Web-based service using a business information search engine to find information on industries, companies, people, products and services. About 70% of ZoomInfo's customers are recruiters that want to tap into the search engine's ...
Thomson-Reuters deal would create largest provider of financial data.(Reuters Group PLC)
Jun 04, 2007; ... Byline: Matthew Schwartz The Thomson-Reuters deal is expected to significantly shake things up among the major media players in the financial news and information sector, analysts say. Toronto-based Thomson Corp. on May 15 agreed to buy London-based Reuters Group for ...
AT&T phases out Cingular name faster than expected; Removes brand moniker from all in-store signage, scales it back in advertisements.(News)
Jun 04, 2007; ... Byline: ALICE Z. CUNEO The Cingular brand name will go away more quickly than first expected. AT&T announced May 21 that it will accelerate the elimination of its Cingular Wireless brand by removing the name from all in-store signage, including kiosks and ...
New campaigns.(Advertising)
Jun 04, 2007 ... BearingPoint "Done. Differently.'' Agency: Renegade Marketing Group, New York Target audience: Government executives Campaign objective: Show how BearingPoint can help government organizations address key issues such as information sharing, security, identity ...
Client-side marketer ready to lead BMA; Q&A.(Keith Pigues of Cemex U.S.)(Interview)
Jun 04, 2007; ... Byline: KATE MADDOX Reflecting the Business Marketing Association's goal of broadening its membership and activities into deeper marketing-driven functions, incoming chairman Keith Pigues is the first client-side marketer who has been elected to lead the association. ...
ShowNotes.(International Association of Exhibitions and Events forms the IAEE Green Committee)(Canon Communications Inc. and Trident Exhibitions Ltd. merger)(International Data Group promotes Mary Dolaher )
Jun 04, 2007 ... IAEE creates committee to address environmental issues The International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE, formerly IAEM) has formed the IAEE Green Committee, which will develop best practices to address how to minimize the environmental impact of events globally. The ...
Data debate; Our panel of database pros discusses the latest innovations and challenges that marketers looking to tap the full potential of their data need to know.(Special Report: Database Marketing)(Discussion)
Jun 04, 2007; ... Byline: Carol Krol Getting a complete view of the customer remains elusive for many b-to-b marketers. An ongoing goal-and challenge-is to have complete data integration across media channels so that marketers have a central view of those disparate data sources and can make smart ...
Sun hosts 'green' event; Company successfully integrates its environmental initiatives at JavaOne.(Sun Microsystems Inc.)
Jun 04, 2007; ... Byline: Erin Biba Sun Microsystems has a long history of environmentalism. The company uses reduced energy at its many data centers around the country and a global product returns program reclaims and recycles customers' products. For the JavaOne conference, which brings ...
Want to save the planet? Start by cleaning up your direct marketing.(News)
Jun 04, 2007 ... Byline: AMY SYRACUSE Marketers are realizing that by re-examining data hygiene, they can help their company reduce its environmental footprint Results of the 2007 ImagePower Green Brands Survey, released in May, demonstrate a shift in attitudes about environmental ...
A new marketing vehicle (in more ways than one).(Beyond the Biz)
Jun 04, 2007 ... It's another example of how you can patch into a computer from virtually anywhere these days-or a sign of the apocalypse: a plan by the Taxi and Limousine Commission in New York to install touch-screen monitors in all 13,000 city cabs. The monitors will allow riders to pay the fare by ...
First step to aligning marketing and sales: Admit there's a problem; Ask the expert.(Interview)
Jun 04, 2007 ... Tim Riesterer is CEO of CMM Group and co-author of "Customer Message Management: Increasing Marketing's Impact on Selling.'' BtoB recently asked Riesterer about trends in ways to make marketing and sales work better together. BtoB: How can a company tell if its sales and ...
Internet influence felt at all levels.(Column)
Jun 04, 2007; ... Byline: Ellis Booker Last week, the Commerce Department revised down its estimate for first-quarter expansion in GDP to a 0.6% annual rate. A month earlier, it estimated the rate at 1.3%. It was the slowest quarterly growth since the fourth quarter of 2002. Nevertheless, most ...
Aiming to close a perpetual gap; Marketing, sales seek tools to gain true integration between the two disciplines.
Jun 04, 2007; ... Byline: CHRISTOPHER HOSFORD Sales-marketing alignment is one of those corporate considerations seemingly more honored in the breach than the observance. Sales managers and reps complain about what they see as low-quality leads and off-base collateral materials ...
Seven fatal errors of video production.
Jun 04, 2007; ... Byline: Matt Solomon A business video can promote your organization, message and sales. It works best and maximizes the return on your corporate communications investment when you avoid these fatal errors. Fatal Error No. 1: Trying to say everything ...
Looking at the best-of-breed blogs; New channels.(Website overview)(Column)
Jun 04, 2007; ... Byline: Paul Gillin I typically use this column to look at future trends, but this month I want to recognize some businesses that are simply doing a great job leveraging corporate weblogs, which are the most mature social media tools. While only a handful of corporations are ...
'BtoB' launches 'Rollout' to cover b-to-b ad campaigns; new at btobonline.com.(Brief article)
Jun 04, 2007 ... "Rollout,'' BtoB's latest e-mail newsletter, will cover integrated b-to-b campaigns and the people who create them. The free, biweekly newsletter, which debuts this month, will include coverage of new campaigns and interviews with senior client-side ...
Don't believe Wall Street doesn't take into account the power of a positive image; brand building.
Jun 04, 2007; ... Byline: Howard Sherman Few companies realize the impact a solid corporate brand can have on Wall Street. While fund managers and equity analysts may say that brand is soft and emotional and doesn't fit with the hard, rational data they use when they look at a company, today's ...
Online ad specialists demanding top dollar; Microsoft's deal to buy aQuantive is one of many in the works as firms vie for Web advertising dominance.(News)
Jun 04, 2007; ... Byline: CAROL KROL When Microsoft Corp. last month said it would plunk down a cool $6 billion to acquire Seattle-based aQuantive, few industry watchers batted an eye at the hefty price tag. That's because the deal-the largest in Microsoft's history-is just one of ...
Nortel campaign aims to redefine networking; CMO Flaherty hopes `Hyperconnectivity' ads bolster firm's image.(Nortel Networks, Lauren Flaherty)(Interview)
Jun 04, 2007; ... Byline: KATE MADDOX Nortel Networks last month introduced a global ad campaign, its first major advertising since Lauren Flaherty took over as CMO in May 2006. The effort aims to redefine the telecommunications company's role in an increasingly connected network environment. ...
Relevancy, consistency key in effective behavioral targeting; Ask the expert.(Brief article)
Jun 04, 2007; ... What can b-to-b marketers do to get the most out of their behavioral marketing efforts? Answer: B-to-b marketers would be wise to first look before they leap and determine clearly defined objectives for why they are using any particular form of audience targeting, and that ...
Problem solved.
Jun 04, 2007; ... E-mail: Problem: I don't have my own e-mail list but need to reach a sizable audience-soon. Solution: Which comes first, the e-mail newsletter or the list? It's a common chicken-and-egg scenario; after all, you typically don't start building your list until you have something to ...
Agenda.(Brief article)(Calendar)
Jun 04, 2007 ... June 13-15 BMA Annual Conference 2007 Business Marketing Association The Venetian, Las Vegas www.bmaconference.com June 19-21 DM Days New York Direct Marketing Association Jacob Javits Convention ...
Overselling can be kiss of death.
Jun 04, 2007 ... Looking and sounding like a leader in b-to-b advertising is a dicey proposition. On the one hand, you want to exhibit a certain confidence and create the impression that yours is the kind of business that will provide benefits to the customer. On the other hand, you don't want ...
USER FRIENDLIER; As database technology offers new and better visual interfaces and integration, marketers are collecting and analyzing huge amounts of information and making it work.
Jun 04, 2007; ... Byline: Carol Krol Database marketing has grown in popularity among marketers that continue to clamor for marketing methods they can track. But while database marketing technology has vastly improved-arming marketers with powerful and accessible ways to examine the data that ...
Cut to the chase.(Chasers)(Brief article)
Jun 04, 2007 ... Company: Citi, New York Agency: Publicis Groupe, Paris Market: Small businesses Quick chase: In this well-produced spot, financial services giant Citi demonstrates that it wants to do business with the entrepreneurial crowd by depicting members of that audience at critical moments. "Who ...
Goat or gloat.(Chasers)(Brief article)
Jun 04, 2007 ... Company: Kyocera Mita, Fairfield, N.J. Agency: N/A Market: IT management Quick chase: The dominant color in this ad for Kyocera's color printers is gray. Gray equipment, gray carpeting, gray skies over a gray skyline. There's a splash of color in the form of some out-of-focus flowers set ...
Honing in on human resources; From resume searching to applicant tracking, HR professionals are looking for turnkey, outsourced or self-service solutions to hiring.(Vertical Insight: Human Resources)
Jun 04, 2007 ... Human resources departments and organizations spent $44.6 billion on HR services in 2006, an 8% increase over 2005, according to a study published by IDC in April called "Worldwide and U.S. HR Management Services 2007-2011 Forecast.'' "HR service providers have an opportunity to ...
How marketers can make the most of CRM data; Guest column.(BtoB Special Report: Database Marketing)(customer relationship management)(Column)
Jun 04, 2007; ... Byline: SAM BIARDO If workers don't use their data to meet the needs of the business, a new CRM system will undoubtedly be pegged as a failure. This can be avoided by keeping in mind a number of factors both before a system is implemented and after employees start using the ...
HR looking for ways to deal with looming worker shortage; Industry outlook.(HRmarketer.com)(Interview)
Jun 04, 2007; ... Byline: ROGER SLAVENS Mark Willaman founded HRmarketer.com in 2000 with a single focus in mind-to help human resource vendors generate publicity, Web site traffic, sales leads and improved search engine rankings. Seven years later, the marketing and media relations agency has ...
Aethon finds success with good science and good data.(Aethon Inc.)(Landslide Technologies)
Jun 04, 2007; ... Byline: CAROL KROL Aethon Inc., a marketer of robotic transport systems, had the kind of "problem'' marketers dream about: a truly breakthrough high-tech product called TUG that automates the distribution of such things as meals, medicines, lab samples and linens in a hospital ...
Customers' Web site behavior informs Sun's e-mail marketing.(NetMarketing)
Jun 04, 2007 ... Byline: KAREN J. BANNAN Three years ago, Sun Microsystems had a database of millions of e-mail addresses from all over the world. When the company's marketing staff wanted to send an offer out, it used segmenting: Most prospects in a particular country might get one offer, while ...
BtoB online: Poll results.(Web site analytics)(Brief article)(Statistical data)
Jun 04, 2007 ... Are you measuring "user engagement" as part of your Web site analytics? Yes, but our analysis is limited today. - 44% Not really. We'd like to, but don't have the tools or internal skills to do so. - 45% No. We don't think ...
How to market to attorneys; Consider firm's size, identify decision-makers when reaching out to law firms.(Legal)
Jun 25, 2007; ... Byline: ROGER SLAVENS For the more than 1.1 million practicing lawyers in the U.S., ramping up their business savvy is the No. 1 priority, according to leading legal publisher ALM. "Increasingly, law firms-particularly the larger firms-are recognizing the need to ...
LexisNexis makes case for its product at annual legal marketing conference.(Legal)(2005 Legal Marketing Association Annual Conference)
Jun 25, 2007; ... Byline: Roger Slavens Historically, trade shows have only been a small piece of the puzzle in marketing products and services to law firms. However, LexisNexis saw the 2005 Legal Marketing Association Annual Conference as a crucial part of generating awareness and a deeper ...
What to watch in marketing to law; Ask the expert.(Legal)
Jun 25, 2007 ... Byline: Roger Slavens As director of business development for Boston-based international law firm Goulston & Storrs, Beth Marie Cuzzone has experience on both sides of the legal marketing equation. It's Cuzzone's job to market her firm's services to other law firms, and she is, ...
Hospitality industry welcomes innovation.(Hospitality)(American Hotel andLodging Association report)
Jun 25, 2007; ... Byline: ROGER SLAVENS According to the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), the U.S. lodging industry recorded its best year ever in 2005. Smith Travel Research reports that in 2005, the U.S. lodging industry posted pretax profits of $22.6 billion from 1 billion room ...
Pegasus reaches hotel groups with multichannel campaign; Case study.(Hospitality)(Pegasus Solutions Inc.)
Jun 25, 2007; ... Byline: ROGER SLAVENS For more than 75 years, Pegasus Solutions has provided the hotel industry with a range of reservation and distribution services. Today, it's a global company with 17 offices in 12 countries that provides a universal electronic reservations switch for 35 ...
Open new doors to reach lucrative IT; Marketers' messaging should stress business results rather than `bits, bytes, speeds, feeds'.(IT Managers)
Jun 25, 2007; ... Byline: ROGER SLAVENS Global IT and telecommunication spending is projected to reach $3.3 trillion annually by 2010, growing at a compound annual rate of 4.5% from the $2.7 trillion spent in 2005, according to Gartner Research. IT purchases in the U.S. are expected to grow to ...
Tech marketers must seek broadest horizontal venues; Ask the expert.(IT Managers)(Ilan Paretsky of Ericom Software Inc.)(Interview)
Jun 25, 2007; ... Byline: ROGER SLAVENS There's a motto every software and tech vendor should follow, according to Ilan Paretsky, VP-marketing at Ericom Software: "Know thy IT crowd; they're tough, but always fair.'' Paretsky and his company do, indeed, know their audience well. Ericom has served ...
Independents, demand for technology brings opportunities; Ask the expert.(Hospitality)(Clayton Reid of MMG Worldwide)(Interview)
Jun 25, 2007 ... Byline: R.S. Clayton Reid understands the hospitality industry like few others, having helped hotels and other hospitality businesses market to their target audiences-as well as help vendors win b-to-b contracts with hotels-for more than 20 years. Reid currently serves as ...
Reaching the elusive CXO; TV, thought leadership still key to reaching upper-level execs.(C-Suite)(C-level executives)(U.S. Business Elite Survey)
Jun 25, 2007; ... Byline: Roger Slavens It's no mystery why so many marketers want to get their messages in front of C-level decision-makers: Senior business executives-namely the C-suite-make or influence decisions to spend more than $1.2 trillion a year on corporate purchases in the U.S., ...
Creating awareness with 'top dog' will open doors; Ask the expert.(C-Suite)(Jeremy Porter of Reaction Marketing Group)(Interview)
Jun 25, 2007; ... Byline: ROGER SLAVENS Like many other savvy marketing experts, Jeremy Porter realizes how lucrative it can be to target C-level executives. But he also knows you can't break through to them by traditional means; extremely busy schedules and layers of gatekeepers block the way ...
Nucor ads forge bond with CEOs.(C-Suite)
Jun 25, 2007 ... Byline: ROGER SLAVENS Charlotte, N.C.-based Nucor Corp. is the largest steel manufacturer and steel recycler in the U.S. About two years ago, however, the company realized that it was known primarily for its size-not its strengths or brand. In 2005, Nucor launched a ...
Build it online, they will come; Online efforts key as contractors, labor move more business to the Internet.(Construction)
Jun 25, 2007; ... Byline: Roger Slavens The recent slowdown in residential construction-specifically new housing starts-has garnered a lot of press and has been seen as a key harbinger of a weak economy as 2006 closed. However, Warren Nesbitt, group publisher of Hanley Wood's Builder Group, says ...
Hilti's grassroots effort drives preference.(marketing)
Jun 25, 2007; ... Byline: Roger Slavens More than a year ago, the Hilti brand of professional construction tools had a whopping 98% customer awareness, as measured by its marketing communications agency, Kansas City, Mo.-based Nicholson Kovac. However, it had only an 8% preference among ...
How to market to insurance brokers; In changing industry, relationship-building more important than ever.(Insurance)
Jun 25, 2007; ... Byline: ROGER SLAVENS Perhaps more than any other industry, the U.S. insurance market sustained great losses from the natural disasters that beset the Gulf Coast in 2005. The hit the property/casualty insurance sector took totaled $61.2 billion-the highest on record-due to the ...
Build awareness to reach agents; Ask the expert.(Insurance)(Eric Hobbs of Technology Associates Inc.)(Interview)
Jun 25, 2007; ... Byline: Roger Slavens Marketing to the insurance industry can be difficult, but marketers can be successful if they take time to solidify their approach, said Eric Hobbs, president and founder of Cary, N.C.-based technology consulting firm Technology Associates. Hobbs helps ...
Marketing to foodservice; Understanding diversity of restaurant industry important to reach key players.(Foodservice)
Jun 25, 2007; ... Byline: ROGER SLAVENS Marketers on the outside looking in can't watch popular TV reality shows such as "Top Chef'' and "Hell's Kitchen'' and expect to get a good understanding of how restaurants really operate. Entertaining as they may be, they focus primarily on one part of a ...
Creating emotional connections with target audience is vital to success.(Foodservice)(dialogue with Patricia Dailey)(Interview)
Jun 25, 2007; ... Byline: Roger Slavens Since 1998, Patricia Dailey has served as editor in chief of Reed Business Information's Restaurants & Institutions, the industry's largest magazine. But she's not just another journalist who has learned about the restaurant and foodservice arena from the ...
Specificity raises financial's interest; Recognizing differences in structure, size and influence will help reach investment sector.(Financial Services)
Jun 25, 2007; ... Byline: ROGER SLAVENS The U.S. financial services sector is expected to lend more than $39.4 trillion in 2007, according to the U.S. Financial Services Forecast published in February by the Economist Intelligence Unit. "Lending and bond purchases by the financial ...
The right people key to entering new markets.(Editor's Note)
Jun 25, 2007; ... Byline: Ellis Booker Even gigantic business marketers, those that have enjoyed market dominance for decades, are looking over their shoulders these days. Executives at these companies will tell you that their traditional markets are fast filling up with increasingly competent ...
Deliver innovative, adaptable, fiscally justifiable solutions; Ask the expert.(Financial Services)(dialogue with Christine Crandell)(Interview)
Jun 25, 2007; ... Byline: ROGER SLAVENS Christine Crandell has marketed to major banks and other financial services institutions for more than 20 years. As VP-marketing at Ariba, a provider of enterprise-level sourcing, procurement and spending management software and services, she's helped the ...
New markets, new tactics; B-to-b marketers entering vertical segments through acquisitions or product introductions aim to reach customers with focused messages.(Vertical Insight)
Jun 25, 2007; ... Byline: KATE MADDOX As b-to-b marketers launch new products, make acquisitions and seek to reposition themselves in a highly competitive landscape, they are using a variety of marketing tools and strategies to reach vertical industry segments. Sometimes companies' vertical ...
Rx: Demonstrate effectiveness of products and services for pharma; Ask the expert.(Pharmaceutical)(CRT/tanaka)(dialogue with Brian Ellis)(Interview)
Jun 25, 2007; ... Byline: ROGER SLAVENS As the leader of PR agency CRT/tanaka's health practice, Exec VP Brian Ellis has worked both with pharmaceutical companies and clients trying to target major pharmaceutical companies. It's a tricky but potentially lucrative vertical market that's heavily ...
Segmentation within vertical markets offers specificity; Ask the expert, Mike Hensley.(Vertical Insight)(Interview)
Jun 25, 2007 ... BtoB: How are vertical marketing strategies changing? Hensley: Our clients' vertical marketing programs used to be constructed around vertical industry marketing venues, where we delivered messages that reflected a broad-based, high-level, one-size-fits-all understanding of ...