BRANDED. f t. INTEGRATED MARKETING IS NO LONGER ENOUGH: Why B2B Brands Need to be Synchronized. Fresh Thinking About Branding And Marketing

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1 BRANDED Fresh Thinking About Brnding And Mrketing INTEGRATED MARKETING IS NO LONGER ENOUGH: Why B2B Brnds Need to be Synchronized f t

2 In tody s connected mrketing environment, where the converstion never ends nd every messge cn link cross pltforms, the sttic Integrted Mrketing model tht hs guided mrketers for nerly 20 yers needs to be upgrded to less liner pproch. Smrt business mrketers with high stkes riding on the success of their singulr brnd messge reching customers t ll touch points ought to synchronize, not integrte, their mrketing plns. Integrted Mrketing hs been on the Top 10 List of Most Overused Buzz Words in Business for t lest 15 yers. If you Google it, you ll get nerly 10 million results. For some reson probbly relted to those bffling lgorithms, Yhoo s Bing gives you more thn 34 million serch hits, but let s gree, there s lots of stuff written bout Integrted Mrketing, or nmed fter it. When Integrted Mrketing ws first used is hrd to sy, but it grew in populrity s medi becme incresingly frgmented nd trditionl mrketing experts, lrgely d gencies, looked for wys to leverge their expertise cross the growing medi lndscpe in return for greter shre of limited mrketing dollrs. Wht hs lwys been missing from the Integrted Mrketing model is committed brnd focus. It ws never relly medi gnostic in prctice. Yet, it rolled hppily long, lrgely centered on n dvertising ide pplied cross other pltforms, eventully including interctive sites. If the model ws out of step then, it is clerly old school now tht socil medi hs upped the nte, turning mrketing into n ongoing converstion whose loction, strt or finish is impossible to control. Synchroniztion goes beyond integrtion, llowing the voice of the brnd to spek to every trget, through every relevnt discipline t every touch point. The stkes re even higher now in this slow growth, post-recessionry environment, where lck of differentition, constrined budgets, frgmented medi, complex regultion nd brutl competition hve turned mking the right recommendtion to the C-suite into contct sport for corporte buyers of multimillion dollr products nd services. Therefore, it s high time for B2B mrketers to give them ll the help they cn. They need to think bout mrketing in different wy, strting with the lnguge nd wht it mens. Wht is Synchronized Mrketing Synchroniztion goes beyond integrtion, llowing the voice of the brnd to spek to every trget, through every relevnt discipline (dvertising, public reltions, promotion, mrketing literture, sles force presenttions, outdoor, event mrketing, design, etc.) t every touch point. It is driven by singulr brnd ide, not n dvertising concept. It is collbortive. Its cross-discipline thinking is simultneous not sequentil. It doesn t strt with n dvertising execution, which is homogenized nd Integrted Mrketing is No Longer Enough: Why B2B Brnds Need to be Synchronized 2

3 Tody s customers wnt to be engged with brnds, in fct they demnd it. rolled out to be trnslted to other pltforms. Ech discipline drws from its own strengths. And notbly, synchroniztion llows the mrketing pln to be continully fine-tuned bsed on rel-time customer feedbck nd customer buzz from microsites, mobile technology nd socil networks. Done right, Synchronized Mrketing connects the individul touch points on their own terms, strengthens ech nd energizes the brnd. If you think of synchronized swimming in the Olympics, ll the swimmers orchestrte their moves simultneously to crete much lrger nd more importnt imge thn ny individul stroke. In tody s mrketing environment with esy ccess to informtion nd ll sorts of opinions, corportions don t control exctly where or when customers or prospective customers encounter their brnd. The old model sequence (it ssumed first your trget sw the print d in plces like Fortune or Businessweek; then they sw the website; nd then the sles presenttion) no longer works when the first encounter prospect hs with brnd could be Twitter feed, mobile pp or diorm in the irport. Ad Cmpign The Brnd Print Ad Online Sles Presenttion In B2B, ny of these entry points could led to time spent reding white pper on microsite or viewing video on YouTube, but not necessrily in ny controlled order. It is more criticl thn ever, then, tht the Brnd Voice hrmonize t ll touch points. Website Advertising f t Socil Medi Film Brnd Voice Sles Presenttion Promos Events Mrketing Literture Integrted Mrketing is No Longer Enough: Why B2B Brnds Need to be Synchronized 3

4 Four Tips for Synchronizing your Mrketing: Keep the dilogue going nd growing. As fr bck s Willy Lomn, the best slesmn ws the one who could void the ded-end converstion nd leve the door open for nother dy. Socil medi nd the Internet in generl hve rised opening doors to higher level, becoming meeting plce for constituents to converse bout brnd. Tody s customers wnt to be engged with brnds, in fct they demnd it. By hving dilogue with them one on one, the best mrketers know the pybck cn be lucrtive. They re mking their constituents into fns nd prt of the fmily. A dilogue bout compny s product or service on Fcebook, for instnce, cn spill over to Twitter nd overnight, led to fr-rnging converstion with thousnds of voices nd lots of feedbck. By understnding the dynmic nd keeping the dilogue going, smrt B2B compnies cn led the prospect through the converstion to the sles sweet spot: considertion for his or her short-list. Done right, Synchronized Mrketing connects individul touch points on their own terms, strengthens ech nd energizes the brnd. When technology compny introduces new product to the business mrketplce, it needs to rmp up its eduction ctivity to be prt of the converstion in the less tech svvy world it is selling to. A good exmple is IBM s effort to crete high profile in the complex converstion bout cloud computing, dding clrity nd understnding through simple lnguge nd compelling cretive on every vilble communictions chnnel. It s fr cry from Cloud Computing for Dummies to most of us, but in IBM s high-end services world, its robust nd synchronized eductionl efforts for its B2B collbortion network hs helped mke it n industry thought leder nd mgnet for prospects trying to mke sense of it ll. The criticl role of socil mrketing to influence nd to respond to the mrketplce is no longer lost on the corporte bordroom. Significntly, Ford s socil mrketing chief reports directly to CEO Aln Mulllly, credited with leding the turnround of the cr icon s reputtion, sles nd stock in tht order. Connect multiple pltforms. Old-school brriers between print d, TV commercil nd mking it into prospect s considertion set no longer exist. When mrketing is synchronized nd built on solid brnd foundtion, ll touch points feed ech other, nd become connected in web of converstion. A print or on-line d with url cn led to microsite where corporte buyer cn downlod white pper or wtch You Tube video offering vlued informtion nd insight. Or n outdoor d cn invite corporte prospects to scn QR code with their mobile device nd tke them to microsite with more informtion. Content Mrketing: the New Blck. Our recent white pper, B2B Mrketing: Why Content Mrketing is the New Cretive, reports tht more nd more corporte prospects re short-listing compnies bsed on their bility to educte, clrify nd give perspective to complex issues. As result, CMOs re turning their firm s intellectul property into wide rnge of Content, lerning tht it is the gift tht keeps Integrted Mrketing is No Longer Enough: Why B2B Brnds Need to be Synchronized 4

5 To be effective, Synchroniztion must strt with committed brnd focus. on giving scintillting white pper cn be mrketed with n HTML emil cmpign tht leds prospects to microsite feturing the white pper nd mybe relted video, bylined rticle in trde or business publiction, webinr on similr topic, tweet messge, link on Fcebook or Twitter or post on blog. The most enthusistic nd effective Content fns hve lerned to synchronize their compelling nd timely insights with their brnd t ech touch point, estblishing them s thought leders in their industry nd opening the door to meeting with the right C-suite decision mkers. Don t forget employees! Enlightened compnies hve lwys recognized employees s criticl prt of their brnd, so it is surprising how often they re overlooked s significnt communiction chnnel to externl udiences. They re not only the fce of the compny in every interction with clients nd prospects, they re ctive in socil medi, business networking nd society in generl. Tody, businesses who empower employees with compelling brnd messging pltform, nd help them to understnd their importnce in their compnies nd their own prosperity, cn ctivte consistently strong brnd identity t thousnds of touch points. These compnies understnd tht it is importnt to link brnd strtegy with brnd behvior so tht you not only tlk the tlk but wlk the wlk. One of our clients, fst-growing community bnk, looked to expnd by cquiring other community bnks in new mrkets. Our reserch reveled its success ws lrgely due to its hightouch, personl pproch to business bnking something customers felt they couldn t get from lrge ntionl bnks. The bnk s chllenge ws to mintin its high-touch brnd s it expnded into new mrkets nd grew lrger. To succeed, it hd to lign its expnsionist business strtegy with its brnd strtegy, leverging its brnd ttributes cross its growing enterprise, nd importntly, to synchronize communictions to employees long with its other udiences. Significntly, it ws importnt to engge brnch mngers to understnd the high-touch nture of the brnd nd get them to pply the strtegy to brnd behvior t every customer touch point, from teller window to customer service desk to lon office. By creting high touch experience for customers nd prospects (with personl dilogues, not one-wy generic milings or utomted phone clls), the bnk ws ble to leverge the success of the legcy bnking institution nd rech its business gols. Its secret wepon ws its own employees. They were complicit in wlking the wlk. Synchronize the Connection Between the Brnd nd Mrketing Pln Of course, Synchroniztion tht begins without solid brnd foundtion will be s effective s Chrlie Sheen test-driving his brnd in front of live udiences in hlf-empty high-profile rens. Sometimes it works. Sometimes, not so much. In our high-stkes B2B world, with its multimillion dollr ccounts, successful Synchroniztion must strt with committed brnd focus, including differentited position, compelling messging pltform with unique messges to criticl udiences nd svvy Synchronized Mrketing pln tht connects ll touch points tht influence nd persude buyers. All implemented with s much precision nd hrmony s our synchronized Olympins. Integrted Mrketing is No Longer Enough: Why B2B Brnds Need to be Synchronized 5

6 About DeSntis Breindel DeSntis Breindel is B2B brnding nd mrketing firm bsed in New York. At criticl inflection points, we work with our clients to lign brnd strtegy with business strtegy creting stories nd experiences to engge customers, influence prospects, rlly employees, inspire investors nd build communities. To lern more go to 30 West 21st Street New York, NY desntisbreindel.com For more informtion, plese contct: Howrd Breindel Prtner Integrted Mrketing is No Longer Enough: Why B2B Brnds Need to be Synchronized 6