B2B[x] – Applying the 10x mantra for better performing marketing plans
At 1545 Charleston Avenue there is, by all accounts, an unassuming two-storey building that’s home to some pretty big brains.
These brains form part of a very secretive organisation that goes by the name of Google[x] – with a bold remit – to invent the future.
Wild rumours abound about what goes on there. It’s no surprise when the man in charge, one Astro Teller, says his team has genuinely spent time exploring the feasibility of levitation and teleportation. Whilst unfortunately that was a non-starter – Google Glass was one of Teller’s pet projects that has come to fruition. If you’re looking for ambition and innovation, Google[x] appears to have it in droves.
In a recent interview with Wired magazine, Teller shared a simple mantra that guides the Google[x] Labs – 10 times rather than 10%. The thinking is if you try to do something 10% better, you tend to work from where you are. However, if you want to make something 10 times better, you need to think far harder and more laterally about what you’re going to do.
He cites the idea of a car that goes 50 miles to the gallon. Achieving 10% better fuel consumption would simply be about retooling the car. But tasked with achieving 10x better performance – 500 miles to the gallon – calls for a completely different approach.
So how could the 10x mantra apply to what you do?
Here’s an idea.
Next time you’re drawing up your marketing or campaign plan, no doubt you’ll have very specific, even aggressive targets, to achieve.
Draft the plan that you think would best achieve the objectives as usual – then set it aside.
Now get your team together, agency included, and collectively challenge yourselves with delivering a plan that would deliver 10x better return for the same marketing investment.
Then compare the two plans. Our guess is the original may now look a little underwhelming.
And while 10x better may be a big ask, it will hopefully challenge your preconceptions and make you think a whole lot bigger. Who knows, you may even end up with a plan that delivers way beyond expectations.
Because as Einstein once said, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
Here’s to B2B(x). Thinking 10x bigger and better.
The CEO – CMO Conundrum: How to make the leap from CMO to CEO
It was way back in 1546 when English writer John Heywood conceived the oft-quoted proverb, ‘You cannot see the wood for the trees’. Back then he probably didn’t realise that his evergreen phrase would encapsulate so perfectly the difficult transition from CMO to CEO.
Traditionally, the role of the CMO hasn’t required as broad a world view as the CEO. CEOs need to be able to distil complex information from the different strands of the business into a single vision and lead their entire team into sharing that vision too.
So if the end goal is to become CEO of the organisation, the CMO must be able to seamlessly switch their role from a microcosmic to a macrocosmic level.
Making that single letter change requires a detailed understanding of each arm of the business and an ability to make decisions which ultimately keep the organisation’s P&L sheet looking pretty.
Here’s our four-point plan for plotting a trail out of the forest…
Sticking point 1: No direct experience in functions outside marketing
Solution: The CMO needs to gain exposure working in collaboration with other teams on specific initiatives and projects outside the marketing function. It’s imperative to remember however that not all roles will augment the competencies needed to become a CEO. Experience for experience’s sake won’t necessarily cut the mustard, but taking the lead on complex global projects can summon the challenge that is often associated with the upper echelons of decision-making. As David Cooperstein, VP at Forrester Research asserts,“CMOs need to invest their time in understanding the other departments they interact with and act like a company wide leader. People who are too focused on the effort to market and point their energy on new logos and campaigns are not the long term CMOs that CEOs need today”.
Sticking point 2: Question marks remain over the CMO’s ability to drive the organisation forward.
Solution: CMOs need to position themselves at the centre of the business both on a perceptual and practical level. As successful as a CMO might be at brand building and consumer connection, their reputation as marketing specialists can pigeon hole them as the folk that simply take care of the peripheral stuff that’s not really core to the business. According to Kate Sayre, Partner at Boston Consulting Group, “CMOs focus too much on the creative itself as opposed to what’s driving the business”. However, good CEOs need to know their customers inside and out – so who better placed than the CMO to take on the role? In addition, the best CMOs know the importance of driving the internal culture of the company, the importance of employees living and breathing the brand with enthusiasm and morale. As drivers of the internal brand and messaging, CMOs know exactly what to do to cultivate a core culture that will ultimately attract more customers. Our advice, spend time educating the business as to why the customer should always be at the heart of everything your business does – and chances are the rest of the board will start taking note.
Sticking point 3: Not working closely enough with the CEO
Solution: Where the CEO goes, the CMO should follow. Traditionally CMOs have been left to focus on the marketing and brand orientation side of the business while the CEO has been left to deliver top-line growth and plot the long-term path of the organisation. But in an age where the delineation of roles is becoming more blurred it’s crucial that the CMO and the CEO have common strategic visions. The CMO has to be able to deliver a marketing plan that is as commercially aware as it is creatively sound. Ultimately the CMO must become a lynchpin of the executive team – in doing so, the step to CEO will only be a small one. As Andrew Hayes, CEO and CMO recruiter with Russell Reynolds Associates comments, “More and more, we are seeing clients look to CMOs to be thought leaders for the corporation, providing a broad-based commercial perspective on the business as opposed to narrow brand-building mindset”. Knowledge is power – a progressive CMO who can position the business at the forefront strategically, will gain the ear of the CEO – and hopefully their seat at the boardroom table one day soon.
Sticking point 4: Having a one-dimensional view of the company’s finances.
Solution: Gaining as much financial experience as possible is a must. CMOs cannot wince at the idea of working with numbers. They must take on the ‘big 3’ of financial documents – balance sheets, income and cash-flow statements (and the associated pressures) and confidently interpret the data before developing plans to drive the business forward. CMOs aren’t number newbies, they measure the results of their ‘creativity’. All CMOs begin with a budget and clear KPIs in mind and understand the importance of calculating ROIs when evaluating the overall success. “Marketing fights an endless battle for investment with lines of business that question the actual value of the marketing spend. CMOs that can justify the expense by demonstrating how technology delivers on success metrics like acquisition, retention, and cross-selling can increase their chances for success,” argues Steve Muran, director of management consultancy ARRYVE. By doing so, you can give your CFO a run for their money – and who knows, even derail their owYour Linkn succession plans.
The bottom line: We are in the era of the ‘Eclectic CEO’. According to a recent Forbes article, CEOs now come from a plethora of backgrounds, from finance to technology. CMOs are undoubtedly great communicators, with track records of nurturing strong relationships with their teams and clients. They are astute leaders and know how to market themselves. Ultimately a CMO is at a distinct competitive advantage in their own right in claiming that seat at the top. They simply need to step back, look at the organisation as a whole and apply the same principles that have taken them this far on a wider scale. Agree or disagree? Let the discussion start here.
As November creeps around the corner the marketing world goes into overdrive before Christmas.
In the mean time we have taken a tour around the best blogs and distilled all the insight you need into one little blog.
This is the week that was.
Insight of the week
The essence of your brand is pretty simple – it encapsulates exactly what your business is about. Your brand is your personality and how you talk to your customers. But how can you be sure that how you are presenting yourself resonates with what your customers and potential customers want and need? This week McKinsey released a fascinating report looking into the characteristics B2B customers are really looking for vs. the ones companies are most often portraying. It seems most organisations seem to be missing the mark. Out of those surveyed none focused on what the majority of customers wanted to see – honest and open dialogue with customers and society. Equally worryingly CSR is the most popular brand characteristic to portray, and the findings show no one relates this with the strength of the brand. This report is a must read and will make you think about how your brand characteristics help you resonate with your customers.
Future gazing of the week
Email marketing has taken a bit of a kicking over the last couple of years. An endless queue of marketing experts have lined up to declare its death at the hands of the great social media revolution. We’ve never really jumped on the same bandwagon – no channel is dead as long as you are pushing the right message, at the right time to the right people. UberFlip doesn’t seem to agree either – and this week treated us to a great infographic about where email marketing for B2B is heading next year. Things are looking up – mobile, big data, automation and personalisation will all have a positive effect on the highly criticised channel. What’s your view on where email is going?
Social media advice of the week
One thorn in any social media manager’s side is the seemingly constantly changing design options for each channel – and the frustrating restrictions with each one. When you do get creative, however, you can really stand out from the crowd. This week we found 12 of the best examples of YouTube pages that brands use. This isn’t just about listing videos – it’s getting users to interact with your content and to drive social action. Particular favourites are Listerine and Rolex.
Blog post of the week
There is an interesting mentality within many marketing departments where if you are not fitting in with the rest of the market, then you are doing something wrong. This leaves us with industries made up of businesses who are saying the same things, to exactly the same people. It seems mad doesn’t it? This week Dave Trott wrote a great piece about turning your differences, what may seem like a disadvantage, into an advantage. Using the analogy of one of Brazil’s greatest (and least well known) footballers – he gives the example of VW and AVIS who did just this – with remarkable effect. Time to stop being the sheep.
Viral of the week
Since launching Marketing Cloud, Adobe has produced some brilliant viral videos to promote the product. It does the job well – encapsulating some of the ‘weaknesses’ marketing departments seem to have in properly measuring their ROI. The company’s most recent effort – ‘click, baby, click’ – exaggerates the dangers of measuring the wrong metrics in your marketing. Hits the nail on the head and gives you a bit of a chuckle at the same time. Brilliant.
Design stimulation of the week
Responsive design. It’s the talk of the town. With people using so many different devices to come to your website it is essential the experience is optimised to that particular screen size. This really simple website that we came across this week explains responsive design clearly and succintly. The perfect example of ‘keep it simple stupid’.
From office moves, to marketing automation implementation to furious pitching – it’s been a busy old week at Earnest towers.
As always we have kept precious time aside each day to keep up with the all the best news and wrapped it all up in a package that is this, the week that was.
Campaign of the week
Dave Trott has a great philosophy that all agencies should follow when they receive a brief – ‘when faced with a problem, go upstream and challenge the context’. When Leo Burnett were tasked to run a campaign to save the Troy Public Library they had to do just that. Their response was a brilliantly thought out social campaign – taking advantage of what behavioural economist called loss aversion theory. What resulted was a u-turn in public thinking (and a few Cannes Lions to suit). An Earnest favourite.
Channel battle of the week
It’s quite amazing the number of bloggers who are so keen to announce the death of (or gallantly support) various marketing channels. It seems we have an obsession creating a competition between the old and new tactics available in the b2b arsenal. Still, all in the name of testing. Forbes stuck on trend this week as they stood up for good old email marketing – explaining why it is more effective than the ever popular social media – arguing customers who come through email are ultimately more valuable. It’s a good case that is made. Our view? It’s all about having the right mix of channels that work together – but test and learn as you go and don’t be afraid to turn that tap off on those that simply aren’t working.
Marketing Lesson of the week
It’s well known that people who end up in marketing often come from various different disciplines (especially in terms of their university degree). The result is a rich varieties of theories that can be applied to business communications. This week Jon Miller wrote for Marketo on what he brought from his Physics degree into marketing. From the importance and reliance on measurement and testing through to creating valuable exchanges for attraction there are some fascinating (and surprising) lessons to be learn. Take a look
Ads of the week
We sometimes don our armour and take a stroll into the world of B2C marketing and this week we are glad we did. We came across these fantastic new ads for Jack and Jones featuring esteemed Hollywood actor Christopher Walken. Clear message, striking, engaging and something you want to hit the share button on straight away – these ads do exactly what they should for a little known brand intent on growing it’s share of voice in the marketing. Very cool – enjoy.
Revolution of the week
Here’s the problem. We’re sick to the back teeth of business jargon. So here at Earnest – we think enough is enough and we want to bring the rest of the marketing world with us. Forever realists, we know we’re never going to purge the business world of its lingua franca, but what we can do is take a very large proverbial stick and poke fun at it. We have kicked off in two ways – first a blog post about the dangers of jargon in your business communications and secondly by launching the Alt.Dictionary for business. But we need you to get involved so take a look and share your own (there might even be a tea-towel in it for you).
Creative of the week
This week we took a trip down memory lane and browsed some of our earliest tweets. Among them was this lovely set of illustrations showing the 8 ways a good idea is killed. Still very relevant 4 years on.
Want to change the way your audience thinks? Burn some books.
Picture this. There’s a small public library that’s faced with the threat of closure – and it’s last chance saloon.
Unless local voters approve a tax increase, funds will dry up and the library will need to shut its doors, once and for all.
To make matters worse, an anti-tax group’s been actively swaying public opinion – well, who really wants to pay more tax anyway in these times of austerity?
Your brief is simple: Persuade Joe Public to vote yes for a tax increase to keep the library open. And by the way, you’ve only got $3.5k budget to play with.
What would you do?
Well, when approached by Troy Public Library with the very same problem, the smart people at Leo Burnett came up with a simple, but remarkably clever solution:
Organise a book burning party.
Because if you don’t care about your library, you certainly don’t care about books.
And there’s nothing like a book burning party to spark public outrage – getting people to take to social media in sheer repulsion at the idea.
In so doing, reframing the whole issue – making people realise that a no vote meant not only losing their library, but losing all those fantastic books, forever.
The result? Not only did more people turn out to vote, they also voted yes to a tax increase meaning Troy library stayed open.
We’ve got the good folk at WARC to thank for sharing this story with us.
And we like it, a lot – because it illustrates how a great campaign can turn the way we see things on its head, changing the way we think and act.
It’s also a fine example of what behavioural economists would call ‘loss aversion’ at play – the theory that we have an innate preference for avoiding losses rather than making gains. It took the prospect of a book burning party (and all it’s culturally loaded symbolism), to make the community in Troy suddenly realise what they were about to lose.
And it just goes to show, sometimes it’s time to set aside the rational arguments and get to the heart of what people really care about.
So when it comes to planning your next campaign, why not think about what your audience stands to lose by not doing what you want them to do – rather than what they stand to gain.
Either that or suggest a book burning party.
Welcome to the Alt.Dictionary for Business – it all starts here
Business jargon – we’re sick to the back teeth of it. So here at Earnest – we think enough is enough.
Forever realists, we know we’re never going to purge the business world of its lingua franca, but what we can do is take a very large proverbial stick and poke fun at it.
Inspired by I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue’s ‘Uxbridge English Dictionary’ the time has come to create our very own definitions of those business and marketing terms that have crept their way into our vocabulary.
Below is our starter for 10 so you get the hang of it. But come on, we need your help. Throw what you’ve got at us for the good of our sanity using #nomorejargon or commenting below. We may even liberate a few ‘Vital Statistics for B2B Marketers’ limited edition infographic tea-towels (only one shed’s worth left) and send them to the best contributors.
The Alt.Dictionary
Account Director – A deceased Translyvanian churchman (tweet this)
Account Penetration – Vampyric intercourse (tweet this)
Ad Space – To feng shui one’s house (tweet this)
Analytics – To jerk one’s abdomen involuntarily (tweet this)
Banner – A badly behaving girl no longer permitted entry (tweet this)
Below the fold – A fat man’s genitals (tweet this)
Best Practice – Room for improvement (tweet this)
B2B – Insect dating site (tweet this)
B2C – Pollinating insect rediscovers sight (tweet this)
Body copy – An identical twin (tweet this)
Bottom line – The cleft of one’s rear (tweet this)
Brainstorm – Female hosiery caught in extreme weather conditions (tweet this)
Brand loyalty – Katy Perry turns blind eye to philandering husband (tweet this)
Brand hierarchy – Katy, Jo then probably Russell (tweet this)
Campaign – Irritating effete male (tweet this)
Client briefs – Customer undergarments (tweet this)
Client de-briefs – In-store flasher (tweet this)
Content – Canvas prison (tweet this)
Designer – Remover of instructive posters (tweet this)
Direct mail – A forthcoming gentleman (tweet this)
Director – Underperforming churchman (tweet this)
Google – Shortsighted seabird (tweet this)
Impact – Troupe of performing fairies (tweet this)
Infographic – Pictorial representation of your enemy’s insides (tweet this)
Intern – Aspiring seabird seeking permanent employment (tweet this)
Media – A scouse venison farmer’s herd (tweet this)
Messaging hierarchy – smoke, semaphore, text, email (tweet this)
Microsite – A place to keep your crows (tweet this)
Microsoft – Pre-rigor mortis pet bird (tweet this)
Offline – a wonky queue (tweet this)
Ownership – to purchase a boat (tweet this)
Pay-per-click – Misspelt stationery (tweet this)
PPC – to urinate in the ocean (tweet this)
ROI – final words of Harold II at the Battle of Hastings (tweet this)
Slogan – non-automatic rifle (tweet this)
Stakeholder – vampire killer (tweet this)
Synergy – the rebel of the alphabet (tweet this)
Target audience – theatre goers in freak road surfacing accident (tweet this)
Tweet – Quaint bearer of milk (tweet this)
UX – Concise but callous way to break-up with your partner (tweet this)
Web copy – Plagiarising spider (tweet this)
Website – Dusty corner (tweet this)
Yahoo – Affirmative sneeze (tweet this)
Parlez-vous B2B? The dangers of using jargon in your marketing
The 18th Century French philosopher, Etienne Condillac, observed that “every science requires a special language, because every science has its own ideas.”
Condillac’s theory was that specialists communicate with their peers in a distinct language – such as by using abbreviations, acronyms and jargon – to maintain brevity and precision, and to be easily understood.
As a respected member of the ‘Enlightenment’ movement and author of a number of books on epistemology, Condillac certainly knew his stuff. But if he were around today to see the mess the ‘science’ of marketing – in particular B2B – has got itself into, he may well have rethought this stance…
A rude awakening
We recently had a student on work experience in our Planning team here at Earnest HQ. In between making us all feel quite ancient, we asked her for some thoughts on a live brief we had on for a global lead generation programme.
Within minutes Emily had compiled a list of 14 (yes, fourteen!) words or acronyms that she needed us to decipher for her – from a single page brief. From “ARPA” to “BRIC” and “lead gen” to “collateral” – it read like an A-to-Z of B2B marketing jargon. We even had to look-up some acronyms ourselves. See for yourself…
The word ‘jargon’ comes from the Old French word jargon meaning “chatter of birds” – and if we’re not careful, that’s all our marketing communications could turn into.
Lessons from the web
According to e-consultancy, user experience research shows that too much jargon will in fact put off your site visitors. Investors and financial analysts’ experiences were tested on IR pages on corporate websites. One user was “offended by irrelevant information” and “the usual marketing junk and jargon” they saw on a site.
Like most users, they expected to find relevant organisation information right away. Successful, engaging sites used bold headings and concise paragraphs to keep users’ attention. The eye-tracking chart below – with blue dots indicating where users are fixating – demonstrates how users strayed away when it came to longer paragraphs littered with links and sales information.
Journalists were also tested, and as you might expect they were an even harder audience to please. According to the report, journalists “typically scanned past lines of text that seemed too marketing-oriented. They were always wary (and sometimes cynical) about marketing information”.
Instead, what they wanted were facts and compelling information, presented in a way that they could then easily re-purpose. Eye-tracking research shows that users’ eyes are attracted by numbers in web content. Numbers typically represent facts, and our B2B audience love facts. So this tends to keep their attention and increase sharing.
Preventing the next financial crisis
Marketing waffle could have an even more disastrous impact in the financial world. Mortgage lenders potentially face millions of pounds of write-offs by including too much jargon in their comms. According to Professor Daniel Read, a behavioural economics expert, marketing spiel from lenders instils “excessive irrational optimism” in buy-to-let customers. Very much like a library book fine that steadily increases over weeks and months, without us worrying, so can borrowers’ loans if they are not communicated to effectively.
Read says that communications must be “personalised and very simple… with no waffle or qualification if it is to be effective”.
Psychological proof
The Nobel Prize winning economist Daniel Kahneman cites a cognitive study in his excellent book ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’. The wonderfully titled “Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly” includes a number of experiments with Princeton students testing the effectiveness of long and complex words. It demonstrates that the less you force people to think, the more they’ll believe what you’re saying. The paper concludes with the mantra: “Write clearly and simply if you can, and you’ll be more likely to be thought of as intelligent.” Can’t. Argue. With. That.
Some top tips
So here are 6 top tips the next time you write or review your business communications. Whether it’s an email, landing page, or even a blog post…
- Think with the customer in mind – are you giving them what they want?
- Read it aloud – does it sound natural? Is this a person talking or a company?
- Include facts and stats – this will make the content more shareable
- Always use numerals when writing web copy – this is more likely to draw users’ attention, compared to when numbers are written out (‘23,000’ rather than ‘twenty three thousand’)
- Keep it short-and-sweet – trying to avoid long words, when a short one will do
- Do a ‘jargon-count’ before publishing or hitting send – will all of your readers understand every acronym?
And let’s leave the final word to David Ogilvy:
“Our business is infested with idiots who try to impress by using pretentious jargon.”
Are there any marketing jargon words that make your blood boil? Let us know, we’d love to hear from you…
This is the week that was: Framing, briefing and searching
It’s oddly sunny for this time of year – which has put us all at Earnest HQ in a chirpy mood. It means we have been particularly hard working in finding the best of the best articles for your reading please. And here they are in this, the week that was.
Important point of the week
One of our newest favourite blogs to peruse over a cup of coffee is ‘adliterate’ – written by the ever insightful Richard Huntington (take a look). Amongst a raft of great posts sits a particular gem about the importance of a good client brief. The point he makes should be shouted from the rooftops by any good marketer – the difference between a good and bad brief at the start of a project can make or break what is to come. The most salient point is about starting with the problem, not with the solution; something many of us are guilty of. Get this right and the results will speak for themselves.
Behavioural lesson of the week
Dave Trott has the wonderful ability to pull from his wealth of knowledge to tell stories to fit his point perfectly, and there is no better example of this than one of his latest posts. This week Dave uses the ancient Indian religion of Janism to discuss framing and re-framing – demonstrating how we can reverse buyers preferences by presenting the same facts (or message) in a different way. Dave says it’s all about context. As marketers our job is to control the context – and thus we influence the choice. It’s all part of a bigger behavioural economics subject in marketing, but an important one to get your head around.
Measurement advice of the week
As the content marketing river runs wild, businesses and their marketing departments are learning this is really a case of be there or be square. But content marketing isn’t just getting a few infographics ‘seeded’ out there and crossing your fingers anymore – it is (or at least should be) a big piece of your strategy that needs to be measured properly. Sanket Patel from the Search Engine Journal agrees, and this week gives his list of 8 content marketing KPIs you can’t afford to neglect. From keeping track of unique visitors to the most interesting click patterns, heat maps and geo-targets – this is a great checklist. Take a look.
Search bits of the week
A ‘This is the week that was’ first. We have seen a few good search advice posts this week, so will share a medley in one point. The first comes from search engine land with its fabulous periodic table of SEO success factors – most importantly showing which factors work best with each other. The second comes from Search Engine Journal with its advice on how to make the most of Google+ to boost your search ranking. Finally the Telegraph treated us to 15 features that are hidden away in the search engine (warning: you may be getting Google to do barrel rolls all day).
Blog of the week
The American ‘Creative technologies’ conference has been dubbed the TED for marketers. Sadly we can’t make it, but the blog on the event site has some fascinating stuff to browse through. A particular favourite is the future role of AI in advertising and the post about Big Data not necessarily leading to better results. Grab a cuppa and enjoy.
Amusing observations of the week
When you think about it, it’s actually quite amazing how much time we spend in meetings talking about menial things. Potentially we have lost sight of the customer – what they really want and really care about. This amusing post makes this very point very well. Funny stuff.
This is the week that was: Behavioural copywriting, marketing innovation and projection mapping
It’s been a good old week at Earnest – we have attended events, beavered away on pitches and celebrated our 4th Birthday in style. All the while the twitter engine has been all steam ahead with an endless stream of marketing pick and mix. Here are a few of our favourites…this is the week that was.
Science of the week
Comes from Mafiesto who gave us a lesson in how B2B behavioural economics can be applied to copywriting. Inspired by the likes of Daniel Kahneman and Rory Sutherland, our interest in influencing buyer behaviour has grown over the recent months (on which note Decoded by Phil Barden is a must read) so this article really struck a chord. From discussing people’s nature to ignore logic to tapping into loss aversion within your message, this blog post will no doubt be part of shaping a revolution coming to B2B marketing. Watch out!
Guide of the week
There are some great slideshare presentations out there, but this week Gregory Pouy’s piece on how to explain digital to your colleagues stood out from the crowd. We have all been there, spending hours trying to convince a laggard that digital isn’t spending hours wasting time on Facebook. Gregory looks at digital from a number of angles – marketing, HR, education, commerce – drawing on some great case studies along the way. One to share around.
History lesson of the week
There is a lot to learn from the greats of history. Speeches have changed societies, great minds have shaped businesses. But what can we humble content creators learn from the most influencial figures in history? These slides give us, amongst many others, the Steve Jobs view on simplicity, Steven Spielberg on telling a great story and Benjamin Franklin on being remarkable. Fantastic read.
Social media advice of the week
When it comes to the power players in the social space, Google+ still seems to be catching up. Especially when it comes to B2B. Part of this may come down to businesses just not getting what the potential is for them on a network that still feels like the new kid on the block. This week Nicolette Beard from TopRank talked through her top examples of companies who are making the most of Google+ and seeing real results. From Intel with their well planned audience segmentation to Dell with their great use of Hangouts, there is a lot to learn and take away to implement for your own business.
Peak into the future of the week
This one actually comes from our very own blog in which we talk about the need for B2B marketing to delve into the world of innovation. A fascinating study of 400 top marketers by Forrester revealed a worrying state of affairs for marketing departments at large. Showing that only 11% of marketing departments today have budget set aside for innovation, our blog post argues that marketers need to take the business of testing and learning more seriously if we are to be taken seriously within the business. Have a read and let us know your views.
Mind blowing video of the week
For a long time we have been desperate to do our very own projection mapping – inspired by the likes of the brilliant Ralph Lauren and Nokia examples. But this week that all changed when projecting onto a static building has been made to look boring and outdated by the guys at Box and Dolly. Their simply phenomenal video shows projection animation onto two moving objects. Just watch it, you can thank us later.
The B2B skunkwork project : Why B2B marketing needs a touch of innovation
A fascinating study of 400 top marketers by Forrester revealed a worrying state of affairs for marketing departments at large.
Researching our appetite for stepping into the brave new world, the paper showed that only 11% of marketing departments today have budget set aside for innovation. More worryingly only 9% have an on-going budget dedicated to experimentation and development.
These findings are outstanding when, taking the mobile industry as an example; we have seen two beacons of the industry fall due to their lack of innovation and inability to keep up.
The root of the problem seems quite clear. Since the recession, pressure has been piled onto two of our most precious resources – time and money.
Marketing departments are not only seeing budgets cut, but more and more are having to show a short term return on investment for every penny spent. Experiments into innovation simply don’t cut the mustard and thus have taken a back seat.
The very same for time – while investors, board members and sales teams are putting pressure on CMOs to deliver sales qualified leads in time for quarterly reporting, the time to learn and experiment with new technologies, channels and media disappears into the ether.
Here’s the irony – our increased obsession with efficiency and the elimination of waste has led us down the path of becoming the most stagnant department of any business, when we should be the opposite. By eliminating waste we are eliminating 90% of our chance of getting lucky – and ultimately striking the next big trend.
As Rory Sutherland nicely puts it, “if you don’t kiss any frogs you have no chance of finding a prince”.
The innovation stagnancy seems to have crept into B2B. This may be from mere observations but the ease of finding a blog post that isn’t talking about the same thing we were discussing three years ago is increasingly troublesome.
So what do we do?
The first solution is the most structured. Change how your marketing budget is set. Coca-Cola are leading the charge with this model; while 70% of their marketing budget is set aside for current activities, 30% is set aside for innovation and planning for ‘the next generation customer’.
There is a lot to be learned from this structure. We have argued the case in a previous blog post the importance of ring fencing 10% of your marketing budget to work on programmes that don’t have fixed ROI (i.e may well fail, but will give you key learnings for your business).
The second is slightly less tangible and counter intuitive to everything we have been told. At Earnest we often fight with the problem of the final 10% – those hours, weeks and months nit-picking the finishing touches to a project. The reality of the situation is that whatever you put out will never be perfect. The only way you can refine perfection is by measuring and learning from how your prospects react and engage with your communications. They say that luck is often as useful as planning – and biting the bullet to get stuff out there is more valuable than toying over v34 of your infographic.
Finally, we need to de-silo. Break down the walls of departments within businesses and the wider barriers between industries. In his brilliant TED talk, Where good ideas come from, Steven Johnson explains that an idea is not a single thing, it is a network of a series of thoughts coming together in one new cocktail of inspiration.
The point is businesses greatest innovations occur when there is a meeting of minds. From the small pubs of Oxford to the discussions around the conference table outlined in the Dunbar report – the greatest thoughts are often accidental happenings.
Chances really do favour the connected mind – so take time to reconvene and reflect on a regular basis. Discuss and debate with individuals across the business, read papers on seemingly random topics and open up the degree to which you are open to the possibilities of random connections.
The B2B industry has come on leaps and bounds over the last few years in proving ourselves not to be the poor cousin of B2C. Let’s not fail ourselves now with stifled innovation.
Earnest about B2B 