B-to-B Decision-Makers Are People, Too (Really)

Does emotion work well in business-to-business marketing? Maybe not, many people would say. Making an organizational purchase has different considerations than buying a new shaving cream. And a bad decision for shaving cream may produce minor skin irritation, but a bad decision with third-party vendors could cost someone his job.

So, the thinking traditionally goes, the organization needs information, not emotion. Let's not bother with the larger benefits, just stick to the features -- as in our brochures. Our b-to-b target is an industry veteran who came up through the ranks, likely sales or marketing, so don't try to sell a seller. Play it straight.
That's why retail trade ads look and sound so much the same -- handshakes, puzzle pieces, globes and images of keys unlocking success. That's what seems to work. It may not be glamorous or award-winning creative, but it's effective.
But, though you'd never guess it from trade ads, the b-to-b purchaser has emotions. In a business setting, his emotions are more outward-facing. He's concerned with appearances, even if he'd deny it forever in a focus group or interview. He wants his colleagues to think that he is making rational and informed decisions that will directly benefit bottom-line financials. The key is this: emotion can work in an at-work setting, if the emotions focus on feelings about the benefits accruing to the company.
There is proof by leaders of industry to support our contention.
In 2007, a pair of British ad veterans, Les Binet and Peter Field, looked closely at nearly 900 case studies from IPA Effectiveness Awards over the years. One of the most surprising findings from their study, "Marketing in the Era of Accountability," was the discovery that "Emotionally-based campaigns are not only likely to produce very large business effects but also produce more of them, outperforming rational campaigns on every single business measure."
More recently, according to a CEB/Motista Survey presented at Google's ThinkB2B event last year, emotional connections run deeper for b-to-b clients than business-to-consumer customers. They argued that b-to-b marketing must win over both the horse and its rider, whereas consumer marketing just needs the guy on the horse.

"Between 40% and 70% of customers feel emotionally connected to brands like Oracle, Accenture, FedEx, SAP, and Salesforce," their report continued, "compared with between 10% and 40% for CVS, L'Oreal, and Wal-Mart."
How are b-to-b marketers making these connections? Take UPS for example. Rather than continue to message against their dizzying array of expanded products and services, in their global advertising campaign that launched a few years ago, they opted to own the bigger but simpler idea that: "We (Heart) Logistics." Ads showcasing UPS in action, set to the tune of "That's Amore," were meant to re-frame how consumers and businesses thought about what they did, from delivering packages on-time to a company that swoons for all the little details before, during, and after a delivery.
And though multinational corporations, which traditionally have more resources to develop b-to-b marketing programs that look and feel more b-to-c, there are smaller brands that are using emotion to great effect. Take Acme Brick for example. The Texas-based company decided almost 20 years ago to let builders -- and their end-users -- know that Acme Bricks were guaranteed for 100 years instead of the 3-year industry standard. The majority of its marketing budget is used for image and brand-building activities, including celebrity sponsorships and charity events. Its pitch to architects is as simple today as in its early years: When designing buildings "of consequence," turn to Acme Brick today.
According to an article by Moveo Integrated Branding's Kevin Randall, approximately $20 million of Acme's annual $200 million brick sales is a return on the investment the company makes yearly in brand-building. If a brick can be successfully differentiated, Mr. Randall wrote, then almost anything can be branded to create value.

For those of us in a market or brand research role, let's work harder to help both the agency and marketer side find magnetic truths in what we should remember is still p-to-p marketing -- person to person.

Courtesy Ad Age :By Keith Navratil

How to Develop an Incentive Program

Well some people don't think that people work better with a little extra motivation or incentive.  Well if that is you then you can stop reading.

#1 Establish Objectives

Identify what goal/objective needs to be accomplished, for example: improved attendance, increased sales of a particular product, etc. The objectives must be simple, specific, and obtainable. Begin with a clear, briefly stated objective and communicate it to all participants.

#2 Outline the Strategy

Build the foundation of the Incentive Program carefully, expanding on the methodology to be used. The structure of the program should detail exactly who is the target audience, and anyone else who will be influenced by the program. The size of the group is important to the budget of the program, as well as the ability to communicate clearly and measure the results accurately.

Other considerations are geographic boundaries or sales regions, legal considerations, family issues, the length of the program and timing, individual goals or team goals, and of course, the reward.

#3 Measure Performance

Define both quantifiable and qualitative goals that can be measured, and keep it simple. It might be necessary to look at historical data and come up with an average in order to define a particular sales goal. The goal needs to be fair to all involved, and obtainable by everyone.

#4 Establish the Budget

Depending on whether the program involves sales or non-sales personnel, the budgeting will be different. In general, the three elements of budgeting include: 1) number of participants, 2) length of program, 3) expected results.

There are two types of award budgets: 1) closed-ended, and 2) open-ended. You would need to determine the maximum costs involved with a closed-ended program, and an estimate of costs involved for an open-ended program.

In a sales program, the primary rules are: 1) Anywhere from 5% to 10% of additional (incremental) gross sales during the incentive period can be applied to the total cost of the program, and 2) The cost of the incentive awards should equal 5% of all compensation for the program period.

In a non-sales program, it is more difficult to put a monetary figure on the value of "improvement," but some measures are possible that involve increased productivity, improved attendance, and improved safety (fewer traffic tickets, for instance). The budget is then determined by the "value" the company will realize from the improvements made by the Incentive Program.

#5 Budget Elements

Awards	80%*
Communication / Promotion	10%**
Administration	5%**
Training/Research	5%**

* For merchandise awards, this includes shipping (about 10% of the cost of the items) and taxes (about 6% of cost).
**The last 3 categories are fixed costs comprising 10-20% of incentive program costs.

#6 Select the Perfect Award

It is important to select the correct award because if the individual is not emotionally vested in obtaining the incentive award, he or she will not pursue the goal. Spend some time speaking with the target group and select an award within the framework of the budget that will be important to the group.

#7 Administer the Program

Administration is approximately 20% of the program budget, and a good 50% of the planner's time. The target group needs clear, consistent communication and timely feedback on measurement of their performance.

#8 Celebrate the Success of the Program

The end of the program should be celebrated with the target group and performance measurement by individual or team should be provided at this point. Individuals should then receive their awards.

#9 Analyze the Success of the Program

Did the Incentive Program achieve its objectives? Were the participants motivated to change their behavior? Remember, an Incentive Program provides a short-term gain, and follow-up programs are important. Start planning the next one today. 

Give us a call at 609 807 8856 and have a 30 minute conversation about the merits of an incentive program.

Dimensional Mail

How it works:

•Client Brief- The client was disappointed with the common marketing response rates of 2% when trying to generate new club members. Typically it would cost the client in excess of $2,500.00 to get a new member. A creative, measurable marketing campaign was developed to target a smaller core list of potential members and to gain a greater response rate.

•Tennis club and to exceed the normal 2% common response rate. A ten percent response rate was the target or 30 new members.

•Execution & Strategy: we decided to create a measurable marketing piece that would generate a greater response than the normal 2% responses. We gathered the demographic information about the target audience: targeted area mailed within a 50 mile radius of the club, 50/50 women to men ratio, median age range between 35 to 55 and generally white collar workers – and to people that played tennis.

•Overall Results: the mailer generated an incredible 25% response rate, and generated 75 new members, the measurable program cost the cub $52.00 net each, a 2,448.00 savings per member. 

Direct Mail ROI Expectation

•Offer  to Spend 50% on AD and 50% of AD cost on PPDM

•PPDM Budget: $90,000 or $30 per mailing x 3 mailings = $90

•Target 1,000 Businesses

•30% Appt. Rate: 300 Appts.

•30% Proposal Rate: 90 Proposals

•30% Win Rate: 27 Sales at an average sales of $20,000

•New Sales: $540,000

•ROI: 6:1 First Year

•ROI: 12:1 Second Year

Targeted dimensional mail wins hands down.
Not designed for every company.
If sales people will NOT call after don't spend money.
For those who work it, the programs work