BtoB articles from August 2007

BtoB archives from August 2007

Weight of the words; Even simple metrics can help you determine the effectiveness of your search engine marketing.(Net Marketing)
August 13, 2007... Byline: Karen J. Bannan It's well-known that when it comes to search traffic, it's the quality and not the quantity that counts. Still, plenty of marketers out there eschew metrics and analysis, making blind search engine buys. "There are...

Service, quality and testimonials key to impressing hotel execs; Industry outlook.(Vertical Insight: Hospitality)(Joe Rook)(Interview)
August 13, 2007... Byline: Mary E. Morrison Joe Rook, VP-sales at iBahn, a provider of broadband services to hotels and conference venues, has a broad perspective on what it takes to sell to hotel executives successfully. With more than 30 years' experience...

Palace Resorts puts meeting planners in the director's chair.(Vertical Insight: Hospitality)
August 13, 2007... Byline: MARY E. MORRISON Palace Resorts, a company that operates resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean, wanted to educate meeting planners about the reopening of two of its recently renovated resorts and the grand opening of a new...

Agenda.
August 13, 2007... Aug. 20-23 Search Engine Strategies Incisive Media San Jose Convention Center, San Jose, Calif. www.searchenginestrategies.com Sept. 24-25 OMMA Conference & Expo New York MediaPost Communications Hilton, New...

Microsoft uses old media to tout new; New direct campaign featuring Search Master Steve targets small and midsize businesses.(Direct & Database)
August 13, 2007... Byline: CAROL KROL Search Master Steve is here to help. As the face of Microsoft adCenter's advertising campaign, Steve has been educating small and midsize businesses on the ins and outs of search engine marketing in ongoing print, direct...

Digital conferencing helps build relationships.(Events)(E-Z Data Inc.)
August 13, 2007... Byline: ERIN BIBA Once a year, EZ-Data Inc., a company that provides software and Web-based solutions for financial and insurance companies, organizes a client/partner conference. People come from across the country to attend this...

FedEx Kinko's 'No More All Nighters' campaign awakens interest in online tools.(BtoB Special Report: Integrated Marketing Success)(FedEx Kinko's Office and Print Services)
August 13, 2007... Using its traditional humor to show the resolution of common office problems, FedEx Kinko's in March kicked off a campaign called "No More All Nighters'' to promote its print online service to small-business owners. "We wanted to make...

Check into cost-saving trends.(Vertical Insight: Hospitality)
August 13, 2007... Byline: MARY E. MORRISON It's a good time to be in the hotel business and, by extension, a good time for companies selling their products and services to hotels-if they can get their marketing messages in front of the right people. Those...

Take holistic approach to SEM and SEO; Ask the experg.(Net Marketing)
August 13, 2007... Question: What benchmarks do marketers most often overlook in their SEM campaigns? Answer: Frequently, marketers focus on just the point of conversion when reviewing their SEM campaigns, overlooking the rest of the buying cycle....

Problem solved.(Net Marketing)
August 13, 2007... Web site: Problem: A recently created microsite has extensive product information and a clear call to action on every page but conversions are low. Solution: Microsites can be wonderful and quite successful from a branding and user...

New campaigns.(Advertising)(briefs)(Dye, Van Mol and Lawrence)(Mother New York)(Brief article)
August 13, 2007... AT&T: "The Internet Can't Hide Anymore'' Agency: BBDO New York and BBDO Atlanta Target audience: Mobile business professionals Campaign objective: Promote the AT&T Laptop Connect Card Media: TV (CNN, Fox News, MSN), print, online Budget:...

Sensible strategies for mobile marketers; CEO of IPG's Ansible agency preaches calm in a time of sizzle.(Advertising)(Vladimir Edelman)(Interview)
August 13, 2007... Byline: KATE MADDOX Last month, Interpublic Group of Cos. announced the formation of a dedicated mobile marketing agency, Ansible, formed through a joint venture with mobile technology provider Velti. The agency is led by CEO Vladimir...

Correction.(Correction notice)
August 13, 2007... In "FierceMarkets keeps it in vertical families'' (July 16, page 12), Digital Fountain was misidentified.

Real-time results help Dotster maximize SEM efforts.(Net Marketing)(search engine marketing)
August 13, 2007... Byline: KAREN J. BANNAN Dotster is one of the original domain registration services providers. Today, the company is still committed to its core service but has also expanded into site design, hosting and several other Web 2.0 services....

Wall Street Journal coming soon to elevator near you.(News)(Office Media Network)
August 13, 2007... Byline: MATTHEW SCHWARTZ The competition for reaching the at-work crowd has gotten a little sharper. Office Media Network (OMN) announced July 20 that it was expanding its Wall Street Journal Office Network to include elevators in...

Tight budgets drive creativity, innovation.(BtoB Special Report: Integrated Marketing Success)
August 13, 2007... Byline: KATE MADDOX As marketers work with limited budgets in a slowing economy, they are challenged to develop innovative campaigns using a mix of off- and online media to communicate their brands and positioning. But thanks to a wide...

Goat or gloat; A quick comparison of recent work by competing advertisers.(Chasers)(briefs)(Brief article)
August 13, 2007... Company: CIT Group, New York Agency: Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners, New York Market: CEOs, CFOs Quick chase: Set against the background of graph paper, the headline-"Every company deserves an unlimited line of creativity''-does the heavy...

Pitney Bowes intelligently plots strategy for MapInfo.(BtoB Special Report: Integrated Marketing Success)(Pitney Bowes MapInfo)
August 13, 2007... To communicate its positioning of "location intelligence,'' while at the same time developing a broader brand campaign, Pitney Bowes MapInfo initiated an integrated marketing program including a white paper, webinar, cover wrap, direct mail and...

Holy user-generated content! Fans take over site.(Beyond the Biz)(Zudacomics.com)(WorkPlace Media)(CableOrganizer.com)
August 13, 2007... Calling all aspiring comic book artists: This October, DC Comics, the world's largest English-language comic book publisher, will launch Zudacomics.com, an interactive Web site that will feature ongoing, winning Web comics chosen by the site's...

'McPaper' no more, 'USA Today' turns 25.(News)(Gannett Company Inc. USA Today)
August 13, 2007... Byline: MATTHEW SCHWARTZ As it prepares to celebrate its 25th anniversary in September, Gannett Co.'s USA Today is bucking the downward trend in U.S. newspaper circulation and branching out online to offer the kind of user-generated...

Analysts expect 'WSJ' changes under Murdoch; Ad rate, subscription adjustments likely after News Corp. takes over Dow Jones.(News)
August 13, 2007... Byline: MATTHEW SCHWARTZ News Corp.'s $5.6 billion buyout of Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co. will have a big impact on the entire media industry-and business publications in particular, industry observers say. News Corp....

Keywords attract potential prospects, but content is what keeps them around; Optimize content.(Opinion)
August 13, 2007... Byline: Ashley Bailes With webmasters vying for the next optimization trick, many sites are left lacking the most fundamental component: user experience. Countless companies optimize Web sites for keywords but forget the importance of...

Lead management far from easy task; Identify prospects and know what to do with them.(Tools & Metrics)
August 13, 2007... Byline: CHRISTOPHER HOSFORD There are multiple steps in managing sales leads, such as qualifying prospects, sending them what they request (fulfillment), getting sales on board with a willingness to report results, analyzing success and...

The wonderful chemistry of Dow's corporate ads.(Opinion)(Dow Chemical Co.)
August 13, 2007... Byline: Rance Crain Dow Chemical Co. has a modest goal for its corporate ad campaign: to be acknowledged as the largest, most profitable and most respected chemical company in the world. The "Human Element'' push, now a year old, has...

ITtoolbox emerging as fix for marketers; Web site, built on collaboration, agrees to buyout offer from Corporate Executive Board.(Business Media)
August 13, 2007... Byline: MATTHEW SCHWARTZ ITtoolbox, a community-based Web site that has generated a good deal of buzz in b-to-b media circles, agreed late last month to a $58.9 million buyout offer from the Corporate Executive Board, a business...

Quick Hits.
August 13, 2007... VSS: Communications spending to top $1 trillion Total U.S. communications spending will exceed $1 trillion for the first time in 2008 and reach $1.222 trillion by 2011, according to Veronis Suhler Stevenson's Communications Industry...

Marketers expect big return from their Olympian efforts; GE, Kodak among those using Olympic partnerships to boost presence in Chinese economy.(News)
August 13, 2007... Byline: KATE MADDOX With just a little less than a year to go before the start of the Beijing Summer Olympics, b-to-b companies are already pumping significant amounts of money, staff and other resources into their efforts for the event,...

Stark contrast in use of new media between b-to-b, b-to-c companies.(News)
August 13, 2007... Byline: KATE MADDOX While b-to-b and b-to-c marketers are both embracing new media platforms, there are some marked differences in their usage, goals and, perhaps most important, budgeting for new media, according to a joint survey by the...

Online ad industry continues to sizzle with new deals.(News)(AdECN Inc.)
August 13, 2007... Byline: KATE MADDOX The acquisition wave in the online advertising industry continued last month, as Time Warner's AOL announced plans to buy behavioral targeting ad network Tacoda for a reported $275 million and Microsoft Corp. acquired...

Kodak launches campaign touting the power of print.(News)
August 13, 2007... Byline: CAROL KROL In an effort to raise awareness of the value of the print medium and its services, Eastman Kodak Co. this month debuted a print and online ad campaign in several trade publications targeted to printers and publishers....

ITT makes a splash with unified branding at industry events.(BtoB Special Report: Integrated Marketing Success)(Doremus and Co.)
August 13, 2007... Byline: KATE MADDOX ITT Corp., a global engineering company with products including fluid technology, defense electronics, and motion and flow control systems, wanted to present a unified brand message within the water technology industry....

Flo Healthcare message reaches distinct audiences.(BtoB Special Report: Integrated Marketing Success)(Emerson Electric Co.)(Arketi Group)
August 13, 2007... Flo Healthcare, which was acquired by Emerson in May 2006, had a unique marketing challenge: It needed to communicate its value proposition as a premium provider of mobile workstations to the health care industry while raising awareness of the...

Cut to the chase.(Chasers)(Bartle Bogle Hegarty L.L.C.)(Electronic Data Systems Corp.)(Wyffels Hybrids)
August 13, 2007... Company: EDS, Plano, Texas Agency: BBH, New York Market: Information technology buyers Quick chase: A series of banners that convey the kind of immediate response that disaster relief specialists or firefighters enabled with EDS technology can...

Cleaning up with customer evangelists; New Channels.(Opinion)(http://www.irobot.com/create/explore/)(americanragcampus.com)(briefs)
August 13, 2007... Byline: Paul Gillin Five years ago, iRobot Corp. of Burlington, Mass., scored a breakthrough when it introduced Roomba, the first successful consumer robot. The Roomba is a squat, 10.6-lb. vacuum cleaner that zips around a room at...

Getting to know Web visitors key to improving lead management; Ask the expert.(Tools & Metrics)(Interview)
August 13, 2007... James W. Obermayer is president of Sales Leakage Consulting, and co-author of "Managing Sales Leads''(Texere, 2007). BtoB recently asked Obermayer about trends in lead management. BtoB: The Web is today's main b-to-b shopping engine. How...

Watkins soaks up better lead tracking; Case study.(Tools & Metrics)(Case study)
August 13, 2007... Byline: CHRISTOPHER HOSFORD Watkins Manufacturing Corp., the Vista, Calif.-based maker of the Hot Spring Spas brand of hot tubs, faced a classic b-to-b challenge in dealing with its vast array of retailers: keeping the sales chain filled...

media notes.(Business Media)(Brief article)
August 13, 2007... Jupitermedia acquires Mediabistro.com Jupitermedia Corp., an Internet research company, has acquired Mediabistro.com, an online career site for media professionals. Jupitermedia agreed to pay $20 million upfront and up to an additional $3...

Chill out. Read these books.(Opinion)
August 13, 2007... Byline: Ellis Booker Bad news: A United Nations report issued this month by the world's top climate scientists concludes that global warming and rising sea levels, "very likely'' caused by man-made emissions of greenhouse gases, will be a...

`BtoB' launches Blog Roundup; new at btobonline.com.(Opinion)(Brief article)
August 13, 2007... BtoB has launched a Blog Roundup page at BtoBonline.com. In addition to a directory of about 80 marketing blogs, the page features "Blog Posts of the Week,'' a selection of blogs picked by BtoB editors, reporters and contributors. To access the...

Behavioral targeting grows; Sophisticated analytics tools enable marketers to customize their messages.(News)
August 13, 2007... Byline: CAROL KROL Targeting customers based on their behavior has long been a part of the marketing conversation. But thanks to the wealth of behavioral information they can glean from their Web site traffic and analytic applications that...

indirect.(Direct & Database)(Survey)
August 13, 2007... Direct marketing hiring pace softens Direct marketers expect fewer new hires this summer compared with the spring, according to Bernhart Associates Executive Search in its quarterly direct marketing employment survey. In addition, the...

Poll results; btobonline.com.(Opinion)(Survey)(Brief article)
August 13, 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 this is...

What marketers need to know about CAN-SPAM; E-mail marketing insight.(Net Marketing)(Brief article)
August 13, 2007... Question: What are the keys a marketer needs to know about CAN-SPAM compliance? Answer: The actual CAN-SPAM Act looks daunting and confusing. But when you boil it down, CAN-SPAM really is the bare minimum best practices that any...