BtoB articles from February 2006

BtoB archives from February 2006

IDC summit evaluates marketing measurement.(Performance Measurement Summit )
February 13, 2006... Byline: KATE MADDOX Marketers are committed to demonstrating the value of marketing to their companies' bottom line, although they have differing approaches to the function, according to presenters at IDC's Marketing Performance...

The Trust Factor.(Opinion)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Charles H. Green The new skills b-to-b marketers will need in 2006 will be influenced by technology in subtle ways. We're not only more wired, the world is also becoming exponentially more interdependent, requiring trust and...

Podcasting: Ready for prime time?(Opinion)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Paul Gillin When General Motors Corp. launched the 2006 Corvette Z06 last June, it supplemented its marketing with an audio interview with Corvette chief engineer Dave Hill. Posted online in the popular MP3 audio format, the...

GE measures rep in marketplace; Simple scoring metric spotlights customers' likelihood to recommend company to others.(Tools & Metrics)(General Electric Co.)
February 13, 2006... Byline: KATE MADDOX Over the past year, General Electric Co. has rolled out a companywide performance measurement system called Net Promoter Score (NPS), a simple metric that indicates whether customers would recommend GE to other...

We keep listening as radio evolves.(Opinion)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Ellis Booker I own three times as many radios as TVs. I listen to radio daily but can go a day or two without looking at a TV. Thanks to the Wi-Fi network in my house, I can listen to streaming radio stations from Turkey or France...

New book offers three-part Six Sigma guide for marketing.(Six Sigma for Marketing Processes: An Overview for Marketing Executives, Leaders and Managers)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Ellis Booker BtoB recently spoke with C.M. "Skip'' Creveling and Lynne Hambleton, who along with Burke McCarthy are the authors of the new book "Six Sigma for Marketing Processes: An Overview for Marketing Executives, Leaders and...

IDC releases new marketing matrix.(Marketing Performance Matrix)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Kate Maddox Using its database of technology companies to compare how efficient and effective they are at marketing, IDC this week will release a new benchmark called the Marketing Performance Matrix. The matrix plots marketing...

Problem Solved.(NetMarketing)
February 13, 2006... Problem: Tracking and optimizing search engine marketing leads when there's a long lag time between when someone clicks and when the monetary transaction occurs. Solution: This is a very common problem, especially for b-to-b advertisers,...

Corrections.
February 13, 2006... In "New Campaigns'' (Jan. 16, page 14), an agency that worked on the AT&T campaign was omitted. GSD&M, Austin, Texas, and Rodgers Townsend, St. Louis, worked together on the campaign. GSD&M is the agency for AT&T, which merged with SBC. Rodgers...

A realistic search engine marketing results time frame.
February 13, 2006... Question: How long should it take a vendor to implement an SEM strategy and start seeing results? Answer: A sound search engine marketing strategy will incorporate one or both of the following approaches: organic search engine optimization...

Search investment pays off for Habeas.
February 13, 2006... Byline: KAREN J. BANNAN Last fall, Chris Brubaker was hired as e-mail reputation service provider Habeas Inc.'s director of marketing communications. He quickly realized he had his work cut out for him. Although Habeas had an e-mail...

From tech geek to tech sleek.(Business technology )
February 13, 2006... Business technology customers often like to see themselves-or some semblance of themselves-in the advertising that targets them. But business-to-business advertisers using images of their prospects or customers walk a fine line between insult...

Goat or Gloat.(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Company: Kyocera Mita America, Fairfield, N.J. Agency: Seiter & Miller, New York Market: CIOs Quick chase: Speed is only one part of the pitch for Kyocera's printer. This ad talks about reliability and security. But overall, the ad lacks the...

Cut to the Chase.(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Company: Freescale Semiconductor, Austin, Texas Agency: Godfrey Q and Partners, San Francisco Market: Design engineers Quick chase: The top of a man's head swings open as if on a hinge. A series of wireless, automotive, consumer and industrial...

Co-op databases offer savings, services for those willing to share.
February 13, 2006... Byline: AMY SYRACUSE A customer file is among a marketer's most valuable assets-one that conventional wisdom says should be kept under lock and key. So why are some companies putting their files in cooperative databases for their fellow...

Microsoft aims to become a bigger media player; U.S. sales chief will oversee new global advertising sales staff.(Xbox, Xbox Live )
February 13, 2006... Byline: KRIS OSER Microsoft has seen the future, and it's advertising. By consolidating its ad sales staff within one global Microsoft Corp. sales division and promoting MSN's U.S. sales chief Joanne Bradford to run it, the company...

Scarcity of lists continues to stunt e-mail prospects.
February 13, 2006... Byline: CAROL KROL While e-mail has become a well-established part of the marketing mix, it continues to be fraught with myriad challenges, including a shortage of prospect names and the cost of lists. Limited e-mail list quantities...

Start-up firm banks on vertical search to reach electronics pros.(Canyon Electronics and Cables)
February 13, 2006... Byline: ROGER SLAVENS Founded April 2002 in Grand Junction, Colo., Canyon Electronics & Cables entered the electronics component industry as a small start-up in a crowded manufacturing niche with entrenched competitors. The company...

How to market to engineers; Electronics components firms must tout values and benefits, not just specs.
February 13, 2006... Byline: ROGER SLAVENS The global electronics industry will generate approximately $1.5 trillion in revenue in 2006, said Tim Avila, group marketing director for CMP Media's Electronics Group. It's a huge industry that's integrated into...

E-mail for customer acquisition; avoiding costly mistakes.
February 13, 2006... Question: Is using e-mail as a customer acquisition tool really such a bad idea? Answer: Casting e-mail campaigns like a net across a sea of unsuspecting recipients is seldom a good idea. However, you can use e-mail as a customer...

New Orleans readies for return of conventions.(Morial)
February 13, 2006... Byline: BETH SNYDER BULIK Almost a decade ago, the American Library Association planned its annual convention for June 2006 in New Orleans. Then along came Hurricane Katrina last September bringing widespread devastation to the Crescent...

C-suite sees flurry of changes.(business to business appointments)
February 13, 2006... Byline: KATE MADDOX Recent shuffling of CMO and CEO titles at b-to-b companies points to a continuing rise in C-level turnover. Among the most notable changes, Cisco Systems named Susan Bostrom exec VP-chief marketing officer, and...

Nortel faces uphill climb against Cisco.(Nortel Networks Corp)
February 13, 2006... Byline: SEAN CALLAHAN In recent years, being the Nortel Networks Corp. CMO has been like wrestling an 800-pound gorilla while wearing a singlet made of bananas. Clent Richardson, who announced in December he will leave the CMO post at...

Current methods 'just aren't working'.(methods for measuring customer relationships)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Ralph Oliva `The idea that we really know how b-to-b customer markets make decisions is just often false. Current methods for measuring customer relationships, and gaining the insights we need to innovate, just aren't working. We...

Tying it all together; Companies help clients maximize list impact with integrated tools.(e-mail append database)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Carol Krol With the endless fragmentation of media channels and long selling cycles typical in b-to-b, marketers are as challenged as ever to find and keep customers. One strategy that continues to gain steam is integrated,...

Oneupweb unveils mobile, research services.(uSage)(Mobile-i-zation)(Customer Relationship Management)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Search engine optimization and marketing company Oneupweb last week announced two new services, uSage, to help clients improve Web site design, navigation, structure and impact, and Mobile-i-zation, guidance on coding, structure, navigation and...

`BtoB' debuts Talking Tech.(top technology )(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... From white papers to Web sites, how are marketers at the world's top technology companies reaching IT? Two times a month, BtoB's Talking Tech series brings the insight of our editors online in the form of a 10-minute audiocast. Featuring expert...

Making the most of multichannel marketing.(Multichannel marketing )
February 13, 2006... Byline: Rob Sanchez Multichannel marketing is no longer merely a buzzword used in theory to describe a forward-looking trend. It has arrived. Here are some things that list owners and direct marketers should focus on to promote...

Ad spending to grow in 2006; Olympics, World Cup, elections to drive growth; online ad spend to increase 24%.(Advertising)
February 13, 2006... Byline: KATE MADDOX Total ad spending in the U.S. is expected to reach $152.30 billion this year, up 5.4% over 2005, according to a January forecast by TNS Media Intelligence. The increase follows ad growth of 3.0% in 2005 over 2004,...

New Campaigns.(FedEx Corp.)(Eastman Kodak Co.)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... FedEx Campaign: "Caveman'' Agency: BBDO New York Target audience: Small businesses Campaign objective: Promote FedEx services including express, ground, freight and FedEx Kinko's Media: TV (Super Bowl) Budget: Undisclosed Kodak...

Benchmarks.(NetMarketing)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... See printed publication for the following: Top b-to-b online advertisers Top b-to-b subsegments Top sites

Aim for credibility in targeting engineers.(Susan Tatum)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Roger Slavens Susan Tatum has spent the better part of the past 10 years marketing products to engineers at such companies as Lucent Technologies, Motorola Inc., Agere Systems and Alcatel. She's the president of Tatum Group, a...

Dumbest moments in business, 'Business 2.0' counts the ways.(Business 2.0 )
February 13, 2006... THE FEBRUARY ISSUE OF TIME INC.'S BUSINESS 2.0 features its annual roll call of the "101 Dumbest Moments in Business,'' and Google gets its own special treatment, coming in at No. 18 and No. 19 on the list. No. 18 details how a new Google...

Search S.O.S. With hundreds of search engine marketing providers out there, how's a marketer to choose?(search engine marketing)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Karen J. Bannan Andrea Noleroth, Network Appliance's senior marketing manager, came to the conclusion last fall that search engine marketing could help the data storage provider's marketing efforts in a big way. "Based on what our...

'Footwear News' walks new path; Venerable Fairchild title revamps editorial content in print and online.(Business Media)
February 13, 2006... Byline: MATTHEW SCHWARTZ One of the first e-mails that Danny Wasserman reads each weekday is the daily alert he receives from Footwear News. "It really is my Wall Street Journal,'' said Wasserman, owner of Tip Top Shoes, an independent...

Reed Business puts New Products Division up for sale; Annoucement follows company's decision to sell North American industrial events.(Reed Exhibitions )
February 13, 2006... Byline: MATTHEW SCHWARTZ Reed Business Information has put its 23-title New Products Division on the block-its second major divestiture move announced in the past three months. The division covers many markets, including manufacturing,...

Ziff President Catalane resigns, remains on board.(Business Media)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Bart Catalane, president-COO of Ziff Davis, resigned from the technology publisher last month. Catalane remains on Ziff Davis' board of directors. Randy Zane, VP-corporate communications, said the company recently reorganized into three...

BMA brand survey says compliance low.(Business Marketing Association)
February 13, 2006... Byline: KATE MADDOX While the vast majority of b-to-b marketers rank brand compliance as a high priority at their companies, many businesses fall short when it comes to implementing brand compliance across the organization, according to a...

Quick Hits.(Canon Communications Inc)(Online search)(Visa U.S.A. Inc.)
February 13, 2006... Executives see strong marketing M&A activity More than half of advertising and marketing executives surveyed expect a strong year for M&A in both database marketing/CRM and so-called "experiential marketing,'' according to a report by...

Advertisers: Stay tuned for big changes in radio.(radio advertising)
February 13, 2006... Byline: MATTHEW SCHWARTZ A battle has started to brew for the hearts, minds and budgets of b-to-b marketers that rely on radio advertising. The fight pits fledgling satellite radio providers, such as Sirius and XM, against terrestrial...

AOL backs off plan to impose fees on e-mail senders.(America Online Inc)
February 13, 2006... Byline: CAROL KROL AOL has backed off a plan announced two weeks ago to do away with its enhanced whitelist of legitimate e-mail senders as part of a partnership with Goodmail Systems. AOL now plans to incorporate the Goodmail...

Specific needs spur demand for private databases.(Special Report: List Management)
February 13, 2006... Byline: AMY SYRACUSE For marketers seeking a more sophisticated approach to prospecting than the traditional list rental market offers, there are two basic choices: public cooperative databases and custom-built private prospecting...

Agenda.(Calendar/Datebook)(Calendar)
February 13, 2006... Feb. 27-March 2 Search Engine Strategies Incisive Interactive Media Hilton New York, New York www.searchenginestrategies.com March 9 BtoB NetMarketing Breakfast BtoB magazine The Palace Hotel, San Francisco...

How NPS scoring works.(Net Promoter Score )
February 13, 2006... Byline: KATE MADDOX Net Promoter Score (NPS) is based on one question asked of customers: "On a scale of zero to 10, how likely is it that you would recommend us to your friends or colleagues?" Customers with a score of 0 to 6 are...

New book offers three-part Six Sigma guide for marketing.(interview )(Interview)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Ellis Booker ***** Correction: In the interview with book author Lynne Hambleton ("New book offers three-part, Six Sigma guide for marketing,'' Feb. 13, p. 27), her correct last comment was: "The beauty of Six Sigma is that it...