BtoB articles from January 2007

BtoB archives from January 2007

Too much 'wow' can doom a b-to-b pitch.(methods of marketing)
January 15, 2007... Byline: KATE MADDOX Your agency has made the short list on a big client pitch, and all you need to do is go in and wow them in the final presentation, right? Wrong, say clients. "We need a little wow but a lot more on execution,''...

Bernstein named `BtoB' associate publisher.(David Bernstein)(Brief article)
January 15, 2007... David Bernstein has been promoted from ad director to the newly created position of associate publisher of BtoB. Bernstein will continue to be responsible for the advertising sales of BtoB, Media Business, several e-mail newsletters,...

Show Notes.(briefs)(1105 Media Inc.)(nytimes.com/bits)
January 15, 2007... NY.Times.com launches blog to cover technology trade shows NYTimes.com introduced Bits, a blog (nytimes.com/bits) that provides coverage of technology trade shows. The blog features news, analysis and product reviews from The New York...

PROBLEM SOLVED.(Net Marketing)
January 15, 2007... Web site Problem: ROI happens fast with a Web analytics tool. After the quick fixes, value gets harder and harder to realize. Then what? Solution: Stop reading reports and start asking questions. Broken links, missing images and...

Corel campaign made stronger with segmented messaging.
January 15, 2007... Byline: KAREN J. BANNAN Corel's customer base is eclectic-consumers, as well as small and large companies, buy and use its word processing, drawing and photo manipulation software. Last year, the Ontario-based company was preparing to...

Speaking brand language in the b-to-b setting.(business to business)
January 15, 2007... Byline: Dan Stiff Let's shatter two myths: First, brand does not belong to marketing. In fact, when leveraged well, brand is a powerful tool that can be used by sales to boost your company's performance and profits. Second, brand is as...

LG Solid Source finds unexpected connection with Nicholson Kovac.(Special Report: Selecting an Agency)
January 15, 2007... Byline: KATE MADDOX Being in the right place at the right time helped Nicholson Kovak get its foot in the door of a national agency search by LG Solid Source, but it took strategic insight and real understanding of the client to win the...

Search, video, Web 2.0 top online ad trends; Companies recognize power of online advertising spending.(Advertising)
January 15, 2007... Byline: KATE MADDOX Search, video and Web 2.0 applications this year will drive online advertising, according to eMarketer. On Jan. 1, the research company released a report projecting that online ad spending will reach $19.5 billion this...

Ariba pins turnaround hopes on keeping in touch with customers.(Tools & Metrics)
January 15, 2007... Byline: CHRISTOPHER HOSFORD Ariba Inc., based in Sunnyvale, Calif., the heart of the Silicon Valley, is a leader in spend management, providing consultancy and software solutions for its clients' purchasing departments. But it's also a...

Measure more than customer advocacy.(dialogue with Gina Pingitore)(Interview)
January 15, 2007... Byline: Gina Pingitore Gina Pingitore is chief research officer at J.D. Power & Associates, the consumer ratings and research company based in Westlake Village, Calif. BtoB recently asked Pingitore about best practices in customer feedback...

Google's newspaper ad program passes beta, but questions linger; February expansion could lead to fight over revenue share.(News)
January 15, 2007... Byline: MATTHEW SCHWARTZ Although it is still in the test phase, newspaper and advertising executives are responding favorably to Google's newspaper ad program that allows advertisers to go online to bid on ad inventory in daily...

Btobonline.com Poll Results.(Opinion)(Brief article)
January 15, 2007... In 2007, the U.S. economy be: Better than 2006 - 51% Worse than 2006 - 21% The same - 20% Don't know - 8% New Poll question Vote now at btobonline.com Has your company used a social networking site as a marketing...

Capturing history as it happens.(Opinion: New Channels)(the bright and shiny future of mobile cameras in information technology)(Viewpoint essay)
January 15, 2007... Byline: Paul Gillin Small technology innovations continue to create enormous ripple effects in ways that we don't see in the early stages. This phenomenon is playing out right now with a device you probably carry in your pocket or purse....

The sales/marketing gap; Three ways to improve the ROI of your sales force and make marketing more accountable.(Opinion)(Viewpoint essay)
January 15, 2007... Byline: John Neeson Recently, I spoke with the chief sales officer of a $1 billion-plus enterprise software company and asked him what percentage of his sales pipeline should be directly attributable to marketing-related efforts. He...

E-MAIL PITFALLS; Our guide to surviving the most common mistakes that are costing you customers.
January 15, 2007... Byline: Karen J. Bannan Everyone, it seems, is doing e-mail marketing, but very few are getting it right. Companies are sending out ineffective, undeliverable or just plain bad marketing e-mails. Case in point: when Forrester Research in...

Lawmakers deliver postal reform; Passage promises predictable rates, greater authority and responsibility.(News)
January 15, 2007... Byline: CAROL KROL Last month, President Bush signed into law postal reform legislation that provides for the first major overhaul of the U.S. Postal Service since the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, which transformed the old...

Agency dos/don'ts.(Brief article)
January 15, 2007... Marketers have several recommendations for way an agency should deal with them. An agency should: Learn the client's business. Think outside the box. Showcase its strategic capabilities. Stick within the marketing budget...

Penton name, Prism CEO come out on top; Merged company to retain longtime brand; Penton CEO Nussbaum to leave after deal closes.(Business Media)
January 15, 2007... Byline: MATTHEW SCHWARTZ Score one for tradition. Private equity firms Wasserstein & Co. and MidOcean Partners last month said that upon completion of Prism Business Media's $530 million acquisition of Penton Media-which is expected to...

Indusry Outlook: Creating connections is vital.(Vertical Insight: Foodservice)(dialogue with Patricia Dailey )(Interview)
January 15, 2007... Byline: Roger Slavens Since 1998, Patricia Dailey has served as editor in chief of Reed Business Information's Restaurants & Institutions, the industry's largest magazine. But she's not just another journalist who has learned about the...

Goat or Gloat; A quick comparison of recent work by competing advertisers.(Chasers)(Doubletree Hotels Corp., FCB Worldwide)(Marriott Corp., McGary Bowen Advertising)
January 15, 2007... Company: Doubletree, Bev- erly Hills, Calif. Agency: FCB Worldwide, Irvine, Calif. Market: Corporate executives Quick chase: A pair of indoor trees commands center stage in this ad for Doubletree Hotels, a unit of Hilton Hotels. We're all for a...

Haagen-Dazs tastes success with creme de la creme campaign.(Vertical Insight: Foodservice)(Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Inc. chooses SZPR advertising agency for marketing of Haagen-Dazs premium ice cream )
January 15, 2007... Byline: ROGER SLAVENS Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, a subsidiary of Nestle Foods, has been making a national push to get more high-end restaurants to serve its Haagen-Dazs premium ice cream as a dessert option. Dreyer's hired full-service...

Unisys gets boost from good data.
January 15, 2007... Byline: CHRISTINE BLANK By improving the accuracy of its data-bases, global technology services company Unisys Corp., based in Blue Bell, Pa., was able to reduce bad or out-of-date contacts within targeted accounts by 15% over the past...

CORRECTIONS.(Correction notice)
January 15, 2007... In the graphic detailing BtoB's 2007 Marketing Priorities and Plans survey (Dec. 11, page 29), two of the colors were reversed in the key to the bar chart tracking media spending plans for 2007. "Increase'' should have been labeled gold, and...

IT'S SO GOOD TO BE UNDERSTOOD; Our exclusive survey shows marketers value industry knowledge and chemistry over creativity in choosing an agency.(Special Report: Selecting an Agency)(Survey)
January 15, 2007... Byline: Kate Maddox B-to-b marketers are seeking ad agency partners that understand the client's business, have good chemistry and can produce results, according to a BtoB survey and interviews with marketers. More than one-third (36.5%)...

Agenda.(Calendar)
January 15, 2007... Jan. 21-24 Sales & Marketing 2007, West Frost & Sullivan Marriott Buttes, Tempe, Ariz. www.frost.com Feb. 5-7 Wireless & Mobile Summit 2007 Gartner Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center, Dallas ...

Software eases big event woes; Event management technology provided Cisco with real-time control.(Events)
January 15, 2007... Byline: ERIN BIBA In August, Cisco Systems, a supplier of networking equipment and management, decided to integrate each of its sales meetings into one large Global Sales Meeting. It was the first time the company had all its worldwide...

Hello? Can you hear me now? Companies are using new metrics such as NPS to measure feedback and customer satisfaction.(Tools & Metrics)(Company overview)
January 15, 2007... Byline: CHRISTOPHER HOSFORD Customer satisfaction is one of those corporate initiatives more honored in the breach than the observance: Clients fume over interminable phone waits, no response to e-mailed questions, slowpoke proposal...

UPS launches $35M 'Whiteboard' campaign.(United Parcel Service of America Inc.)
January 15, 2007... Byline: CAROL KROL United Parcel Service of America kicked off a $35 million campaign dubbed "Whiteboard'' with a national TV spot on Jan. 6. The campaign, created by the Martin Agency, Richmond, Va., includes nine commercials that...

Some ideas about work, organization and hangovers.(Beyond the Biz)
January 15, 2007... Does your cubicle need an "extreme makeover?'' Did you vow to clean up your desk and your act this year? You're in luck. While Ty Pennington may not be available, Office Depot has mapped out the process with its Five-Day Makeover plan. The...

Cut to the Chase.(Matsushita Electric Corporation of America introduces Toughbook laptop computer)
January 15, 2007... Company: Panasonic, Secaucus, N.J. Agency: Sigma Group, Oradell, N.J. Market: Mobile executives Quick chase: Seeing is believing, which is why this spot for Panasonic's Toughbook laptop computer is so effective. Using the power of television to...

Marketing job market 'sizzling'.(Bernhart Associates Executive Search report boom in marketing professions)(Report)
January 15, 2007... Byline: Ellis Booker Executive recruiters and owners of online job boards agree: The market for marketing jobs is hot, hot, hot. `So far it's booming,'' said Jerry Bernhart, president of Bernhart Associates Executive Search in...

FORTY YEARS OF POSTAL REFORM.(News)(Brief article)
January 15, 2007... April 1967: President Lyndon Johnson creates the Kappel Commission to study postal reform. June 1968: The Kappel Commission issues its report with recommendations for transforming the Post Office Department. March 1970: Postal workers...

Give me some space, please.(Chasers)(Antam)(Brother International)
January 15, 2007... Clutter, clutter everywhere. It clogs our in-baskets, it piles up on our desks and it even finds its way into the b-to-b ads we read. Clutter in an ad is more than a nuisance; it can be enough of a distraction to drive a reader from the page....

Marketers look to social media for interaction.(News)
January 15, 2007... Byline: KATE MADDOX From posting videos on YouTube.com to featuring user-generated content in marketing programs, b-to-b marketers are stepping up their social media efforts-with positive results. Intel Corp., Tellabs Inc., Cisco...

Quick Hits.(QuickHits)(Alliance Data Systems Corp.'s Epsilon acquires Abacus from DoubleClick Inc.)(Vertical search revenue seen hitting $1B by 2009)(Qwest Communications International Inc enhances its Qwest Office service)
January 15, 2007... TNS projects 2.6% increase in ad spending Total U.S. ad spending is expected to reach $153.70 billion this year, up 2.6% over last year, according to a full-year forecast released by TNS Media Intelligence. The projected growth is the...

In-flight magazines take off for b-to-b; Advertisers take opportunity to reach captive audience.(News)
January 15, 2007... Byline: MATTHEW SCHWARTZ When Teresa Poggenpohl, executive director-global advertising and brand management at Accenture, flies first class, she makes sure to check out what her fellow executives do to pass the time. She is not trying...

Marketing to foodservice; Understanding diversity of restaurant industry important to reach key players.
January 15, 2007... Byline: ROGER SLAVENS Marketers on the outside looking in can't watch popular TV reality shows such as "Top Chef'' and "Hell's Kitchen'' and expect to get a good understanding of how restaurants really operate. Entertaining as they may be,...

Advertisers like what they see in redesigned 'Journal'.(Wall Street Journal)
January 15, 2007... Byline: MATTHEW SCHWARTZ Jim Garrity, exec VP-CMO of financial services company Wachovia Corp., has been impressed with the redesigned Wall Street Journal, which rolled out Jan. 2. "They did their homework and are using the publication...

Media M&A market still going strong.(merger and acquisition)(Survey)
January 15, 2007... Byline: MATTHEW SCHWARTZ The b-to-b media M&A marketplace has been going gangbusters for more than two years now-and the party shows no signs of slowing down in 2007. According to a survey released last week by media investment bank...

Now at btobonline.com.(Brief article)
January 15, 2007... BtoB's Straight Line, a biweekly e-newsletter covering both business-to-business and business-to-consumer direct marketing. Straight Line features industry news and analysis, case studies, interviews with leading direct marketers and industry...

Case study: HOW CISCO USED INTEGRATED SOFTWARE TO MANAGE EVENT.(Brief article)
January 15, 2007... Objective: Successfully manage larger-then-ever event with integrated technology. Strategy: Incorporate Global LINKS software into all aspects of event process including registration; session and speaker planning; attendee traffic; and...