Prickly Issues 01
Who decided that B2B campaigns had to be so boring, anyway? Time for change!
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Easy ste ps to suc ceed on the N ew B2P Frontier
It’s been one of the most consistent conversation pieces over the past year: tuned-in MDs commenting on the somewhat confused state of B2B communication. It’s changing, everyone feels it, but how? And why such a Grand Canyon sized gap between enticing ‘pull’ B2C campaigns and the somewhat dull hard-sell ‘push’ tactics oft-used for B2B?
A
middle ground has emerged in the boardrooms, namely B2P – Business to People. In the past year a wide array of vastly different clients came through our agency doors with highly
specific B2P briefings. Brands like California shoe company K-Swiss, global printer make Océ, Swedish Tourism Board VisitSweden, Schiphol, Amsterdam RAI, to name just a few. Their briefs were tellingly similar: give us B2B, but make it feel B2C. In trying to meet their expectations
we spent much time seeking out the right balance between hard and soft selling, rational and emotional, cash and cuddly. Along the way we’ve made a few key discoveries. And we’ve packaged them for you here in this Prickly Issues whitepaper. And when all is said and done, we offer up a B2P Survival Guide for all those marketers looking for inspiring B2B campaigns.
Case 1 K-Swiss
K-Swiss’s classic woos shoes into stock What to do when high-end European retailers are no longer stocking your most iconic shoe? This was the challenge facing California sports company K-Swiss in the Spring of 2010. The result was an award-winning campaign (D&AD ‘In Book June 2011) that not only activated retailers to stock more shoes, but ignited positive conversations about the K-Swiss brand across the globe.
Case 1 K-Swiss
Insight
Campaign
Results
Media Mix
While the Classic shoe itself is just
The challenge was to tell the long story
The results resonated far beyond
Print, brand story, DM,
a pretty nifty heritage sneaker, it’s
of the Classic in a way that would help
retailers. Because we packaged the hard-
PR: plugging & seeding
story is extraordinary in these times of
retailers sell more shoes. So we broke the
sell story of the shoe in an emotionally
fast-moving goods. The problem was,
story up into 8 non-linear chapters and
relevant way (i.e. respected designers),
K-Swiss didn’t communicate the story
asked 8 respected underground designers
major sneakerfreak communities picked
of its shoe to its retail partners, namely across the globe to design posters around
the story up and helped us create the
because the company didn’t know
them. We sent the resulting double-sided
demand for retailers to stock more
the whole story itself. We immediate
limited-edition posters to key retailers to
Classic shoes. The campaign and social
set about piecing one together out
hang in their shops and hand out to their
media strategy it entailed resulted in a
of the fragments of information and
most exclusive clients, creating goodwill
63% increase in brand awareness and a
communication lying dormant in the
and making them part of the campaign’s
36% jump in positive conversations about
company archives.
success.
K-Swiss.
The lowdown The D&AD award was certainly unexpected, but it just goes to show that even B2B campaigns can create positive B2C buzz on a global scale if that’s what you set out to do from day 1.
Case 2 Océ
Kick-starting conversations and creating quality leads for Océ’s global sales force Océ is a global market leader in large-format printers and thought it was time to drive that point home through a global B2B campaign around its new PosterPrinter. The brief: create a powerful conversation starter for the brand’s global sales force that helps them create genuine leads and ultimately sell more printers.
The catch? Needs to be adaptable across all Océ’s OPCOs and succeed with no media budget. The result was an online mockumentary that drove home a hard B2B message; namely, that the Océ Poster Printer is the fastest and easiest poster printer on the planet.
“We wanted a campaign that would tell the story of the PosterPrinter in a way that would inspire our sales force and function as a conversation starter. A B2B story that didn’t feel B2B.” -Ed Lensen, International Business Development Manager, Océ Display Graphics Systems
Case 2 Océ
Insight The decisionmakers in the large-
The entire campaign was
format printing business (the guys
complemented by an activation
who place the orders) are the last link
microsite, where an online Poster-
in a very creative chain, but they are
Printer turned uploaded images into
still part of the creative chain. We
virtual posters. The Instant Poster
played into their creative instincts by
Power also translated to on-site and
capturing every creative individual’s
trade fairs where clients could turn
dream: to escape the monotony of the
images from their telephones into
office!
instant posters in 30 seconds.
Campaign
Results
We scripted a story around two very
In the first few months after launch
likeable young guys who launch a
some 30,000 video views and the
pop-up printer business called ‘Instant
microsite hundreds of community
Poster Power’ from the back of their
uploaded images. Every Océ Opco
customized van. The mockumentary
picked up the campaign and adapted
follows these two micropreneurs as
both the film and microsite into local
they service small businesses, pull
languages. The campaign also sparked
pranks, do some social good and
local activation campaigns around
transform the urban landscape, all
the Instant Poster Power theme. The
with the help of the PosterPrinter. In
campaign was included in prestigious
short, they capture the emotion of the
international marketing magazine
poster business and the importance of
Contagious as a Best Practices for
posters in communication today. All
B2B campaigns.
the printer’s USPs were worked into the script, but we avoid typical B2B corporatetalk through unscripted, spontaneous dialogue to help the message sound heartfelt and real.
Media Mix Online film, print, DM, web platform, trade shows, PR: plugging & seeding
The lowdown B2B campaigns are so caught up in corporatespeak that they often forget WHY their products and services are so interesting and unique. By giving the PosterPrinter a human, ‘outside-in’ context (instead of purely inside-out), the Océ sales team enthusiastically picked up on the campaign and used it as a serious tool to service current clients and to create new leads – each salesman was encouraged to plug&seed the film into his own networks.
Case 3 VisitSweden
How Swedish tourism got Dutch travel agents on their side The Swedish tourism board, VisitSweden, had one business goal: get more Dutch to give up the Austrian and French Alps for Swedish ski sojourns. An integral part of the challenge was thus to convince travel agents to take Swedish skiing seriously. What they got was the B2C/B2B ‘Fit for the Winter Games’ campaign that travelled well beyond the agents’ offices and ended up a global cult hit. Oh, and the first direct charter flights to Sweden.
Case 3 VisitSweden Insight To challenge the Dutch annual Alps
agents – in return they could win a
routine, Sweden needed a serious
limited-edition ‘Fit for the Winter
edge, and we quickly pinpointed one,
Games’ bag.
an insight the Swedes themselves weren’t particularly proud of. Namely, that since 1986 the Swedish winter sport towns of Are and Ostersund had bid for the Olympic Games three times – and lost. We didn’t see losing bids however, we simply saw proof that Sweden had world-class facilities.
Results By activating Dutch travel agents via DM, the bag and a special page on the website, the number of Dutch winter hotel stays after the campaign doubled and the first winter charter flight to Are took off from Schiphol. B2C results were also impressive: over
Campaign
800,000 video views, a 200% increase
The ‘Fit for the Olympic Games’
in web visits and a campaign that
campaign was created around two
completely dominated all Google
amusing online films highlighting
search results for ‘Swedish winter
Sweden’s Olympic ambitions and its
sport’.
key USPs. We told the story through two fanatical Swedes who dream of the Olympics so they can display
Media Mix
their talents as, respectively, a mascot
Film, Web platform, Print,
and a streaker. In addition to DM, a
DM, Events, PR: plugging & seeding
flyer team, web and taking the films consumer direct via YouTube, we sent agents a special package with DVD and brochures and encouraged them to send the film to at least three other
The lowdown Your B2B partners are also consumers, and in some situations you need to activate them like consumers. If they like something they’ll actively share and sell it. And if they don’t, encourage them other ways like giving them free give-aways.
B2P Shorts
B2B short 1 Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
Schiphol’s ‘Magic in function’ film “Lemon managed to reinvent our corporate message and create a brand story that makes us appealing to virtually everyone. Never before did we get so many thumbs up!” Chella Busch, Brand Manager Schiphol Group
It’s not just enough to be Europe’s 5th largest hub and one
high-quality partners. More specifically, the short film
of the most innovative airports in the world. Sometimes,
combines the Schiphol elements people know with behind-
you have to remind people that behind the business there’s
the-scene action they don’t – the functional and the magic
a clearly defined mission §and vision. Our ‘A day in the
of an airport.
Life’ B2P campaign for Schiphol was designed specifically to spark positive conversations internally and with new
Media Mix Brand story, Film
B2B short 2 Amsterdam RAI
B2B short 3 WYSTC
Amsterdam RAI’s WYSTC 2011’s HOE INTENSER DE ERVARING inspiring ‘experience HOE KOSTBAARDER DE HERINNERING fake travel trend angel’ challenge
Waar je het ziet, is hoe je het ziet. Hier zie je alles op zijn mooist, beleef je het intens. Een galadiner, feest, beurs, congres, vergadering of training... RAI Elicium staat voor ongekende allure en elegantie. Wil je meer weten? Ik kan je nog veel meer laten zien!
Graag leid ik je rond op www.rai-elicium.nl
In its effort to further reinforce its status as a business
We’re starting to really like B2B campaigns here at Lemon.
and innovation hub that connects people, the
The latest in our string is The Fake Travel Trend Challenge
Amsterdam RAI built a new congress building called
for The World and Student Travel Conference (WYSTC)
Elicium. Once built, they needed a campaign that would
2011, a conversion campaign and identity rolled into one. The
inform its national and international business network
conference organizers asked us to work with them to create a
– large corporations, CEOs, organizers – of the Elicium’s
quick-hit B2B campaign that would stimulate key delegates
cutting edge facilities and, quite simply, fill their halls.
to book booth space and attend the fair. The Challenge
With ‘Elise’, we didn’t change the RAI’s messaging, we
invites key travel industry delegates to tweet their best fake
just changed who was saying it by wrapping all those
travel trend to win prizes. With this cheeky Challenge we’ve
USPs into an emotionally relevant story. Elise turned
positioned WYSTC’s authoritative insights against all those
all the RAI’s B2B communication into fun testimonials.
sketchy online travel trends people are so eager to believe
Next to posters, DM and web, we also turned Elise into
these days. We already have a favorite fake trend: “Holy Land
a teddy bear that businessmen could take home to their
tours spike as European youth rediscover religion.” Yeah,
children.
right. Sorry, open exclusively to travel industry delegates only.
Media Mix Print, web platform, DM, events, brand story,
Media Mix Web, Twitter, identity, Facebook, brochures, DM
merchandize, PR: plugging & seeding
B2P Shorts
The B2P survival guide 10 easy steps to succeed on the New B2B Frontier
No more split personality companies
From push to pull
Think (more) like a publisher
Transparency of the web means that
Wrap your hard sell in a soft shell.
Content marketing is on the rise.
B2B and B2C are no longer mutually
Rational information works, but
With all those daily clicks going to
exclusive. Google doesn’t differentiate
repackage those facts enticingly (i.e.
Facebook and Twitter, content for
between the two.
infographics) and recycle your content social platforms is rapidly replacing in an emotionally relevant way.
expensive and flashy microsites – yes, even for B2B.
Telling enables selling
Work in your WHY
Few things enable sales teams and
You can never drive home your vision,
help generate leads as well as a simple
mission and company culture enough.
opening story about your company
However, one caveat: the more you
and your product.
talk about things, the higher the expectations that you make good
Flip page for
on them.
next 5 steps.
Can’t share? Despair!
Embrace employee advocacy
Synchronize your voice
Even B2B initiatives should link to
If it doesn’t inspire Jane in accounting, Create a clear and consistent tone
YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, Flickr,
it won’t inspire anyone else either.
of voice across all your platforms
slideshare, pdfs, etc. You may have
that mirrors the culture of your
30 white papers lying around, but if
company. B2B too often captures the
people can’t share them they aren’t
most boring part of your corporate
going to get around.
personality.
Content is key, but only Post-purchase when you do it consistently ambassadors Producing content is not enough,
Perhaps the biggest opportunity
you’ve got to produce unique and
for B2B credibility is turning
compelling content – and consistently! happy clients into post-purchase And then complement it with the
ambassadors simply by making their
right marketing mix (blogs, videos,
comments visible on the platforms
microsites, newsletters, social media).
people like to visit (i.e. Amazon,
Yes, another tip from the
retweets)
B2C playbook.
The B2P survival guide 10 easy steps to succeed on the New B2B Frontier
While we truly believe in universal sharing of ideas and content, our prickly issues are not cut-and-paste affairs summarizing other people’s hard-thought insights. We read a lot, we talk to a lot of people, we tweet and retweet and keep our ears close to the ground, and our reports are born from all that. If we appropriate original thinking, we give them credit. The rest is lemon being, Well, lemon. We just thought you should know. www.lemonscentedtea.com