Who decided that B2B campaigns had to be so boring, anyway? PDF
Preview Who decided that B2B campaigns had to be so boring, anyway?
Prickly Issues 01 Who decided that B2B campaigns had to be so boring, anyway? Time for change! + 1 0 Easy steps to succeed on the Ne w 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 The lowdown 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 The D&AD award was story is extraordinary in these times of retailers sell more shoes. So we broke the sell story of the shoe in an emotionally certainly unexpected, but fast-moving goods. The problem was, story up into 8 non-linear chapters and relevant way (i.e. respected designers), it just goes to show that K-Swiss didn’t communicate the story asked 8 respected underground designers major sneakerfreak communities picked even B2B campaigns can of its shoe to its retail partners, namely across the globe to design posters around the story up and helped us create the create positive B2C buzz on because the company didn’t know them. We sent the resulting double-sided demand for retailers to stock more a global scale if that’s what the whole story itself. We immediate limited-edition posters to key retailers to Classic shoes. The campaign and social you set out to do from day 1. 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. 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 “We wanted a campaign that would tell the story of the PosterPrinter in easiest poster printer on the planet. 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 Insight Océ 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 The lowdown capturing every creative individual’s trade fairs where clients could turn dream: to escape the monotony of the images from their telephones into B2B campaigns office! instant posters in 30 seconds. are so caught up in corporatespeak that they often forget WHY their Campaign Results products and services are We scripted a story around two very In the first few months after launch so interesting and unique. likeable young guys who launch a some 30,000 video views and the By giving the PosterPrinter pop-up printer business called ‘Instant microsite hundreds of community a human, ‘outside-in’ Poster Power’ from the back of their uploaded images. Every Océ Opco context (instead of purely customized van. The mockumentary picked up the campaign and adapted inside-out), the Océ sales follows these two micropreneurs as both the film and microsite into local team enthusiastically they service small businesses, pull languages. The campaign also sparked picked up on the campaign pranks, do some social good and local activation campaigns around and used it as a serious transform the urban landscape, all the Instant Poster Power theme. The tool to service current with the help of the PosterPrinter. In campaign was included in prestigious clients and to create new short, they capture the emotion of the international marketing magazine leads – each salesman was poster business and the importance of Contagious as a Best Practices for encouraged to plug&seed posters in communication today. All B2B campaigns. the film into his own the printer’s USPs were worked into networks. the script, but we avoid typical B2B Media Mix corporatetalk through unscripted, Online film, print, DM, web platform, spontaneous dialogue to help the trade shows, PR: plugging & seeding message sound heartfelt and real. 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, Results that since 1986 the Swedish winter By activating Dutch travel agents sport towns of Are and Ostersund via DM, the bag and a special page had bid for the Olympic Games three on the website, the number of Dutch times – and lost. We didn’t see losing winter hotel stays after the campaign bids however, we simply saw proof doubled and the first winter charter that Sweden had world-class facilities. flight to Are took off from Schiphol. B2C results were also impressive: over The lowdown Campaign 800,000 video views, a 200% increase The ‘Fit for the Olympic Games’ in web visits and a campaign that Your B2B partners are campaign was created around two completely dominated all Google also consumers, and in amusing online films highlighting search results for ‘Swedish winter some situations you need Sweden’s Olympic ambitions and its sport’. to activate them like key USPs. We told the story through consumers. If they like two fanatical Swedes who dream of something they’ll actively the Olympics so they can display Media Mix share and sell it. And if their talents as, respectively, a mascot Film, Web platform, Print, they don’t, encourage them and a streaker. In addition to DM, a DM, Events, PR: plugging & seeding other ways like giving flyer team, web and taking the films them free give-aways. 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 B2B short 1 B2P Amsterdam Schiphol Airport Shorts Schiphol’s ‘Magic in function’ film 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- “Lemon managed to reinvent our you have to remind people that behind the business there’s the-scene action they don’t – the functional and the magic corporate message and create a a clearly defined mission §and vision. Our ‘A day in the of an airport. brand story that makes us appealing Life’ B2P campaign for Schiphol was designed specifically to virtually everyone. Never before did to spark positive conversations internally and with new Media Mix Brand story, Film we get so many thumbs up!” Chella Busch, Brand Manager Schiphol Group
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