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Factfile 39

B2b marketing communications

Marketing communications is a specialist operational element of the marketing function, with the aim of helping to achieve the strategic objectives of the organisation.

The communications function works alongside an organisation' market segmentation. Once target segments have been identified and marketing objectives determined, marketing communications opens up channels with the audiences in question.

Marketing theory talks of the promotional mix. In much the same way as the marketing mix includes the essential elements which will contribute to creating business, the promotional mix should include the essential elements which will contribute to the segmented audiences understanding of that business. 

The cornerstones of the marketing communications mix are advertising, public relations, direct marketing and sales aids. However research from Strathclyde University (Amap October 1997) revealed that b2b marketers commonly used up to 14 different mechanisms for reaching their target audience:

• Trade press advertising        
• National advertising        
• Brochures        
• Public relations        
• Direct mail        
• Database marketing        
• Exhibitions        
• Seminars        
• House journals        
• Internet        
• CD ROM        
• Distributor support        
• Sales promotion        
• Telemarketing

Further elements of the promotional mix are also used, which did not register in this research, such as:

• Video and business television        
• Sponsorship

The crucial aspects of b2b marketing communication, and the way in which it has differed, particularly in the past, from consumer communications lies in three key areas.

1. The fact that communications need to take place with a number of different individuals, each with their own role within the decision making unit (DMU).
   
   
2. The consistent use of a number of media to reach the target audience rather than relying on the power of a single medium (normally broadcast).
   
   
3. The emphasis on the integration of the approach across media.

For further resources on b2b marketing communications, click here.

The role of brands

Much has been written about brands - their power to influence, reassure or even hoodwink - in the consumer sector but comparatively little of this expertise is focussed on industrial or business brands.

The power of the corporate brand is recognised as a major force in the consumer market but not explored fully in a business context.

A brand is a 'name, term, sign, symbol, design or combination of these, which is used to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of the competitors' (Bennett 1988).

More recently a brand has been defined as a product/service plus its 'aura' (Ellwood 2000). More recently also there has been recognition that a brand is something for which people are prepared to pay, or in which they are prepared to invest.

Brands are becoming increasingly important as relationship marketing and customer retention become fundamental to organisational growth, as customers are more likely to remain loyal to a brand with which they identify (Piercy 1997).

In b2b terms the brand is most commonly (but not always) the corporate name and is often applied to entire ranges of products or services sold or offered by the company. This is particularly the case with service brands.

Some companies prefer however to use individual product or brand names (the distinction between them being whether or not the personality of the product being sold resides primarily in the name of the product or the name of the company).

While Philips for example markets its products under various product names (whether Video 2000 or Genie) the primary point of reference and familiarity is with the Philips brand.

In some cases, a sub-brand can become better known than the company itself. Sheppard, although an extremely long established construction and engineering firm, is better known for its product (Portakabin) than in its own right for example.

Brands have the potential to play a crucial role in business context.

• First of all brands build trust. In business, purchases are more important both in the context of the amount of money spent and the likely outcome for the people involved in the decision. Having the reassurance that comes with a branded product eases the possibility of spending money unwisely or making the buyer look foolish (or worse) - hence the adage 'No one ever got fired for buying IBM'.  
  
  
• Secondly brands add value, even in commodity markets, enabling companies to maintain premium pricing and avoid the destructive cycle of a pricing war.  
  
  
• Thirdly brands build loyalty, enabling businesses to enjoy the benefits of stronger customer relationships and reducing the expense of continually driving the business new customer acquisition.

For information on the role of the brand in marketing communications and for resources on branding and brand management in general, please click here.

Internal marketing is part of the communications mix

Internal marketing has become more important in recent times, with the realisation that no matter how good market, customer or competitor analysis and the strategies and plans determined from it are, the organisation is likely to suffer if they cannot be implemented successfully by the people within.

Just as ideas, brands and concepts are communicated to people and organisations that are external to the company, they need to be communicated internally too to ensure that the whole organisation works towards the same objectives and understands their purpose in the business.

Piercy (1997) suggests a concept which he calls ?Strategic Internal Marketing?, which aims to develop a ?type of marketing programme aimed at the internal marketplace in the company that parallels and matches the marketing programme aimed at the external marketplace of customers and competitors?.

He further goes on to say that if people within the company understand what they need to achieve and what they need to deliver, it will in turn help maximise the benefits that come from building long term relationships with customers.

As Colin Mitchell said (HBR Jan 2002) 'External marketing is important. But if employees do not care about their company, they will in the end contribute to its demise.'

Case studies that illustrate communication theory in practice:

• Repositioning at Twyford Bathrooms      
• IBM's marketing campaign for the City of London

See also:

• The Media Neutral Planning canon   
• The Brand Inside research report

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