Is B2B Marketing Really Dead...Or Obsolete..Or Irrelevant?
One of the most talked about events in the B2B world so far this year is a speech given by Rick Segal worldwide president of GyroHSR – a prominent B2B agency (that has been named top B-to-B agency in Europe and the U.S. 19 times in the past 15 years by various organizations). Mr. Segal garnered much attention as a result of his controversial comments on the current state of B2B marketing:
“I really very much believe that a paradigm has shifted, that b-to-b marketing is not only obsolete but it may well be very much dead...we no longer contact places of businesses we contact individual people, I think it is fundamentally changing the idea of b-to-b marketing".These thoughts were driven by the success of mobile technology such as iPads and smartphones – which have apparently blurred the line between places of business and places of residence (work and home) "causing the barriers between work and personal life to fall down and collapse...and has rendered the practice of business-to-business marketing totally obsolete”. Mr. Segal has captured the essence of the times – the changing character of both work and home life is changing which has huge implications for B2B marketing and communications:
- People do have more choices than ever – with respect to the capabilities of communication media. And marketers are forced to take these into account.
- Marketing communications has also become more complicated and there are many more media options.
- Consumers and buyers are more mobile and more de-centralized than ever -- they can be anywhere at any time. Rick Segal concludes: “Being at work is no longer a place, it is a state of mind...we no longer contact places of business, we contact people
- If B2B marketing has to become more “people-focused” and it is concluded that the merging of the business and the consumer worlds will force B2B marketing to become more personal and more emotional.
- The “essence” of business marketing has not changed – there is still a need for unique insight into what motivates business purchase decisions (versus consumer decisions).
- Business communications must be more focused than ever on reaching the right target audiences (i.e. organizations through individuals). But that does not mean the endgame will change – business decisions should not suddenly focus on “personal” gains and benefits at the expense of the “corporate” agenda.
- B2B communications will have to be very focused – especially on key message communication. And especially with respect to matching appropriate and relevant messages with the appropriate audience.
- Mobile technology will provide new platforms for delivering these messages – but the array of options is also more distracting.
- There is no point concluding that inserting some emotion into B2B communications and advertising is some kind of capitulation to the “dark” consumer side. It is just a way of reaching, targeting and touching the relevant audiences. And adding a bit of creativity.
1 Comment
Francis Moran said
Like many so-called social media experts who have persuaded themselves that only they can navigate the brave new world they see out there, the best Rick Segal can do is craft a flimsy straw-man argument and then bask in self congratulation as he easily blows it away.
B2B marketing has ALWAYS been about contacting individual people; it has NEVER been about contacting places of business.
The fundamental principles of effective B2B marketing that you articulate here, Ruth, are as sound and relevant today as they have ever been and will continue to be so. We do have new tool sets -- some of them incredibly powerful and useful, others complete time-wasters -- but how, or even whether, we use them remains the object of the same strategic analysis that good marketers have always used. The paradigm, to echo Mr. Segal's tired language, has barely budged.