Annual Conference Countdown

It’s almost time for ABM’s Annual Conference 2011! As we finalize preparations for the main event, one (of many) exciting thought comes to mind: our lineup of speakers and the companies that they represent. One in particular, who happens to be our keynote speaker, is Patrick Morrissey of Salesforce.com. With his presentation just around the corner, what better way to give everybody a “sneak peak” into Salesforce.com’s success then by sharing Steve Denning’s blog posted on Forbes.com? 

We'll see you soon … in Austin, that is. 

Posted by Brittany Agro
b.agro@abmmail.com

Turning Change into Opportunity

It’s no secret that we are in the midst of an enormous paradigm shift in our industry while our global economy is experiencing tremendous upheaval. Recessionary periods run in cycles, and while these periods are certainly no walk in the park for any company, or employee for that matter, they can be looked at in one of two ways. 

Both employees and employers can either take a “doom and gloom” perspective or they can take it in stride with an optimistic approach. 

Looking at past recessions, it has been proven that new, innovative products have resulted. The crash of 1908 was coupled with major industrial transition which led to tunnels under the Hudson River, railroads and the widespread introduction of the automobile. More recently, the burst of the dot-com bubble in 2001 produced the iPod. 

Workers may be full of creative ideas, but they may not follow through on them due to the risk of experimentation; one wrong move could mean the difference between receiving your next paycheck or not. So to help creativity thrive, employers must provide a non-threatening environment. 

There are many ways employers can foster creativity by eliminating office distractions and limiting unessential work assignments. And with new social media tools and technologies at our fingertips, now is the time to start utilizing them. Maybe it’s as simple as a 10-minute staff brainstorming session. 

The current economic landscape is forcing all of us to rethink our strategies, streamline our operations, and sharpen our focus. 

From my perspective, I believe this is an exciting time for young professionals to demonstrate their creativity and become much more vital to their organizations. How are you helping to make that happen?

Posted by Wally Koval
w.koval@abmmail.com

The Power of Personas

These days, content marketing is fairly a new buzz word on the b-to-b scene. This emerging concept recognizes the growing importance of content to move buyers and consumers towards an action such as a decision, purchase, subscription or enrollment.

A recent post on Focus.com shed more light on the concept and greater understanding of the important role it has (or can have) in organizations. In his article, “The Design of Content Marketing,” Tony Zambito emphasizes the importance for content marketers to fully grasp the power of personas to help them reach a deeper understanding or their consumer or buyer – a prerequisite for effective content marketing.

While the role of a content designer has been around for a short while, specifically for web development, Zambito advocates that organizations think about the role of content experience designer that is a member of a buyer experience design group in the b-to-b world. By blending experience with a marketer’s train of thought, the total package can be scheduled for delivery.

Posted by Brittany Agro
b.agro@abmmail.com

Instant Contracts

Things move fast in Internet time. Even contract formation and modification. As a recent court decision in an Internet advertising case shows, a few keystrokes of instant messaging can have million-dollar consequences.

Smoking Everywhere Inc. sells electronic cigarettes. It contracted with CX Digital Media Inc., in August 2009, for Internet advertising, agreeing to pay $45 for each completed sale it obtained through CX Digital’s Internet ads, up to 200 sales per day.

A month later, Smoking Everywhere’s vice president for advertising had an instant message conversation, occurring during the course of a full workday, with an account manager at CX Digital. Toward the end of the day, after discussions of testing of new ads and new URLs, these messages were passed back and forth, within a stream of IMs over a two-hour period:

Account manager:             We can do 2000 orders/day by Friday if I have your blessing.

Advertising VP:                  NO LIMIT.

Account manager:             awesome!

In response, CX Digital stopped using the 200 sales/day limit, and began making an average of 1,200 referrals per day. When CX Digital billed Smoking Everywhere for the higher volume, however, Smoking Everywhere refused to pay.

Ruling on the dispute, a federal court in Florida held on March 23 that the IM exchange demonstrated the clear intent to remove the prior daily referral limits, and thereby modified the contract. The monetary consequences of this two-word contract change? $1,235,655.

In today’s electronic world, a few pixels can create a deal—and make a big difference.

Posted by Mark Sableman

msableman@thompsoncoburn.com

Socializing Your Marketing Mix

Recently, Mars Incorporated backed a complete redesign of Skittles’ website to almost exclusively feature user-generated content, with links to its Facebook page, YouTube video account, Twitter updates, and Flickr search results. In essence, Skittles transformed what would traditionally be seen as a marketing or product site into an interactive social network.

Bottom line: It worked brilliantly. People, and importantly, younger consumers, are both talking about and engaging with it.

In an example of b-to-b media companies taking similar strides, look at IBM. They’ve utilized social media marketing to build awareness and sales among software developers. IBM marketers developed a campaign through YouTube, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, and it reminds us that social media is holding strong as a large portion of the future marketing mix.

Here at ABM, our Twitter account was created and is administered by industrious Millennial employees; with a steadily-growing group followers, it’s presenting itself as an increasingly effective way to disseminate information and stay connected to our members.

The truth is, it’s not going to be as simple as it once was. Long gone are the days when a print or media AD yielded significant buzz and metrics that pointed to success. In the new media landscape, marketers must utilize a wide assortment of rapidly-evolving tools and foster an inclusive, collaborative atmosphere with their customers.

Millennials desire a platform to be heard, a place to share information and become part of a community. I can’t emphasize enough the need for companies to leverage the asset of their younger media-savvy employees.

Posted by Wally Koval
w.koval@abmmail.com