Times change, but do behaviours and thinking? Maxine-Laurie Marshall looks back at what the industry was talking about 10 years ago
Those who are unaware of history are destined to repeat it’, and, depending on the moment in history, this isn’t always desirable. I recently had a dig around the archives to see what we were saying in our launch year, 10 years ago. As well as admiring the youthful looks of some familiar faces, I was able to see how far the industry had come and how close we are on some points to history repeating itself.
A quote from the October 2004 issue saying: ‘Marketers must understand the commercial realities of business to get on the board’ would not look out of place 10 years later in this issue. I’m told on a regular basis that marketers must speak the language of the board – finance – if they want to be taken seriously. I know this, you know this, you knew this 10 years ago. So why hasn’t this message moved on?
“The advice hasn’t changed because the board hasn’t changed,” says Scot McKee, MD of Birddog. He continues: “Either way, nothing’s going to change in the next 10 years until the board recognises business performance metrics beyond bottom line ‘sales’. Marketing impacts customer satisfaction, brand growth, and the value of intangible assets (among other things). When education of the board moves on, when the adoption of modern marketing practices moves forward – then the message will move on.”
However, Phil Vella, B2B marketing manager at Gumtree, aptly asks: Should the message move on? Citing the need for marketers to be commercial now more than ever, he says: “The reality of the situation is that you are unlikely to be headed for a board position without some commercial acumen and how you impact the business through marketing.”
While marketers need to educate themselves with the language of the board, I do believe some responsibility needs to lie with the board. As Mckee highlighted, marketing is more than just numbers. Nikki Hammett, Blur Group’s performance marketing manager, offers a reminder that marketing is intrinsically linked to the customer: “Customers are now researching products before they speak to sales, which means marketers have more influence than a decade ago. This is the era of customer and therefore a boardroom that doesn’t contain a marketer is sure to get left behind.”
Phones off
A message that wouldn’t be applicable today came from the Association of Exhibition Organisers in our September 2004 issue and was: ‘Turn your phone off at an event’.
Nowadays before you’ve even set foot in an event venue most people would have tweeted at least once and possibly ‘checked in’ on Facebook, then of course you need the obligatory picture of the pastry selection, all this before you’ve heard anyone speak.
Expecting to be inundated with responses laughing at this decade old advice, I was surprised to find Rob Morrice, CEO of Stein IAS firmly agrees with it. He says: “Turn your phone off at any event (work or social), in a meeting, when you are at your desk and most of the time at home. Twitter feeds at events have made it acceptable – ban them too. The whole mobile phone thing has got out of hand. I dare say after we have got used to the novelty, we will get the whole issue of mobile phone usage into perspective.”
While many industry figures acknowledge phones must be put away in order to facilitate networking, one of the most valuable reasons for attending events, the majority understandably strongly disagree with advice for marketers to turn phones off at an event.
Clare O’Brien, IAB’s senior industry programmes manager, sums it up: “I’d probably say if you don’t want my phone switched on then your event is probably not worth sharing with my valuable network. Only the rudest people would consider using their phone for a voice call in the middle of an event. But tweeting, sharing and looking up supplementary information during an event is now routine. I think we’ve all had to get used to the ‘heads down’ physique of audiences at events now, but this generally doesn’t mean disengaged audiences. If anything, being able to look up product and company references online during a conference, enhances the immersive experience. And for organisers, the Twitter stream is now a prime metric of success and one of the most useful ways to broadcast the debate that may once have taken weeks or even months to amplify.”
Internet marketing
The advancement of digital marketing techniques marks the most significant difference between ‘then’ and ‘now’. In 2004 we ran a feature highlighting online advertising was on the cusp of overtaking radio advertising. It’s laughable now for many in B2B to imagine putting the same emphasis on radio activity as online. But it’s also comforting to realise the behemoth that is ‘digital’ had humble beginnings. As well as battling with radio activity, 10 years ago all talk about ‘internet marketing’ was focused on adverts. Now ‘internet’ marketing has had a semantic change to digital marketing, adverts aren’t always at the top of the digital to do list.
Sam White, associate lecturer in creative advertising at Falmouth University, highlights the fact the technology did not exist for a two-way conversation 10 years ago, hence most online content being centered around broadcast. She says: “In the last decade the technology has moved on and the recession meant marketing had to work harder to drive sales. Social media became a cheap and accessible way to reach customers and with this evolution our mindsets have changed so engagement is now key for all marketing communications.”
As well as marketers being far more conscious of fostering a dialogue with their audiences, online advertising is still present in most marketers’ arsenal of channels, albeit in a slightly more efficient way. As O’Brien says: “It’s just less likely to look
like a banner today because native placement ad technology makes it possible to get the right article in front of the right buyer at the right time.”
CTPS 10 years on
One marketing staple still used but not known for its ability to get in front of people at a time convenient to them is telemarketing. The CTPS was set up to regulate this industry in June 2004 but was met with great concern that it would damage telemarketing. There was particular anxiety over the threat of fines being issued for non-compliance and companies registering all numbers across an organisation.
Speaking with John Mitchison, head of preference services, compliance and legal at the DMA, the organisation charged with managing the CTPS, he tells me the fears were unfounded. “It has had an impact on telemarketing, but it’s not the problem people originally thought it would be. There are only about two million numbers registered on CTPS, which isn’t many. There’s about 20 million numbers on TPS.
“Compliance is quite high, we don’t get a massive amount of complaints. It’s working quite well and is relatively low key.”
Mitchison reveals there have been no fines issued as a result of complaints to the CTPS since it was launched saying the complaints are considered less significant in comparison to the TPS.
Attitudes towards the CTPS are now more subdued, but it’s the channel itself that is taking most of the criticism. Laura Holt, head of content at Blur Group, says: “Telemarketing has lost its effectiveness, not due to the launch of CTPS but because key decision makers have an increased ability to choose the content they consume with the rise of the internet and social media.”
While White feels telemarketing is now outdated: “Ten years on it just feels like an ineffective channel to use when there are so many other channels that are less intrusive and allow people to choose whether they wish to engage.”
Stop self-deprecating
The final observation from the early years of this publication has become a self fulfilling prophecy. On the cover of our launch issue in June 2004 we asked: ‘Why isn’t B2B achieving the same heights as B2C marketing?’ This was a valid question at the time, there was no real community for those in B2B marketing in the UK prior to our launch. Those in the industry were resigned to being an afterthought in B2C-focused publications and events. So then why is this question still asked?
Agency opinion seems aligned, with Rueben Webb, creative director at Stein IAS (EMEA), saying: “B2B creativity is the front of B2B and it is as desperately clichéd as it was 10 years ago; in fact worse as the clichés are 10 years older. Until we convince brands that dependable is not the same thing as dull, we will always be the poor relation.”
Mckee of Birddog says: “I don’t think it’s a prophecy we have to snap out of, it’s a behavioural and cultural change that we constantly have to fight. It’s an illness we need to treat – because the default position is deeply, deeply boring.”
This opinion might be true for certain brands, but it’s an easy default position to take and it’s easy for brands to assume because they are in B2B the creative standards are low so they don’t need to try as hard as their B2C counterparts. Something O’Brien agrees with: “As long as B2B marketers tell each other that they’re not as cool, good, advanced or as professional as B2C marketers, that will continue to be the prevailing truth. But what’s beginning to happen now is that marketing objectives are spreading down the funnel and more B2C marketers are being objectivised around leads and sales. This is B2B territory big time and B2B techniques around data and CRM are brand new for many B2C markets. Have faith, have self-belief, and know that B2B skills are growing in demand on the other side of the fence.”
Although not everything has changed over the last 10 years, and perhaps marketing’s ability to speak the language of the board will still be talked about in 2024, digital marketing has had a bigger impact on B2B marketing than anyone could have predicted. Game changers like this keep the industry exciting, you just need to be brave enough to embrace them. If digital is anything to go by, whatever the next big thing is, resistance will be futile.
