Over the past 30 years, BT has consistently been one of the biggest marketing spenders in the UK, and as a consequence it has remained one of the biggest brands. Its brand icons and ambassadors have entered the folklore and language: from the Buzzbee cartoon character of the 70s, through to Maureen Lipman’s Jewish Grandma later in the decade (You’ve got an ‘ology’? You’re a scientist!), to Bob Hoskins’ gangster-turned-good in the 90s (it’s good to talk).
Such ads tell the story of BT’s marketing during the period: overwhelmingly consumer-orientated, with business-focused activity a low-key sideline. The mass market consumer was the telecoms giant’s abiding focus, due to the size of the market and relative paucity of the B2B sector, and its advertising simply reflected this.
That is until now. The situation changed dramatically last October when BT launched what it touted as the biggest ever B2B campaign for its Global Services division, targeting large corporates with voice, data and other telecommunications services. Through-the-line activity was spearheaded by high-impact, Fifth Element-inspired TV ads designed to illustrate the multi-platform digital world in which business is conducted in the 21 century. Costing up to £50 million for a global run in two bursts (the second wave broke in May) the campaign represents a major commitment to the business sector and signified that the corporation is at last taking the B2B sector as seriously as its takes B2C.
The reason for this change in attitude is simple but significant: BT’s highly publicised plan to migrate its entire UK backbone network to digital technology (Internet Protocol, or IP) over the next four years, at a cost of £10 billion. This ambitious project will provide the UK with the most advanced telecoms infrastructure in the world, corporates with a platform to leverage significant technological advantages and BT with the opportunity to sell the expertise it gains from this across the globe to a wealth of eager bidders. It has been widely recognised as a bold and innovative strategy and the resulting opportunities are enormous.
Of course, migrating to an IP-based network will also create opportunities for BT’s domestic consumer business (particularly in its drive to encourage growth in home broadband), but the scale of the project will appeal to and impress the corporate sector.
The man tasked with driving this growth is Danny Garvey, VP of marketing at BT Global Services, the division of the company focused on the corporate market, and a veteran of over 30 years service at the corporation. Having started as an engineer back in the 70s, experiencing the company’s various incarnations and gradual metamorphosis first hand, his enthusiasm for BT and its latest revolution appears undiminished.
This is a tremendous opportunity, he says of the IP switchover. We’re not complacent, but we’re very happy with the situation.
He explains that BT’s hand is strengthened further by the fact that its key competitors on a global scale are currently undergoing internal turmoil that will impact on their ability to compete AT&T and Equant (formerly C&W) in particular. The competitive landscape is sparse, says Garvey. Our competitors will be running to stand still. We’re already growing by 10 per cent in an environment of price regression. The situation, he suggests, could not be much better for BT Global Services.
Like many companies in the IT/Telecoms space, in order to meet the needs of global companies, BT has re-engineered its corporate-facing arm to function as a services company. It’s similar to IBM moving into services, acknowledges Garvey. But unlike some of its competitors, its approach to service provision has been strictly linked to its area of expertise: ie. telecoms and networking. We don’t do consulting for its own sake, only when it complements our services, he says. We are trying to be the best in our area.
But in this, Garvey explains, it has been increasingly successful: winning recent contracts with Marks & Spencer, the NHS and the Free State of Bavaria.
The latter contract is particularly pertinent and a cause for celebration, he claims, given the outcry it created within Germany. This was a landmark contract, says Garvey. There was political uproar, and lots of political lobbying with people saying it was against the national interest. But for BT it shows us that if we can win this contract, we can win anything. It offers an interesting paradox with the fallout from Marconi’s failure to win any of the contracts to assist in BT’s IP project, and the political repercussions.
Garvey says the deregulated UK telecoms market, and consequent intense competition, has stood BT in good stead to compete overseas. There are half a dozen serious operators in the UK, whilst in Germany there are just a couple. Pressure in the UK has enabled us to challenge for business abroad. For someone who has experienced the company’s pain in embracing the private sector, and subsequent changes in direction, such success must taste particularly sweet for Garvey.
Although BT has always had a services offering, it began a concerted bid to move in this direction three years ago, rebranding its services operation from BT Ignite. Garvey explains it was in response to general market conditions, which had hit the telecoms and IT space hard following September 11. The industry was at rock bottom, he says. We asked ourselves, ‘what are we good at?’. The conclusion was that serving the needs of multinationals was where we wanted to go.
To facilitate this, BT Global Services has focused intently on its current and prospective customer base, identifying those companies which its expertise can make a difference for, and therefore should target.
These are typically global companies with multi-site operations, which are often highly distributed, explains Garvey, adding that localised multi-site companies are also targeted. There are 10,000 of these companies in the world, and we know them all by name, says Garvey. Of these, 500 have been identified as its core audience, and its key objective is to forge relationships with as many of these companies as possible.
To achieve this, a global marketing function of 270 people has been developed, across 16 countries, all operating under Danny Garvey. The BT Global Services brand has also built up steadily, with regional operations gradually being taken under the BT brand umbrella to ensure consistency across all operations.
Brand is managed centrally, whilst local operations are tasked with developing customers and increasing spend. To use a cliché, the aim is to think global, but act local. This is the culture we are trying to foster, and resources are distributed with this in mind, says Garvey, but this is easier to say than it is to do. However despite some minor local difficulties, he appears generally unphased and relaxed about the challenges associated with managing such a large and disparate marketing function.
The task of marketing to BT Global Service’s diverse global audience stepped up a gear in the spring, with the launch of the second phase of its multi-million pound campaign, including 48-sheet posters, TV, press ads and DM. Having established the theme of the digital networked economy, Garvey says the follow-up activity will focus on the issue of security. This is the number one or two concern of all our customers, he says, explaining that big simple themes will be an ongoing emphasis. We are keeping it simple by focusing on business issues. It’s part of the transformation of how we speak to our customers. We’re not presenting any product information. We’re focusing on our clients’ problems.
But he says advertising and the associated direct marketing campaign is only part of the answer for BT Global Services. Advertising can only go so far, he comments. It is also about building relationships and word-of-mouth. In the B2B sector, word-of-mouth is just as important as advertising. Garvey describes advertising as conditioning but says real relationships come from working with a company, through experience. We are trying to build a club. People buy from companies that they respect. We’re constantly seeking to engage with our customers and prospects it’s very one-to-one.
To help facilitate this, the new BT Global Services campaign was previewed to 12,000 sales personnel at its recent conference in Barcelona. The campaign is very integrated it’s not just driven by advertising in isolation. We have developed new collateral and images for them.
According to Garvey, a key tool in the battle to get close to customers is the ability for BT Global Services to wow them with their technical proficiency and innovative thinking. As a result, the company’s Adastral Park research centre in Martlesham, Suffolk birthplace of much new technology over recent decades is increasingly being used for client visits.
Another initiative that BT Global Services is using to position itself as innovators in its clients’ eyes is the ‘BT Connected World’ art project, which offers high-profile artists the opportunity to create new location-specific works using the company’s technology. The first was developed by Turner Prize-nominated artists Langlands and Bell, based around Brussells’ hidden rivers.
Further executions will follow in New York and Madrid, and whilst Garvey stops short of saying the project will be repeated, he is adamant that it has been highly successful. When we started we had to explain to the artists what it was about. Now they are chasing us to be involved.
He claims the project is not just an extension of the current theme of art sponsorship amongst global B2B brands, such as the recent ‘Turner Whistler Monet’ exhibition at Tate Britain, sponsored by Ernst & Young. This is different: we are not just sponsoring an exhibition, says Garvey. Other art sponsorship deals do not touch the artist at any point. We are not just working with the gallery, this is a new dimension. No other companies are working this way. We have put technology at the heart of things.
Garvey’s understanding of the interplay of BT’s strength in technology with marketing is doubtless assisted by his background as an engineer with the company. I started with BT working with computers, he explains, then moved into sales, then product development, then strategy, then finally into marketing.
Despite not having a marketing background, or any formal training in the subject, Garvey clearly relishes his high profile role for BT Global Services, at a time when the organisation has grand ambitions.
He says that whilst in some B2B organisations marketing is seen as little more than glorified sales support, BT has a real understanding of and support for it as a strategic discipline, and for him in his role of facilitating it. There was recently a suggestion that more of the marketing be done on a local level, but this was rejected. If there is ever talk of cost reductions, marketing is the last department which gets touched. And if there’s ever extra budget around, we get it. BT has become increasingly marketing centric, but you have to earn this.
Garvey is clearly highly engaged by his current role, and the potential inherent in BT Global Services given its recent change in emphasis and future developments. I’ve got a great opportunity here with BT and would hope to grow what I’m doing and help it achieve whatever it can. And having evolved with the company into new roles and responsibilities, he is certain that his next step whatever that may be will be within the organisation. There may be opportunities in new acquisitions, he suggests. Doubtless Garvey will be in consideration to spearhead whatever direction BT decides to take next; a position many marketers would give their right arm for.
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