Made in Marketing: Neil Sawyer, head of marketing UK and Ireland at Samsung IT Business, has grown up in the industry to become somewhat of an old hand. Victoria Paley reports
Neil Sawyer, head of marketing UK and Ireland for Samsung IT Business, always wanted to be a marketer. It runs in his blood. As a youngster, Sawyer accompanied his father – a senior executive for over 25 years for the Mars Corporation – around trade shows and exhibitions. Apart from the benefits of free chocolate, Sawyer says, “From an early age I saw the benefits of getting in front of the customer.”
Fast forward to 2011 and Sawyer’s earlier experiences, combined with a discerning insight into the IT market, demonstrate a wisdom far beyond his years. Despite appearances, Sawyer is no whippersnapper when it comes to knowing his stuff. During his fast-tracked career path, he reveals he’s learned a lot about how the IT market has shifted from one that traditionally sold based on price and value to one that now sells on proposition, “Telling the story and building trust is as critical as the ultimate offering we have in the box,” he affirms.
Telling the story
So what’s Sawyer’s secret to successful storytelling? When asked about the different channels employed to engage Samsung’s IT business audience, two-way interaction emerges as the key factor. While social media remains an avenue yet to be fully exploited – video, mobile apps and face-to-face events are firm favourites in Sawyer’s amoury. Apps, of course, are a no-brainer given Samsung’s increasing investment in mobile marketing.
“When it comes to communicating with our customers, applications are something we’ve invested in significantly to be more connected while they’re on the move,” explains Sawyer. He reveals that a B2B app of the organisation’s incentive and rewards programme for channel partners is due for launch in June. Rather than continue to just send out incentive emails to this audience, where the danger is they get ignored due to inbox overload, the app will ensure reseller partners connect and stay up-to-date with their point statements and what they’re personally benefiting from when they sell Samsung technology.
“It’s a tough market and there are lots of IT brands,” reveals Sawyer, “Unless we keep our channel partners close and focused on our brand, then we fall back to the issue of price competitiveness. If we can differentiate the value we deliver to the sales person, and how we reward them, along with the value we deliver in our technology, then apps are critical.”
The use of video is also on the rise at Samsung. The electronics giant has just launched its B2B YouTube channel with the aim of creating a more human approach to training and development.
A face-to-face fan
Despite the wizardry of mobile apps and video, Sawyer somewhat belies his youth through his advocacy of traditional face-to-face events. Perhaps this is unsurprising given his early exposure to trade shows. He reveals he currently spends two days a week connecting with customers at face-to-face events. A firm believer in the power of engaging with customers away from the office, he recalls a successful B2B event that Samsung recently hosted in Hungary. During the event, the organisation presented its business strategy to channel partners to encourage ‘buy-in’ to the brand vision.
Remarking on how the marketing message was pushed out, Sawyer says “We can’t personally deliver that kind of message in an email, leaflet or web banner. It ain’t possible.” He elaborates saying the few hours he spent with customers in Hungary “at a time when we’re all bombarded by electronic communications” was hugely effective.
Much of what Sawyer talks about during the interview comes back to customer engagement. He suggests that just leaving things to flatplan advertising and web banners runs the risk of the brand losing its ability to influence at the point of decion making. They’re great for awareness but will be forgotten if customers aren’t engaged with – both directly and via channel partners – to drive preference. He explans, “The consequence in an IT market is that if you leave the customer to their own devices, they ultimately make a decision based on price and it destroys the value that exists in our market. That’s not a Samsung opinion – it exists across the board. Effectively we start to play tennis around price rather than focus on broader marketing components that can deliver value and quality to customers.”
Sawyer’s continued effort into B2B customer engagement is increasingly influenced by the B2C world. Hardly surprising given Samsung’s span across both arenas. As the distinction between purchasing decisions made in the home and office becomes more blurred, Sawyer’s challenge, he says, is showing people how Samsung’s consumer technology can be used in the B2B space. It’s about showing customers “the art of the possible” he concludes.
What Sawyer has already proven possible, is for a relatively young pair of shoulders to support a wise marketing mind. It’s this mixture of youth and experience that Samsung will need to drive its marketing efforts into the future, so that its B2B products become as firmly lodged in people’s minds as its microwaves, mobile phones and TVs.
