PR and B2B. The perfect couple
Cultivating communications is no job a public-relations agency can do for a company.
This emphatic little gem comes from Regis McKenna in his book ‘Relationship Marketing’. Published in ’92, it’s about how to ‘Own the market through strategic customer relationships’ and is still seen as one of the books on the ‘customer-is-king’ topic.
Well, I think he’s wrong.
Surely, ‘cultivating communications’ defines the very purpose of a PR agency. Particularly in B2B.
A recent post dipped into why brands are such powerful commercial tools and how market reflections are having an increasing influence on B2B sales, margins and customer loyalty. To save you looking for it, here’s the relevant bit:
Very often in B2B, the market may well include distributors and wholesalers, overall solution-providers, specialist consultancies or professions, and support and service providers - as well as direct customers or end users.
In addition, there may be user-groups, financial analysts, shareholders, commentators in the media, standards boards and statutory regulators, industry associations and the general public.
Each of these represents a market reflection – the way the brand is seen by each individual component of the market.
Markets become confused and uncertain if the image reflected by the brand is unclear and inconsistent. So people draw their own conclusions. They create their own associations, set their own expectations and decide for themselves how much they trust the brand. Consequence? Ownership of the brand is lost.
Are they talking about us?
More than ever, market reflections - that diversity of associations being made with the brand by the market – are what influences a B2B company’s ability to increase sales, retain customers and protect margins. And this influence is increasing rather than decreasing.
For example, there is growing B2B interest in the significance of social media as a way for people to share their experiences about suppliers and products. And this goes both ways, companies are joining and encouraging the discussions in order to present their brand-messages.
It’s now probably more important then ever for B2B companies to ensure delivery of an honest, balanced and relevant reflection of their brand to each component of the market.
Sorry, Regis. This is the work of a PR agency.
Managing this delivery is surely the work of a PR agency? As is co-operating on defining the different audiences and working towards creating and broadcasting consistently relevant messages.
Unless a company has the right resources internally, it makes perfect sense to engage an external specialist.
What’s interesting here is the notion of the ‘right resources.’ It’s not limited to having the internal resources to, say, produce and distribute press releases or set-up an interview with a journalist.
In B2B, the ‘right resources’ must include the internal ability to appreciate the significance of market reflections and their impact on sales, margins and customer loyalty. Senior management may already appreciate this but perhaps lack the tools or experience to do anything about it. Welcome, agency.
I’d say this is one area that warrants serious discussion within B2B companies and within PR agencies themselves: what must be done, specifically, to manage market reflections?
Get a plan and get going.
Planning is in a PR agency’s blood so that won’t create any challenges. Populating the plan can be a little trickier in terms of defining the outcomes required. That becomes easier if the outcomes are related to marketing’s two objectives: cultivating consistent customers and preventing price pressure.
But populating the plan – defining what’s to be done, who’s doing it and by when – demands some serious thought and time in terms of pinpointing how market reflections are affecting the company’s sales and margins.
Brief?
If ever there was a misnomer in PR, it has to be the word ‘brief’.
‘Just nip round there and take the brief. Oh, and pleeease don’t forget to pick-up lunch on the way back.’
Sales, margins and customer loyalty are critical business issues. Building related communications is a complex process that requires a detailed knowledge of the market and a company’s position within it.
How a company sees itself may differ wildy from how the market sees it. To put it facetiously, I’ll let Donald Rumsfeld explain: “…there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns: the ones we don’t know we don’t know.” A company may know what it knows about itself, but does it know what the market knows?
Developing that knowledge doesn’t require a ‘brief’. It’s a continual, interactive process between the company, the agency and each market reflection. Driving that process – in order to ‘cultivate communications’ - must surely be an agency priority.
Social media in B2B. You’re kidding, right?
You might like to look at how John Deere is promoting its earthmovers in the US. When you have a few minutes, (er, quite a few minutes actually, ‘cos it does take a while to load) check the Ultimate Skid Steer Smackdown to watch JD’s machines competing with their rivals.
But also check the comments. Users and owners are swapping opinions. The people who buy and use earthmovers are talking to one another.
Social media and earthmovers? Wow. Way to go JD and GyroHSR!
GyroHSR: ‘Smackdown’ for John Deere
Related posts:
The WOMsta Monsta - Social media and B2B The Long Hello: building brand relationships
Getting results: John Deere ‘Smackdown’ - outstanding B2B marketing
Back to The Long Hello: making B2B marketing work for the bottom line
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HMC Seswa has been in the business of supplying PR and communications services for more than 27 years in the IT, B2B, and professional services space. Technology has now evolved to such a point that it is now part of everything we do and everything that is business. Having just come back from a US summit where we spent a lot of time talking about social media, I fully agree that business to business and social media are another perfect match along with classic PR tactics. The most important aspect is for the PR consultant to really understand business in general, the particular firm’s business objectives and strategy and then to match in a campaign which will persuade all stakeholders of that company including the media of course. It has to be done on a meticulous basis, step by step with excellent reporting back. That is what makes PR the most effective tool for B2B marketing.
Johanna