Scandinavia’s no. 1 international B2B marketing blog

Hit the snooze button on your brain’s alarm system

When we’re exposed to change, our individual behavior is often challenged due to the reactions and influences we are exposed to. Does the changing environment determine our actions and behaviors, where feelings and experiences are internal states that accompany congenital and acquired response patterns? Or do people navigate themselves through their own will and their freedom to choose when exposed to situations and circumstances they want to avoid? Continue reading

How NOT to implement B2B content marketing – lessons from the field

I was recently privileged to hear marketing whizz-kid Thomas Webster talking about a project he had been brought in to advise upon for a knowledge-intensive B2B manufacturer. The project’s goal was to bring the company closer to its customers using content marketing. A Voice of Industry (arms-length content marketing) site had been set up, a budget allocated and the project was nearing the end of its first year of operation. But things weren’t going as well as the company had hoped. So Thomas and his team were asked to consult on ways to make the project work more effectively. Continue reading

In B2B, helping others helps you, too.

There’s a particular value that your company will need to wholeheartedly adopt in order to compete for the attention of the today’s B2B buyers: the idea that, by helping others to achieve what they need to, you will be better able to achieve your own aims.

You see, what really drives today’s B2B customers is receiving help to achieve the goals that have been set by or for them. If you can be seen to help them, they’ll buy your products and services. Of course, the kind of help we’re talking about isn’t just about products and services. You can also help people by recognizing them or supporting their careers (for example, by promoting their achievements and widening their personal web footprints on your Voice of Industry platform). Continue reading

Onshore knowhow drives offshore strategy at A2SEA: Part 3 of 3

Offshore wind energy installation and service leader A2SEA takes a strategic approach to its integrated marketing communications, drawing upon tried-and-tested knowhow to arrive at its communication strategy. Part of that approach involves the use of “Must-win Initiatives”. Continue reading

A2SEA puts a spotlight on its knowhow: Part 1 of 3

Offshore wind turbine installation contractor A2SEA stands as a great example of a company that grew from a commoditized, generic position to dominate its industry through the constant application of knowhow as a key differentiator. Despite this transformation over more than a decade, many of its clients and prospective customers still think, more or less, that the company just provides the vessels and crew to lift enormous structures into place far out to sea – and that’s something you can buy, well, from anyone, can’t you? A2SEA just wasn’t getting enough Return on Knowhow. Continue reading

“Help us to get more out of what we know!”

Knowledge-intensive B2B companies are a special breed. Unlike many simple consumer products that perform a straightforward function, their product offerings are often experts who can solve a wide variety of problems and take on greenfield challenges. Clearly communicating what the company can do, therefore, is difficult at best. Continue reading

What’s your company’s Return on Know-how?

Our team spends a lot of time discussing business cases – real business cases, not “feel good” benefit-based stuff, but the ones with numbers on them. We’re keen to work out, for each of the customers or prospects we speak to, where revenue can be generated and/or savings can be made by putting knowledge-sharing campaign platforms in place.

At the center of it all is a concept we call “Return on Know-how” (ROK). OMG, you may be thinking, another word dreamed up by marketers. And that’s what it is, for sure. But there’s a real point to it, too – and it’s a goodie: What potential gains or savings are hidden in the know-how of your subject matter experts? What can be done to unlock this potential? Continue reading