Question

Topic: Customer Behavior

Can't B2b Be Fun Too?

Posted bymelissa con10/19/2009 at 2:58 PM ET 125 Points
Hi there everyone!

My company is getting ready to launch a software application that's different than the enterprise-level, long sales cycle stuff we usually do. With our new product, a customer would be able to purchase the app right from the web (after their 30-day free trial).

Basically the product would be geared towards sales managers with the proposition that they can do their sales forecasting with this app instead of static spreadsheets given to them by multiple sales people.

One of my ideas was to have a campaign with the theme "Things you can do with your spreadsheets now that you're using PRODUCT NAME." It'd be silly things like using the spreadsheets to make paper planes, etc.

First, is this a great idea or too cheesy? (It hasn't been fleshed out yet AT ALL but is the concept worth it?). Second, does this type of thing just not appeal to B2B people? My thought has always been that companies are made up of people too so sometimes B2C-type tactics work but I'm getting push back on the idea of doing this type of mktg in the B2B space.

Thanks!
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on10/19/2009 at 5:02 PM Accepted
    Of course you can. People are people regardless of whether they're at a business or at home.

    Some ammunition:


    Years ago, IBM advertised its mainframe computers using a Charlie Chaplin look-a-like. Later, they had the cast of M*A*S*H.

    The phone company had ads for yellow pages listings; there was one for "civil engineers" that featured a bunch of burly guys in choo-choo charlie striped engineer hats and overalls sitting on chintz sofas drinking tea.

    最近,有版本isign's "Liberty Fillmore" campaign about the "Cart Whisperer".

    Hope this helps.


  • Posted on10/19/2009 at 5:05 PM Accepted
    哦,一个铁道部e, Lockheed-Martin (I think) had an ad with a jet fighter going through a toll booth using EZ Pass.

  • Posted bymgoodmanon10/19/2009 at 7:19 PM Accepted
    I'd be careful about the way you have fun with this introduction. Advertising with humor is OK as long as it is effective, and to be effective it has to speak directly to the key positioning benefit you provide. If the benefit is solely to free people from using a spreadsheet, then your approach could be OK. That's a pretty weak promise though, because presumably people who use spreadsheets derive a benefit from that use. (They are not just using it to pass the time away.)

    It seems to me that the real benefit you're offering is better, less painful forecasts. If the humor underscores that benefit it could work.

    Said another way, it's not really about humor-or-not. It's about how relevant and important your positioning benefit is for the target audience. If it's very important, and if your humor helps communicate the benefit, then the humor can work. Otherwise it's probably better to "play it straight."
  • Posted on10/19/2009 at 10:12 PM Accepted
    B2B customers are people too; I agree with your sentiment.

    If you possibly can, test your message out on a few potential customers to see how they respond. My personal experience? The sales managers I work with are very "involved" with their spreadsheets and might have trouble letting them go.

    But they'd probably give them up if you could promise faster, more accurate forecasts in real-time. Consider focusing on the benefits of replacing the spreadsheet rather than just on the fact that you can replace it. You can still use humor--just use it to send the most powerful message possible.
  • Posted byJay Hamilton-Rothon10/20/2009 at 8:54 AM Accepted
    Michael's advice is spot-on. Humor can be used to build your key benefit well, but it's hard to do humor well.

    Instead of starting with humor as the basis for your ad, drill down to really understanding the unique value proposition (UVP) of your offering. What is it that your product can do that will result in a huge benefit to your target audience? Can you prove it? If you understand this kernel of information, then you can present it differently to attract attention (a video, humorous text, a contest, white paper, statistics, etc.).
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