Or…The Case for Blind Customer Surveys Marketers of a certain age may remember the “Pepsi Challenge,” a tactic used in the great “Cola Wars” of the 1970s and 80s when Pepsi Cola took aim at Coca-Cola’s century-long market share dominance. In the challenge, consumers were asked to taste colas from unmarked cups – one Pepsi, one Coke – and then …
By Scott Dieckgraefe, Founder and President of Studio/D Marketing Communications Public relations programs have long played an integral role in corporate marketing, but with the upswing of account based marketing (ABM) programs, particularly among B2B marketers, some now question where PR fits into their marketing plans. ABM programs concentrate sales and marketing resources on a number of pre-identified high-opportunity prospects. …
When a manufacturer or service provider is named as the “preferred provider,” life is good. Such relationships can remove a lot of the costs of the sales function. Service levels often flourish, and without competitive bidding situations, margins are typically healthier for preferred providers. But the pandemic enlightened many B2B companies about the tenuous nature of the supply chain. Those …
Marketing communication firms exist to lead marketing directors and their companies toward favorable outcomes. On the surface, this sounds simple enough, yet every marketing director faces different challenges, has different corporate goals, and approach their work from different perspectives. Based on many decades of mar-com work, Studio/D has identified six key mindsets from which every marketing director approaches their work. …
Every manufacturer knows their best customers – those companies with whom they’ve established a symbiotic, hassle-free relationship for ongoing sales at comfortable margins. All manufacturer sales reps know which customers fall into this category, and they all want more customers like them. So how does an organization go about “cloning” their best customers? Welcome to the world of look-alike audience …
By Tom Taylor, Account Advocate at Studio/D Account based marketing (ABM) efforts enable proactive B2B marketers to secure more attractive business by being more visible and relevant to select key prospects. So, what is ABM and how can marketers use it to win profitable business? Let’s start with a simple question: Do you feel your sales efforts would improve if …
Getting through a product recall can be very costly. Personnel man-hours, legal fees, lost productivity, and out-of-pocket remedy costs can have a profound effect on your bottom line. But perhaps the greatest negative effect can be on your business’s reputation. Managed poorly, a product recall can lead to the loss of customers and goodwill which may have taken years to …
By Scott Dieckgraefe, President and Founder of Studio/D Experts agree that artificial intelligence (AI) will continue exponential growth in B2B marketing communications during 2021 and beyond. Yet for all of the good AI can do in marketing, there is still a lot of misinformation about what AI is, as well as concern over future implications. Much of the apprehension about …
Five Ways to Nurture Leads
Smart manufacturers know that a healthy, robust prospect nurturing program is critical to their business and key to growth. The savviest among them understand that the marketing and sales funnel is where these disciplines converge. Let’s take a deep dive into the roles both marketing and sales teams play when it comes to nurturing prospects.
