Point of View

BtoB: Still Breathing

Posted by theBATstudio on 14 October 2011 | 3 Comments

Have you heard the news? One of the top ad agencies in the world has declared that BtoB is dead. Over, finished, done, kaput, no more. Which we find interesting because there still seem to be a large number of companies, call them businesses if you will, that are selling both products and services to other businesses. That stalwart of commerce seems to be alive and if not thriving in this economy, it does not appear that it is quite time to call for last rights. 

So we must ask why the big pronouncement that BtoB is finished? Well it makes for a good ad, that’s one answer. I did read the whole long page of copy that had been purchased in Fortune. The answer proffered by our friends putting forth the news is that with the advent of mobile technology the existence of the “firm” has changed and therefore the entire logic of business to business sales must shift as well. We must now, as the ad says, start thinking about the individual and focus our sales to that single being. 

Really? Because John Q. VP of Big Company now uses an iPhone we should focus the sales effort on his particular interest as a private citizen, not as the VP of Big Company? We think maybe the emperor is running around without any clothes on and it is time someone mentioned that! 

We agree that the line between private life and work life is not as clear as it once was. People now have the ability to work from everywhere, to be on call all the time, and to be thinking about work when perhaps they should be taking a break. But that doesn’t mean they are less focused on the interest of the “firm.” Indeed it is quite the opposite; they are hyper-focused on who they are within their company, what their performance goals are, and how they fulfill the requirements of their role as a part of that business. 

Big agencies have long focused on glitz over substance, wanting to wow with the campaign and imagery without any meaning behind the ad, and without only a loose connection to the goals of the company. Now they want to tell you to ignore the logic of speaking to a business sale in the context of that business and instead appeal to the individual personality. Well good luck trying to sell widgets to a multi-national company by trying to appeal to the individual and personal buying desires of all twenty people who will be involved in that decision. 

We read the ad. We wanted to know how they were going to support the statement that BtoB was over. And we are here to tell you that the emperor is about to get a nasty sunburn. 

Business matters. Companies matter. When you go to sell to Big Company you had better be sure you understand what Big Company needs, what the decision makers need in the context of their role, and how a business to business relationship is unique in the world of advertising, marketing and sales.