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I know we never have enough B2B examples here at Teach the 4 Ps.  Well, there just isn’t as much written about them.  But this is is nice short article about how “FreightCenter uses email to build b2b customer base” (BtoBOnline, September 2, 2010).  I think it is important for our students to know that targeted and customized e-mail messages can work in B2B.

Customer referrals have a powerful influence on business buyers and consumers.  We have previously reported on the Nielsen survey that found recommendations from others as the most trusted source of information.  Articles in Inc. are usually practical — and this one fits that bill.  In “How to Get Customer Referrals” (August 27, 2010) you will learn how to get referrals as well as when and how to ask for them.  We all talk to our students about the power of word-of-mouth, but we should make sure they understand that marketing managers can influence customers to offer more referrals.

B2B has always utilized custom communications — usually through the sales force.  But now more and more B2B companies are trying to provide content that is useful and meaningful for its customers — often on their websites.  The forthcoming 18th edition of Basic Marketing (October 2010) really emphasizes this as a source of “publicity” and “found media” (as customers typically search for and find it online).  BtoB Online has a nice article, “Committed to Custom,” (August 16, 2010) that reports on this trend.

Lexmark International is one of the world’s leading makers of computer printers had a problem.  While slow to come around, the trend to the paperless office is real.  That trend significantly reduced demand for printers.  So Lexmark adapted — and offers its customers services to help them print less.  Lexmark helped Coca Cola save $11 million over five years — and sold them 3800 new mostly Lexmark printers.

This article, “After a Jam, Lexmark Turns to Services” (Bloomberg BusinessWeek, August 26, 2010) provides examples for use when talking about goods and services or the product life cycle — as printers settle well into market maturity stage.  It is also interesting to think about this change in the context of personal selling — where Lexmark no doubt had to change its personal selling strategy to a consultative selling approach.

This post was originally at Social Media B2B back in December.  Since that time Facebook has changed so that users can now “Like” a page instead of indicating they are a “fan.”  Quick aside:  one of my colleagues who studies marketing on Facebook told me that users saw “liking” a brand as less of a commitment — and would therefore be more likely to click the like button than a “fan” button.  While most major consumer brands have some sort of Facebook presence, I think that B2B marketers are still trying to figure out if Facebook pages are a worthwhile investment. I am one of them — we have this blog to keep in touch with customers but no Facebook page directed at marketing faculty.  Anyway, looking for some examples, see “10 Examples of B2B Facebook Fan Pages,” (Social Media B2B, July 2010 Update).

We have always enjoyed the creative marketing programs from John Deere.  John Deere has done a great job showing how a company can leverage the Internet in B2B.  John Deere really understands its customers — farmers.  Recently John Deere teamed up with Chip Foose, star of TLC’s Overhaulin – which every week “junkers into dream machines.”  The created a series of webisodes that featured the conversion of a John Deere 4020 tractor into a “hot rod.”  You can see the last episode below — find “BCS Big Buck Promo” series here.  The tractor is currently touring the country, visiting John Deere dealerships, before it will be given away in a drawing.  Sign up at your local John Deere dealership.

This might be interesting to discuss in organizational buying (our books feature John Deere in our opening case in this chapter) or when discussing Promotion where it is always nice to have B2B examples to supplement the numerous B2C examples.

This seems pretty obvious once you read it, but I never thought about teaching my students about the value here.  When B2B marketers are trying to break into new accounts, it seems pretty straightforward that potential new customers will search on the company and key executives.   For more, check out the article, “How search marketing can help your online reputation” (BtoB, March 10, 2010).

None of us likes to receive telemarketing calls — much less talk about them in class.  But for B2B, it can be a cost-effective medium for seller and buyer.  Sometimes we need to be reminded of this and how to do it better (“A return to telemarketing in b-to-b,” B2B, March 1, 2010).

FedEx is targeting small businesses with a series of web parodies.  One commentator in the Wired article “TV Ad Powerhouse FedEx Woos Small Biz with Web Parodies” (February 26, 2010 – UPDATE 7-8-11:  link no longer works and we cannot find the article, sorry) wonders how well this will work.  I watched a couple of the 3 minute videos — they are kind of funny and educate customers on FedEx services at the same time (not an easy task).  They are modest budget productions and the media costs are zero.   The videos I saw had anywhere from 20,000 to more than 400,000 views.   At this point, the payback from the use of YouTube and other social media is hard to predict, but one good way to find out is through experimentation.

The video is a versatile example of many marketing concepts.   It is always nice to have clear, understandable B2B examples.  The video shows how FedEx tailors its strategy for the small business target market and could fit with chapter 2′s discussion of strategy planning and chapter 4′s coverage of segmentation and targeting.   The video might also be shown with a lecture on organizational buying, where we talk about service businesses.  Finally, it also fits with integrated marketing communications and advertising on the web.

[NOTE, January 7, 2011 - sorry, FedEx removed the video.]

As some of you may know, I have done a  fair amount of academic research on trust.  I believe that trust is a very important factor in marketing.  This article cites a recent study on trusted brands, “Study: Amazon.com is most trusted brand in U.S.” (CNET News, February 22, 2010).