Rick Short’s B2B Marcom Blog
Recent Blog Postings
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Facts, Not Fluff, in B2B Marcom
"It takes savvy marketing to break through to electronics engineers, a group that wants straightforward information and facts, not overblown marketing fluff."
If this quote turns you on, then you've got to read an article from BtoB Online. Written by Mary E. Morrison, the piece, titled, Facts, Not Fluff, Spark Interest, discusses the results of some research, and the opinions and thoughts of some experts - all regarding promoting technology products to a technical audience.
I have always believed that there is a special way to appeal to a tecchie audience, but this article is really going to help me share these concepts with my product and marketing managers. Here are some more pithy quotes:
- " the more complicated or layered the marketing message is, the more likely engineers are to "turn it off." "
- "a strong corporate Web site is an essential part of most manufacturers' marketing efforts."
- "marketers should be considering informational advertising that's in the context of what the audience is doing"
If you're nodding your head in agreement, I know you will read, and use, the article. If you are not sold yet, or if you think this is a little dubious, then you really SHOULD read the article.
Image: daylife.com
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Walking A Mile In THESE B2B Marcom Shoes
Interviewing Prototron at SMTAI.
B2B Marcom is part of a chain of events: marketing creates new products, product managers organize the salient points, Marcom puts the message forth, sales does their thing, etc. We do our job, receiving and giving info from/to others who are doing their jobs.
Recently I was considering all the people and groups that I work with. My list included literature printers, internet service professionals, exhibition managers, magazine publishers, and more. To do my job better, I need to have a good understanding of what each of these groups actually do. It's just not good enough to throw tasks over the wall and tell someone to "handle it". To really be good I feel I have to have a great understanding of what these people's jobs entail.
We've all heard the saying, "To truly understand someone you must first walk a mile in his shoes." So, I took advantage of an opportunity to gain insight into one of my vendors, an internet video news & information organization called PCB007.com. The way I work with them is to either send them a video ad and pay them to play it, or work with them to create an interview or story. I could simply leave it at that, tossing info at them, or I could take them up on their offer and work WITH them for a day at a trade show. I jumped at the chance.
Last week, at SMTA International - a trade show that we exhibited at in Orlando, Florida - I joined the 007 team and interviewed some people in our industry. With Tropical Storm Fay bearing down on us the show was very lightly attended, so I had the time.
After a short briefing, I had the mic in my hand and a video expert at my side. Then, it hit me ... who would be interesting to hear from? What should I ask them? Would I get in over my head and look ignorant - insulting the interviewee? Would I create product that no one would want to watch? Yikes, I was starting to get a better understanding.
I guess I did a "fair" job, and I have no plans to change careers, but I definitely have a much better understanding of how complex it is to plan, execute, and deliver a very short video interview. And it's not as easy as it looks (the experts just make it LOOK easy).
I recommend this type of exercise to anyone who is interested in improving at his/her job. Gaining a better understanding of your business partners really helps make you stronger and more capable.
To see me in action, visit the 007 "Real Time With..." site, click on the ALL VIDEOS tab, and watch the interviews titled:
- Prototron
- BBG
- ITM Consulting
- Tropical Storm Fay (conducted outdoors just as Fay was arriving)
I really apreciate the opportunity I had (THANKS 007!), and am considering how I can do something similar with other vendors - all with the goal of improving myself in my B2B Marcom practice.
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Trade Show Set Up
Starting to be recognizable.
Isn't something missing?
The day or two before a trade show can be a time of excitement, stress, fun, or even agony. It all depends on preparation, experience, and luck. As B2B Marcom practitioners we are responsible for results, so we need to be sure this part of the process goes as expected - and smoothly.
Our team makes careful notes of exactly what is planned, contracted, for and is supposed to happen. Not only are we present at set-ups, we even have our installation contractor there. One of the biggest issues we have is the time between planning and execution. The lag can cause us to get a bit fuzzy on the details (made months prior). That's why we rely on our notes.
I am in Shenzhen, China right now, setting up for Nepcon South China - one of the largest exhibtions we do all year. When I got there I was surprised to see that we had started installing backlit posters instead of video screens in our main graphic area. It had been so long since we had made the decision that I simply forgot. Checking our plans, and consulting with my teammates cleared things up. Within seconds of mentioning my confusion, my onsite contractor puilled out our plans and order and we quickly understood that all was well. If you are like me, and you get your detailed planning completed months in advance - consider a refresher meeting a week or so before the show starts.
A side note regarding trade show set-up: B2B Marcommers get to see the show floor as things are being built, and we get to meet an interesting group of people during this time. I have many friends who I only see at trade show set-ups. We live in a world of forklifts, sawdust, raucous noises, and rolling carpets. It's always a fun time to meet, catch up, and compare notes. The time is short, and we're all very busy - but I treasure these friendships and times together.
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New B2B Marcom Newsletter
Terri Rylander has established a monthly B2B Marcom newsletter to discuss "content development, design, writing tips, the sales & marketing cycle, and freelance ideas."
The newsletter,called the B2B Marcom Mind, has a website where you can opt in. Terri has this to say on his site:
I welcome guest authors and articles. You will get your name and website in lights in the article credits. Just e-mail me your ideas. Articles should be relatively short, probably 200-400 words.
This sounds like a cool idea - one that could allow us B2B Marcom practitioners to help each other out.
Interestingly, Terri communicated this project by using the LinkedIn B2B Marcom group.
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"I don't get paid to be average!"
I don't get paid to be average in B2B Marcom.
This is something I have been saying for quite a while - and I mean it.
Face it, who wants to end a career and sum things up by saying, "Yup, all these years and I blended right in, never made too many waves." This is especially true in the B2B Marcom arena. Don't we all want our websites to be more effective than the competition's? ... our product data sheets to be more valuable than the competition's? ... our exhibits to be more attractive and compelling than our competition's? etc.
Why am I thinking about this now? Because it is my time to begin developing goals, strategies, and tactics for 2009 and beyond.
I guess I'm just reminding myself that, whenever I feel that comfortable sense that I've done it this way before and that this is the way we've always been, I had better repeat: I don't get paid to be average!
Image: screen grab from barringer1.com
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Virtual Trade Shows in the B2B Environment
Our good friends at Circuits Assembly Magazine staged a virtual trade show (called Virtual PCB) several months back. According to the organization, VPCB offers:
- On-demand educational presentations
- Attendee-attendee and attendee-exhibitor communication
- Worldwide access to exhibitor booths and sessions
- Downloadable literature and product brochures
- White papers
- Live scheduled group chats with industry experts
- Live group chats with peers
And here is a bit of feedback that, I think, succinctly sums up the feedback received from some participants (as reported by the organization):"Not nearly as good as an actual PCB Show. Felt isolated and out of touch with other attendees and vendors. Technical content was limited. Really missed out on the interactive networking with peers and face to face activity with vendors. Found that my interests were harder to keep focused because I am actually still at work. People still bug you, phone still rings, email still comes in and the value of this event gets diminished. I did however get something from it: downloaded some product info, watched some technical presentations, emailed a coupled people."
I say that this sort of sentiment is NOT written in stone. A virtual show may soon be THE way to go for many. For whom?:
VENDORS:
Increasing numbers of equipment vendors are finding it harder and harder to justify the total set of costs associated with preparing, shipping, handling, setting up, running, maintaining, downpacking, and returning extremely heavy equipment. Additionally, when the total costs of services (water, electricity, air, gases, etc.) and staffing (packers, shippers, unpackers, set-up staff, operators, packers, shippers, receivers, inspectors, etc.) are added up, things get really expensive.
Materials people often complain that their exhibits can end up looking like a packaging display (with their products hidden inside the containers). And, without process equipment to help show how their products work, there is little value associated with bringing it all to the show.
Vendors are more and more interested in depicting their products' performance in a low-cost but effective manner.
CUSTOMERS:
Customers are also affected by the high costs and distasteful experiences associated with travel. Additionally, they suffer from the "opportunity costs" of attending a trade show - the time away from home, family, and the office/factory. When a show turns out to offer only a few really cool new things and a bunch of retreads from last year, customers have to wonder how they benefitted by travelling hundreds or thousands of miles only to be disappointed.
THE MEDIA:
Often the media wants a story angle, an interview, some video and/or a few good photos. All of these can be obtained via the internet, the phone, etc. Most of the story can be covered in a virtual fashion, saving costs and, sometimes, actually enhancing the story or the time to press.
I agree that virtual trade shows have a way to go before they are really well-suited for everyone involved, but they are alive, happening, and getting better every day. I applaud Circuits Assembly Magazine, and everyone else who experiments with and develops the state-of-the-practice of virtual trade shows. These shows won't solve every issue, and there are certainly times when face-to-face has no substitute. Still, we're on our way to ehancing productivity, effectivity, and profitabilty via the virtual trade show.
Please comment with your experiences and opinions on virtual trade shows.
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MEET THE BLOGGERS!
Rick Short being interviewed by PCB007's Steve Gold.
Indium Corporation discovered that several of our blogging team would all be at Semicon West last week, so we staged a MEET THE BLOGGERS event.
One of the many benefits of the event was that, because of the MEET THE BLOGGERS! event, I was interviewed by PCB007, the top video news service in our industry. As I am prone to saying, "This leads to that!"
Image: screen grab from the PCB007 interview.
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Good B2B Marcom ENGAGES THE CUSTOMER
My youngest son, Andre, grabbing some first-run corduroy with me last season.
My grandpa was a charter member of the (now defunct) Big Tupper ski patrol. He was born and raised in New York State's Adirondack Mountains and lived his entire life in the great outdoors. Back in the ‘60s he taught me to ski (at a very young age) and I've been on the slopes (and traipsing around in snowshoes) ever since.
Q: Did you know that the Winter Olympics have been held in New York two times?
A: Yup! 1932 and 1980 - both in Lake Placid.So, it is a natural that I am on the mailing list for promotional information from Gore Mountain, a New York State-owned ski area that is a couple of hours from my home.
Interestingly, just after I swiped Jim Hisert's idea of posting a TOP 10 LIST of things to do at Semicon West 2008, I received a B2C email from a gal named Em from Gore Mountain. Em totally gets it - and schooled me with her great work.
In my B2B effort, I gave away all Top 10 reasons and called it a day. You (the reader) read it and called it a day, as well. Kind of lame on my part.
Em showed me how it's done by including in her newsletter her TOP 9 LIST (an excerpt of the letter is here):Em's Top 9 Reasons for Loving Her Gore Mountain Season Pass. The best reply with reason number 10 wins the hot new Burnt Ridge hat (now on sale when you pick up your pass!):
1) It's the quickest way to grab the fresh pow- or the clean corduroy. I'm direct to the lift every time.
2) No need to worry if I can't put in a full day, I can ski a few runs on my own schedule.
3) Let's face it. Having a season pass is cool. Status, you know? Especially featuring my great mug shot...yeah right.
4) Old ski passes make the best Christmas ornamentsEm masterfully engages her target audience - seeking an emotional connection.
Gore Mountain and Indium Corporation have a lot in common. We both:- appeal to a unique, long-tail-type audience
- enjoy passionate, experienced, customer groups
- enjoy enthusiastic, committed, dedicated teammates
- do what we do well, and are well known for this
- originated in New York
- enjoy creating exciting new products and sharing them with our customers
One difference is that Em is a full step ahead of me with her Marcom, but I'm a fast learner.
Good luck to Em on her contest (I sent in a few reasons).
PS: I love skiing at Gore Mountain. The terrain is super, the grooming is fantastic, and the staff is fun. And I have very fond memories of skiing there with my sons.
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MEET THE BLOGGERS event announced
Indium Corporation offers 9 blogs from 12 bloggers.
Indium Corporation's industry leading semiconductor bloggers are hosting a Meet the Bloggers session on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at Indium Corporation's Semicon West exhibit, booth #7834, from 2-3pm PST.
The technology experts will lead discussions on topics including:
- Flux deposit measurement using non-contact metrology
- Two upcoming white papers (currently under development):
- Wafer Flux Spin-Coating Topography
- Wafer-Level Flux Printing
- Recent hot semiconductor blog topics, including:
- Semiconductor assembly materials
- Future trends in first- and second-level assembly
- Halogen-free semiconductor assembly materials
- Engineered solders in MEMS assembly
- Thermal interface issues
- Solar device assembly
Indium personnel who will be discussing these topics include Jim Hisert, Paul Socha, Fez Sayed, Dr. Andy Mackie, and Rick Short.
All attendees are welcome to participate in, or observe, the session. Snacks will be served, too!
Indium's blogs can be seen at www.indium.com/blogs
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Rick Short's TOP 10 MARCOM Things To Do At Semicon West
Chocolate Shakes (OK, just ONE this year) are REQUIRED while visiting Semicon West.
Stealing a great idea from my colleague, Jim Hisert, I am offering MY Top 10 things to do at our upcoming major exhibition, Semicon West, which will be held in San Francisco next week (in reverse Letterman order):
- Prepare WELL in advance: In fact, Indium's B2B Marcom team has literally been preparing for this show more than one year in advance. We always make a list of the things that went well (to retain) and things that could be better-done next time (to fix). We use these lists for each and every show - and we refer to them frequently. They are the basis for our ongoing improvements. We review each show floor looking for next year's locations, vendors we can partner with, really effective exhibit designs, and anything else we can find that will help us get our message out in a better way.
- Set goals: I'll give you one specific example - Indium Corporation wants to leverage the great experience, knowledge, and networks created by our blogging teams. Rather than sitting in our exhibit and waiting for customers and industry partners to show up, we are staging a MEET THE BLOGGERS event in our exhibit. We will issue invitations to this informal info swap and try to make something special happen. We've held brainstorming sessions, written down quantitative goals, and worked to make these goals come true. Special bonus note: It isn't a goal if it isn't in writing.
- Meet with industry movers & shakers: It's important to meet and greet visitors to your exhibit, but there is a treasure trove of expertise in a small group of VIPs. Make a list, ideally set up meetings before the show starts, and get face to face.
- Hold critical media meetings: the media is a critical part of any B2B Marcom team. Set an agenda, a time, and a place a month before the show opens. I have.
- Plan to do something you've never done before: We don't get paid to be average. If we, as B2B Marcom professionals, think we're simply going to "do what we did last year" we're on the wrong plan. Yes, we've got to understand and respect what we did, but we've also got to build on it. I recommend mixing and matching ideas and concepts until you create a winner. I just may have a winner in the above-mentioned MEET THE BLOGGERS idea. We'll know next week.
- Walk all over San Francisco: this city is perfect for walking. The sites are captivating (for an East Coaster) and the hills make for some good exercise. Try to NOT take a taxi to lunches, dinners, shows, etc.
- Have dinner at Il Fornaio: I love the perfect (for me) combination of formality and warmth. The food is tremendous and the ambiance is perfect for relaxing. The service makes for either a great friendly business dinner or a purely personal night out.
- Mel's Diner for A Chocolate Shake: I gotta' agree with Jim on this one. Dropping by Mel's during Semicon West is TRADITION (and tasty). As you can see in the image at the top of this posting, I downed TWO chocolate shakes back in 2005 (not happening this year). It's one of the coolest places on Mission Street.
- Visit someplace special: There are things that can only be done in San Francisco: sightseeing, music, architecture, and so much more. Make the effort to do at least one special thing while at the show.
- Travel safely: It's getting wild out there. Reduced flights, delayed flights, cancelled flights, reduced airplanes, reduced airline staff, extra charges for baggage, cramped seats, no meals (and we haven't even arrived yet). Taxis, hotels, security, lack of security, the show floor, etc. add to the potential trouble a traveler may experience. There is a lot to watch out for while on the road. Plan ahead, think, be smart (don't open your hotel room door for any unexpected person - ever).
Enjoy the show, enjoy ALL shows. Make your own Top 10 list that suits your particular needs and goals - then go for it.
Thanks, Jim!DIGG This | Bookmark at del.icio.us
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Rick Short's Bio
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Marcom Stars
Anita Brown
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Dr. Ralph Oliva
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