Articulatecc's Weblog

Web product demos: What NOT to do?

articulateCC — Mon, 05 May 2008 18:50:48 +0000

Wrong: Hi-tech product demos online often focus their message or waste valuable marketing budget on the wrong person. Simply posting a deep features-driven product demo on the web is not interactive marketing. Most enterprise-level buying decisions are made by individuals who, yes, have a technical background, but, must base their buying decisions on business benefits. The most common mistake when creating an online product demo, is focusing only on functionality.

Right: A truly successful hi-tech product launch needs media and communication assets that balance functionality, backed by a web demo that outlines clear benefits that justify the investment for the ultimate buyer.

Winners: Sterling Commerce succeeded with their Selling and Fulfillment Suite product launch by doing just that. It was the successful centerpiece for product launches in the US and Japan throughout 2007, with European launches scheduled for 2008, all in the native languages online. It also serves as an internal sales training tool. http://articulatecc.com/index.cfm?fxn=caseStudy.view&cs=sterlingSelling&media=productdemos

-brian vandenBroucke

Tradeshows: Can I launch a brand there?

articulateCC — Mon, 05 May 2008 18:49:41 +0000

Then: Tradeshows have been around a long time. Why? Because they were simply the most cost-effective way to get a lot of customers to come to YOU, instead of you trying to get to them. Leads walked right in front of you. And, in the late 1980’s and throughout the 1990’s a revolution in tradehow marketing emerged: Branding. Tradeshows became the pivotal player in building brand-awaress, and with it, higher stock values.

Now: In today’s global, web-enabled economy, tradeshows are still immensely valuable, but no longer the panacea they once were. Tradeshows have to work harder today to justify the expense when compared lower-cost interactive advertising. But, as part of an integrated brand or product launch marketing strategy, they can be one of the most versatile and powerful investments around. Where else can you bond with prospects face-to-face, have a steady stream of them walk right in front of you, communicate key benefits, generate PR and investment community opportunities, and create strong brand awareness simultaneously. Ad words can only do so much.

Winners: Tradeshow marketing although highly powerful, is not sufficient to launch a brand today, but, neither is a singular pay-per-click strategy either. The right launch marketing strategy is an integrated strategy that includes both an online and face-to-face Blitzkrieg. See how this company launched and built their brand through a combination of both.

http://www.articulatecc.com/index.cfm?fxn=caseStudy.view&cs=procore&branding=brandlaunch

-brian vandenBroucke

Brand Launch: What’s essential today?

articulateCC — Mon, 05 May 2008 18:48:18 +0000

Then: In the early days of mass marketing, if you wanted to launch a brand, a sign along the side of a busy the road could do the trick. Later, radio and television, blasted a singular message like a trumpet at a broad demographic of eager listeners and watchers.

Now: Today, the trumpet is facing the other direction. A single consumer now interactively blasts a specific request out to a broad demographic of suppliers. The entire world of Brand Marketing has been turned upside-down! That’s why a brand launch is now so much more difficult. Brands can no longer be built solely through the efforts of conventional mass marketing. i.e.: Direct response, advertising, trade shows, radio, etc. A successful brand launch today needs the both the solid infrastructure of brand identity campaign combined with a balanced of a mix of interactive and creative communication assets to support the offering.

Winners: See how this company built their brand and their customer base from the ground up using a smart combination of both traditional and online launch marketing techniques.

http://articulatecc.com/index.cfm?fxn=caseStudy.view&cs=procore&branding=brandlaunch

-brian vandenBroucke

Web videos: Are they worth it?

articulateCC — Mon, 05 May 2008 18:46:54 +0000

Then: Videos used to be very specific and often had limited usage for business applications like at sales meetings or for training purposes. In the dark ages, (pre-digital days), linear editing made repurposing costly videos for other venues expensive and difficult.

Now: Videos today can wear a “lot of hats” and should pull their weight as a marketing asset. A well-designed Web video should be produced to have a multitude of uses for a variety of venues. That means you may be able to spread out the investment by sharing it with other departments. A single Web video for example, can educate customers online (web marketing), be repurposed onto a DVD for leave behinds or placed into a PPT presentation as a .wmv file (direct sales), used in conjunction with a quiz for sales training on the back end (HR), or even be restaged at a tradeshow as a standalone in-booth video or as speaker support for live presentations (event marketing).

Winners: The good news: digital editing now makes more cost-effective to create “fillet of video” for just about any purpose. The bad news: the bar is always being raised on what people expect to see in B2B marketing. Consumer ads and movies with exceedingly high-end budgets make the creation of almost anything look easy. The truth is, it still takes an enormous amount of planning, content development, and experience to produce a video that is on-message, on-budget and on-time. Moreover, you video producer must possess both the creative design eye and the technical prowess to make something that not only looks good, but functions well in all venues. See the results of these companies who created superior multi-purpose videos.

http://www.articulatecc.com/index.cfm?fxn=caseStudy.view&cs=masstech&media=videoads

http://www.articulatecc.com/index.cfm?fxn=caseStudy.view&cs=sterlingSelling&media=productdemos

http://www.articulatecc.com/index.cfm?fxn=caseStudy.view&cs=harcourt&media=videoads

-brian vandenBroucke