The Artie problem
His coworkers hated Artie, and for good reason. At first, everyone in the agency loved him because Artie seemed totally selfless. He only wanted to help get things done, and he was always hanging around, just in case. But over time, some disturbing traits started to surface: When Shelia the account manager would pause while expressing a thought, Artie would finish her sentences If Justin the strategist mentioned a challenge, Artie would offer vague suggestions that never reflected the nuances of the situation When Akira the art director was designing a web page, Artie always offered alternative options If Michelle the writer was crafting a white paper, Artie stubbornly tried to correct
The happy accident of B2B
You wanted to work on Nike. Or Coca-Cola. Or Apple. You wanted to create commercials with A-listers like Snoop Dogg, Tina Fey, Peyton Manning and Aubrey Plaza. And you wanted to win so many awards that those celebrities would ask for your autograph. Yes, once upon a time you wanted it all. That’s the allure of B2C. Then something inexplicable happened. You accidentally stumbled into B2B. At first, you wondered what went wrong. Instead of being a rising star on some famous B2C brand, you were stuck on an account with a microscopic budget
The age of brilliant stupidity
B2B marketing is more sophisticated, nuanced and global than ever. Campaigns can accurately pinpoint age groups, locations, industries, titles, behaviors and even specific companies. Messaging can be tested, modified and optimized with remarkable dexterity. New platforms are emerging constantly and B2B marketers are finding innovative ways to leverage them. And the potential for using AI seems unlimited. No doubt about it, this is the Golden Age of B2B marketing: a time of brilliant, predictable prosperity. Then, the results come in. Sales are down, engagement is weak, the C-Suite is angry and the customer base isn’t growing. It all seems inexplicable. Perhaps the hard reality is that we’re in the age of Brilliant Stupidity. Our
Three tips for great content calendars
Late every year, B2B marketers face the dreaded content crunch. They sequester themselves in a conference room and try to chisel out their content marketing program for the upcoming year. The content crunch usually starts with the following steps: Report on the previous year’s performance, citing which topics generated the most engagement and should be prioritized in the upcoming year Set strategic goals for the overall content program across social media posts, blog articles, white papers, videos and all other forms of content Establish a budget for assets and content development So far everything makes sense. But now comes a crucial and challenging step: creating the content calendar. Actionable content calendars are the single most important
Thanksgiving Survival Kit
Thanksgiving is a wonderful concept. Family and friends gather, they share good food and gratitude, and everyone goes home happy and satisfied. However, like many great concepts, it sometimes falls flat in the execution. Thanksgiving has become the dreaded day when some of life’s most probing questions are asked. “Did you ever choose a major?” “When are you going to get married?” “Why don’t you have any children?” “When are you going to buy a house?” Ouch. And if you happen to be a B2B marketer, Turkey Day brings an entirely different set of mood-destroying comments. It’s the holiday when your family tries to figure out precisely what you do for a living and determine why anyone
True-life B2B horror stories
Boomm celebrates Halloween in a big way. One year, we held a scary story contest that resulted in some remarkably imaginative entries. Another year, our CEO Gary Mattes created a lighted sign that eerily glowed “BOO,” until the letters “MM” illuminated to complete the agency name. But the most frightening memories by far are from our old, haunted offices in La Grange. Boomm employees still whisper about “The Twins,” our resident ghosts. These spectral sisters were always making unexplained noises, knocking objects off shelves, rumbling about in the dusty attic, or triggering car alarms during client calls. The Twins made working late at Boomm an adventure for the brave hearted. In the spirit
Coming to terms with agency relationships
Is your B2B agency the “Hands?” Or is it the “Armor?” Better yet, are you the “Noodle?” These terms may seem unfamiliar at first, but they describe some very common client-agency relationships. To provide a little context, this month’s blog examines four distinctly different relationship types, including the good and bad of each. “Hands” Relationship Basic premise: The agency serves solely as the client’s hands. Think of it as the agency version of a production line. How it functions: The client sends the account lead an extremely detailed email stating precisely what they want for an upcoming campaign The account lead shares the email internally, which now serves as the project brief The agency executes
The personal side of the creative process
Visit the business or self-improvement section in any library or bookstore, and you will find books on unleashing your creativity. Some of these titles are famous and considered classics, like “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron, which was first published almost forty years ago. The Artist’s Way explains how to connect with your creative side by writing regularly and exploring new things. It demystifies challenges, counsels exploring new experiences as inspiration, and nudges the reader to bring her creative self out into the open Other books are more recent and have gained many ardent followers, such as “Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative” by Austin Kleon.
Who is your B2B website?
“This website is bland. It has no personality.” Recognize that criticism? You probably have heard it, said it, or at least thought it when visiting a B2B website. Who knows? It might even have been your own company’s site. With all due respect, that comment is simply not true. Every B2B website has a personality. They can be bold or geeky or verbose—some are even a little schizophrenic. In short, lack of personality is never the problem with B2B websites. The trouble starts when the site’s personality doesn’t match the brand you want to project. If that’s the case, your website will be an awkward representative for your company and it won’t speak
17-year savants
Every 17 years something astonishing happens. Large, red-eyed cicadas emerge by the trillions and begin flying clumsily through the humid air. Depending on where you live, this could be your summer to tread carefully, cover your ears and act like you’re not really afraid of the burgeoning brood. But that massive cicada infestation is not the astonishing part. What boggles the mind is their timing and the way cicadas coincide with world-changing events. Ancient civilizations understood this prophetic power. They referred to the broods as “locusts,” and their arrival was viewed as the portent of something cataclysmic: from floods and famine to wars and baby booms. That thinking may seem archaic and even humorous