Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

Balancing History & Growth-b2b Anniversary Ideas

Posted by holcombk on 7/30/2010 at 11:03 AM ET 250 Points
We are a mid-size U.S. manufacturer of industrial components (we do not create any end use products). Our customers are diversified across industries, commercial applications, company size and location, ranging from large global corporations to small U.S. job shops. We are planning for our 70th anniversary milestone and want to reach all of our stakeholders in meaningful ways. While employees and community take great pride in our history our customers focus more on the future. I'm looking for ideas on how to reach B2B customers in a way that strikes the right balance between recognizing our history and showcasing our future growth opportunities -- 70 years strong and growing.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 7/30/2010 at 11:08 AM Moderator
    My reaction is that you should celebrate the anniversary with those for whom it has meaning -- employees and community -- and not bore your customers with how old you are. (Don't show them pictures of your grandchildren either.)

    As you properly point out, customers care about what it means for them, not about what it means for you. When you try to involve them in something they don't really care about, you have the potential to turn them off and/or sound like you don't understand their needs.

    Net: Don't promote your old age to your customers.
  • Posted by holcombk on 7/30/2010 at 11:29 AM Author
    Thank you for responding. I appreciate your perspective. What do others think? Is there value in promoting a milestone like this to customers?
  • Posted by norton on 7/30/2010 at 12:14 PM Accepted
    Sometimes, having a long tradition or history does have meaning for a set of customers. A history of service demonstrates excellence, consistency, and value over the long run. That reduces risk for some kinds of customers. Moreover, depending on your client base, your history and experience might mean that you understand your customers' businesses better than anyone else, and are better able to anticipate and avoid problems, or know good solutions for problems they encounter, and thus better able to help them get where they want to go.

    "History" and "tradition" are leadership dimensions that may have equity with clients, but in my experience, it is often latent--they don't think your experience is relevant or important until you remind them why they should care. I have seen the characteristic used to outstanding effect in advertising in a business-to-business context.

    If your message can tell your clients why YOUR history is relevant to THEM, you have a message both your internal audience and your clients can appreciate.
  • Posted by holcombk on 7/30/2010 at 1:21 PM Author
    "....--they don't think your experience is relevant or important until you remind them why they should care." ....

    Norton and Randall both make good points. Norton, your counsel to explain WHY a message is relevant to the audience is important. If someone has a good example of "why you should care about our history and tradition" advertising/PR working in a b2b environment?
  • Posted on 7/30/2010 at 4:48 PM Accepted
    History and tradition rarely matter to a customer unless that customer is part of the history and tradition. Given the relatively high employee turnover in most companies, there's as much downside to reminding them that you're "old" as there is potential to position your age as a relevant benefit.

    Why not focus on the real reason customers should remain loyal to you? If the most important reason is that you're old, you have a real positioning problem -- time for professional help with your company's image.

    You have so little precious time to capture and hold your customers' attention, it would be a shame to waste it on an anniversary celebration. Better to remind them of how smart they are to have selected you to be their supplier, how committed you are to their continued success, and how much value you bring to their business. Those are the things they care about.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 7/31/2010 at 7:06 PM Member
    Perhaps show them what you've done and what you hope to achieve in a brief (1-3 minute) video. Put the video on your website and on other video sharing sites (YouTube, etc.) to give you extra opportunities to market your business.
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