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After September 11, Business-to-Business Marketing Will Never Be the Same Either by Jerry Fireman

The mainstream press has focused on the threat to our overall society and way of life from the violent terrorist campaign against America whose strength became apparent on September 11, 2001. Business-to-business (B2B) marketing is just one of the many sectors of the economy that are being impacted by the attack on America. When the terrorists struck at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, they wanted not simply to kill as many Americans as possible but also to strike at the underpinnings of our economy. They understood that a major part of what makes us such an innovative and economically-vital society is the way in which new ideas can quickly spread, allowing purchasers to easily compare alternatives and adopt superior methods. It's my opinion that along with murder their conscious or unconscious goal was to constrict this free flow of ideas in an effort to slow the dynamic nature of our economy and the resulting technological innovation that they accurately recognize as one of our greatest strengths.

As evidence, look at the targets they have selected so far. The World Trade Center itself and the Pentagon were clearly chosen because of their importance as financial and military symbols - they don't have much to do with marketing. On the other hand, in striking at these two quintessential American symbols, the terrorists were also in my opinion seeking to attack the ease and economy with which we can move across the country and around the world on commercial airliners, which is clearly an important aspect of our marketing dynamism. Inexpensive and secure air travel makes it possible for companies to leverage a relatively small sales force by sending their best people to chase sales opportunities wherever they exist without having to tie up costs in maintaining sales staff in every metropolitan area. Companies will have to shift some of their emphasis away from personal selling and towards other communications methods. But many of these methods are under attack also.

I am assuming that the anthrax attacks that followed close on the heels of the September 11 attacks were launched by people controlled by the same organizations or at least with the same mindset. If that's true, they were even more directly targeted at the free exchange of ideas. It may be more than ironic that their initial target was a company called American Media. Beyond that initial attack, the primary targets of the anthrax attacks were several major broadcasting outlets and news stations. I think that their goal was twofold - to foster a bunker mentality in the news media that will inhibit them from seeking out information and to attack the mail delivery system. Mail is still, despite the advent of the Internet and other important media innovations that preceded it, probably our most important information delivery vehicle.

Impact on B2B marketing

The potential impact on business-to-business (B2B) marketing can't yet be determined with any degree of precision. If the terrorists are quickly defeated and the attacks stop, then we may be able to go back fairly quickly to something that resembles the previous situation. On the other, it's more likely that the attacks will continue and become even more effective. If we assume, as our president has warned us, that the battle will be long and difficult, then the impact on marketing could be very great. Already the actual cost of air travel has increased substantially, as security checks and scheduling cutbacks increase the amount of time that employees must spend to reach a given destination. Employees, often influenced by concerned family members, are resisting air travel in many cases. The most recent figures show that air traffic remains down more than 25% over year ago levels. If these trends continue, marketers are going to be able to rely less upon personal selling and will have find other avenues to get their message across to potential prospects.

But other methods of communicating with prospects are also under attack. Direct mail and trade journal advertising are probably the two largest avenues for promoting B2B products outside of personal selling. Anecdotal evidence shows that direct marketing slowed dramatically in the midst of the anthrax attacks. The percentage of respondents who actually opened B2B direct mail was low to begin with. After the attacks, the expectation is that many security-conscious companies will immediately discard direct mail offers in order to focus their attention on carefully inspecting the mail that is personally addressed. Trade journals shouldn't be affected nearly as much. They come from a known and trusted source and provide useful information rather than simply unknown marketing offers. Yet, if the terrorists succeed in slowing the mail system to a crawl or make an attack that uses actual or simulated magazines to deliver biological weapons, it could be an entirely different ball game.

Marketing methods need to adjust

These challenges may require significant changes in the way that we communicate new ideas and new products to potential and existing customers. The terrorists so far have focused on traditional media and marketing tools and emerging Internet-based methods appear up to now to be far less vulnerable. The Internet has already demonstrated its ability to serve as an information delivery method that is superior in most ways to traditional methods that rely on the mail system. The problem is that, up to now, the Internet has demonstrated considerable value in delivering information to those who sought it out but has been much less effective in reaching out to prospects that aren't yet in search of information about a particular product. As evidence, after an initial surge, paid advertising on the Internet has dropped drastically over the last year or two as companies that tried it went back to their usual methods such as trade journals. If the terrorists continue to effectively attack our information delivery systems, how can B2B marketers replace the prospecting tasks that up to now have relied so heavily on airplanes and mail trucks?

Over time, I think that the Internet has the potential to become a marketing tool that far exceeds the value of those systems that are at risk now. The key is that we must develop methods to attract web browsers that aren't seeking out information about our products - much in the way a trade journal ad or a direct mail piece catches the eye of someone who is actually looking for something entirely different. One approach that's not too much of a departure is to continue to place articles in trade journals and rely on the fact that nearly every trade journal has a website that includes all or most of the content of its print version. There's every reason to believe that if trade journal readership falls because of problems with the mail system, B2B buyers will compensate by increasing their readership of the web version in order not to miss the content that's helps them do their jobs more effectively. If your article is in the print magazine you are covered either way.

Improving web sites

Beyond that, we need to find new ways to drive web browsers to our own sites. Clearly the usual web content - about our company, product information and how to contact us - will do very little to attract the browser that is not already seeking information on your firm. I think that attracting large numbers of prospects to your site will require developing same type of useful content that already attracts readers by the millions to trade journals. Trade journals have decades of experience in carefully measuring the readership and circulation of their publications. That's why they fill their pages with articles that provide useful technical information about a topic without a blatant product pitch, case histories written from a customer's point of view that explain how they solved a particular problem and articles taking a position on a controversial industry topic. As an example of how articles of this type can drive customers to your site, one that I wrote for a client about how a well-known architect uses a client's software attracted 300 page views per month from visitors that apparently found the article using search engines. Many of them used links on the page to obtain more information about the client's software package.

Clearly we B2B marketers will be facing major challenges in the days ahead. The job of making a product stand out in a highly competitive marketplace is tough enough. Now, we'll also have to deal with challenges from terrorists that want to prevent innovation from occurring. By taking full advantage of both traditional and emerging marketing tools, we can keep the stimulus of new ideas flowing through the economy and prevent terrorism from achieving its goals.

Jerry Fireman is president of Structured Information, a public relations agency with a unique pay-for-results approach that places articles for its clients in a wide range of technical, business and mainstream media without a retainer. Fireman himself has published over 7,500 articles in over 2,500 publications, both figures more than anyone else ever.

For more information contact Structured Information, 350 N. Old Woodward, Suite 210, Birmingham, MI 48009. Phone: 248-540-5610 Fax: 248-540-3506.

Copyright 2002 Jerry Fireman. All rights reserved.