BtoB Media Business - October 2009 - (Page 16)
SALES & MARKETING Sales & Marketing ‘Outward-looking’ strategy Rebranding of IDG corporate sales reflects growing number of ancillary programs BY MATTHEW SCHWARTZ AD VANTAGES S ince IDG Communications introduced its social media marketing service Amplify in May, the company’s sales executives have been huddling with their customers to gauge their reactions. While IDG’s clients have gotten used to the idea of social media as a marketing vehicle, they are still seeking guidance on which direction it should take. IDG is betting the company’s newly rebranded corporate sales unit, called IDG Strategic Marketing Services (SMS), will help to assuage clients’ concerns about social media. The change was announced in September. “The problem with a name like ‘corporate sales’ is that it reinforces that inward-looking approach,” said Matthew Yorke, president of SMS, and previously senior VP-corporate sales and marketing at IDG. “We’re trying to position ourselves as to how we believe the world is evolving, which is much more of an outward-looking approach, and working with clients whereby we could be, in many cases, developing ideas or programs that may involve a very small piece of IDG media or none at all.” More than one-third of IDG Communications’ revenue currently stems from programs and services that are ancillary to IDG media, such as Web design and hosting and social media, Yorke said. As part of the reorganization, Charles Lee was promoted to senior VP-strategic programs and custom solutions. Deidra Bodkin, previously VP-group media director of ZenithOptimedia, was named to the newly created position of VP-client services. Yorke said the rebranding will involve ramping up services offered by Amplify and the IDG TechNetwork, an online advertising network of 200-plus Web sites that was rolled out in May 2008. The network includes such destinations as GigaOM, a popular blog covering the technology sector, and Developer Shed Network, a portfolio of Web sites and online resources distributed by IDG rival Ziff Davis Enterprise. “Our view is that we have big, powerful brands; but there’s a whole other world out there of huge numbers online,” Yorke said. “We want to be able to co-opt those audiences so even though we may not be driving revenue into 100% IDG-owned properties, we want to own that billing relationship with the client.” Yorke added that IDG is creating more ad campaigns that integrate social media into traditional banner units. For instance, a virtualization-themed ad unit runs on computerworld.com next to an article about virtualization. The ad also includes a poll asking readers a question that’s relevant to the advertiser. Users select their answers, and a new ad automatically pops up, reflecting the community’s answers. The ad unit also allows users to tweet their opinions, tweet links to related content or tweet about the poll. “Unlocking an individual’s social graph, in theory, is free,” Yorke said. “But in practice, it’s very complex and highly time consuming, which means clients will be looking to publishing partners with content, audience and social-media expertise [for] help in developing strategies and then executing those strategies.” IDG’s rebranding illustrates a trend among traditional media companies that are starting to take on the functions of advertising agencies. Vance Publishing Corp., for example, recently announced that it will roll out its Vance Marketing Solutions, a digital marketing services business, at three upcoming trade shows. Meredith Integrated Marketing, the marketing and digital services unit for the “home and hearth” publisher, was named agency of record for Kraft Foods in 2008. “It’s not so much media companies competing with agencies, but everybody trying to adapt to a rapidly changing media environment,” said David Rowe, VP-media director of b-to-b ad agency Doremus, which is currently working with IDG Amplify on a socialmedia campaign for its SonicWALL client. “The No. 1 question we’re getting from clients is how to leverage social media. But it’s much more difficult in b-to-b [than b-to-c] because messages from b-to-b companies can’t be seen as too frivolous.” -to-b media veteran Steve Weitzner is CEO of Ziff Davis Enterprise, whose brands include eWeek.com and WebBuyersGuide.com. The company recently joined forces with search engine company JAZD to create TechDirect, an online directory for global enterprise IT buyers. The new directory is scheduled for beta launch in October. Media Business: BIO How will TechDirect STEVE enhance the comWEITZNER pany’s sales and CEO, Ziff Davis marketing efforts? Enterprise Weitzner: It’s two-pronged: TechDirect enhances our customers’ marketing efforts by allowing them to list and describe every product in one place, where users are sure to see it. It also fills out our product line. There is quite a large list of smaller customers with which we have not yet done business. The directory offers us a new entry level and a new sales channel to reach those marketers. MB: What’s the marketing benefit to Ziff Davis Enterprise? Weitzner: It complements all the other content we’re delivering to our audience. Having a partner allows us to expand our content universe into a lot of nitty-gritty data without having to deploy resources we’d rather apply to thought leadership programs. MB: How do you plan to integrate other content from Ziff Davis Enterprise into TechDirect? Weitzner: The directory will be extensively linked to all our products—Web, digital events and print. Registered users will move among our products, and our related content engine will expose links in —M.S. real time. New directory for smaller customers B 16 | Media Business | October 2009 | mediabusinessonline.com
http://www.eWeek.com
http://www.WebBuyersGuide.com
http://www.computerworld.com
http://www.mediabusinessonline.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of BtoB Media Business - October 2009
BtoB Media Business - October 2009
Contents
Q&A with New Cygnus CEO John French
Marketers Want More Online, More Leads
Resilient Revenue
Paper Makers Face Serious Challenges
Sales & Marketing
UBM's Big M&A Push
M&A
Events Audience
Development
People
Benchmarks
Four Strategies to Reinvent Print Media
BtoB Media Business - October 2009
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