Back in the 1970’s, I enjoyed watching Hawaii Five-0. Steve was the boss and he’d routinely ask Danno and Chin to “check em out” — investigate the person, company or organization. They had their sources. Can you imagine what tools they’d use today? They go right for the smartphone and social networks, quickly solving crimes in many cases.
The same could be said for purchasing managers. Their jobs’ requirements haven’t changed much from the 1970’s, but their tools sure have. The whole process has gone electronic and more direct, for sure. But how do you “check em out?” Would you believe social media is making an remarkable change there, too?
You better believe it. According to a survey presented by DemandGen Report, the impact is very real:
The survey also showed the growing influence social media, blogs and other Web 2.0 tools are having on the BtoB buying process. A majority of respondents said Twitter and LinkedIn influenced their decisions during the “Solution Analysis” and “Problem Identification” phases. Nearly 90% indicated that blogs impacted their research during the “Solution Analysis” phase and 3 in 4 respondents said social bookmarking sites such as Digg and Delicious were utilized during the early Analysis phases.
“The early survey results validate what we have been seeing in our own business as well as through the results of our customers,” said Scott Mersy, VP of Marketing at Genius.com, the sponsors of the survey. “There is a lot of research and conversations taking place outside of the traditional sales funnel and BtoB companies can realize greater revenue by reaching out and responding to these interested prospects.”
BtoB buyers are also increasingly interested in sharing their experiences after they have completed a purchase, with more than 60% of respondents indicating they shared the learnings from their research and buying process with others after the fact. One-on-one discussions were the most common platform for sharing insights, but blog postings and participating in discussion forums on LinkedIn and other social sites represented a growing area.
I believe it.
Let me give you an example. Say, for instance, you’re in Terre Haute, Indiana, and you’re asked to find a good source for truck parts. One of your colleagues suggests Andy at Illiana Truck Parts, so you “check em out” on the Internet. Google it and you get the usual, including the company’s site. Oh, but the second link is to The Fastline Blog and a story on “The Cleanest Junkyard You’ve Ever Seen.”
Interesting post. Seems like a nice guy — somebody I’d buy from.
Andy Nickel, President of Illiana Truck Parts
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In a historical world, way back in a time before mega-mediastars, the former editor of Life magazine, Ned Thompson, started up a new magazine with S. Dillon Ripley. At the time, Mr. Ripley was Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. They called it Smithsonian. It would be sold to “members” of the Smithsonian and sell advertising. Their first salesman was Tom Black, also a former Time Inc. ace, son of Howard Black, Time’s first salesman…
Tom Black was Smithsonian magazine’s first Director of Advertising. He joined the magazine in September 1969 and retired in the spring of 1994. During his tenure, the magazine became one of the major success stories in publishing, mushrooming from an initial circulation of 164,000 to over 2 million, making it the leading magazine in the so-called quality field.
From the beginning, the magazine’s readership ranked high in such demographic factors as level of education and disposable income. Black and his sales force, however, had problems at first trying to sell a magazine which many advertisers associated with a musty, dusty museum complex in Washington, D.C. Just when sales were at their lowest ebb, in the slimmer of 1971, sales turned the corner and took off.
Black’s father, Howard Black, was Time magazine’s first ad salesman, and Tom grew up with Henry Luce, the father of modern magazine publishing, as a frequent guest in his parents’ home. After serving in World War II, Tom Black joined J. Walter Thompson, then the world’s leading advertising agency, as a trainee but soon decided that he was more interested in being a part of a new and growing enterprise. He joined the fledgling sales force of ABC Television and wrote the network’s first rate card. After a short stint with The March of Time newsreel operation, he found himself on the sales force of Life magazine, where he spent most of the 1950s, switching over to Time for much of the 1960s.
In 1969, at the age of 45, Black was looking for a new challenge when he was contacted by former Life editor Edward Thompson, who was starting a new magazine for the Smithsonian Institution. As Black modestly recalls it, Thompson probably remembered a favor Howard Black had done years before for Thompson and his son in making Tom Black Smithsonian’s first ad director.
As the magazine’s circulation rose rapidly, so did their ad revenue, peaking at over 1,000 pages in the early 90’s. They were successful in ad sales for many reasons. A quality editorial product attracted boatloads of devoted readers. Their national sales rep network was outstanding and the ad sales staff in New York included many former Time Inc. stars. With retirement benefits provided by TIAA-CREF, it was an attractive option for those who made a killing at Time in the 60’s and 70’s to join Smithsonian and rollover their nest eggs. In the ’60s, you only had to answer the phone at Time and you sold a few pages.
When I worked for Smithsonian, we’d joke about how former Time Inc. people we had, calling it a “Time Inc retiree halfway house.” The success, however, was no joke. Circulation rate base peaked at 2,100,000, and it was sold against both the luxury/high-brow titles (The New Yorker, Gourmet, Condé Nast Traveler) and the weeklies (Time, Newsweek, Business Week). It’s natural competitor was National Geographic, which was written for a 7th grade reading level.
The business side of Smithsonian got reorganized in 1997-8 (that’s why I’m here), and the ad sales equation never recovered. All the stars moved on. Ten years later, Smithsonian ad space is now being sold by Time Inc.
“We are pleased to join with Time Inc. in this endeavor, as both Smithsonian and Time publish truly iconic, legendary brands,” said Smithsonian Enterprises president Tom Ott in a statement. “I’m confident that advertisers will be receptive to this new opportunity.”
Folio: picked it up first. See if you can read into it like I can…
“The opportunity is strictly an advertising partnership,” Leslie Picard, president of Time Inc. corporate sales and marketing told FOLIO:. “We felt it was a great opportunity to develop multiple programs with Smithsonian as part of what Time Inc. can bring to the table. The brands marry up well for a number of our advertisers.”
The partnership is not meant to replace the Smithsonian sales operation, but the publisher will benefit from Time Inc.’s entre into the bigger corporate deals. Picard said the travel, pharmaceutical and technology categories are particularly well-suited for a Smithsonian-enhanced sale.
Smithsonian, which has a rate base of 2 million, dropped 26 percent in ad pages in 2009 versus 2008, per PIB.
Nevertheless, the brand’s reach was an attractive match, said Rosie Walker, associate publisher of marketing and sales development at Smithsonian. “On the flip side, we fill an important demographic for them, we have a readersihp of nearly seven million, which is a nice size to hit that baby boomer demographic,” she said.
Ad revenue is down across the board. I hope this deal helps ups the ad page count for a still-great magazine, Smithsonian.
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