B2B Magazines: Marketing Your Brand

In B2B media, we are pros (literally) at helping our clients market their brands. More and more, we’re being asked to think of creative ways of telling a product or service’s story to its possible customers. But how often do we think of doing our own marketing? Probably pretty often for some of you, as it should be. After all, with the media industry in a transitional phase, the rise of online advertising, the potential rise of mobile, and the wide fluctuations we’ve seen in pint this year, it’s more important than ever that we tell our story effectively to the clients we serve.

Twenty years ago, that story was fairly simple and an old one: we have a great magazine here and if you want to get in front of your customers, you should buy a program with us. Today, that’s no longer the case.

So, I wanted to share with you a press release that came accross my desk today. The gist: Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine is running a fantasy stock picking contest open only to marketers, advertisers, and potential advertisers that offers cash prizes for the participants who see the most stock market growth in six months with a fantasy portfolio staring out at a value of $100,000. This past month, Clark Katayama of godfrey Q and partners and Andrew Alper of Legg Mason each won $500 in real money for winning the contest and growing their fantasy portfolios by $5,000 over the course of 30 days. And that $500 is just $1,000 out of the $31,000 that Kiplinger’s is planning on giving away over the course of six months; at the end of the contest, Kiplinger’s will award $10,000 to its overall winner (the person who added the most value to his/her portfolio), $5,000 to the runner up, and $1,000 each to the next highest portfolios. The contest is open to “employees 21 or older of an advertising agency or the advertising, marketing or media-buying department of an advertiser.”

I bet you’re already trying to think of a way to weasel your way into playing the game.

The results? Hundreds of advertisers have signed on. And for the next six months, they’ll be intimately engaged in the Kiplinger’s brand in a way that advances the brand’s message: we are personal finance. Not only that, they are subtly telling the marketers that they know how to get eyeballs, and they know how to move the needle when it comes to marketing; translation: if you think we put a lot of effort into this to drive our sales, wait ’till you see what innovative things we can do for you to drive your sales.

For many B2Bs, it won’t be as easy as this. But the key is that Kiplinger’s found a way to engage its clients, showcase its marketing creativity, and also enhance its brand image. Maybe this program didn’t enumerate all the of the different things that Kiplinger’s can do for its clients (it sort of did); maybe it didn’t stay on message (I think it did); and maybe it didn’t even enhance the brand image (did did did!!!), but it definitely got qualified leads in the door, and once they’re there, it’s up to you to tell your story.

UPDATE:

The very nice PR person who sent me the story in the first place has asked me to add, for all you minsiders, that registration for eligible contestants closes December 15 and that you can go to www.winknightsmoney.com to sign up. Happy hunting.