Christoph Becker is CEO and creative officer at ad agency gyro. Becker, who, prior to joining gyro, was Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of FCB New York, will moderate a panel at the BMA's annual conference that will explore how B2B creativity drives business growth. He talked about what the panel has in store.

B2B marketers need to develop "personas" for their customers and prospects, said Brett Schklar, founder and CEO of Market Creation Group and a member of BMA Colorado. Having personas, or profiles of certain categories of buyers, can help to sharpen your overall marketing strategy. In this book excerpt from "Advice from the Top: The Expert Guide to B2B Marketing," Schklar provides some key tips on how sales and marketing execs can gain a better understanding of just who populates their markets.

BMA Milwaukee kept things real chill for its recent Bell Awards - literally. This year's theme, "Refrigerator Worthy," was chosen based on the idea that mom always posted the best work on the fridge. At the show, awards were kept inside a refrigerator on stage before being handed out to the winners. Bader Rutter took home Best in Show for its Panoptix Interactive Wall at Greenbuild for Johnson Controls. BMA Milwaukee handed out more than 90 awards in 31 categories, ranging from social media to product launches.

American Express captured the Best in Show for AmEx's "Small Business Saturday" campaign at the 30th annual ACE Awards, presented by BMA of New York. The awards, which were handed out last week at The Hotel Edison in New York, recognize excellence in marketing communications. "Small Business Saturday" is an AmEx-invented holiday held the Saturday after Thanksgiving to support small and local brick-and-mortar businesses.

By Hope Picker

What makes B2B marketing effective? Doremus and professors at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth formed a research team to survey customers of the nation's largest companies, across nine B2B industries. The research focused on the insights regarding what drives effective communications in today's B2B environment.  

BMA St. Louis Chapter Event: Cannes Do

5/2/2012 | St. Louis, MO

BMA NorCal Chapter Sales Lead Roundtable: Confessions of a Marketing Automation User: The Good, Bad and Ugly Lessons
5/3/2012 | Palo Alto, CA

BMA Chicago Chapter Marketing Innovators Luncheon Seminar: The @Work State of Mind: Engaging The Most Engaged
5/3/2012 | Chicago, IL

BMA Colorado Chapter 2012 Gold Key Awards
5/4/2012 | Denver, CO

BMA Chicago Chapter Windy City Biz Bash

5/8/2012 | Chicago, IL

SEE ALL UPCOMING EVENTS> 

Kokich: 'Amplification' is now the key to marketing your brand 

Clark Kokich doesn't mince words when it comes to describing the changes that are gripping marketing departments. "A lot of companies give lip service; we want innovation and risk-taking, but when somebody tries something and it doesn't work they crucify them," said Kokich, chairman and former CEO of Razorfish and author of "Do or Die," which delves into the challenges marketers are facing now that traditional advertising channels are increasingly ignored. "The fundamental issue is people in senior leadership at these companies don't fully grasp how things have changed and how much power their consumers have." Kokich spoke with BMA Buzz about how marketers and advertising agencies cam embrace change.

More than 50% of salespeople and marketers are not equipped with the messaging and tools necessary to deliver virtual conversations, according to a recent survey. The survey, which was conducted by Corporate Visions, took the pulse of more than 600 sales and marketing pros throughout the world. Asked how well their organizations have armed them with tools to deliver effective message in a virtual environment, just 13% said they were equipped.

2012 Interactive Marketing Guide >

How SAP turns users of its social network into sales-ready leads >

What are marketers asking today of their advertising agencies? >
Shifting internal marketing expectations among stakeholders >

Tumblr, Foursquare to ramp up ad capabilities >

Marketers embrace digital content testing >

Director, Product Management/Marketing, Commercial Video Time Warner Cable

Time Warner Cable is the second-largest cable operator in the U.S., with technologically advanced, well-clustered systems located mainly in five geographic areas - New York State (including New York City), the Carolinas, Ohio, southern California (including Los Angeles) and Texas. Time Warner Cable serves more than 14 million customers who subscribe to one or more of its video, high-speed data and voice services.

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