Würzburg/Germany, 29 May 2007
„Where is the line to be drawn distinguishing between guerrilla marketing and buzz marketing?“; „Is it possible to gauge reputation?“; „Do virtual worlds such as ’second life‘ have a future?“; „Will ‚wikis‘ also play a role in B2B communications?“; „Will viral concepts also become established in the product advice sector?“ These questions go to prove that marketing specialists want to know what alternative forms of advertising can do and what lies in store for the world of advertising. Vogel Business Media’s website service entitled Werbeorakel (meaning „advertising oracle“) is sent a multitude of questions on the present and future world of marketing.
At the website’s address, www.werbeorakel.de , users will find a virtual clarification service giving individual answers to each specific question posed on the topic of marketing. This service is ensured by an editorial background support service which was set up by Robert & Horst Marketing, an agency based in the German city of Munich. This instrument – which is a mixture of ‚wikis‘, tag clouds and individual advice – is also used by the service-provider to draw attention to the German B2B congress known as the „Würzburger WerbeFachgespräche“. All people submitting questions to the website will not only be able to search the archives but will also receive an individual reply within 24 hours.
One can see from a lot of the specific questions arising from everyday life in the advertising business (such as, for example: „Is it possible to achieve perceptible success in medium-sized companies, too, using guerrilla marketing?“; „Is guerrilla marketing suitable for all types of companies?“; or „How are weblogs best used to supplement classic forms of communications?“) that German marketing decision-makers – especially including those in medium-sized companies – are directing their attention towards alternative forms of advertising such as guerrilla and viral marketing. And in these areas it is obvious that there is still partially considerable need for clarification: After all, one third of all the questions submitted relate to problems of comprehending the specialist terms in use and where the line is to be drawn between these components in a company’s marketing mix. Of the total questions submitted, again a third of the queries relate to the specific benefits, success rates and the measurability of the marketing measures and how to go about putting these into practice. „The overall picture which we are able to gain from the questions submitted gives us a representative impression of what our congress participants really want to find out. We have therefore been able to adjust our congress’s agenda to fit in with these requirements and have, for example, been able to book David Eicher as one guest speaker – who is the managing director of Webguerillas, a special agency for alternative forms of advertising,“ explains Gerrit Klein, Managing Director of Vogel Industrial Media. „The topic of his speech is entitled ‚Guerrilla, viral, buzz – are these forms of marketing also suitable for B2B target groups?““
The „oracle“ service is also very frequently asked for prognoses: the remaining one third of all questions posed are to do with trends, developments, expectations, innovations and market fusions – in other words, they relate to the future. „This year’s B2B congress is entitled ‚New markets. New paths. New goals.‘ This will therefore comprehensively meet people’s calls for orientation towards the future,“ states Thomas Emmerich, the event manager responsible for staging the congress. „Participants in the congress will be inspired by the multi-media show that we are putting on which covers all the global trends, not to mention by our choice of speakers and topics.“
Facts about the WWF congress: The 45th Würzburger WerbeFachgespräche congress is due to take place on 25 and 26 June 2007. It will be staged at the state-of-the-art Vogel Convention Center (VCC) in Würzburg/Germany, which is also where the first B2B branding & trademark conference took place in December 2006 in conjunction with Germany’s trademark association (Markenverband e.V.). The organisers of WWF are Vogel Business Media – one of the leading companies internationally in the specialised journalism sector.
Information about the Vogel Media Group and Vogel Business Media: The Vogel Media Group, based in Würzburg/Germany, is one of the leading media companies with international operations in the realm of specialised journalism and special-interest publications. At the core of its business are Vogel Business Media’s specialist media activities in the following sectors: Industry, Automotive & Mobility, Information Technology, Home Entertainment, Law/Tax/Economy and Foreign Trade. As a B2B information provider, the company is centred on a cross-media, comprehensive portfolio of printed publications and online features (among other things, business efficiency websites). The spectrum of services the company offers is rounded off by the sectors of media production, address management, direct marketing, sales & distribution consultancy, book publishing and back-office services. A further pillar of its publishing activities is formed by Vogel Burda Holding, which is a joint venture with Hubert Burda Media Holding, operating in the sector of computer media within the special-interest segment („CHIP“). On a worldwide scale, the Vogel Media Group employs 1,300 members of staff. In Germany alone there are around 700 employees at the company’s main bases in Würzburg and Munich, working on the development and production of more than 50 different magazines with a total annual circulation of more than 20 million copies. Internationally, the group produces over 100 publications in total.
If you have any queries, please feel free to contact:
Thomas Emmerich
Event Manager
Vogel Industrial Media
97064 Würzburg
Germany
Tel. +49 (0)931-418-2545
Fax +49 (0)931-418-2640
Email: thomas_emmerich@vogel-medien.de
www.wwf07.de
