Würzburg/Germany, 5 June 2007
„It cannot be claimed that B2B advertising automatically enjoys a good level of consumer acceptance: adverts get just as little attention and banners are clicked on just as infrequently as in the B2C sector.“ This is the way in which David Eicher – Managing Director of the Munich-based special agency for guerrilla, viral and buzz marketing – summarises what B2C marketing decision-makers have long since known: that advertising is subject to a massive lack of attention. „We know for a fact that consumers‘ gaugeable recall of advertisements has dropped by 80 percent since 1979.“ (Source: Dieter Herbst, Veränderungen des Marketingumfelds; meaning „Changes in the Marketing Environment“). Mr. Eicher believes that the great challenge posed to today’s advertising is precisely to grab such attention – and this is also the case for the B2B sector.
David Eicher is invited to be a guest speaker at the German Würzburger WerbeFachgespräche (WWF) B2B congress where he will shed light on guerrilla, viral and buzz marketing and the possibilities available in the B2B sector. The WWF congress has its own internet-based, editorial clarification service known as the „advertising oracle“ (see www.werbeorakel.de) which has revealed in the run-up to the event that alternative forms of advertising are attracting the interest of German medium-sized companies.
„If a company wants to present a modern image, it must focus on contemporary communications instruments. And this applies to B2B marketing just as much as to the B2C sector,“ David Eicher claims. So, to counteract consumers‘ disinterest in advertising, his belief – which also applies to the B2B sector – is as follows: „It is important to tell a story, to get to the point, to generate publicity and to appeal to consumers. Guerrilla, viral and buzz marketing have enormous potential because they stand out and therefore become a topic of conversation.“
Viral marketing, in particular, functions very well in the B2B sector because, according to Mr. Eicher, the sector provides it with an ideal feeding ground: „The sector’s network structure is more homogeneous than in the B2C sector – so to that extent there is better potential for activation.“
In his speech, Mr. Eicher will report on numerous examples taken from practical experience. His agency, webguerillas, has already frequently created quite a stir with such „sensation marketing“ concepts as the Bundesdance which it developed for www.sueddeutsche.de, its virtual Fankurve for T-Online or its Hundeskanzler campaign (using a play on words) for Lycos. „With the said components, you will have an important vehicle at your fingertips to help with the sort of P.R. work which normally involves putting messages across that are hard to digest,“ explains David Eicher.
David Eicher will be speaking at the German Würzburger WerbeFachgespräche B2B congress on 25 June. The title of his speech will be: „Guerrilla, viral, buzz: are these forms of marketing also suitable for B2B target groups?“ Further information can be found at this internet address: www.wwf07.de.
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 800 members of staff. In Germany alone there are around 650 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
