axongarside wins B2B Marketing Awards 2010 Grand Prix Campaign of the Year

On top of our success in winning Best Brand Campaign of 2010 at this year's Awards on Thursday night, the judges named axongarside's My Genius as the Campaign of the Year.

On top of our success in winning the best Brand Campaign of 2010 at this year’s B2B Awards on Thursday night, the judges named axongarside’s My Genius for Maginus as the campaign of the year beating off stiff competition from some enormous brands like Cisco, Fujitsu, Lloyds Bank, OKI, Oracle and TNT amongst others.

North West agencies have a great track record at the B2B’s but this year, as How Do put it, axongarside “stole the limelight collecting both the ‘grand prix campaign of the year’ and ‘best brand campaign’ gongs for its Maginus campaign.”

We'd like to say a big 'Thankyou' to Janice and Russell at Maginus. There are many agencies all over the country producing fine work; only a lucky few have clients with the ambition and vision to let their agencies do what they do best. The Maginus 'My Genius' campaign, created by Andy Goddard with digital and web development by Caroline Wright was praised for its innovation in using techniques such as a bespoke avatar normally associated with B2C marketing. This is an important stage in the development of the agency and follows our success at last years Big Chip Awards in Manchester.

"2010 was the most hotly contested year in the history of the awards." James Farmer, Publisher B2B Marketing

Andy Goddard & Kay Russell at the Awards Ceremony 2010

We were established over 30 years ago and have always had an excellent reputation for the creativity of our approach. In the last two years axongarside has become recognised as a major force in B2B marketing, backing up our creativity with investments in the training and development of our people as well as our systems and processes.

We have focused on providing our B2B clients with a fully integrated marketing service, re-shaping our creative approach to allow our clients to take advantage of the rapidly growing number of digital channels. The investment is paying off as 2010-11 is shaping up to be a very successful one for axongarside allowing us to further expand our team and resources next year.

Posted: 29/11/2010 11:20:35 by axongarside | with 1 comments

B2B Mobile Marketing – how to get started

Mobile phones are increasingly becoming the device of choice when it comes to browsing the internet and are expected to surpass the use of desktop machines in five years' time.

As mobile phones are increasingly becoming the device of choice when it comes to browsing the internet and are expected to surpass the use of desktop machines in five years time [Source: “Internet Trends 2010”, Morgan Stanley Researc h, April 2010]. B2B Marketers need to follow their B2C colleagues in considering the opportunities B2B mobile web offers, particularly as professional usage exceeds that of consumer usage by far.

As Zoe Zands, Digital Marketing Manager at Cisco highlights: “The majority of industries are still missing a trick with this marketing method, as it is very much seen as a consumer channel rather than a communication channel. In terms of B2B I think this is a huge untapped opportunity”

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Screenshot: Cisco B2B Mobile Webpage

According to Ofcom’s Communication Research (August 2010) 13.5 million people in the UK are accessing the internet via their mobile phones and over 9 million of these surfers are professionals [Source: “Brandheld” study, Essential Research, December 2009].

Here are a few simple steps to get you started:

1. Develop a mobile website. This should not be an exact replica of your corporate site. Consider what content your target audience would find useful ‘on the go.’

2. As with ‘best practice’ email marketing, get ‘double opt-in’ to using mobile phone numbers to communicate with your target audience.

3. Use SMS Marketing to start creating a dialogue, but ensure messages are relevant, concise and timely. Mobile is the most personal digital channel available to you – don’t abuse it!

4. Consider how mobile can possibly enhance your marketing programmes. Think about functionality mobiles offer over other channels, like GPS and location awareness, video and cameras that in conjunction with some clever apps can also act as scanning devices.

5. Once you feel comfortable with using this channel, think about how a mobile app or widget could possibly help you engage further with your target audience. Again, be cautious, this market is very competitive and you really need to ‘stand out from the crowd’ to be successful.

Screenshot: SAP 'myHelp' mobile application for support 'on the go'

For more information on how to get started with B2B mobile marketing, email us or call us on 01663 766565.

Posted: 24/11/2010 13:17:10 by Kim Walowsky | with 2 comments

My Genius B2B viral marketing game

Maginus Software has today launched Channel Connect, an online viral game based on axongarside’s My Genius concept

Maginus Software has today launched Channel Connect, an online viral game based on axongarside’s My Genius concept and developed in conjunction with viral game specialist, Matmi.

Already shortlisted for this year’s B2B Marketing Awards, the My Genius game is set to be another first for Maginus and to propel the company’s marketing even further ahead of much bigger competitors like BT and, Sandersons.The game challenges players to connect their retail business by linking a series of tubes against the clock with as little wastage as possible.

How much would your customers love a branded, industry-specific teaser that they could share with their colleagues? We already know how much Maginus’s customers loved Channel Connect with a staggering 40% opening the email that they received within one hour.

A few tips for developing a successful B2B viral game:
Don’t waste time and money sending your prospects and clients a branded version of an old and irrelevant game. It’s got to be relevant to their business. Feedback from players suggests that the simple but effective metaphor for Maginus’s multi-channel commerce solutions is as much part of the game’s appeal to its retail audience as the playability of the game itself.

Make sure that you’ve got a really strong concept to begin with and a game play that lends itself to strong branding.

Use the game in as many different ways as possible to get the best return on your investment – combine digital social media like Twitter and email with bricks and mortar marketing. Get the game on your tradeshow stand for example and send out an invitation to play!

Your business may well offer a serious solution to serious businesses but don’t be afraid of a light-hearted touch as long as you always remember the golden rules: Never criticise your audience or depreciate your own business. Another recent – and impressive – example of how a game can work brilliantly even with a very serious context is a recent initiative by palliative and neurological care provider Sue Ryder.

Find out for yourself how viral B2B online games can be by having a go at Channel Connect but do check out Sue Ryder’s game too. It’s a fun way to make a contribution to an excellent cause.

Posted: 15/11/2010 16:54:44 by axongarside | with 1 comments

B2B Viral – how creative digital marketing allows you to punch above your weight

The Big Chip Award has gathered dust and the YouTube viewings are sloping off, but when our ‘The Factory’ campaign was referred to as a good example of B2B viral on my MSc Digital Marketing Communications course last month, I had to take another look at what made it so special.

The brief involved producing a series of video case studies and getting people to watch them. The challenge was that these two tasks seemed mutually exclusive, as the subject matter was UK Manufacturers who were highlighting how the implementation of an ERP System has benefitted their operation...

Two years after campaign launch, the campaign videos have received over 30,000 views on YouTube, which is astonishing in B2B Marketing, particularly if compared to resources issued by some of the biggest players in the ERP marketplace.

So if you are looking for a B2B Marketing Agency who delivers work that allows you to punch above your weight, give us a call on 01663 766 566 or email us.

Posted: 11/11/2010 15:55:10 by axongarside | with 2 comments