The Woolly Worm Syndrome:
20 years of walking in circles
From ADV Magazine and ADVMag.com

By Joseph F. Schubert, President of Schubert Communications, Inc.

“Willy, the woolly worm, never took a wrong turn. But the pack was never on the right track.”
––Adaptation of Dr. Seuss

In a conversation almost 20 years ago with Rosser Reeves, former copywriter and CEO of the Ted Bates agency, he predicted that advertising was heading downhill. Indeed, he was right – especially when it comes to business-to-business (B2B).

For the past 20 years, the B2B advertising community has been suffering from “The Woolly Worm Syndrome.” Like those furry bugs that appear every spring wiggling one behind the other, many agency professionals are “following the leader.” However, the leaders have historically been consumer ad agency executives driven by consumer strategies, consumer markets, and consumer products. But, what works best for consumer companies doesn’t entirely work for B2B marketers…I’m not going to buy my next copier because it’s used by the “Marlboro Man.”

Unfortunately, it’s been hard finding a B2B leader because there’s no body of knowledge dedicated to strategically planning and implementing successful B2B marketing communications programs. No college teaches it. No college graduate knows it. No B2B marketers have been formally trained in it.

The movie catch-phrase, "show me the money," tells you why. B2B advertising budgets can't support the high cost of consumer media like TV, radio, and newsstand magazines. While advertising agencies are chasing the almighty consumer-media dollar, B2B advertising has remained a sideshow.

To our chagrin, no one has definitively taken the time to figure out what part of or how David Ogilvy's “The image of the brand,” or Rosser Reeves's “Unique Selling Proposition (USP),” or Al Ries and Jack Trout's “Positioning – the Battle for the Mind,” applies to B2B. No one has challenged the seemingly absurd postulation that any one of these consumer ad theories offers THE total solution. Is the "brand" really everything? Is positioning the end-all, as Ries and Trout would claim? Is there any incentive for agencies to care if B2B marketers aren't forcing them to think through the B2B communications puzzle?

The B2B Marketing Difference

B2B and consumer marketing are as different as apples and oranges. Consumer marketers operate at one level: to deliver one message, to one audience, for one purpose – to create brand affinity. B2B marketers operate at multiple levels: to deliver multiple messages, to multiple audiences, to reach multiple goals.

Personal selling, the stalwart of B2B marketing, virtually doesn’t exist in consumer marketing. Can you imagine the Coca Cola® Company handing sales reps 100 leads identifying people who have shown a potential interest in buying a coke? Of course not. Consumers don't buy that way. Consumers may be business buyers at home, but business buyers are not merely consumers at work.

Consumers go to the point of sale and buy.
B2B sales reps go to the business buyer and sell.

Consumers typically buy items they don't need.
B2B buyers have to buy; it's part of their job.

Consumers favor product brands.
B2B buyers prefer company brands.

Consumers purchase impulsively, usually acting alone.
B2B buyers meticulously gather and compare information, making a purchase decision as a team.

Consumers are unaccountable for their purchases.
B2B buyers make a considered purchase with the potential for professional risk.

Consumers buy for personal satisfaction.
B2B buyers purchase for professional satisfaction and approval.

Consumers are fed product information though a dizzying array of media.
B2B buyers access information through trade media, trade shows, the Internet, and sales reps.

Overall, B2B buyers go through a long, complex sales cycle, involving multiple decision-makers. As a result, B2B marketers must use integrated marketing to communicate specialized messages to different audiences – from the engineer doing the product specifications to the CEO approving the final purchase decision. Each of these groups has different buying motivations, objectives, and concerns, demanding a unique marketing approach – an approach totally distinct from our consumer cousins.

Breaking away from the pack

As experienced B2B marketers, it’s our responsibility to avoid repeating past mistakes. It’s our job to raise the quality standard of B2B communications. It’s time to break away from traditional advertising methods that treat business buyers like consumers at work. We need to integrate what we have learned from our consumer-advertising forefathers with what we already know about modern B2B advertising.

B2B integrated marketing acknowledges that business marketers have to orchestrate multiple communication strategies to reach multiple objectives. It doesn’t make sense to simply focus on product promotions and sales support to generate revenue if you have to cut prices – and profits – to close orders. On the other hand, it doesn’t make sense to simply focus on building your brand image for a higher profit if you can’t generate enough sales income to support your business plan. Strategic integrated marketing has to balance both needs – revenue and profits.

While traditional ad agency “woolly worms” lament the decline of confidence in their services, there’s a great opportunity for strategic B2B thinkers to break away from the same old consumer-beaten path. I think Dr. Seuss would concur.


© 1998 Joseph F. Schubert. All rights reserved Schubert Communications

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