Advertising best practice, evidence and insights

What we know about business-to-business marketing

Article • WARC Best Practice, April 2019

Provides guidance and reading on business-to-business marketing; similar to B2C marketing in its emphasis on human traits, but very different in terms of budget size and a greater emphasis on relationships and networks.

How B2B and professional services brands can weather disruption

Article • Peter Matthews, WARC Best Practice, February 2019

Explores how B2B marketers can harness the opportunity to strengthen their relationships with their clients by clarifying and revitalising what they stand for.

How to develop an account-based marketing strategy

Article • Bev Burgess, WARC Best Practice, July 2017

This article provides a best practice guide to developing an account-based marketing (ABM) strategy, which treats individual accounts as markets and focuses business-to-business marketing on specific organizations.

Shell Lubricants qualitative segmentation study

Case Study • MRS Awards, Winner, MRS Award for Business-to-Business Research, 2019

Shell, an oil industry company, launched a large-scale ethnographic study to inform its global innovation and growth strategy, providing a new direction for redefining relationships with customers in the UK.

Five payment trends to watch out for in Malaysia

Article • Low Lai Chow, Event Reports, E-commerce Expo Asia, October 2019

Johnny Chong, head of sales at iPay88 Holding provides an overview of the payments landscape and highlights some untapped opportunities for businesses looking to grow.

Business banking switch - business unusual for RBS

Case Study • MRS Awards, Winner, MRS Award for Financial Services Research, 2019

RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland), a banking brand, launched real-time customer communication research in the UK to understand how it could get consumers to switch banks.

Account-based marketing isn’t the answer for B2B

News • 29 November 2019

A recent LinkedIn survey found that two-thirds of B2B marketers believe that businesses grow by increasing loyalty, not by customer acquisition, but Peter Field begs to differ and he believes account-based marketing is the problem.

Binet and Field: Effectiveness lessons in B2B

Article • Brian Carruthers and Aron Hayes-Davidson, Event Reports, IPA EffWeek, October 2019

Looks at research from Les Binet and Peter Field into how marketing effectiveness works in B2B.

Avoiding the ‘data tsunami’: IBM China’s VP of Marketing, Gill Zhou

Opinion • Jenny Chan, November 2019

This interview is part of the Marketer’s Toolkit 2020. Download the summary report here .

Ehrenberg-Bass on how the ‘Laws of Brand Growth’ can deliver short and long-term gains across categories

Article • Jo Bowman, WARC Exclusive, November 2019

Professors Jenni Romaniuk and John Dawes of the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute answer questions about the Laws of Growth and how to use them.

Castrol: Influence the Influencer

Case Study • Benjamin Condit, Chaojie Miao, Rocker Hu, Sienna Zhang, WARC Media Awards, Shortlisted, Effective Use of Tech, 2019

Lubricant oil brand Castrol used WeChat to build a gamified educational campaign for mechanics to get them onside as influencers in China.

Interac: Earning Curve

Case Study • Maxine Thomas, Sean Bell, Heather Segal, WARC Media Awards, Shortlisted, Effective Use of Partnerships and Sponsorships, 2019

Interac Corp, the payments company, connected with a small business audience in Canada by partnering with Gimlet Media to create the Earning Curve podcast.

Ford: Ranger 360 – Tough Done Smarter

Case Study • Eugenia Teo, WARC Media Awards, Entrant, Effective Use of Tech, 2019

The Ford Ranger 360 Showroom campaign in the Philippines managed to bring the full experience of a Ford showroom direct to users on their mobile phones.

Google: Exporting Google to the World

Case Study • Nancy Ting, Blair Chen, Vanilla Qian, WARC Media Awards, Entrant, Effective Channel Integration, 2019

Google was able to power the global ambitions of Chinese small and medium-sized businesses by using B2C tactics in a B2B campaign, increasing both brand awareness and performance effects.

B2B sellers need to marry tech and human resources

News • 12 November 2019

B2B businesses need to keep a focus on service as a new study suggests buyers are increasingly dissatisfied with suppliers who have taken their eye off the ball because they are concentrating on their digital offer.

Castrol Influence The Influencer

Case Study • MMA Smarties, Gold, X (Global), 2019

Castrol, a lubricant oil brand, created a WeChat mini-program that not only educated independent Chinese mechanics on the brand's products but also increased brand engagement through activities and special in-app offers.

Miami International Airport / Florida Power & Light Services: FlyGreen MIA Energy Efficiency Initiative

Case Study • MMA Smarties, Bronze, X (Global), 2019

Ahead of its efforts to create a more energy-efficient airport, Miami International Airport (MIA) developed a campaign that increased awareness for its eco-friendly project while informing and driving US users to become more energy efficient themselves.

Secretaria Del Trabajo Y Previsión Social De México: Youth Building the Future

Case Study • SABRE Awards, LATAM, Industry Sector, Gold, 2019

Youth Building the Future, a social inclusion program, promoted its program in Mexico by creating information guides and brochures to provide necessary information for people interested in signing up.

Lexus: Can an AI write an award-winning paper?

Case Study • Account Planning Group - (UK), Entrant, 2019

Lexus, an automotive brand, launched a car ad that used a script created by its AI function to maximise effectiveness of the launch of its new ES model in Australia.

HSBC: The power of empathising upwards – walking a mile in exceptionally expensive shoes

Case Study • Account Planning Group - (UK), Entrant, 2019

HSBC, a bank, used the power of empathy globally to turn the Asset Management arm of HSBC into what the Financial Times defined as a "rising star" in the category.

Powering QuickBooks mobile media results

Case Study • MMA Smarties, Finalist, LATAM, 2019

QuickBooks, an accounting software brand, launched a marketing improvement strategy for its app which resulted in an increase in signups and downloads in Brazil.

Verizon meets Ericsson: How two power brands join forces to promote 5G technology

Article • Stephen Whiteside, Event Reports, Digital Marketing World Forum North America, September 2019

Verizon and Ericsson, two telecoms companies, have enjoyed significant benefits from joining forces to promote new 5G services for business-to-business customers.

Punjab National Bank: PNB Back On Track

Case Study • SABRE Awards, Asia-Pacific, Superior Achievement in Reputation Management, Diamond, 2019

Punjab National Bank (PNB), an Indian bank, increased favourable reportage of the brand and its stock price with the campaign PNB Back on Track, after the brand was implicated in a fraud scandal.

Department for International Trade of the UK Government: GREAT Festival of Innovation

Case Study • SABRE Awards, Asia-Pacific, Trade Show, Gold, 2019

The Department for International Trade of the UK Government, a branch of UK government, positioned the UK as a country open for business with China through evidence-based advocates and its Festival of Innovation.

Cabcharge Australia: Cabcharge Digital Pass - An Australian-first digital taxi ticket

Case Study • SABRE Awards, Asia-Pacific, Business-To-Business Marketing, Gold , 2019

Cabcharge, a taxi service, created a new value offering to boost its profile among users in Australia.

B2B audiences