Our monthly report series covering marketing’s most pressing issues.
The WARC Guide to rethinking B2B marketing
The full deep-dive deck into rethinking B2B marketing is exclusively available to WARC subscribers.
This WARC Guide provides a summary of new thinking and best practice on rethinking B2B marketing, including:
- Why it matters
- B2B and B2C similarities
- Building a B2B brand
- A new generation of decision-makers
WARC Talks
Changing channels in B2B
Jorrit DeVries, Global Category Development Officer at Spotify, discusses the future of B2B marketing in the tech and telco space, the trends to watch, and how to adapt for a stronger B2B brand.
Jorrit DeVries
Wednesday 28th April, 5pm GMT / 12pm EST / 9am PST
Contributing articles
Managing mixed brand portfolios in a time of experimentation and flux: a case for the Masterbrand
Author Remona Duquesne
Company brandgym
B2B or C, the answer should always involve Creative Publicity
Author Wiemer Snijders
Company The Commercial Works
Why is B2B marketing so irrational? Buyers have feelings too
Authors Sonia David and Bill Zengel
Company ANA
Revisioning your B2B campaign for China: Strategies, tactics and tools
Authors Mike Golden
Company Brandigo
Marketing to accounts, marketing to industries: A B2B perspective
Author Kevin Arsham
Company Mediacom
How B2B brands are successfully making the shift to selling online
Authors Susie Sroka and Marcus Lambert
Company Omobono
Networking and conferences in a post-covid world
Authors Lena Petersen and Brett Kassan Smith
Company MediaLink
Getting ahead of the curve amid the consumerisation of B2B marketing
Authors Rafael Martin and Staffan Holgersson
Company Essence
How Lenovo shaped marketing strategy for its service-led transformation
Author Bhaskar Choudhuri
Company Lenovo
Cracking the code of Inspiration: An inspiring B2B brand is always on the consideration list
Author Nina Mullen
Company Wunderman Thompson
Author Q&A playlist
The complete WARC Guide playlist of Q&As with expert authors.
The WARC Guide to shoppable media
Read the summary deck on shoppable media, which looks at online shopping as a form of entertainment and brands that are ahead of the curve.
The WARC Guide to communicating value
Read the summary deck on communicating value, which looks at brand building and brand advertising as vital tools for creating and maintaining a perception of value.
The WARC Guide to new research in marketing
Read the summary deck on new research in marketing, which looks at how the ‘messy middle’ provides new insight into the role of marketing in an age of e-commerce and the ‘movable middle’ as a useful concept for brands that need to squeeze more from their budget.
The WARC Guide to effective packaging
Read the summary deck on effective packaging, which looks at how the reinvention of packaging solutions to meet new challenges offers new opportunities to engage with consumers and convey brand purpose.
The WARC Guide to brand activism in the Black Lives Matter era
Read the summary deck on brand activism in the Black Lives Matter era, which looks at what consumers want brands to do and how supporting Black Lives Matter can underscore a brand’s purpose, if a brand is prepared to acknowledge their truth and make change.
The WARC Guide to marketing in the gaming ecosystem
Read the summary deck on marketing in the gaming ecosystem, which looks at the major opportunity in esports and how gaming is changing the rules of brand loyalty – gamification is out; mobile branded games are in.
The WARC Guide to e-commerce and the future of effectiveness
Read the summary deck on e-commerce and the future of effectiveness, which looks at how e-commerce growth has accelerated globally and the fundamentals of product, packaging and price points.
The WARC Guide to Planning for Attention
Read the summary deck on planning for attention, which looks at the value of attention, attention as a measure and how brands are using it to drive ROI.
The WARC Guide to Marketing in the COVID-19 recession
Read the summary deck on Marketing in the COVID-19 recession, which looks at what we know so far about the pandemic, planning for the recovery and early lessons from China.
The WARC Guide to Structuring for effectiveness
Read the summary deck on Structuring for effectiveness, which looks at some of the key structural considerations for client-side marketers looking to invest effectively.
The WARC Guide to making segmentation work
Read the summary deck on making segmentation work, which looks at how to use segmentation in 2020, finding meaningful audiences and segmentation in a world of AI.
Creating a sports sponsorship framework
Read the summary deck on creating a sports sponsorship framework, which looks at creating a clear and focused measurement framework, choosing the right sponsorship property and how to approach e-sports sponsorship.
Digital strategy in healthcare marketing
Read the summary deck on digital strategy in healthcare marketing, which includes how to build inclusive healthcare tools, balancing rational claims with emotional branding and building higher levels of trust.
Smart approaches to occasion marketing
Read the summary deck on occasion marketing, which focuses on shared human moments, capitalising on occasions to drive year-round benefits and avoiding missteps by focusing on fresh audience insights.
Read the summary deck on partnering for growth, which explores how brand partnerships are creating a new genre of advertising and ways marketers can plan against failure.
If you are interested in contributing please email Lena Roland, Managing Editor, WARC Knowledge.
The subjects of articles should relate to the interests of the WARC Guide's core readership of senior executives working in planning, strategy and insight within communication agencies, advertiser marketing departments, market research agencies and the marketing and research side of the media.
Word Counts
WARC Guide features are typically either 1500 to 2000 words but can be extended by agreement.
Author credits and promotion
Author credits will be given in the byline to the article. A brief biography of the author of up to 30 words can be sent with the submitted copy. Some articles will feature in WARC News. Authors might be invited to do a short Q&A video on their focus topic, or a spin-off webinar with WARC. Authors will be sent a PDF copy of the WARC Guide article.
Writing style
The WARC Guide focuses on giving marketers the confidence to tackle marketing’s biggest challenges through ideas and evidence. This should influence your writing style, namely, that propagation of ideas and arguments is fine, if backed by evidence – brand examples, research, case studies.
WARC Guide articles are not an opportunity to promote the author's company or products. Any such overt references within articles may be edited out.
Articles should include a summary of what this means for marketers and/or agencies. Conclude with a list of key implications or things to consider.
Bear in mind that the WARC Guide has an international readership, so parochial references to brands, marketing examples and topical matters that are well-known locally may be unfamiliar to many people.
Do not include a list of references at the end of the article. References should be embedded within the body copy.
Copy should not depend on charts and tables for its comprehension. Charts should provide supplementary information and enhance the presentation of the article. They must be capable of being remade in Admap's house style. Suggested headlines, standfirsts and cross-heads can be included in the copy, but may be changed in the editing process.
Copy should be filed as a Word Document. Present the copy as a fully formed article, not a presentation. Key points can be numbered, or bulleted.
Accompanying photography and charts
Advertising campaign stills, product shots or other imagery relevant to a submitted article are welcome. These should be in jpeg or tiff format and a minimum of 14cm in width and 300 dpi in resolution. They should be sent as separate files – do not embed them into the copy.
Charts can be submitted, but will need to be remade in the Guide's house style and will be included at WARC’s discretion. Hence, submitted copy should not depend for its reader comprehension on the inclusion of charts as some, or all, may not be published.
Editing and publishing
We reserve the right to edit copy. Should significant editing be required that would materially change the article, the author may be asked to redraft the article. The decision whether to publish the article rests with the WARC Knowledge team.
Copyright assignment
Authors will be asked to sign a form that will assign copyright in the article to WARC, giving WARC the exclusive right to reproduce and distribute the article in any form. This form must be signed and returned before the article can be published.
