I’m a commuter so I have a couple of hours a day essentially by myself. I have become a big fan of satellite radio – lots of news shows and NPR. Lately the word count on recovery is up. Funny how reluctantly the word recession was muttered but saying recovery comes easily.

Yes, a recovery will eventually come. Sooner for some, later for others. If you are a B2B marketer you need to be thinking about when your markets are going to recover. Economic downturn/recovery history tells us that marketers that survived previous recessions generally had a recession marketing plan. I don’t know this for a fact but I can only imagine that they also had a recovery marketing plan. Have you drafted one yet?

Today might be a good time to start. But take heed, you can’t simply do a find and replace for dates in your pre-recession marcom plan. If you went quiet during this recession you will be surprised how much the B2B marketing landscape has shifted.
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All messages are brand messages. This is a soap box issue for me (listen to my podcast) and in the last two weeks I have been reminded of it twice.

The first instance was last week when I participated in an on-line survey. The questions pitted demand generation messages against brand messages. Considering the economic times it is an interesting and appropriate discussion. In the best of times we are very careful of what we say and how it supports the brand, our brand values and the brand promise. Why wouldn't we be just as diligent about the messages we deliver when times aren't the best?

In these times, the temptation might be to say or do anything to generate demand and to get the order. In doing so, you might get the lead and you might get the order. But what is the lasting result? Demand generation messages and brand messages are not mutually exclusive.
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Earlier this year I posted a commentary about branding in uncertain times. I started the post by writing, “It looks like we are in for some uncertain economic times”. At the time there was some doubt. Today, there is no doubt about it; we are in very uncertain times.

Personally, I am trying not to get sucked too deep into the doom and gloom. I am trying to live in the spirit of the Chinese proverb – “May you live in interesting times”. I am trying to get my head around the idea that these uncertain times are interesting times and the perfect opportunity to rethink what needs to get done and how we have done it before, and how we might do it today.

Uncertain times are not new. There have been survivors of previous uncertain times. Those survivors adopted an attitude that acknowledged that sales don’t completely go away and that the market will rebound.
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I recently had the opportunity to be part of a panel on this subject at a meeting of the American Marketing Association’s, Houston Chapter’s B2B Special Interest Group.

Here’s a brief recap of what was discussed:

The overall message of the meeting was that successful B2B marketers view these as times of opportunity. A period that requires an "uncertain times" strategy with the brand and protecting the brand is the driver. It is a critically opportune time to make sure your brand message is integrated into all communications associated with your brand.

Michelle Reed, Vice President Strategic Marketing,
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"Every Honeywell employee is a brand ambassador. With every customer contact and whenever we represent Honeywell, we have the opportunity either to strengthen the Honeywell brand or to cause it to lose some of its luster and prestige."

I have also seen it used to describe celebrities that are hired as spokespeople. For example, that same search gave me these results:

"Toyota has roped in actor Aamir Khan as its Brand Ambassador for its utility vehicle Innova."

"TAG Heuer today announced Hollywood superstars Brad Pitt and Uma Thurman as brand ambassadors."

In the Web 2.0 world we are engaging new technologies to communicate with our prospects and customers.
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Experiment - and it will lead you to the light.

The apple on the top of the tree is never too high to achieve.

So take an example from Eve.

Experiment - be curious.

Though interfering friends may frown.

Get furious, at each attempt to hold you down.

If this advice you always employ, the future can offer you infinite joy, and merriment.

Experiment - and you'll see.

Are you beginning to think about 2008 planning and budgeting? What portion of your marketing communications budget is allocated to experimentation? We have a multitude of new channels available to us as business-to-business marketers to attract, interact and engage prospects and customers.
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A We Media-Zogby Interactive survey released earlier this year indicates that:

• 72% of adults are dissatisfied with the quality of American journalism
• 55% of the survey respondents feel that bloggers are important to the future of American journalism
• 74% felt that citizen journalism will play a vital role in the future of American journalism

I wonder if these sentiments about journalists are being translated to the B2B world.
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Between a recent morning commute and my daily reading of trade publications it occurred to me that a new wave of B2B brand positioning/sloganeering is going on.

It wasn’t that long ago that everybody wanted to be a “solutions” company. Now it seems, thanks in part to Larry the Cable Guy’s ubiquitous “Git R Done” that “solutions” are out and “action” is in. During my drive I heard two B2B marketers’ radio commercials use a variation of Larry’s catch phrase. A construction equipment rental company is using “Consider it Done”, and a construction supply distributor is using “For Those That Get it Done”. Later that day I saw a print ad for a manufacturer in the same market space using “We make it happen”. I hope that Larry is getting some residuals.

I’ve always believed that brand positioning is about creating a difference.
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During a conversation the other day with an experienced B2B professional the comment was made that the branding craze was ebbing. The situation wasn’t appropriate to engage in a debate. But boy did I want to comment! It is my belief and the belief of Godfrey that branding is perhaps more critical in the B2B world today than ever before.

To support this belief let me share you with some of the results of a recent survey of our B2B clients. When asked about the importance of branding to their management, 78% of respondents considered branding  “very important” or “critical to success” and more than 50% of those that responded we’re using or considering using social media tactics such as RSS feeds, blogs, podcasts in their business-to-business programs. These folks are telling us that branding is important and at the same time they are beginning to use media in which they have the potential to lose control of the brand message.
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