MPB: Challenging the boundaries of B2B marketing and going all the way

Title: VP of Marketing Communications

Company: DHL Asia Pacific

Date: 16 April

No. of attendees: 92

"Whatever ideas you have in the C2C environment, B2C environment, doesn't mean you can't make work in a B2B environment. A lot of the things we do in some ways really is B2C and not so much B2B. Be creative and look at things you have internally that can help you with the marketing," said Jacqueline Cheong, VP of marketing communications for DHL at Marketing's recent Peer Briefing event.

According to Cheong, DHL decided its best practice would involve positioning itself as a premium leader and then focusing on the thoughts of the consumer as a source for what to create. She illustrated the point through describing how DHL staff help breed marketing success through word of mouth.

"Look at how we galvanise our people internally. The staff and sales people go out into the streets and talk to people - they are our best ambassadors because they can tell the story the best," she said.

DHL has many touchpoints with which they can use to engage with consumers but Cheong disagreed that companies lacking such resources could not succeed at B2B marketing.

"Yes we have vans and planes but there are other outlets that you will have. When you have a company sales person going out - are they the ambassadors? If they are then perhaps you need to brand them. If you have letters going out perhaps there's a way to brand that. Look at the events you work on, and the credibility that goes with it," she said.

Cheong also said "most people in marketing complain about the size of budgets but if you go across to the various sales channels you will find that the wants and needs are about the same. Instead of just going to an agency with a brief just for a particular sales channel - what you can do is stretch it a little more and you will get a lot more from the agency".