B2B Advertising-- Aim for the Heart, Not the Head
"Aim for the heart of my business prospects? No way! They want facts, not thrills." Of course, you're right. But recognizing their human propensity for emotional stimulation can help you gain their attention so that facts may be presented. Today, it may be the wisest route.
Through the 1960s it was possible to sell to mass markets, based on demographics such as adults 25-49 with income over $25,000. After that it became important to understand the lifestyle and values --the psychographics-- of the segments within the demographic target. No longer was it safe to assume that the average family had a stay-at-home mom and 2.3 children. Our homogenous society had become curdled.
A futurist, Alvin Toffler, explained the phenomenon this way: "The mass market has split into ever-multiplying, ever-changing sets of mini-markets that demand a continually expanding range of options, models, types, sizes, colors and customizations."*
In response, the marketers of America began stockpiling research on consumer psychographics, and fine tuned their appeals to specifically reach such targets as "achiever's", "belonger's", "self-indulgent's," etc. By the 1980s this methodology gave way to understanding various groups in terms of their perception of what is logical.
Six basic logic systems were defined and researchers began to advise tailoring advertisements to appeal to the logic systems of consumers or combinations of these systems. At worst, these techniques are manipulative, but at best they enable creative people to design messages for maximum impact with targeted groups.
Business conforming to consumer trend
As the "demassification" process has continued, the wave of psychographic or "logic-system" selling has found its way into b2b advertising. In the same way that groups of consumers became defined by their attitudes and values rather than by gender or geography, business buyers are being viewed as humans with predispositions, likes and dislikes, rather than as dispassionate decision makers.
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Basing b2b appeals on facts and logic is no longer considered the only way to market. Gaining attention and market share through emotional appeals to business buyers is not uncommon. For example, AT&T advertised its services to businesses through emotion-packed scenarios where managers desperately rue their decisions to switch telcom companies. This approach appeals to those who value reliability, a rational way to be, but it does so by striking fear in their hearts.
What type is your target? Understanding the psychographics or logic system of your particular business target, whether chemists, doctors or data systems managers, may be expedited by convening several focus groups of typical prospects. Even a limited amount of feedback can cast a shimmering light on how to mold creative strategy. Also, some research is available relating job functions to personality types. One study disclosed that analytical types will predominate among chemical managers, and that type responds best to logic, not emotion. This example forewarns that it is sometimes best to aim for the head, not the heart.
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Your agency is the best source of objective assistance in targeting your market. Interestingly, a dramatic appeal, on top of being persuasive, serves to differentiate a service or product. It adds an intangible but perceptible dimension to a product or service which may not otherwise be much different or better than its competition.
All products or services need a significant differential.
Quotation from * THE THIRD WAVE by Alvin Toffler. Wm. Morrow & Co., Inc.
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