B-to-B Demand Generation Programs in Asia Pacific: What Works, What Doesn't -- Lessons Learned from Novell

Transcription

1 B-to-B Demand Generation Programs in Asia Pacific: What Works, What Doesn't -- Lessons Learned from Novell David Bebko, VP Marketing Strategy & Planning Novell Inc. Tuesday, October 30, 2007 Approach Asia Pacific as a region and a management construct, but not a market 40+ Countries 8+ Time Zones 14 major languages in India alone Flight from Auckland to Tokyo 11 hours 8 out of 10 of the world s tallest buildings More people below the poverty line in Asia Pacific than the entire U.S. population 4 of the top 10 Most expensive cities in the world Average wages for laborers in developing countries $1 per day 2 1

2 Do your best to separate cultural necessity from cultural (and personal) preferences Cultural necessities do exist but more often than not, needs are actually preferences Take into objective consideration: Language Color Numbers Photos Green hats are a big hit in San Francisco, but would be a big cultural problem in Beijing 3 Roll out existing programs to new markets or customize, but don t try both at the same time 4 2

3 A well-defined process and roles, and finding the right skills, are worth the up front effort Marketers with strong demand generation skills are hard to find Without focus, country marketing managers often lean toward PR The right balance of centralization and de-centralization is highly situational Campaign Planning Content Creation Promotion Face to face Event Execution Online Event Execution CRM Tools / Database Lead Qualification Lead Follow-up / Nurturing Assessment Centralized De-Centralized 5 If your tools / databases haven t been designed for AP, modifications are likely Requirements include the need to accommodate: - Double-byte character names - English and local contact/business names - One, two, and three part names per contact - Surname first or last - Postal code differences, or lack thereof Global registration tool from third party vendor can t accommodate double byte characters, so we implemented a manual work-around 6 3

4 Try different vehicles and measure the results, AP is diverse and rapidly evolving Downloads Direct Mail Conferences Tradeshows Telemktg Seminars Webinars Australia China Hong Kong India Indonesia Japan Korea (South) Malaysia New Zealand More data on this Philippines topic Singapore Taiwan Thailand Vietnam Overall, face to face is still most effective Online vehicles can be successful Large downloads don t work well where bandwidth is limited 7 Filling seats is relatively easy in the developing markets Time of day, day of week, and holidays vary by country Foreign executives are a draw Unique venues can be a very effective draw Give a gift to all attendees, Lucky draws at closure will keep people in seats An emcee can help engage the audience Over 3,000 attendees at a single event in Beijing! 8 4

5 But the quality of attendees may not be as high as you find in developed markets In developing countries, learning and training is a top priority Don t be surprised if many attendees are using your event as a free training opportunity! Lower event costs may allow you to afford collateral opportunities Manual scrubbing process before loading into your CRM system mitigates expense of lead qualification 9 Customers prefer their primary language, but flexibility is increasing in many AP countries Benchmark degrees of localisation to find the best mix - All English - Localised invitation, English presentation - Voice-over versus subtitles - All local language A recent Japanese invite to an English webinar (no subtitles) showed < 10% reduction in drop-out rates 10 5

6 Results from ramping up demand generation efforts in Asia Pacific First 6 Months Next 12 Months Events Captured: Prospects: ,000+ Leads: 12 7,000 Value into Sales Pipeline: $0 $7.2M Marketing Headcount: Build trust, objectivity, and transparency with your AP marketing team 2. Develop an eco-system of local partners 3. Focus the team on results 11 Credits/Thank You! David Bebko Novell, Inc. Vice President, Global Marketing Strategy & Planning dbebko@novell.com 12 6