Business to business marketing tools

The most dynamic of all business - to - business marketing tools: computer animation

By Mike Efford

There could be an awful lot riding on your next sales presentation…
So doesn’t it make sense to think outside the same old box, and consider new communications tools for your marketing tool kit? Consider using computer animation! As a marketing tool it can help industrial decision makers visualize the solutions you’re selling, and tip the scales in your favor when it’s time for them to write the big check.

Business to business marketing is different...typically, a small number of influential decision makers hold all the purchasing power, and the magnitude of a decision to buy (or not to buy!) is much more significant than a casual “impulse” consumer purchase. There is usually much more riding on each individual sales presentation.

The good news? Of all b to b marketing tools, computer animation can give your sales presentations a special competitive edge. Let’s look at a few b to b marketing problems specific to industrial manufacturers, then later we’ll see how computer animation can solve them.

Problem: your product has hidden value. Maybe it’s sleek and streamlined on the outside, but the real story lies inside it. All the vitally important technical innovations are buried, and tend to be ignored or underestimated. Out of sight, out of mind.
Problem: your product is new and different. What’s the problem with that? Nobody can figure out how it works. The shock of the new can be confusing. If the buyers don’t understand how it works, they might not understand how it would benefit them, either.
Problem: your engineered system is complex. It requires a lot of detailed explanation. The prospect’s eyes may glaze over with information overload long before you’re finished describing it. It would be nice if there was a faster way to introduce it, no?

Industrial marketing strategy

Why are these problems so difficult? In part because the industrial marketing strategy used by many companies, specifically in their advertising communications, tends to favor static media such as print, that are not as capable at addressing those problems as computer animation.

And much industrial advertising is simply dull. To cite just one example, it relies heavily on cliché copywriting; how many times have you seen the headline “The Source…” used in industrial trade magazines? There’s a sameness about many aspects of industrial advertising: same old line in the same old kind of ad in the same old media.

As a result, any company willing to think outside the static media box can stand out, by virtue of nothing more than contrast with the average...

The potential of computer animation

Just by using computer animation, a company can raise the market’s perceptions about them. And the great thing is that if they really know how to use this medium well, their advertising and sales presentations can put them years ahead of those slow – footed rivals who ignore the potential of new technologies.

But one thing that’s been holding back many companies is the lack of information on how to use computer animation. Now it’s possible to get inside information about this new media. Actually, this “new media” been around for some time now…

So if you have been taking the same – old, same – old approach to media selection, time to check out computer animation and play some catch – up! Then reap the rewards

Let’s revisit that bullet – list of industrial marketing problems and see how computer animation can address them:

Business to business marketing tools

Hidden value: the real story lies hidden inside the product? Several computer animation techniques can solve this, including:

Cutaway/Reveal: A computer animation can show portions of the exterior of the product becoming transparent, revealing the hidden value / and or complexity inside.
Zoom – In Close Up: From an overall wide shot of the product or system, an animation can zoom in rapidly through the outer shell to explore deep inside, sometimes in an extreme close – up.

New and different: buyers won’t understand how it works? Computer animation is great at showing a quick visual summary of even the most unconventional product idea. Here are just a few ways it can do this:

Mechanical Articulation Demonstration: An accurate 3D simulation can show how all the individual components function together, in concert; rotating, moving, twisting, etc.
Animated Charts and Graphs: Abstract data, rather than physical objects, can be animated in the form of charts or graphs which build up to a final conclusion.
Cross – Sections: A 2D animated view of an object, seen as if it were sliced in half, can reveal its inner innovations, perhaps introducing them to one new component at a time.

Complex engineered system: It requires reams of detailed explanation, and the people you’re presenting to are not necessarily technical types? Animation can easily simplify complex information. How?

Animated 2-D Diagram: For pure simplicity, a 2-D diagram rates high in the minds of non – technical people. The camera view is often static and the overall graphic look is clean and minimalist, helping to take the intimidation factor out of technology.
Build – On Sequences: Add industrial components, or phases of a complex architectural / engineering development, one by one, building the full system in a logical order, one visual “bite” at a time.

In each example, computer animation provides the right b to b marketing tools for the job! And there are many more…we have just scratched the surface of the possibilities with this medium!

"Narrow - Casting"

Finally, one advantage that business to business marketers have over most consumer goods marketers is this: most often, sales presentations are made in a boardroom; very much a private audience. In contrast to TV broadcasting, where a message is seen multiple times across a vast, unrestricted audience, a sales presentation behind closed boardroom doors is “narrow – casting”.

There are certain strategic advantages to “narrow – casting”. As a new product marketing strategy, it’s far more focused; sales presentations are exclusive to a select audience. Competitors cannot easily monitor these presentations. Computer animation is an ideal narrow – casting marketing tool.

A boardroom presentation that features a well – crafted animation is twice as potent…it not only helps the client visualize the product’s benefits far better, but it’s also hard for a competitor to respond to something they can’t see. Even if it does come to a competitor’s notice, often it’s too late; first strike advantage from a powerful technology (computer animation) that seals the deal is tough to beat.

And that advantage accrues to you, if you’re willing to think outside the same old marketing toolbox and try out some new b to b marketing tools.

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