Find out what 72 forward-looking CMOs and 30 academic B2B thought-leaders have to say about your ever-changing industry landscape. From commoditization and globalization to new rivals and buying behaviors, this presentation from Ralph Oliva, Executive Director of Penn State's Institute for the Study of Business Markets (ISBM) explores your greatest challenges and opportunities up ahead. This presentation was delivered to the attendees of Godfrey's FWD:B2B conference on November 7th, 2013.

1. “The B2B Agenda ”
Ralph Oliva
November 7, 2013

2. ISBM Research Update 11/2013
The B2B Agenda:
Working to Build
Forward-Looking
for B2B Marketers
Insight
A Work-in-Process Update:
Godfrey FWD:B2B Conference…
11-4-13
© 2013, ISBM-Penn State
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3. ISBM Overview
Since 1983...
…A global network of leading edge researchers and
practitioners. All B2B. Headquarters at Penn State
OUR MISSION:
• Expand research and teaching in Business-to-Business
marketing and sales in academia…
• Improve the practice of Business-to-Business marketing and
sales for member firms in industry…
9-12-13
Moving into 30 Years: Research, Practice, Progress…
© 2013, ISBM-Penn State
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4. B2B Leadership Board
200 B2B
Researchers in
Universities
Worldwide
72 B2B
Member
Firms, 4500
Marketers
• Research Insight/Direct Coaching
• B2B Analytic Tools
• Courses/Professional Development
• Networking/Interchange
• Connection with MBA Students
• More…
Aspirational
Model

5. Handbook of Businessto-Business Marketing
Fred Wiersema, Chair,
ISBM B2B Leadership
Board
Reference Resource for
B2B Researchers
The B2B Agenda:
• The Key Challenges We Face
• The Capabilities We Must Build
Gary Lilien, Research
Director, ISBM
… ISBM Research Direction
Raj Grewal,
Associate
Research Director,
Both Available on Amazon
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6. Setting the Agenda:
Focused, Major Research Initiatives
The B2B Agenda:
A major initiative of the ISBM B2B Leadership Board
•
Multi-round inquiry with 30 leading B2B researchers
•
Insights from 12 top marketing execs, ISBM CMO
roundtable
•
Interviews with 63 senior B2B executives from 52 firms.
•
Using content analysis to extract key findings
Our goal: probe for fresh angles, dig deeper
© 2013, ISBM-Penn State
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7. T he Key Trends and Challenges
(Re)Shaping B2B -- 2012-2014
Four Key Trends:
Seven Major Challenges:
1. Rising expectations
of marketing
1. Marketing’s interfaces
2. Companies’ journeys
to build market focus
2. Granular customer knowledge
3. Evolving technology
3. Marketing’s evolving
role and impact
4. Marketing’s performance
4. Global markets’
growth and demands
6. Deeper engagement
5. Central/DeCentral?
7. Talent
TM
© 2013, ISBM - Penn State
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8. Four Key Trends T hat Are (Re)Shaping
Business Mar keting
1. Higher stakes and higher expectations for B2B marketing
•
Mounting challenges and opportunities in 49% of companies
1. B2B firms are going through major transformations to get better
aligned with marketplace realities
•
52% of firms embarked on a major journey, or are about to
1. B2B marketing’s role is evolving; getting more and more strategic
•
·
54% of execs talk about (re)defining its role and responsibilities
Global markets represent big potential -- and new demands
1. New / emerging growth markets are key concern in 35% of firms
TM
© 2013, ISBM - Penn State
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9. T he Top-Two Challenges for
Business Mar keter s -- 2012-2014
1. Build stronger interfaces between marketing and other functions
•
The single-most important lever for B2B marketing to impact
business performance (esp. CMOs* view it as the top issue)
•
Particularly the marketing / sales interface (noted in 49% of firms)
•
… and the marketing / innovation interface (noted in 39% of firms)
1. Extract and leverage granular customer and market knowledge
•
•
TM
Essential for fueling commercial excellence and customer growth
Key messages: get deeper; explore new territory; and ensure
insights are acted on in the most productive manner
(*) 85% of CMOs addressed it and 45% of all their comments related to marketing’s
interfaces
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© 2013, ISBM - Penn State

10. Five Other Major Challenges for
Business Mar keter s -- 2012-2014
3. Be alert to technology’s potential to disrupt marketing/sales.
•
Social media, marketing/sales automation, the cloud and big data
are altering buying behaviors and upsetting business models.
3. Demonstrate marketing’s contributions to business performance.
•
Recurring theme, calls for a stronger marketing-finance interface.
3. Find the right mix of centralized vs decentralized activities in
marketing, esp. in multi-SBU and global settings.
4. Engage more deeply with customers and customers’ customers.
5. Find and develop marketing talent and competencies.
•
the B2B marketing talent pool is limited; the challenges aren’t.
TM
© 2013, ISBM - Penn State
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11. Three Points of Research Focus - 7/2013
1. The Innovation - Marketing Interface…
2. Organizational Buying Behavior: Managing
the Supplier/Customer Experience-B2B
3. B2B Data Analytics Research and Learning
Community/Research Center
© 2013, ISBM-Penn State
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12. Three Key Themes:
1. Culture, Customers and Capabilities
2. Ideation: Tapping Customers and Non-Experts
3. The Interface Between Marketing and Sales
11/21/13

13. ‘Taking B2B Innovation Beyond the Lab’
Theme 1: Culture, Customers, Capabilities
Culture trumps everything (G.J. Tellis, USC)
Innovation is the critical driver for growth. Market leaders often fail
at their peak (the ‘incumbents’ curse’) but some go from strength to
strength: what’s different is culture. Identified traits/practices creating
cultural conditions for success; diagnostic tools.
Beware of tyranny of powerful customers (R. Chandy, LBS)
“Current customers, especially the big ones, have the greatest stakes in the
status quo.”
“Most big shifts happen in the periphery, first as weak signals, often
dismissed initially.”
B2B customer solutions have big potential (Bharadwaj, etc)
What capabilities are required (eg., organizationally, culturally,
marketing/sales-wise).
How do we measure performance of solutions, and the impact of both
internal and external factors?
© 2013, ISBM-Penn State
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14. Dr. Gerry Tellis, USC
ISBM Fellow

19. Marketing as an Engine for
Growth
Beth Comstock
August 23, 2005

22. Reward success and failure.
Punish inaction.
Beth Comstock, CMO, GE

26. Abbie Griffin: Author: "Serial Innovators"
Dr. Abbie Griffin,
University of Utah,
ISBM Fellow
Creator “Voice of the
Customer”
© 2013, ISBM-Penn State
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28. Three Points of Research Focus - 9/2013
1. The Innovation - Marketing Interface…
Rollout of Innovation/Culture Diagnostic, Foster
Focused Research in Selected Areas, On going
"Curation" of outcomes/insights /actions/frames
for thinking
2. Organizational Buying Behavior: Managing the
Supplier/Customer Experience-B2B
3. B2B Data Analytics Research and Learning
Community/Research Center
© 2013, ISBM-Penn State
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29. ISBM Winter Meeting – February 19-20, 2014:
Renaissance Airport Hotel, Orlando, Florida
Please Accept Our Invitation!
Answering a Key Challenge for Today's B2B Marketer:
>>Navigation of Rapidly Changing Organizational Buying Behavior:
Driving Growth Through
B2B Customer Experience Management
Thought leaders, researchers, and practitioners provide insight on how to
better manage the total B2B customer experience, and today's rapidly
changing organizational buying behaviors, processes, and influences…
Featuring Lou Carbone, Experience
Engineering
Erik Long, ZS
Reza
Soudacar
Gregg Lederman,
Author, "Engaged!"
Soliciting Your Inputs/Speaker Suggestions!
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30. Three Points of Research Focus - 9/2013
1. The Innovation - Marketing Interface…
Rollout of Innovation/Culture Diagnostic, Foster
Focused Research in Selected Areas, On going
"Curation" of outcomes/insights /actions/frames
for thinking
2. Organizational Buying Behavior: Managing the
Supplier/Customer Experience-B2B
3. B2B Data Analytics Research and Learning
Community/Research Center
© 2013, ISBM-Penn State
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31. Where we are now: B2B Data Analytics Thrust…
Investigation to gain further definition of the type/areas
of analytics in B2B marketing that are most
promising/pressing. Early discussion with SAP and
other early partners shaping the agenda.
Investigation of potential alliance partners: INFORMS,
MIT, Emory, Cisco, IBM, others
Strategy in development for first actions 2Q 2014…
Center for B2B
Data Analytics
© 2013, ISBM-Penn State
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32. Three Points of Research Focus - 11/2013
1. The Innovation - Marketing
Interface…
2. Organizational Buying Behavior:
Managing the Supplier/Customer
Experience - B2B
3. B2B Data Analytics Research and
Learning Community/Research
Center
© 2013, ISBM-Penn State
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33. Thoughts/Questions…
Can you see the direct line between your practice and the organic growth
processes in your firm?
How about Marketing and Innovation?
Are we developing approaches to better navigate today's rapidly changing
Organizational Buying Behavior?
Can we step up to the challenge of unlocking insight from different sorts of
audience, investigations, processes and data than we typically collect in B2B
markets?
© 2013, ISBM-Penn State
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