B2B Marketer
Issue No. 49 - October/November 2009
Why is the AMI, MIA for B2B?
by Kimon Lycos
My time in Sweden gave me a lot.
I gained a family; a taste for stylish furniture and some great sayings such as, “the cobblers’ children have no shoes” meaning plumbers have lousy plumbing, electricians have death traps at home and I’ve seen ‘things’ in the kitty litter box produced by Hamish, our slightly gay cat, which has more marketing-smarts than the Australian Managment Institute.
I don’t blame the AMI per se: they are doomed to fail at marketing by virtue of the fact that they represent the peak body for marketing. I’m sure the CPA guys’ books smell like a baked dinner and whoever represents builders reside in a burnt-out car under a bridge.
It is in my nature, that when I experience something of mind-blowing stupidity, I instantly look for an excuse, a reason, just a shred of logic, because I can’t bear to live in a world where stupidity exists as a free range agent.
What I have experienced from the AMI in terms of understanding its market and how to market to its market has been indeed stupid, but as I pointed out, it is not their fault. Life is full of these delicious ironies and thankfully so.
Let me explain. Imagine you run the AMI, and you take the role of representing marketers. This would require you to have a solid grasp of your potential market, especially if you are a membership organization. So what would you do if someone pointed out that you are missing out on a segment of your total market
that could boost growth by 20%? No finger pointing, just a nice conversation on the phone, followed by an email detailing what the segment is, why it could be 20% growth and even some ideas about how to make
it happen.
That’s a snapshot of what I did for the AMI in regards to the B2B segment of marketing.
This is not a B2C v B2B thing. I understand and accept that B2C will deservedly dominate the marketing landscape. However, I respectfully suggest that in total, a balance o...
