Clients looking to tap into the expertise they may believe they need could soon have a growing number of specialist suppliers. For example, SEO, Adwords, social media, website development, emailing, video production not to mention more conventional skills in PR, advertising, graphic design, exhibition stand design, mailing programmes and many more. The average b-2-b company with modest marketing personnel resources could soon find they are spending most of their time managing suppliers - providing briefings, agreeing fees, providing material and at the same time keeping a watchful eye on budgets. Soon time pressures lead to skipping formal briefing and becoming a hub for forwarding emails between suppliers. But who checks the quality of the assembled material, who ensures that it all works as a whole? Consider a recent example. The client asked their graphic design agency for an html email. The design agency sub contracted this to a freelancer. He emailed a package back, the agency forwarded it to the client who emailed it to us. Our role being to provide the email delivery service in this case. In between nobody appeared to have looked at the package or tested it. Typically the client is unaware of much of the technical aspects so the relevant suppliers are not briefed and often work on low bid prices that do not build in issues such as testing and quality control. The specialist suppliers are equally unaware of the total marketing plan, the brand values and strategies and company ethos. Marketing is sliced and diced and treated as a bunch of plug-ins.
The Technical Marketing philosophy promotes the joined up marketing view where the marketing communication tools are integrated into a comprehensive plan where together the combination adds value. Our role starts at the planning stage, developing strategies then working with clients to help them implement marketing programmes.
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