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Cross-media MarketingJune 2012

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“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to

victory. Tactics without strategy

is the noise before defeat.”- Sun Tzu’s Art of War

IntroductionA new dynamic media environment

Media brands have been an important gateway to reach

markets for many years but will they remain relevant in this

new fragmented media world?

Independent research conducted for UBM shows that vendors benefit

significantly in working with publisher’s brands they recognise as

having gravitas in their markets.

Vendors define brand gravitas in this context as having 5 main

components.

Five main components of brand gravitas:

• The perceived strength of the UBM brands

• The brand reach of the UBM Built Environment print and digital media into construction markets

• Commercially driven consultancy from Client Solutions

• Intelligence assets of journalists • advanced technology skills and the ability to delivery

digital and live face-to-face events

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Communications markets have changed enormously with the rapid

development of digital and virtual communications. In response to this,

publishers have developed their products to provide an extended brand

reach into their markets through a combination of print media, digital

and virtual media and increasingly with live face-to-face events.

With these developments comes choice to advertisers and sponsors.

They now have a wider availability of media vehicles they can use to

‘push out’ their marketing messages. Every business has a website and

any business can send out an email ‘newsletter’ to current customers

or a bought in mailing list and so publishers have to work harder to

provide value.

Recent research undertaken for UBM by media insights team Vivid

Interface with client side marketing managers indicates that in most

cases B2B media advertising and sponsorship sales is based around a silo

approach with access to one media brand and one mode of delivery;

an ad in a magazine or on a website or sponsorship of a newsletter or

exhibiting at a live event.

UBM Built Environment that encompasses media brands such as

Building, Building Design, Property Week and Ecobuild has developed

beyond this silo approach by offering marketing services to clients

through the establishment of their Client Solutions team.

As a result UBM Built Environment through their ‘Client Solutions’ team

provides an opportunity for vendors and buyers to engage with each

other using a variety of marketing tools and cross-media and multi-

channel communications.

The development of this marketing services led approach has been

driven by the desire to give clients greater access to audiences across

multiple channels, improving engagement and ROI.

The core component of the Client Solutions relationship with their

markets is that they are able to offer media solutions based on an

understanding of the clients broader business and marketing needs

through a process of consultation.

‘Most media advertising and sponsorship is based around

a silo approach’

‘UBM offers a marketing services led programme’

‘Enabling vendors to reach buyers through the optimum multi-channel

mix’

‘Improving engagement and ROI’

‘Designing marketing programmes to meet client

objectives’

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This understanding then leads to the development of a marketing

programme that is designed to deliver sales and marketing messages

using a variety of communications tools and the optimum channel mix.

Vivid Interface was commissioned to conduct an independent audit into

this marketing services and consultancy led approach and to examine

the effectiveness in delivering added value and ROI to clients and their

agencies.

MethodologyThe success of any marketing initiative is not how good it looks but

how effective it is in meeting the business objectives set out at the

beginning of the process. To understand the success of this marketing

services led approach we interviewed a selection of clients of UBM Built

Environment’s Client Solutions team.

Vivid Interface was provided with a database of all Client Solutions’

customers and twelve companies were selected at random for detailed

interview. While the selection of respondents was random we sought to

ensure that the sample was reflective of the client base.

The interviews were confidential to ensure that clients would feel

comfortable providing us with an accurate report on their relationship

with Client Solutions and their cross-media marketing programme.

The interviews followed a discussion guide developed by Vivid Interface

and the interviews were conducted by a research director with

significant experience in digital, print and face-to-face media.

In addition to the depth telephone interviews, Vivid Interface

undertook an examination of quantitative results data from marketing

services projects focussing specifically on the added-value of cross-media

marketing campaigns utilising print, digital and live face-to-face events.

Finally, we examined in detail the marketing programmes designed

by the Client Solutions team and how they delivered audiences to

‘marketing events’ such as conferences, live webinars, ‘live’ online text

debates, round table discussions and follow-up editorial reports.

‘An independent audit into the effectiveness of cross-

media marketing’

‘Examination of the process from understanding

client needs to delivery through cross-media

communications’

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The ResultsThis report of client interviews is an overview of what was conveyed

about their relationship with UBM Built Environment and the Client

Solutions team. It covers the process in the relationship between the

Client Solutions team and their clients and then the measured and

perceived benefits resulting from their media investment with UBM.

Marketing objectives

Clients had a variety of strategic and tactical marketing objectives, but

throughout was the desire to:

• raise brand awareness

• encourage brand engagement

• influence brand advocacy through thought leadership

• create brand ambassador relationships

• generate new business leads

Core benefits

Without exception, clients and marketing agencies interviewed were

highly positive about the marketing and business benefits they were

able to gain through the use of cross-media communications to reach

their target markets.

The effective utilisation of cross-media marketing was able to

successfully deliver an audience through one or more areas of market

engagement - a conference or round table discussion; a webinar or

webinar series, a video or a live text web debate.

Core to the success of these cross-media marketing campaigns was:

• the perceived gravitas of the UBM brands

• the brand reach of the UBM Built Environment print and digital media

into construction markets

• commercially driven consultancy from Client Solutions

• intelligence assets of journalists

• advanced technology skills and the ability to deliver digital and live

face-to-face events

Important in the client’s perception of value in the consultancy and

marketing process, was the skills and technologies that were properties

of UBM, that as clients they did not have in-house.

‘Clear benefits from cross-media communications’

‘Effective delivery of audiences for customer

engagement’

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Interestingly, clients and marketing agencies felt that other B2B

publishers they worked with did not provide similar cross-media

marketing services or consultancy based services that could seek to

optimise market reach across multiple media channels.

Added Value BenefitsMany respondents were able to identify unexpected added value

benefits from a closer working relationship with the UBM media brands

and also from embracing ‘new to them’ digital technology platforms.

From a closer working relationship with the media brands the clients

and their marketing agencies were able to gain significantly from:

• industry / market knowledge and sector dynamics

• networking opportunities through introductions to influential industry

players

• working partnerships with other organisations and companies

• incremental influence through brand association with other market

players

• introductions resulting from relationships that respected journalists

had with senior market players in core markets

Further business benefits were derived from analysis of their digital

marketing activity. In essence this is simple media analysis but in effect

it is hugely significant market intelligence gained from:

• The type of questions posed by audiences within digital platforms

such as webinars

• web pages accessed by audiences

• profiling of tweeters and re-tweeters

• analysis of Twitter traffic to establish a hierarchy of importance of

topics commented on

A consequence of exposure to cross-media marketing campaigns for

these clients is a greater advocacy of digital media communications and

a readiness to incorporate digital media in future marketing campaigns.

‘Core values of brand gravitas, brand reach,

consultancy, intelligent assets and technology skills’

‘Added value through - networking, developing

partnerships, brand association and

relationships with respected journalists’

‘Added value market intelligence from monitoring digital

engagement – questions posed, pages accessed, tweets and re-tweets’

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Interview QuotesA cross-section of the main comments and perceptions from clients

when they were talking about their cross-media marketing campaigns

have been analysed and placed into a word cloud.

We can see that the dominant phrases are a mixture of services offered

(full service, industry expertise, creativity and understanding) and the

benefits to be gained from the cross-media methodology and return on

investment expressed as brand awareness.

For these respondents the key to the success of the campaigns they were

involved with was the ability to communicate to their target audiences

using multi-channel campaigns and the combined brand reach into their

markets.

Media Communications ToolsHere we examine the core media used by the clients in the marketing

campaigns and then examine a sample of different marketing

programmes to see how combinations of different media were used.

Advertising within print and website media – the media brand

assets are targeted to different sectors of the construction markets for

both reach and content. Advertising and advertorials can be targeted to

reach defined audiences.

Inevitably for these clients, advertising and editorial activity in these

campaigns was seeking to drive audiences through to a specific

interactive engagement. Additionally, because of the extensive

‘Success factors = multi-channel campaigns

combined with brand reach’

‘Multi-channel brand reach delivers brand awareness’

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multi-channel brand reach into the construction markets, a valuable

marketing benefit of ‘raising brand awareness’ was easily achieved.

Editorial within print and website media – invariably the interests

of the clients coincide with the editorial focus of the UBM media brands

as both client and media are seeking to communicate with construction

markets. Consistent across the clients campaigns was the desire to

develop a perception of ‘thought leadership’ and this marketing

requirement from the clients has tended to coincide with the editorial

interests of the media brands.

An important benefit to clients is the ability for the Client Solutions

team to identify correlations between client needs, construction market

needs and the editorial focus and strategy.

The clients and their marketing agencies are dealing with issues that are

of contemporary importance to the readers and viewers and as a result

there are opportunities to develop quality editorial content by reporting

the outcomes of discussions and conferences within the print and digital

titles.

Marketing to email databases – each of the UBM media brands

has rich email databases that are updated regularly at the point of

subscription renewal. In most cases emails sent out to the audiences

contain a call to action and a click-through that will take the viewer to a

website that will deliver an on-demand video, an invitation to attend or

the ability to register for a future event like a webinar, a conference, a

round table or an online text debate.

Marketing to mail databases – for some client campaigns printed

materials are considered an important element in a marketing

campaign.

Social media groups – with increased use of social media within

business, live and online events can have a social media presence

and establish for example a LinkedIn group or an online event page

developed for people with similar interests. Twitter has recently proven

to be of increased importance as it encourages contemporaneous

engagement with audiences and increases reach into markets.

‘A conduit to deliver innovation and thought

leadership’

‘Rich email databases enable access to

construction audiences’

‘LinkedIn and Twitter increasing their importance

for supporting B2B marketing campaigns’

‘Access to the opinions of people who matter’

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Market research – in the same way that the reach of the brands

enable targeted communication into sectors of the built environment

markets then the impact of the marketing activities and brand

engagement can be measured by ‘through sector’ research panels that

can guarantee the relevance of the respondents.

Audience Engagement The cross-media campaigns invariably have a call to action inviting

audiences to a live or digital event; to view or to participate as well as

raising brand awareness.

Within the scope of this study the events that audiences were invited to

were varied. Some examples are detailed below:

Live events -

The Low Carbon Buildings Conference

The conference was organised to attract 150 targeted industry

professionals to discuss the energy and cost savings that can result by:

- specifying long-life and adaptable materials

- highlighting the design advantages made by specifying long-life and

adaptable materials

- examining how to minimize the carbon heavy waste and embodied

energy associated with demolition and construction.

The Carbon Trust – Panel debate

A panel of experts including a representative of the Carbon Trust

and chaired by the Property Week and Building editors, debated the

awareness and benefits of low carbon buildings in front of opinion

leaders at an invitation only event.

Celotex – Round table discussion

A selected group of industry experts relevant to the debate on the

introduction of “Part L” were invited to participate in a round table

discussion held at a top London hotel. The round table discussion was

chaired by the assistant editor of ‘Building’.

Live events–Conferences

Panel debatesRound table discussions

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On demand video -

Carbon Reduction Commitment

The consortia of five partners Carbon Trust, Freshfields, Stanhope,

Threadneedle and Power Efficiency worked together co-ordinated by

Client Solutions. The result was a video: ‘Greener Buildings, Greener

Behaviours’: a Carbon Reduction Commitment Update. The video was

created by Client Solutions and then made available to view on Property

Week TV.

Dulux

A series of four video documentaries created for Dulux, focussing on

sustainability champions Wates, Marks and Spencer and Arup were

made available to view on building.co.uk.

Webinars -

Yardi

Yardi, producers of software to improve effectiveness, efficiency and

provide business intelligence for real estate professionals held two

webinars; Going Global and the Future of Fund Management targeted

at the property development and wider construction markets.

Asite

Asite held a series of four webinars focussing on the use and application

of Business Information Modelling (BIM) targeted at the BD and

Building audiences.

Carbon Reduction Commitment

The consortia of five partners (Carbon Trust, Freshfields, Stanhope,

Threadneedle and Power Efficiency) held two webinars: Energy

Efficiency Scheme: Meeting The Carbon Challenge; and an online

debate covering the latest government consultation chaired by the

Professional Editor, Property Week.

On demand videoWebinars

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Live web debate -

The Carbon Trust

A real-time text discussion to extend the reach of The Carbon Trust

debate about awareness and consideration of the benefits of low

carbon buildings. The discussion was held on the Property Week website

to increase the reach of the ‘big debate’ to the wider Property Week

audience. Attendees could send in questions to the expert panel who

discussed the issues raised and continued the debate from the initial live

round table event.

Celotex

A live debate was held on building.co.uk to further the campaign to

associate Celotex with learning and thought leadership around the new

Part L building regulations. The participants could post questions and

comments and the debate is archived on building.co.uk

Market research -

The Brick Development Association (BDA)

The BDA wanted to establish the effectiveness their recent ‘Think

Brick’ advertising campaign had in influencing their target market of

architects and specifiers and to gain a better understanding of the

BDA’s audience, for future strategy development. A survey was sent out

to industry professionals selected from BD and Building’s readership.

Online advertising linked through to the survey was placed on building.

co.uk and bdonline.co.uk.

Celotex

Both pre and post reader panel research was conducted to examine

shifts in awareness amongst the Celotex target audiences. The survey

amongst the target groups examined the understanding of:

• different aspects of Part L and its impact on insulation

• brand recall both pre and post campaign

• willingness to engage with Celotex

Live web debatesMarket research

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Cross-media Case StudiesVivid Interface then took a closer look at cross-media campaigns from

Asite, Celotex and Yardi.

Asite – BIM webinar series

• Email launch to the Building database of 76,000 registered names

• Email newsletter to Building Design database of 44,500 registered names

• Email to previous BIM webinar registrants, 1,046 known individuals

with an interest in BIM

• Adverts on the Building.co.uk website reaching 11,490 active users

• Calendar entries on building.co.uk, bdonline.co.uk, UBM Built

Environment’s Facebook pages and LinkedIn.

• The initial campaign delivered 816 viewers through to the first webinar

in the series from 18,908 opened emails (11.03 % OR) with a CTR of

5.6% (1,063 clicks).

Looking more closely, 205 (or 25%) of the 816 viewers were architects

and 419 viewers or (51%) were also manager level or above within the

construction industry.

• The 4 webinar programme has now delivered 5,459 webinar registrants

who are actively engaging with the Asite brand. This hi-level of brand

exposure led to 914 unique webinar viewers with a median average

viewing time of 43.03 minutes.

• The exposure or reach of the Asite brand within the email marketing

campaign, advertising and calendar entries on the Building and

Building Design websites across the Collaborative BIM series is now

more than 133,000 multiple opportunities to see.

• The Client Solutions team added a new digital media layer to the

webinar series and appointed architect Robert Klaschka as a Twitter

chair. The Client Solutions team were able to provide ‘live time’

commentary throughout the webinar from the Twitter Chair and by

monitoring tweets was able to feed questions direct to the ‘Twitter

Chair’ and the webinar panellists.

• The result of this addition to the series was an additional Twitter reach

of over 30,000 people, generating more than 3,000 incremental leads

and an increase in the average daily mentions of ‘Asite’ online for

more than two weeks after the event.

‘The main thrust of cross-media marketing

is to encourage targeted audiences to participate in the marketing events

created in partnership with Client Solutions’

Asite campaign reach: email Building 76,000

email Building Design 44,500

previous registrants 1,046

ads building.co.uk 11,490

opportunities to see 133,036

Delivered:5,459 webinar registrants

914 unique viewers

Twitter reach 30,000

Twitter leads 3,000

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Celotex – The death of the cavity wall debate

• A full-page editorial launch feature in Building magazine distributed

to Building’s 36,000 brand reach in print, online and by digital edition

The article focussed on a planned round table debate by fourteen

high profile industry experts from key companies including architects,

contractors and consultancies and organisations including the NHBC,

UK Timber Frame Association, Energy Saving Trust, Concrete Centre,

BRE, Zero Carbon Hub. The subject of the Celotex sponsored debate was

titled ‘the death of the cavity wall’.

• A four page write-up in Building magazine reporting on the round

table was distributed to Building’s 36,000 circulation in print, online

and by digital edition.

• A further live debate on building.co.uk was promoted through adverts

on the website to the 11,490 registered users and email newsletters to

the Building database of 76,000, further increasing the reach into the

target market.

• The live debate is archived on building.co.uk for subscribers to access

on demand.

• The exposure and reach of the Cellotex brand within the campaign

created more than 235,000 opportunities to see.

Yardi – Real estate investment webinars

• A series of webinars offering expert insight from industry leaders.

• Email launch and awareness campaign and two further follow up

reminders to the Property Week database of 50,000.

• Two adverts placed on the Property Week website – reaching 10,000

registered users.

• LinkedIn event invitations.

• Facebook event invitation.

• Tweeted to 4,200 Property Week Twitter followers.

• Two webinars, Going Global and The Future of Fund Management,

produced 876 webinar registrants and 429 unique live attendees

actively engaging with the Yardi brand.

• The exposure and reach of the Yardi brand with the campaign is now

more than 170,000 opportunities to see

Cellotex campaign reach:2 articles in Building 72,000

2 email newsletters 152,000

ads on building.co.uk 11,490

opportunities to see 235,490

Yardi campaign reach:3 email newsletters 150,000

2 ads propertyweek.co.uk 20,000

Tweets to Property Week followers 4,200

opportunities to see 174,200

Delivered:876 webinar registrants

429 unique viewers

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The conclusionsThe UBM clients examined by Vivid Interface had engaged in

cross-media marketing and multi-channel delivery with UBM Built

Environment and consider this to be a progressive step forward in their

media relationship.

The clients of the Client Solutions team were clients of UBM Built

Environment because they perceived the core media brands; Building

Design, Building and Property Week to have significant gravitas in their

markets combined with an extensive brand reach through circulation,

subscribers and viewers.

Through their experience of cross-media marketing, clients identified

that new and positive relationships were established between them

and UBM Built Environment. The Client Solutions team provided them

with directly relevant creativity and then access to cross-media and

multi-channel delivery. In addition, the clients felt they had gained

significantly by developing closer relationships with journalists and

benefitted from their extensive knowledge and networks.

Without exception the clients understood the value of cross-media

marketing and multi-channel delivery and considered this way

of working to be a significant improvement on the media ‘silo’

relationships they have previously had with publishers.

Finally, if you would like to discuss any aspect of the research study or

this report, feel free to email or call me: Geoffrey Dixon, Managing

Director, Vivid Interface Ltd, geoffrey@vivid-interface.com, telephone

01953 423435.

“Client Solutions has played a lead role in

the development of our relationship with UBM. They understood our objectives and took them back and

related them to those that execute the work”

“Client Solutions works because of the expertise within the UBM group in

each specific area they work combined with the gravitas of the brands in the markets

they serve”

“They (UBM) are responsive and they know what they

are doing.”