Having been in marketing communications for nearly as long as Fifth Ring and approaching my 10th year with the company (yes, I know, I don’t look old enough!) this is perhaps an appropriate time to reflect on how much this industry has evolved, especially for B2B communications.
This issue examines some of the oldest forms of marketing communication, i.e. word of mouth, as well as some of the newest, in the form of social media. What these two have in common is their reliance on strong and carefully selected networks whether online or offline.
I have to confess that when it comes to networking, I’m a fairly recent convert, having only fully embraced the concept in the last two years. More recently I’ve taken the next step and created a business growth strategy for our Middle East office, based around networking and referral marketing and so far it’s been extremely successful. When you combine this with all the traditional channels and activities that our own services provide, you have an extremely powerful, profitable and rewarding solution to grow your business.
Networks, and knowing how to use them, are vitally important, whether it be internally within your company, across a region or globally, and this issue touches on all three of these. If you effectively communicate with your most important networks and know how to get the most out of them, you simply can’t go wrong.
Read on, enjoy and then go cast your net-work!
(Introduction by Annette Fernandes, BBN)
