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OK, so it's not really a secret that effective marketing leads to the prospect of better sales. But the thing that really compelled me during the session was the true interest on the part of the attending VARs and solution providers to market their own organizations, and not just fob themselves off as a partner of XYZ vendor.
Fact is, the buzz on marketing is pretty loud right now. Several times during my IPED experience, the solution providers literally shouted ideas across the room. And, to a person, these executives were interested in raising the profile for their total solutions and not simply some random, albeit vitally important product.
The same mindset is driving a dramatic rebranding at DataTech Enterprises, which just renamed itself Acolyst(the name being a rather clever mashup of the words "catalyst" and "acolyte").
Over the past year, the team at Acolyst have been assembling a new Solution Center, where it will be able to demonstrate working proofs of concepts of its various solutions for customer prospects. Its specialties include storage management, security, network management, back office tools and conferencing applications. "We are selling the result," says Acolyst President and CEO Ellie Nazemoff.
Certainly, Acolyst has reached out to vendors for help in building out its center among those coming through with equipment and software were Intel, Computer Associates, Business Objects, MiraLink and Mitratech.
But Valeh Nazemoff, vice president of business development for Acolyte, which has its headquarters in Fredericksburg, Va., says her team has written its own rules for how vendors can partner with her if they want visibility in the center.
Acolyst has established several marketing campaign agreement levels. At Level 1, vendors can have their product included in the center for hands-on demonstrations. At Level 2, Acolyst will include the vendor in its government contract vehicles (including GSA, ECSIII and Seaport-e). If a vendor commits at Level 3, it will have the right to establish a satellite office in the Solution Center for use by its own sales personnel, and Acolyst will work on joint marketing. Above that, the solution provider will include vendors as part of its themed education seminars and miniature trade show events.
Certainly I can't do justice to all the details of this multifaceted marketing plan. But the point is, the Acolyst team has stepped back to write its own rules so that it can maintain its focus on who it needs to worry about pleasing most " the customer, not the vendor.
What cool marketing strategies have you adopted? E-mail me at hclancy@cmp.com.
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