How to meld supplier and client marketing

Doug Williams, President of the Buckner Companies in North Carolina poses with his new crane. Note how publicity is melded here combining the supplier, client, and various media including trade shows, video, and websites. Much of our own business is built on melding and enhancing these types of client/supplier relationships -- you can often do other things as well.

We're big proponents of supplier/client public relations and marketing, melding supplier-support advertising with editorial features and profiles. The idea behind the system is to create real value for everyone, breaking the traditional tyranny and waste of conventional advertising and communications marketing. The cornerstone of our model is the advertising supported editorial feature.

This is effective because:

• The company/organization profiled in the editorial feature receives valuable, credible publicity, written by professional journalists, in a publication with independent news content.


• The supplier advertising support allows for a much larger and longer feature than a conventional advertorial; in many cases the feature can be a special supplement/section of eight, 12 or even more pages.


• Advertisers spend their money where it does the most good to them -- supporting and enhancing their current client relationships. But they also gain credibility and recognition (and additional marketing and promotional support from us, as part of our overall business practice.)

Our model, of course, is not the only approach to linking suppliers and clients in communications strategies. This note from North Carolina publisher Bob Kruhm shows other approaches, which may work for your business, in conjunction with what we do, or independently.

Mark,

This could be a good international story for your blog. Eddie Williams, CEO, Buckner Companies, (You met him at the Triangle ASAC Luncheon) is a founder of the American Subcontractors Association of the Carolinas. He has been at ConExpo all Las Vegas last week and finally called me this afternoon with this incredible story from ConExpo that appears on the Kobelco (KHL) website.

http://www.khl.com/conexpo/article.asp?articleid=181&magazineid=8.
You will particularly enjoy the video.
You’ve received the email I sent KHL (based in the UK) requesting pictures. It’s in the public domain and can be used on your blog whenever you wish.

Bob

Note how the crane supplier uses video, the Internet, and trade show tie ins to provide some promotional value to its client -- and itself. Not bad. If you are making a major purchase or acquisition, there is no reason not to ask your supplier for some marketing support in relevant media. They may co-op on advertising, or assist you with news releases and publicity services.