Note: TMP Government is dedicated to communicating on behalf of all of the players within the government community. In addition to serving the citizen and recruitment communications needs of government clients, TMP Government serves the communications needs of contractors and associations. During the present focus on deficit reduction, all players in the government community share a common concern of giving the taxpayer the best possible value for dollars spent.
Business marketing often depends on reaching a dual audience. The decision-makers set requirements, issue proposal requests, select vendors and manage an acquisition life cycle. These program managers, technical professionals and contract specialists must be aware of a company’s capabilities. Meanwhile, decision-influencers oversee how multiple projects achieve a larger mission. These senior executives may only know a company by image or reputation. When buying power remains strong, influencers bless and decision-makers act.
These days, however, business-to-business (B2B) sellers are accustomed to hearing that decisions have “moved up the chain.” When cost-consciousness prevails, purchases once reserved for middle management can climb as high as the C-Suite or even the Board of Directors. Similarly, business-to-government (B2G) marketing is now confronting a C-Suite equivalent in agency senior executives and the 535-member Board that is the United States Congress. When budget cuts take center stage, even that Board can assume more of a decision-making role.
For example, in late June, the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) took a more than influential role in the most expensive defense program ever: the Joint Strike Fighter, or F-35. A 13-13 vote prevented the program, on which billions have already been invested, from being scrapped. Article on aviationweek.com: Senate Panel Barely Turns Back JSF Threat
Not surprisingly, the F-35 Lightning II Team (Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems) is doing what TMP has often recommended to B2G clients: running ads in those key print and online media frequented by Congress and their staffers. But the big prime systems integrators have strong, recognizable brands. How can mid-size and even smaller firms get known in the higher echelons of the Legislative and Executive branches of government?
The first step is to address the concerns of influencers. What information is helpful in their understanding the relative importance of a program? Congress and its committees weigh priorities across the entire government. With everything “on the table,” members can hardly have expert, detailed knowledge of each program, much less the contractors behind them. They can’t know how the parts fit into the whole as well as all of the intricate private sector partnerships necessary for the country’s well being. Finally, they have no idea what you do.
A Tough Customer to Crack
The message for Federal contractors is clear: How can you sell a product to someone who doesn’t know anything about your organization? B2B has long acknowledged this principle. At the turn of the millennium, B2B Magazine and Crain Communications chose the 1950s “Man in a Chair” as the best business-to-business ad of the century. It features a tough, starch-shirted, bow-tied, no-nonsense gent staring straight in the eyes of the reader, who presumably represents a company that doesn’t advertise. In 2009, the Business Marketing Association updated the ad with a dramatic presentation. They juxtaposed the 1958 customer with a current Web 2.0-savvy counterpart: B-to-B Marketing Fundamentals (YouTube)
Now imagine selling your product to those 26 senators on the SASC. As you look across the table, you recognize faces that you’ve mostly seen on the evening news. Start off with a Presidential and a Vice-Presidential candidate. Then there’s a gentleman known as the “Taxpayer’s Hero.” And wasn’t that lady the first woman in history to be elected both a governor and a United States Senator? The chances are that unless you are one of the Big Prime contractors, they may not even know your name, much less associate anything with it.
Local market, national significance
The good news is that those Senators and other Federal influencers depend on local media for news and entertainment. Yes, even if they have a driver, they can’t get around those lengthy Washington commutes. So you might look at Washington, D.C. as just another top 10 Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMA), comparable to Houston, Miami, Atlanta or Boston. But unlike those other markets, D.C. contains official Washington leaders with national implications. If your agency’s account, creative and media teams understand this market you have a chance to get known.
What’s more, you can be doing your government customer a favor. After all, unlike a CEO and a Board of Directors, Executive Department leaders have strict limitations in speaking with Congress. Keeping programs sold can then fall to the contractors. That way you can handle the two communications charges for a government contractor: Establish a distinctive, credible image and make sure your programs get their due in a fierce debate over priorities.
In our next article in this series, we’ll discuss how your messages can serve both ends.
In the meantime, for help with your B2G communications please contact Mark Havard at Mark.Havard@TMPgovernment.com or give him a call at 703-269-0144.
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