What Do B2B Marketers Do Now? is an ongoing email. Join the mailing list to be the first to receive these weekly insights!

Is attention to detail becoming a dying art in B2B? Call me crazy, but I’ve seen a disappointing drop in quality in a lot of the marketing I see. Is it acceptable now to have external (or internal) communications filled with typos? I think a healthy dose of B2B paranoia – especially when dealing with communications – is a good thing, don’t you? At least that’s what I tell myself…

Give this song by Black Sabbath a listen with me as we see what the experts are saying this week.

High tech hits the repair shop

Have you taken your car to the shop lately? Over the past decade, cars have gotten more complex and computerized. Each vehicle is now studded with sensors, packed with hundreds or thousands of computer chips, and controlled by software. Auto industry insiders wax poetic all day long about the safety benefits of the “software-defined vehicle” – which also enables revenue-boosting data collection and subscriptions that make it safer to be not just an auto owner, but an auto executive, too.

Less talked about are the consequences of computerized cars at the auto shop. Fixing complex vehicles requires increasingly expert and expensive knowledge, and tools that are in limited supply. It’s part of the same trend that has driven farmers to hack their own tractors and triggered legal fights over what rights consumers have over their own vehicles.

How does your tech impact your supply chain? Have you thought about how upgrades to your software might impact those partners that are in the trenches with your end customers every day?

Music in the Metaverse

Touring is exhausting, expensive, and bad for the environment. Some predict that a shift over to the metaverse to solve these problems will open performances to more people, and result in more revenue for artists.

I’m not sold yet, but the people behind the Metaverse Music Festival think they’ve got a handle on where things are going. Call it a proof-of-concept offering to show how musicians can get into the new tech.

The inclusive, “something-for-everybody” lineup of more than 100 artists participating in the festival November 10-13 includes:

  • Ozzy Osbourne (!!!)
  • Soulja Boy
  • A series of J-pop and Chinese idol groups
  • Skullz (a virtual group)
  • Deadmau5 and other crypto-native artists
  • A “Jerry Garcia acoustic stage”

… plus lots of virtual merch!

Last year’s inaugural event attracted 50,000 people over four days – it’s free and you don’t even need a headset to participate.

We’ve seen many events go virtual during the lockdown, but nothing seems to satisfy the B2B audience, which is embracing the return to IRL events… What about you? Are you excited to get back into those in-person events, or do the virtual ones make true happiness?

As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or just say hello!

Looking forward,
Rick

Rick Endrulat, President | ricke@v-causeway.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rickendrulat