Director's Spotlight

With festival season around the corner, I think the time is ripe to begin a discourse on the interrelation between marketing and festivals. Festivals have become a cultural touch-point for marketers, offering avenues for discovering and identifying new customers and connecting with the existing ones. Because of this, more and more brands are turning to festivals as a marketing channel to foster unobstructed and authentic relationships with customers. This is undeniably true of the B2C marketing segment. But, have you ever contemplated whether festivals impact B2B marketing? If yes, then have you ever pondered over whether the impact is positive or negative?

The general perception would be that B2B marketing activities tend to see an upswing during pre-festival period in tandem with the affairs in the B2C market. Not apparently so!

Based on my interactions with the marketing heads of various organisations, I have concluded that sentiments are rather subdued and gloomy when it comes to B2B marketing in the pre-festival period. Jumping on the bandwagon of buoyed sentiments in the B2C markets, B2B marketers do try to push sales by offering discounts and incentives to their clients but the net effect of these efforts on the sales numbers is muted.

With B2B sales cycle spanning a period of 3-6 months, the little impact that B2B marketing would have on businesses will also not be immediately palpable. Therefore, brands predominantly focus on strengthening their relationships with the existing clients through various engagement activities in the festive season rather than on making efforts to build new prospects.

Based on my discussions, I have also arrived at the hypothesis that businesses operating in the B2B segment tend to defer their purchasing decisions during festival season, the validity of which is yet to be established.

As marketers, I believe it is time that we start digging in less explored and lesser probed arenas of marketing to chart out effective strategies. I would be more than glad to know your opinion on the points I have put across. I would also be interested in knowing your answers to “what, according to you, is the impact of festivals on B2B marketing?” I will look forward to your responses.

 

Best regards,

Sandipan Ray