This case study introduces examples of synergy brought about by providing marketing support for business units,
corporate marketing support for the entire company, and co-marketing support with partner companies at major SIer Company B.
Due to the wide range of products handled by Company B as an SIer, the organizational structure was divided into a Corporate Marketing Department responsible for planning and executing company-wide promotions and a Marketing Department belonging to each business unit organized by product or target industry.
Therefore, the promotion of individual products and services was handled by the marketing personnel within each business unit. Enjin's work always starts with understanding the client's business. Since the products and solutions offered by each business unit, as well as their targets, are different, we began by understanding each product and solution.
Starting from Event Support
for Individual to Multiple Business Units
At Company B, each business unit had been conducting promotional activities for their products and solutions individually. For example, when exhibiting at trade shows, each business unit participated separately.
At one point, it was decided to exhibit at a comprehensive IT-related trade show to promote Company B's multiple cloud-related products together. This was the first time Company B participated in an exhibition involving multiple business units. The main person in charge for the exhibition at the trade show, who became the project leader, consulted with the marketing manager of a foreign IT Manufacturer X that developed and sold the products handled by their business unit regarding an agent, and was then introduced to Enjin, who had been providing marketing support for Company X for many years.
Enjin conducted an interview on the purpose of the exhibition and the hoped-for outcomes, identified the challenges for success, set KPIs, and suggested themes and concepts. Additionally, Enjin proposed booth designs, on-site operation plans, and materials to achieve these goals. Since multiple business units were involved, Enjin also participated in internal meetings to facilitate consensus among stakeholders and took the lead in the project.
The exhibition ended successfully, and support continued for several years. The scope of support expanded to include exhibition support for individual business units, support for seminars hosted by business units, and the production of product introduction videos and case studies.
Evolving to Support Company-Wide CxO Initiatives
While supporting the exhibition involving multiple business units, Enjin deepened its understanding of Company B's products and services and its organizational culture and branding.
At one point, the department responsible for corporate-wide marketing consulted with Enjin about initiatives for CxO-level top customers. Considering the state of Company B's marketing initiatives at the time, organizational culture, product portfolio, and competitive activities, Enjin proposed six quick and dirty initiatives, which included the following.
First, a private, invitation-only conference for top customers was adopted. Next, content summarizing Company B's advanced initiatives, industry-specific case studies, and industry trend information was created, and a content syndication initiative targeting important customers of Company B was implemented.
Both were initiatives related to Company B's overall business, and since the projects involved various business units, Enjin's understanding of Company B deepened even further.
Expanding to Comprehensive Marketing Support
Support for company-wide initiatives in the Corporate Marketing Department increased Enjin's recognition within Company B, leading to more support requests from new business units.
Enjin emphasized communication with personnel of individual business units, repeatedly identified and examined issues at the business unit level, and promoted the process of deriving optimal solutions through joint discussions.
Specific initiatives included planning and executing lead generation campaigns, brand strengthening initiatives aimed at gaining brand recognition and top-of-mind awareness, operational internet advertisements such as listing ads and social media ads, service site creation and MA/CMS tool operation, email marketing, and blog content creation.
Proposing Co-Marketing: Provision of New Value
With the spread of marketing support within Company B and the expansion of the initiative areas, opportunities for upstream planning proposals increased.
On this occasion, Enjin took on the new challenge of proposing co-marketing. Co-marketing here refers to collaborative marketing between Company B and the IT manufacturers developing the products handled by Company B.
Enjin has been providing marketing support to foreign IT companies for many years, and one of Enjin's clients is foreign IT Company C, which develops the products handled by Company B. Enjin proposed collaborative marketing to both parties and spearheaded the project as a liaison between the two.
As a result, various joint initiatives were created, such as Company B sponsoring conferences hosted by Company C, joint exhibition participation, and Company C promoting events organized by Company B, leading to cost-effective and efficient promotions for both companies.
