NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Ogilvy Public Relations (Ogilvy PR) today announced the launch of a new global digital influence service called Digital Influence for B2B, designed to help business-to-business (B2B) companies adapt to the changes that have occurred in how B2B buyers are seeking information and opinions of others when considering a purchase.

The new service for driving awareness and sales consideration is led by an integrated, global team of specialists including:


    --  B2B communications experts
    --  Social media experts
    --  Sales enablement experts

"B2B companies, especially B2B technology companies, are inherently sales-driven organizations. Social media has undeniably changed the B2B buying process as much as it has impacted the B2C process," said Amy Messenger, Managing Director of the U.S. Technology Practice at Ogilvy PR. "We saw a need to evolve and expand our existing B2B social media efforts into an integrated offering that reflects today's B2B buyer behaviors and puts brands in the best possible position to be considered at a variety of touch-points along the customer journey."

The Digital Influence for B2B buyer journey-based service launches with six solutions:


    --  Content driven thought leadership
    --  Search and content optimization
    --  Socially enabled sales force
    --  Community marketing
    --  Influencer engagement and activation
    --  Social product marketing

"We know that B2B buyers are seeking information, opinions and the experiences of others before they initiate contact with sales teams. With today's B2B buyer journey it is critical that communications, sales and marketing come together and use innovative social practices to build profitable customer relationships," said John Bell, Global Managing Director, Social@Ogilvy. "With our new, integrated B2B social communications team, we have methods and tools to effectively connect socially-enabled communications with meaningful sales-related goals."

The new offering is firmly grounded in the B2B customer journey, and an appreciation of how it has changed with the advancement of digital communications and social media. One dramatic change for sales organizations is that the average B2B IT buyer needs to consume five pieces of content before they are ready to speak to sales. (source: IDG Enterprise Customer Engagement Research, 2012). This speaks to the critical nature of quality content that is optimized for organic search. In addition, 82 percent of B2B technology decision makers say colleagues within their organization influence their purchase decision-making process. (source: Forrester Research, Inc., 2011 Social Technographics for Business Technology Buyers, October 2011). This highlights an untapped opportunity for many B2B organizations to expand development of advocacy programs in social media to share the opinions of employees, customers and partners.

The interdisciplinary team includes Ogilvy PR's Technology Practice, Social@Ogilvy and Leopard (www.leopard.com), Ogilvy's B2B sales enablement group. The team's combined experience provides clients with unmatched understanding of the roles that content, customer sentiment and endorsement, and channel uniquely play within B2B environments.

Ogilvy's Digital Influence for B2B service is unique and valuable to clients because it offers:


    --  The Social Media Engagement Approach refined by Social@Ogilvy over the
        last eight years.
    --  A Deep Understanding of the Unique B2B Marketing and Sales Environment
        honed over 25 years of work in B2B across Ogilvy PR's Technology
        Practice and Leopard.
    --  A Global Network of Social and B2B Expertise with Ogilvy PR and
        Social@Ogilvy professionals.
    --  A Content Strategy to align marketing and sales content with customer
        needs along the buyer journey.

About Ogilvy Public Relations:
 Ogilvy Public Relations (Ogilvy PR) is a global, multi-disciplinary communications leader operating in more than 85 offices across six continents. In 2012, Ogilvy was named Cannes Lions Network of the Year and Most Effective Agency Network by the Effie Global Effectiveness Index, named Public Affairs Consultancy of the Year by the Holmes Report, won Consumer Consultancy of the Year in Asia Pacific (Holmes Report), and won the WPP global, top award (WPPed Cream, Creme de la Creme) for the fifth time in six years. Ogilvy PR integrates deeply with all Ogilvy & Mather disciplines (advertising, direct marketing, activation, promotional, digital and entertainment) through the proprietary Ogilvy Fusion(TM) approach to delivering comprehensive, business solutions through content creation, community building, and communications with measurable results. Ogilvy PR is a unit of Ogilvy & Mather, a WPP company (NASDAQ: WPPGY), and one of the largest marketing communications companies in the world. For more information, visit our website at www.ogilvypr.com or follow us on Twitter at @ogilvypr.

About Leopard:
 Leopard specializes in driving success for B2B and B2B2C clients by unlocking their best selling potential. We establish and extend the brand through sales and marketing channels with experienced insights, fire-tested methodologies, comprehensive sales tools, pervasive creativity and measurable outcomes. In essence, we put a sales lens on everything we do. As a specialty agency of Ogilvy & Mather, a WPP company (NASDAQ: WPPGY), we deliver the best of both worlds: the exacting focus, attentiveness and agility of a creative boutique and the unparalleled capabilities and scalability of a leading global enterprise. For more information, visit our Web site at www.Leopard.com.

Links:

http://www.forrester.com/2011+Social+Technographics174+For+Business+Technology+Buyers/fulltext/-/E-RES58564

http://www.idgenterprise.com/press/research-demonstrates-content-plays-key-role-in-accelerating-sales-through-lead-nurturing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L83yPljBYuQ&feature=youtu.be

SOURCE Ogilvy Public Relations