The challenge: Centrica is a global house of brands that provides energy solutions, which includes household names such as British Gas, Direct Energy, and Hive. They needed a B2B partner to provide a strategic and creative plan that covered several marketing goals across their brand portfolio. Key objectives included: to research and identify the right vertical sectors to target, to drive lead generation and engagement among high-value customers (HVCs), and to help define Centrica as an innovative energy pioneer. Traditional B2B marketing just wouldn’t cut it – this required a whole new level of comprehensive research, consumer insight, strategic planning, and flawless brand activation.

The idea: Centrica is a massive machine with plenty of moving parts that required bespoke marketing mechanics and a long-term partnership, not just a one-off campaign for short-term results. The answer: the Because team provided a revolutionary new B2B marketing framework for Centrica that was underpinned by in-depth research that helped them to identify and target key vertical sectors. This deep focus on research and upfront planning at the start of the relationship was new to the sales team, and it offered game-changing rewards. Not only did it mean that the right amount of investment was directed at the most critical events, but it also drastically improved the overall ROI of the annual programme of events.

The solution: The Centrica Business Solutions team was forged to deliver High Value Customers and to help build up the brand as an innovative leader. Our team used research and analysis to target key verticals, and introduced smart proprietary tools like our Venue Selection Model (VSM), which has been honed over twenty years to optimise location planning. The VSM empowered the CBS team to evaluate and rank all event options by scoring them against set criteria.

Once the venues were selected, the team set out on re-imagining live events and branded content, overhauling the client messaging at every digital and social touchpoint, and tightening the internal sales funnel for higher-quality leads. The suite of gadgets created included Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), interactive touch screens, drones, e-CRM, and more, and they were integrated across all the different events and marketing communication touchpoints.

As a solution, the new CBS team offered Centrica way more than a traditional, dry B2B approach with feather banners and a lonely pull-up banner. A high-tech example: one of the sub-brands, British Gas, turned up the heat at events with drone races and this injected new energy into experiences with British Gas, and the way customers viewed it. This use of creative technology was harnessed throughout the group, and it was the catalyst for all the right kind of results.

This challenge spanned a four-year relationship which covered hundreds of different events, thousands of customer interactions with countless new business leads generated, and ones which counted: high-value customers, the real fuel of this energy company.

At the end of the first year, all the learnings were reviewed. The momentum was built on using newer technology, additional digital and social channels, and even more creative event ideas. Pre and post event engagement ramped up considerably thanks to smarter social media amplification. All-in-all, the power was turned up as the plan was proven to work.

Dialing up the success: The secret behind the success was not just in the use of creative technology or smart customer experiences; it was thanks to the foundation laid at the start of the relationship. The in-depth research, the sound strategic planning, the targeting of key verticals by the dynamic Centrica Business Solutions team at the start were the major catalysts for success. The team plugged in the right tools and used smarter, tech systems to help future-proof the brand and to engage high-value customers.

The result: all the hundreds of events, thousands of touchpoints, and millions of different brand interactions were aligned towards the same goals.

If you need to turn up the heat on your B2B marketing efforts, drop us a line. We can’t promise to be the best at drone racing, but we will help you find the high-value customers you want.

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