Print Power

SAP is one of those companies that few people have heard of but few people could live without. You could wake up to your Sharp alarm clock, go for a run in your Adidas trainers, get milk out of your Bosch fridge to pour on your Kelloggs cereal, shave with Proctor & Gamble products, and look at your TAG Heuer watch to see it was time to jump in your BMW car and head to work, and everything you would have done that morning would have to some extent relied on SAP’s products and services.

As João Paulo da Silva, Head of Field Marketing for EMEA & India, puts it: “Businesses of all sizes in all sectors right across the globe rely on SAP. In fact it would be possible to spend an entire day using only products that we’ve had an involvement with.”

The company

SAP is a software provider. It provides its clients with software that helps them manage their businesses more effectively, in areas like production, finance and customer relations. In short, SAP’s goal is to help its clients innovate and deliver value to their customers.

The company was founded in 1972 in Waldorf by four ex-IBM employees. In 2009 it turned over 10.6 billion euros. It has more than 47,000 staff, 15,000 of whom work in research and development. In fact research and development is a vital area for the company – ultimately its success is dependent on its ability to produce ground-breaking new software and so every year it reinvests 15% of its turnover in research and development.

Innovation and marketing

This strong focus on innovation and product has stood the company in good stead through the recent global economic downturn. Da Silva reports that while sales have fallen the decline has not been as severe as that suffered by others in the market, and the company has actually increased market share. In 2010 it is aiming for double digit growth, and Da Silva is confident the company will achieve that goal.

However to achieve that goal it is important that the marketing department delivers an optimum performance. It has a clear remit and clear strategy, as Da Silva explains: “We market to companies in all sectors, but we have very specific decision-makers that we target. Depending on the product it could be the chief financial officer, the chief information officer, the chief executive or the sales, sustainability or compliance leader.

The marketing mix

Da Silva believes that the secret to success in life is achieving balance and that the same is true of marketing. So, while the company uses every possible channel to reach its audience with its message, placing ads in the business press, producing customer magazines, telemarketing, running direct marketing campaigns which can range from simple mailers to sending bonsai trees to key decision-makers, as well as online tactics such as banner ads, natural search and paid-for search, throughout all of this activity the key is to ensure it is all integrated so the whole becomes more than the sum of the parts.

In recent years this marketing mix has evolved in two ways. Firstly, the online channel has grown in importance. Da Silva explains: “Ten years ago we had a website and it was a useful information source; now it’s a central part of our marketing activities.” Secondly, the recession has dented SAP’s investment in vertical trade press. The company’s advertising budgets are now focused on generalist business titles simply because they provide a cost-efficient way of reaching a large target audience with a limited budget.

However, Da Silva does not believe that online will take over from print. “It depends very much on the market,” he says. “In EMEA the split is around 55% print, 45% online, but in India print would get around 90% of the budget and in the US our online spend is higher than EMEA. It’s all about where the audience is in the specific market.”

Use of print media

SAP runs ads in top tier business magazines like Business Week and the FT. In general it has three objectives for these campaigns involving magazine ads. Not every campaign will have all three, but all will usually involve at least one of these objectives. “The first objective is to raise general awareness of the company,” says Da Silva. “This is very hard to measure but we try to anchor it and observe improvements by running surveys before and after the campaigns.”

He continues: “The second objective is to promote events such as roadshows, seminars or trade exhibitions. For example we recently had a large stand at CEBIT, a major exhibition for the world’s digital industry. It was held in Hanover in March and we used magazine ads to encourage our customers and potential customers to attend the show and visit our stand.”

He adds: “The third objective is to provide a specific call to action. This can vary but typically it will be an offer we are running that is valid for a specific moment in time. We might need to let a particular type of C-level executive in a sector and country know about that offer, and magazine ads can be a great way of getting this tightly targeted message out there linking it to on-line media.”

Benefits of print media

“The good thing about magazine ads is that the reader actually holds the magazine in his or her hands,” he explains. “This matters in two ways. Firstly it presents you with opportunities to fully engage the reader with striking images. Secondly, print magazines are portable – you don’t see people sitting on the beach with their laptops. People can take magazines to places like the beach and so they tend to be in a more relaxed, receptive state when reading magazines. The end result is that the ads can make a very strong connection with those readers.”

This is not simply theory. Da Silva and his colleagues use brand tracking data to understand how long term investment in awareness building and lead generation campaigns influences brand awareness and purchase consideration among SAP’s target audience. So, to give just one example of the effect of these campaigns, in Germany between 2003 and 2008 the company invested significantly in campaigns aimed at the mid-market and saw unaided brand awareness among this group grow by 22% and purchase consideration grow by 109%.

Integrate, integrate, integrate

For all these strengths, however, print campaigns cannot stand alone. They must always be integrated with the company’s online activities, its direct marketing, its telemarketing, and so on. “We think of campaigns as 360 degree,” says Da Silva. “Print is only ever a part of a larger campaign. In fact our campaigns are so well integrated that it’s often very difficult to separate out what was achieved specifically through print media. However brand tracking data is our best indication of this, and the results there are clear to see.”

SAP ran a wide range of magazine ads as part of the “Clear initiative”, some specific to individual countries, others pan-European. While most were normal ads, some were fireplace ads. That is a particularly effective style of ad where the copy on the page surrounds the ad – just like a fireplace surrounds a fire - drawing the readers’ eyes in towards the ad.

This advertising was integrated with other marketing activity. SAP leveraged the campaign in its World Tour, a roadshow that makes 80 stops in EMEA. It also changed all its websites around the world to convey the “Clear” message. Da Silva says: “We measure campaign performance through analysis of key metrics related to reach, response and engagement, and the Clear campaign.”

The future

Da Silva believes that print media will change in the coming months and years. He says: “Print faces a major challenge with the rise of online media. It needs to respond to this in two ways. Firstly, it needs to ensure that its content is strong enough to keep readers loyal. Secondly, it needs to continue to innovate in the format of ads that it offers advertisers. There is so much that can be done with a print magazine. There is enormous room for creativity in this area.”