Abstract:

In the spring of 1994 the Berlingske Group of newspapers in Denmark conducted a survey to gain new knowledge about the decision-making process that business-to-business advertisers’ use in making their media and marketing plans. The project was conducted in cooperation with AIM Nielsen and Alsted Research. The purpose was to take existing quantitative data on the "true decision-maker" and combine it with newly-acquired qualitative data to reveal the decision-makers' way of decoding b-t-b advertisements. This resulted in the identification of three b-t-b segments based on the real decision-makers authority in purchasing goods and services for his or her company, combined with demographic and psychographic information. The project also sheds light on how to communicate with each of the three segments, and on which factors in communication can be said to be segment-specific and which are independent of a segment. Our findings are now used in the Berlingske Advertising Department's daily work with b-t-b advertisers and ad agencies, as an active part of that process which aims to contribute the knowledge that will help advertisers to maximize the results of their marketing expenditures.