Woo hoo! John Watton, B2B Marketer of the Year

Woke up in a haze on a strange sofa in an unknown flat. Looked down: dinner jacket. Weird purple stain on shirt. Ah — it wasn’t a dream then: John Watton, our intrepid ShipServ client really did win B2B Marketer of the Year in the B2B Marketing Magazine Awards last night…

It all came rushing back. The ‘gala’ tent pitched somewhere in Moorgate; the Glaswegian comedian abusing the crowd; the backless dress gliding past; the clump of beetroot risotto (see ‘purple stain’ above) propping up a dessicated slab of sea bass; the lights, the music, the envelope please…

When we met John Watton, he didn’t know the difference between PPC and CPM. He thought search marketing involved bloodhounds. Now, he’s reached the pinnacle of his profession. We’re not saying it was easy. We spent countless hours with him, explaining how email really works (Stan wanted to let him go on believing in ‘little digital courier bikes’); why a website is really a good idea in times like these (“Can’t we just have a brochure?” Bless.); what Marketo is and why it’s so powerful (“Those names are called LEADS and, one day, with a little nurturing, they might become SALES” — sheesh).

Okay, when we met him he had done some pretty important marketing jobs for small outfits like Microsoft, Oracle and Ariba. But we’ll always remember the tears of joy that welled up in his eyes when, after long deliberation, we gave him the good news: yes, we saw just a glimmer of something in him (talent: yes; enthusiasm: in spades; but really it was his willingness to learn) and that he had made it on to our client list.

Colonel Tom Parker, once said, “When I met Elvis, he had a million dollars worth of talent. Now he has a million dollars.” (that was a lot then).  Well, when we met John Watton, he was a crazy kid with an electric keyboard, a pirated copy of Garage Band and some big ideas. Now, he’s the FUCKING B2B MARKETER OF THE ENTIRE BOLLOCKING YEAR.

This, in a nutshell, is the Velocity Effect.  And if you want yourself some of that action, well, take a number*.

[Disclaimer: 99% of the above is false. John came to us fully-formed.]
[Added disclaimer: well, 100%]

As an Agency, we also pulled down a Highly Commended for our snappily-titled “Content and Social Media Marketing Campaign for ShipServ” (hey, it’s how you tell them). If John’s triumph feels like winning an Oscar, our Highly Commended feels like a pat on the head by the neighbourhood wino. (Kidding, judges, we’re thrilled to bits and you look marvelous).

We’d like to say that we created the entry that won John this well-deserved gong (why didn’t we?); but it was Laura Mishima at Marketo, the fast-growing, arse-kicking, lead-scoring giants of Demand Generation.  John works Marketo like Jenson Button works a Skoda. The results are now a part of B2B marketing history.

Purple stain aside, we enjoyed ourselves last night and are proud to have played a part in John’s annus (mirabilis).

*+44 208 940 4099