All Food manufacturers have to comply with EU Directive 852/2004, which became UK law in January 2006. This legislation dictates that all manufacturers need to have full traceability of ingredients going into their products.

The IBM PowerNet Programme for ISV’s helped Sanderson fund and organise a sustained and fully integrated marketing campaign based around a series of seminars and adding IBM brand leverage to Sanderson’s Formul8 software proposition. The seminars used industry experts and case studies to educate attendees on the requirements of the legislation and on how Sanderson's Formul8 software not only ensures compliance but also streamlines business processes, resulting in significant cost savings.

To promote the new solution, Sanderson worked with the IBM PowerNet marketing team to design a strategy. The joint team decided to organise two free ‘Food Focus’ seminars at IBM premises, inviting prospective customers from 800 companies in the target sector. The seminars were supported by mail and telemarketing campaigns run by both IBM and Sanderson staff.

“Around 40 companies attended our events, and we had responses from a further 90 by other means,” comments Steve Fisher, Sales Director at Sanderson. “The PowerNet marketing strategy really paid off – holding the events on IBM premises, as is possible for certain business partner offerings, boosted our profile and made customers take notice. Even when they didn’t know a lot about IT, being able to use a ‘big name’ like IBM made a definite impression.”

Richard Wright, IBM PowerNet programme leader, adds: “The importance of the seminars was not the events themselves, but the leads they generated – inviting prospective customers helped to raise awareness of Sanderson’s offering even for those who didn’t attend. In fact, almost half of the new contracts Sanderson has won or expects to win as a result of the campaign have come from non-attendees.”

The Sanderson-Magirus team, with IBM support, has won 11 new customers, delivering £150,000 in System p hardware revenue, and has a 2007 pipeline of 85 companies and £1 million in revenue. Magirus benefits from increased hardware sales, greater margins, and rebates from IBM for sales to new customers. IBM gains entry to a new niche market of small businesses which were previously under its marketing radar. End customers gain a full end-to-end solution aimed directly at meeting their unique business needs.

“In many cases, even five per cent is considered a good response rate for direct marketing – so the campaign with PowerNet has been a tremendous success,” says Steve Fisher. “We have decided to run seven more ‘Food Focus’ events this year, backed with a similar telemarketing and postal initiative.”

Besides the new business for Sanderson, Magirus has benefited from extra hardware sales and rebates from IBM for every new customer the solution is sold to. For hardware resellers, the PowerNet proposition helps avoid ‘box vs. box’ competition, keeping margins higher too.

“Ultimately, and most importantly, the PowerNet programme delivers real benefits to the small business customer,” adds Richard Wright. “By raising awareness of the innovative solutions delivered by IBM and business partners like Sanderson and Magirus, PowerNet helps to ensure that small businesses get the IT support they need to grow the business.”