John S. Wolfe

Content. Content. Content.

That’s the name of the game for businesses in the Internet age.

To hear Al Maag, chief communications officer for Avnet, explain it, every company is now a publisher.

Avnet produces blogs to advance a thought-leadership strategy (see this “soft-pitch” blog for journalists) and incorporates videos from suppliers to share relevant information with customers.

“If there’s one thing our corporation does better than the competition,” Maag told the audience at the Sept. 23 Marketing Technology Summit in Phoenix, “it’s we do educate our customers.”

A key element is Avnet OnDemand. Avnet aggregates informational and training videos from its suppliers, becoming a resource to customers in any location around the world while also strengthening its corporate partnerships.

Maag discusses Avnet’s approach.

Another aspect of Avnet’s strategy is employee engagement. As a distributor, not a producer, the majority of Avnet’s expenses are in human resources.

“We believe strongly that employee engagement leads to better service, and better service leads to better sales and profits,” he said.

Maag’s advice is simple: Try things.

“We’ve been called ‘Blog Boy’ and ‘Tweeter Dee’ and ‘Tweeter Dum,’” he related. “But it all comes down to one word: Education.”