By Kate Maddox

In today's slow economy, b2b marketers need to be more creative, relevant and innovative than ever when developing integrated campaigns.

From conducting intensive research with the target audience to creating powerful, targeted advertising messages, marketers are finding new ways to break through the clutter, often with limited budgets.

Brocade Communications Systems, for example, needed to promote its new DCX Backbone data center architecture introduced in January, but it didn't have hundreds of millions of dollars to spend.

“We can't take out Super Bowl ads,” said Tom Buiocchi, VP-worldwide marketing at Brocade.

So its agency of record, Doremus San Francisco, created a superhero character, DCX Man, who appeared in comic books, print and online ads, and even made live appearances at events to promote DCX Backbone.

Some marketers find they need to reinvent their brands as the needs of their audiences change.

Monster Worldwide, for example, launched a rebranding campaign in January to position itself as a company that can help workers realize their life improvement goals.

After doing research with job seekers, Monster and its agency, BBDO New York, found that people want a work-life balance, rather than a straight climb up the corporate ladder.

“To resonate with this audience, as well as invite others to join it, "Your Calling Is Calling' was created to inspire people to keep looking for ways to reach their life ambitions and jolt others out of complacency,” said Ted Gilvar, chief global marketing officer at Monster.

As marketers expand globally, they also need to create brand consistency and ease of implementation with the different pieces of their integrated campaigns.

When Eastman Kodak Co.'s Graphics Communications Group launched its “Print Is ...” campaign in June 2007, it provided the ads to local offices around the world, as well as templates for direct mail pieces they could customize.

“From a regional perspective, I generally know when we have a successful campaign in that our segment managers are keen to run the ads in support of their business rather than trying to create something new,” said Chris Verlander, director of marketing services at Eastman Kodak Co. “This campaign has a lot of internal traction, which is great.”

Finally, nothing works like good old humor.

When rolling out a new campaign aimed at businesses, insurance provider Aflac brought its famous duck, created by Kaplan Thaler Group, New York, to a variety of different business situations.

In the pages that follow, BtoB takes a look at the strategy, creative execution and integrated media plan behind these successful campaigns.