A selfish prospect? There’s no other kind – so respect wiifm. That’s why marketers are always talking about benefits. All sing praises to the virtues of the products or services delivered by their brand. Okay. Agreed. Clearly that’s a big step up from naively talking about features, which will get your knuckles rapped in Salesmanship 101 class. Features are, to …
Is your marketing ROI in decline?
Do your ads, intended to sizzle, fizzle? Does it cost more, year against year, to get through to your market? When we pose this question to CEOs and CMOs, the answer is a uniform and melancholy Yes. Marketing ROI is declining for companies who are not evolving fast enough. Outbound marketing is less cost-effective this year compared to last year, …
Is your brand digital-smart?
Let’s assume nobody reading this is still on the dinosaur end of the digital bell curve, clinging desperately to traditional advertising. Or printed directories, cold calling, and other circa-1998 antiques. Neither are you likely to be found on the other pointy end of the bell curve, shunning traditional media, uber-active in social media, building dialog with customers, and seeing great …
Naming: navigating the minefield
It’s very challenging to create company names these days, especially when we insist on making the name available as a .com, be trademarkable, be easy to spell – zig-zagging around dozens of branding landmines. (One acid test: Can you remember a name perfectly, for example, if you hear it once over the phone?) So. We’re very pleased to unveil InOut …
How do you answer “We already tried that”?
How do you solve the recurring difficulty of brand stakeholders stuck behind the that-doesn’t-work-for-us barrier? Sure, sometimes it’s legitimate. There are always strategies, tactics, media and processes impractical for a given brand. (Don’t advertise tampons during hockey broadcasts, or reverse mortgages on the Disney Channel.) There are even whole market segments that should be avoided. (Marketing cottage cheese to African-Americans, …
Leave company and product naming up to us.
Not that you aren’t passionately concerned with your new name. On the contrary. You’re the one most in the risk/reward hot seat. But naming is not your primary business, so it’s something you should outsource, just as you outsource brain surgery, elevator repair, and dog grooming. There are people out there with skills, experience and specialized tools. We immodestly include …
How Customer-Centered hurts your brand
You’re proud of your customer service. What could be wrong with that? Several things. For one, if you are truly “centered on your customers,” offer “great customer service,” or try to stay “close to the customer,” (to quote three clichés), you will miss great growth opportunities, and probably adopt a less-than-powerful brand strategy. To readers of business books, this probably …
Three strategies for tough times
Current economic conditions mean your category is in flux. You and your competitors face tough choices. You have your brand to protect, so you have three strategic choices: spend less, spend more, or pretend nothing’s changed. Ignoring the fantasyland of choice #3, what’s the best strategy for you? Choosing between cost-cutting and aggression is easy, once you ask yourself a …
Wake me up when September … begins?
Conventional wisdom tells us that “nobody makes serious business decisions in August,” so wait until Labor Day to approach CEOs with matters that matter. Horsefeathers. Maybe that’s true in France, where the whole nation goes on vacation, but any American CEO who goes passive for an entire month just isn’t serious enough about the company’s competitive opportunities. In a time …