Thursday
Jun192014
Brand Focus: Getting to the point
Jun 19, 2014 ;)
The third in a three-part series on best practices to focus your brand's offer and communication.
Five filters to sharpen your communication's focus.
Entries in marketing (12)
Jun 19, 2014 Tuesday
May272014
Brand Focus: The fear factor
May 27, 2014 
The second in a three-part series on best practices to focus your brand's offer and communication.
One of the primary tasks of strategic marketing is helping brands focus both their message and their target audience.
Thursday
May222014
Brand Focus: It's just good customer service
May 22, 2014 
The first in a three-part series on best practices to focus your brand's offer and communication.
One day I decided I needed a bluetooth headset. So I popped into my local phone shop to pick one up. I was confronted with a wall of over 30 identical-looking, PVC blister-packed, bluetooth headsets. "Which is best for me?" I wondered.
Tuesday
May132014
Getting your brand found online
May 13, 2014 
There are only three ways new prospects can find your brand online, be sure to use all of them.
So you have set up a brand website with helpful content for your prospects, perhaps you have an online store, your CEO posts weekly to your thought leader blog...
1 Comment | tagged awareness building, brand awareness, marketing, online awareness | in Brand Development Wednesday
Apr232014
The fallacy of global brand positioning
Apr 23, 2014 
Is it really possible to define a brand position that works globally?
When Jack Trout and Al Ries penned the marketing classic, "Positioning the Battle for Your Mind," most of the examples they used in support of their theory were domestic US cases. That never occurred to me until I began developing positioning statements for global brands. It wasn’t going well.
Monday
Mar102014
If the traditional ad agency is dead, what will take its place?
Mar 10, 2014 
It was 17 years ago this month that McKinsey & Company published a strategy paper called “A revolution in interaction”. It was a look forward at the likely economic impact of the internet and the mechanisms that would drive it. In 1997 few of us had any idea about the changes that were about to transform marketing or how quickly the business models that defined our industry would become obsolete.
Tuesday
Feb182014
The problem with passion
Feb 18, 2014 
Wanting to do something with all your heart is great. It can bestow extraordinary focus, drive and fortitude. That’s always been the case. But in recent years this sentiment is increasingly being confused with business strategy. The word used to fuel this fallacy is “passion”.
Tuesday
Feb112014
Why content marketing is more than publishing content
Feb 11, 2014 
The Cure for Content: Part II (read part I)
If content is really king then why do most organizations still treat it like the court jester?
Post a Comment | tagged Kotler 4Ps, Nike+, Pampers, Rebel lures, content marketing, marketing | in Content Marketing Tuesday
Jan282014
Brand Beyoncé shows marketers how it's done
Jan 28, 2014 
Beyoncé’s latest album release shows us how audience power is changing the rules of marketing and creating new possibilities for brands - if you are able to see it
1 Comment | tagged Beyoncé, branding, marketing, proprietary audience | in Audience, Marketing Tactics Tuesday
Oct292013
Why games make sense for brands online
Oct 29, 2013 
If you have ever lived with a two-year old, then you probably know that a) anything can be turned into a game and b) it’s often the most powerful tactic you have to motivate new behaviors. What you may not have considered is that our predilection for games doesn’t really go away when we get older. Thus, the rise in recent years of “Gamification”.
Post a Comment | tagged Facebook, Gamification, awareness, branding, engagement, marketing | in Gamification Thursday
Oct242013
Steve Wozniak on Marketing
Oct 24, 2013 
While there isn't a tech CEO I've met who would refute this simple truth, very few are able to embrace it, no less practice it. Why is that?
The Apple co-founder went on to attribute Apple's success to a conscious decision to be a "market-led" company as opposed to a tech-led company. This seemed to be in Steve Job's DNA.
Wednesday
Apr172013
Social Media Mantra
Apr 17, 2013 ;)
Before you even think about online networking for your brand, I suggest the following exercise. First, take your shoes off. Close the blinds and dim the lights in your office. Sit on the floor cross-legged. Place your hands on your knees palms up if you are alone, join hands in a circle if your colleagues are with you. Close your eyes and recite the social media mantra: