Marketing Articles About Competition

Marketing Articles About Competition Search Results

Results for: competition

34 items found:

Article marketing -- strategies to increase sales. Article marketing is successful on the World Wide Web through supply of information. With many new businesses plying on the Internet recently, competition has become stiff. It is indeed a challenge to... (08/26/08 09:01 AM)

Boeing's Game: Bid or No Bid?. Its threat to pull out of the renewed Air Force tanker competition with Northrop/EADS could rile up Congress—possibly just what Boeing wants

(08/22/08 09:00 AM)

Essentials for an entrepreneur of online business. Commencing an online business is not an easy job to do. The increasing competition in the online market has made the survival of a new business quite tough. For getting success in online market, you n... (08/20/08 09:01 AM)

How to use effective Article Marketing To Stay Competitive Online. Access to information has opened a lot of doors for entrepreneurs. It allowed them to do business online and reach a greater number of people through establishing a website. This has enabled busines... (08/19/08 09:01 AM)

Sales Letter Training - A Slick Way to Position Yourself And Outsell Your Competition. Business in America ??" isn't it great? It's also challenging. So challenging, in fact, that you can never let up. Take it easy and rest on your laurels and you're ?oetoast”, as they ... (08/19/08 09:01 AM)

Wearing Black Makes You Dominant–But Red Makes You Win. Traditional dogma says black or navy business dress is the best way to express a serious, dominant office persona. After reading this Spiegel article, I’m not so sure: A recent study confirms previous reports that athletes wearing red uniforms win competitions more often than opponents dressed in other colors. According the report, published in the journal [...] (08/12/08 09:00 PM)

Powerade Ad Campaign Beautifies Naked Athletes. In Great Britain, Coca Cola’s Powerade has released an edgy, beautiful ad campaign. From Reuters: Triple jumper Phillips Idowu, cyclist Rebecca Romero and swimmer Gregor Tait have all been photographed taking part in their individual sports stark naked as part of an advertising campaign for a sports drink. “Everyone is used to seeing athletes in competition [...] (08/06/08 09:00 AM)

What Makes a Marketing Champion? An Interview With Matt Strain of Adobe. Matt Strain is director of worldwide relationship marketing at Adobe, where after just three years he is recognized as a Marketing Champion who adds financial value to the company. He has had a distinguished career in technology marketing. He recently took time to share his thoughts about what makes him successful and offered advice to fellow marketers for getting ahead in our challenging and competitive field. (07/29/08 09:01 AM)

The Who, Inflation, Blogging, and Global Warming.

It's time for another quick list of interesting things I found this morning on the web along with my occasionally witty commentary.

Harmonix Party: Rock Band owns LA with Who concert. I love everything about Harmonix and Rock Band. Er, um, The Who just played at a Harmonix / MTV party at the Orpheum Theater in LA. The Who. The Who! One of my best friends - Warren Katz - who was also an angel investor in Harmonix had the following to say about the party:

"My jaw is on the floor and I am speechless. Not because I semi-randomly got hooked up with a game that's turning out to be one of the greatest hits of all time. Not because that game is actually fundamentally changing how a great hunk of the world interacts with music. Not because this game hosted a party featuring my favorite rock band of all time, The Who (and I would have hurt myself to get on a plane for this party). I am stunned mute because, in my opinion, one of the three best songs in Rock and Roll history, "Won't Get Fooled Again" (the other two being "Paradise By the DashBoard Lights" and "Bohemian Rhapsody"), was referred to throughout this article as "the theme from CSI". We cannot possibly be that old, and the youth of today cannot possibly be that out of touch. It actually took me a minute to realize what song they were talking about."

Alex, Eran, and all the rest of the people at Harmonix. You are the coolest nerds ever. Ian - you have real competition here in the cool nerd category!

Latest shocker: June prices go up, up, up: "Consumer prices rose 1.1 percent in June from the month before, far faster than the expected rate of 0.7 percent and almost double the reading from May, the Labor Department said Wednesday." Hmmm - an annualized rate of 13.2% - that would be "inflation."

SAP, Oracle Boost Software Prices: "Unlike price increase for food, fuel and many other commodities, the changes in software don't stem from a shortage of supply or a rise in demand. They are attempts by software makers to increase their bottom lines, said Brendan Barnicle, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities Inc." Well - yes - but it's also called an "oligopoly." SAP annual maintenance, which has been at 17% for a while, will now be at 22%. Oracle simply implemented a 15% - 20% across the board price increase for US customers.

Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging: While this particular meme goes round and round and round, especially among the A-list bloggers talking about blogging (or not blogging), Fred nails why he - and I - blog in this post. Whenever someone asks me "why do I blog" I now have a new link to send them to.

Chill out - it's just a normal cool summer: My part time meteorologist Josh Larson emailed me this link. Apparently it's just been a normal summer in Alaska with endless clouds, cool weather, and for the last 24 hours non-stop rain. ""We were in a warm phase of the Pacific decadal oscillation in the '80s and '90s. (Some forecasters) believe we may have entered into the cold phase." Where is that damn global warming when you really want it?

(07/17/08 09:01 PM)

Mature Media Never Looked Better. With the rush to capitalize on the new media hype, don’t forget your older, wiser, more mature options. Targeted direct mail, with a telephone follow-up and a useful, information rich, call to action is more effective now than ever. The competition in the mailbox is pretty slim these days, so creating smart campaigns that take advantage of [...]
(06/08/08 09:00 AM)

Don’t sell something you can’t make more of. What if your business sold a product that, once demand kicked in, you couldn’t make any more product? Well, you could always raise prices, but that may not slow demand or be possible due to competition. While it may appear that I am speaking about widgets when I refer to products, I’m actually talking about service businesses [...]
(05/30/08 09:00 AM)

How to Unleash the Power of Brand Repositioning: A Four-Phase Process. Many brands and companies today are constantly reinvigorating their businesses and positioning them for growth. There is a constant need to innovate, reinvigorate, update, recalibrate, or just simply fend off the competition in an effort to better explain "why buy me." To move forward, companies and brands need to first take a look at their current brand positioning. But for a moment, it makes sense to go back to the brand drawing board to answer the question, "Just what is brand positioning, anyway?" (05/20/08 09:01 AM)

Which Proposal Would You Rather Evaluate?.

What do you see when you review your own proposals with an eye toward how they actually look (as opposed to how they read)? Do you have page after page of text without anything to break up lengthy series of paragraphs? How enticing can that be to the real reviewers who are going to decide whether or not your proposal will make the cut? Reading a proposal is not like reading a fascinating book. Because the language and content of a proposal is often dry and boring, you need to do whatever you can to get reviewers' attention and to make them want to keep reading. One of the best ways to do this is through the use of relevant and attractive graphics.

Some time ago, my friend Heidi wrote this post on "Getting Started With Proposal Graphics." She gives some good pointers about how to think about and use graphics in proposals even if you are not sure exactly what graphics you are going to use.

Now The Proposal Guys blog has an interview with the principal of a graphics design firm that specializes in proposal graphics. Years ago, such firms probably didn't even exist. But these days, we often have a limited number of pages in which to tell our proposal story and increased competition for funding. Thus, we need every edge we can get. And good proposal graphics in combination with a well-written proposal can give us that edge.

One of the things that I like best about this article is the graphic at the very top -- "which proposal would you rather evaluate?" If this doesn't make a compelling case for the use of graphics in proposals, I'm not sure what does.

So get out your crayons..

(04/18/08 09:01 AM)

Redesigning Web Sites to Put Customers in Charge of Their Experience. Online users expect more today from Web sites, and competition is fierce. Marketers should be considering how to change their sites to keep up with customer expectations of the Web, and to increase conversions and enhance the brand experience. In fact, all companies with public-facing Web sites may soon be challenged with a redesign. There is opportunity for marketers to take the lessons of customer-centricity and put them to work to optimize customer relationships online. (04/15/08 09:01 AM)

TechnoMarketing on Marketing Matters Live! Today.

If you've got a free hour from 9-10 PST today, January 9th, we'll be discussing TechnoMarketing on the AMA Radio show Marketing Matters Live! on WSRadio.

David Kinard is your host and it promises to be a great show! We'll be discussing technology tools in marketing and what's next for marketers. Fun stuff!

The world of marketing as we know it is rapidly changing all around us. Engaging your customers through the newest media vehicles such as social media, customer communities, blogs, RSS, and podcasts requires a solid foundation steeped in customer understanding, marketing planning and technological prowess. The challenges marketers face today are often compounded by the sheer volume of new media channels and the depth of expertise required to execute well in each channel.

When you listen in, you will:

* Increase your knowledge of terminology surrounding the newest technology-centric marketing tools
* Acquire a better understanding of the most popular technology-driven marketing vehicles currently in use and on the horizon
* Begin to identify which technology-centric marketing vehicles will work for your customer base and pair those up with your existing marketing strategy

Who should listen in:

* Sales and Marketing Executives of any size organization
* Marketing directors responsible for digital or integrated marketing strategy
* Anyone involved in customer-facing internet initiatives with their company or clients
* Ad agency media directors looking for a competitive edge for clients

If you'd like 2 days worth of TechnoMarketing, check into the AMA training series: TechnoMarketing: Using the Tools and Technology of Tomorrow to Reach Your Customers Today

(04/04/08 09:00 PM)

Private Bid Notification Services.

In addition to the government's bid notification services from FedBizOpps and Grants.gov, there are many private firms that provide these types of services. You can find some of these firms by doing a Google search on phrases such as "find RFPs" and "bid notification."

Although you have to pay for it, there are several advantages to using a private bid notification service:

Many of these services can also provide you with information on solicitations issued by state and local governments. While more and more state and local governments are putting their bid opportunities on the Internet, not all of them have geared up to do this.
Since FedBizOpps and Grants.gov may not cover all all bureaus and departments within each federal agency, you may be able to get access to these bureaus' bid opportunities via a private service rather than having to search for them by going to individual websites.
If you are interested in seeing bid opportunities at two or three levels -- federal, state and/or local -- you can may be able to receive these opportunities via daily e-mails or through online access. This can be a real time-saver.

One of the private serices that has been around for a long time is Bidnet (see clip below), which offers customizable packages to meet your specific needs and interests. However, since Bidnet is only one of many private services, it will probably be worth your while to research and compare these services with respect to their prices and offerings.

clipped from bidnet.com

With BidNet, you will have access to Government Bids from thousands of Federal, State and Local agencies, and see bid opportunities you won't find anywhere else. Our diverse network of agencies will give you the competitive intelligence needed to compete effectively for the nation's largest buyer of goods and services - governments across the nation and right in your hometown.

(04/02/08 09:02 AM)

Increase Your Email Campaign's Power to Persuade: Move, Motivate, and Entice. The ability to move, motivate, and entice consumers within the confines of their inbox is not an easy task. Too often, marketers overlook the tools available to attract and draw customers to open their messages. The inbox is a competitive arena in which you must fight for your open. The battle can be won by effectively utilizing and optimizing four straightforward email marketing elements. (03/25/08 09:01 AM)

Sole Source Contracts.

Everyone likes a sole-source contract when their company gets one, but we don't like them too much when they are given to other companies. When other companies get them, it's unfair; when our company gets one, it's a good thing.

So what's a sole source contract, you ask? Well, according to the Federal Acquisition Regulations, sole-source contracting can occur "when the supplies or services required by the agency are available from only one responsible source." That means, basically, that an agency can contract with a company without any competition. There are a few in's and out's to this -- you can read about them here.

I bring this up because I just got finished doing a quick sole source proposal for one of my clients. In this case, the federal agency decided that it needed to have a particular task done, and that the task could only be performed by two people that used to work there. My client had marketed to this agency, and it was "decided" that their company could hire these two people as consultants to perform the work. So the agency issued an RFP to my client, which no other company received. My client then had to respond to this RFP so that the agency would have the proper paperwork to award them the contract.

Fair? Not really. But of course it happens all the time. Most of the time we only hear about it when there is some type of investigation into possible improper practices and the media gets hold of it. But in reality, lots of companies receive sole source contracts. In many cases, it's just a matter of marketing and knowing the right people in an agency. In other cases, there is really only one responsible source out there, or there is a particularly urgent need for a product or service (another way that agencies can justify a sole source contract).

That's the lesson (or rant) for today.

(03/01/08 09:01 AM)

Sole Source Contracts.

That's the lesson (or rant) for today.

(02/21/08 09:01 PM)

Prioritizing Marketers Top Priorities. This morning I got a research brief from Mediapost summarizing the findings from the Marketing Effectiveness Networking Group (MENG) and Anderson Aanlytics study. This study surveyed marketing executives to identify key trends and strategies of effective marketing. The subject line of the email said: "Marketing Execs Say Basics Are Most Important in 2008". By "basics" I thought they meant strategies such as becoming measurement-oriented, shifting ad portfolio, investing in email infrastructure, build operational data warehouse, and improve web site. However the 'basics' by definition from this study were more customer-centric and more concepts and objectives rather than strategies. And unfortunately for most companies, they're not all that 'basic' in achieving success. 60% of marketing executives said the following 'marketing basics' were important: Customer satisfaction Customer retention Segmentation Brand loyalty ROI I have a copy of the study. To be clear, the study asked marketing executives to choose from over 60 concepts or buzzwords (such as the 5 above) which were then categorized. Other categories, in order of votes, included: SEO (by itself) Personalization: concepts include Data mining, CRM, Lead Generation, Personalization, Ecommerce, Competitive Intelligence Green Marketing: Multicultural / Ethic issues. Breakdown of old media Innovative Branding Viral / WOM: concepts include viral, WOM, blogging New Media: concepts include Web 2.0, Mobile, CGM, Long Tail, Social Networking Macro Economics Tech Strategy Outsourcing Social Issues Other Now, as a marketer, if I participated in this study I may have answered the same way. After all, the 'marketing basics' are overarching objectives. What... (01/02/08 09:00 AM)

Future of Online Retailing -- Four Predictions. Forrester and Jupiter report that more than 70% of online shoppers seek out user reviews before making a purchase decision. MarketingSherpa reports that 84% of consumers prefer the opinion of other consumers vs. experts. Hundreds of retailers including WalMart, Best Buy, HP, and the Home Depot have followed Amazon’s lead by allowing their consumers to review products in the online channel. Consumers demand social commerce solutions and retailers are driving measurable results. As consumers are presented with increasing choices, channels, and messages, they will continue to turn to peers to discover, research, and make decisions about products and services. Retailers will need to utilize technology and best practices to provide authentic, relevant, and effective social commerce solutions to retain their customers into the future. 1) SOCIAL CONTENT IS GOING MULTI-CHANNEL The future of reviews and social content is going beyond the product page and into other channels such as mobile phones, kiosks, print collateral, online advertising, and social networks. It is clear that consumers rely on social content to make purchasing decision. They will expect to be able to access to this content regardless of channel in order to inform their purchasing process. The retailers that provide this multi-channel access will develop competitive advantages in their markets to attract and retain consumers. Additionally, more retailers will see the value of integrating social commerce with CRM and other “back-end” channels. Retailers will start to leverage social content as a key input into driving decisions in marketing, sales, advertising, customer support, and... (12/09/07 09:01 PM)

3 More Dates Added for the AMA HotTopic Series | Beyond Marketing 2.0.

Thanks again to all of your who were in New York on the 20th! Due, in large part, to the super-positive feedback that we received from the event, Toby, Bill and I will be doing a total of six events, with the three in 2008 as the latest additions to the mix.

But, before we get to the dates, don't take our word for it, look at what one of the attendees from New York had to say:

I wanted to thank you, Toby, Bill and Dana for a fabulous conference. It was truly the most valuable professional development conference I have ever attended. I really appreciated the thoughtful presentations, specific case studies and valuable insights that all the presentors had to share. And the small group setting really allowed for dynamic and interactive discussion that made it possible to apply the learnings to your own work.
Please keep me on the list for any future web 2.0 professional development conferences that you give, and similarly I hope that Toby, Bill and Dana will keep me in mind if they are ever doing conferences (especially in the washington, dc area).

Thanks to everybody,

Kim Callinan
Senior Vice President

Friday, October 26th in Chicago
Friday, November 9th in Las Vegas
Friday, January 11th in Miami
Friday, February 22nd in San Diego
Friday, March 28th in Chicago

You can learn more about Beyond Marketing 2.0: Harnessing the Power of Social Media for Marketing Campaign Results by visiting the AMA website. Here's a brief rundown of the event agenda.

7:30 ... 8:15 a.m. Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:15 ... 8:30 a.m. Setting the Stage

8:30 ... 9:00 a.m. Social Media Defined

9:00 ... 10:00 a.m. The State of the Industry: Where Do You Stand?

10:00 ... 10:15 a.m. Break

10:15 ... 11:15 a.m. The Social Media Landscape

11:15 ... 12:15 p.m. RSS, Widgets and Social Syndication

12:15 ... 1:15 p.m. Lunch

1:15 ... 2:30 p.m. How Do We Measure This Thing? Social Media Metrics & ROI

2:30 ... 2:45 p.m. Break

2:45 ... 3:45 p.m. The Social Media Marketing Plan & Social Media Process

3:45 ... 4:45 Marketing Makeover: Applying Social Media in Two Parts

After several hours of exploring the ins and outs of Social Media and Web 2.0, now it's time to put our education into action!

Finally, we'll conduct a series of 'marketing makeovers' with willing participating companies in the audience. We'll dive deep into specific, emerging or hypothetical marketing challenges where Social Media tools and tactics will provide a competitive marketing edge, illustrating precisely how the Social Media tools discussed throughout the day can be applied to your individual marketing challenge.

(10/04/07 09:01 PM)

Upcoming Event | Emerging Marketing Technologies Workshop | May 24-25.

Hi Folks,

There's an upcoming sales & marketing workshop that you or someone you know might be interested it.

What: Emerging Marketing Technologies Workshop
When: May 24-25, 2007
Where: St. Norbert College, Bemis International Conference Center

For more information:
http://www.snc.edu/continuinged/emergingmarketing.html

For companies in Wisconsin, as well as around the nation, marketing and the tools that marketers use to reach their customers have changed dramatically in the past several years. The challenges marketers face today are often compounded by the sheer volume of new media channels and the depth of expertise required to execute well in each channel.

The Emerging Marketing Technologies workshop is much more than using a few of the newest technology tools to improve your marketing. Attendees will have ample opportunity to apply the specifics of the technologies and trends covered to the realities of their business.

What Will You Learn?

Increase knowledge of terminology surrounding the newest technology-centric marketing tools.
Acquire a full understanding of the most popular technology-driven marketing vehicles currently in use and on the horizon.
Identify which technology-centric marketing vehicles will work for your customer base and pair those up with your existing marketing strategy.
Gain the knowledge to execute a marketing campaign using the tools and techniques outlined in the course.

Who Should Attend?

Sales and marketing executives of any size organization.
Marketing directors responsible for digital or integrated marketing strategy.
Anyone involved in customer-facing internet initiatives with their company or clients.
Ad agency media directors looking for a competitive edge for clients.
Small to medium business owners with marketing accountability.

For more information:
http://www.snc.edu/continuinged/emergingmarketing.html

Please forward this to anyone who you feel might be interested.

(10/03/07 09:00 PM)

Altruism Before Capitalism.

Over past couple of months delivering the AMA TechnoMarkting seminar on social media, web 2.0 and the evolution of marketing and commuincation on the Internet, there's a fun phrase that I've been throwing around and beating up with audiences which I think needs a bit more explanation.

Invariably, when I throw out the "Altruism Before Capitalism" concept, it elicits one of two response types. The first, and most desirable response, is the one where people nod in agreement with the "oh, of course, I see exactly what you're saying" look. The other look is, of course, the look that indicates a complete lack of understanding of the words "altruism" and "capitalism" or a full grasp of the vocabulary but an utter disbelief that the concept can be even close to real.

It is real.

What is Altruism Before Capitalism?

Altruism is defined by Webster as:

1 : unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others 2 : behavior by an animal that is not beneficial to or may be harmful to itself but that benefits others of its species

In short, this is simply an organization putting the needs of its constituents ahead of its own needs. Or, aligning itself with advancing the welfare of others before its own. Capitalism, on the other hand is defined as:

an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market

More coming on this topic...

(10/03/07 09:00 PM)

3 More Dates Added for the AMA HotTopic Series | Beyond Marketing 2.0.

But, before we get to the dates, don't take our word for it, look at what one of the attendees from New York had to say:

I wanted to thank you, Toby, Bill and Dana for a fabulous conference. It was truly the most valuable professional development conference I have ever attended. I really appreciated the thoughtful presentations, specific case studies and valuable insights that all the presentors had to share. And the small group setting really allowed for dynamic and interactive discussion that made it possible to apply the learnings to your own work.
Please keep me on the list for any future web 2.0 professional development conferences that you give, and similarly I hope that Toby, Bill and Dana will keep me in mind if they are ever doing conferences (especially in the washington, dc area).

Thanks to everybody,

Kim Callinan
Senior Vice President

Friday, October 26th in Chicago
Friday, November 9th in Las Vegas
Friday, January 11th in Miami
Friday, February 22nd in San Diego
Friday, March 28th in Chicago

You can learn more about Beyond Marketing 2.0: Harnessing the Power of Social Media for Marketing Campaign Results by visiting the AMA website. Here's a brief rundown of the event agenda.

7:30 ... 8:15 a.m. Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:15 ... 8:30 a.m. Setting the Stage

8:30 ... 9:00 a.m. Social Media Defined

9:00 ... 10:00 a.m. The State of the Industry: Where Do You Stand?

10:00 ... 10:15 a.m. Break

10:15 ... 11:15 a.m. The Social Media Landscape

11:15 ... 12:15 p.m. RSS, Widgets and Social Syndication

12:15 ... 1:15 p.m. Lunch

1:15 ... 2:30 p.m. How Do We Measure This Thing? Social Media Metrics & ROI

2:30 ... 2:45 p.m. Break

2:45 ... 3:45 p.m. The Social Media Marketing Plan & Social Media Process

3:45 ... 4:45 Marketing Makeover: Applying Social Media in Two Parts

After several hours of exploring the ins and outs of Social Media and Web 2.0, now it's time to put our education into action!

(10/03/07 09:00 PM)

Google Should Take the Spectrum and Run. The Big Bang Originally uploaded by CrispyMo Yesterday, the FCC decided to abide by two very important open principles in the upcoming auctions for broadband wireless spectrum in the 700 MHz range. The rules will require that any auction winner build a wireless network that does not discriminate by device or application. In that sense, such a broadband wireless network would be more like the wired Internet than today's closed mobile networks. That's good news for any company or startup who may want to develop hardware or software for any such future network. They won't need the approval of the network operator to do so, just like they can build any Website or Web device today and be fairly sure that it will work for anyone with an Internet connection. Such open rules are good for competition and innovation. There is one caveat: these open-access rules will go into effect only if the FCC receives a minimum bid of $4.6 billion for use of the spectrum. It's a put-up or shut-up condition that the FCC is giving to the tech industry, and Google in particular.Even though Google didn't get all the rules it had asked for (such as requirements that any auction winner resell capacity to other companies on a wholesale basis and allow for open access points into their network), it should bid on the spectrum and put its ideas into action. If it wins the auction, there would be nothing stopping it from wholesaling the spectrum to other... (08/01/07 09:01 PM)

Apple Takes Its Bite of iPhone Mobile Service Fees. iPod Originally uploaded by stublog In the competition to carry the iPhone in Europe, it looks like Vodafone (VOD) is balking at Apple's demands; The Guardian reports:Apple is understood to be demanding that its European mobile phone partners hand over a significant proportion of revenues generated by the iPhone and restrict the content that users can access.The portion of network revenues demanded by Apple is believed to have been behind Vodafone's decision not to sign up as the exclusive partner for the iPhone in the UK. ... The iPhone is expected to launch in November in the UK through O2, in France with Orange and in Germany with T-Mobile.So not only does Apple (AAPL) keep all the revenues from the $500 iPhones, but it gets a cut of the monthly service fees as well. I guess even (most) hard-nosed telecom execs have a hard time saying No to Steve Jobs. But if this report is true, good for Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin for sticking to his guns. Update: Another tidbit about the economics of the relationship between Apple and the mobile carriers. Citigroup analyst Richard Gardner models iPhone revenues for Apple to include the entire $500 average selling price plus a $100 bounty from ATT. (This is from a June 28 note of his). Gardner does not model in any cut of the monthly subscription revenues, however. (The $100 bounty would be more like a typical subsidy). So if Apple is also getting part of ATT's monthly fees, not to... (07/06/07 09:00 PM)

3 Emotions to Drive Execs to Action. Yesterday I was on a panel for a Forrester bootcamp on Social Media. One of the common questions was how to convince senior management to agree to and resource these new emerging channels and marketing strategies. What moves consumers to action? Emotion. It’s not much different than with executives and managers…you just use data to create those emotions! In my experience, there are three emotions I’ve seen drive executive action: Fear – show the competition is having success with a strategy that you are not. I’m putting this first because fear is the biggest motivator in the human psyche. And the first reaction for executives when they see a competitor doing something successful is to react. I’m not suggesting this is always right, but it’s reality. It’s a call to action event. If a competitor is launching an emerging channel strategy, your executives have to decide to do something or nothing. Use this time to drive a recommended strategy. Excitement – show and prove the revenue impact from such a strategy. Changne resistance is typically due to prioritization and predictability. Corporations, and management in them, have a need to drive predictable growth and mitigate risk. Priorities are driven based on familiarity of strategies that drive confident results. Something that can be proved to drive better results and meet or beat forecast excites executives. Pride – most forward-thinking executives want to be first to market, forward thinking, innovative and cutting edge. Some want this because it is right for the company,... (03/22/07 09:01 AM)

Career Tip #12: Take Bigger Risks. If change is not happening in your organization, it’s 99% probable that the company is on the decline. And if you’re the only one who knows this, start preparing your resignation letter now. Executives who land a high level position, play it safe, and clutch onto high salaries, need to be flushed out of corporate America. They have the triple impact of holding back innovation, sucking profits from bonuses, and demotivating great people who eventually leave. And, by definition, these executives reach a plateau. Whether you’re an executive or not, I suggest you take bigger risks to move your career forward (and for fun). Make big plays. Take initiative for change at a strategic level. Bigger risks help your career because you stand out, differentiate, and accomplish great things. Whether you’re an individual contributor or manager, anyone who takes initiatives and risks can become a leader. They are the ones who are break through the next level. Their reputation is lasting and their contributions are recognized and rewarded over the long haul. Plus, the accomplishments create great soundbytes! At Dell I led a small ‘big change’ team. We were responsible for Dell’s consumer CRM strategy, customer centricity, retail competitive strategy, Hispanic marketing, customer segmentation, and other large projects. All of these initiatives were not part of day to day operations. They had to be invented, sold, implemented and finessed into company operations over time. The challenge for each of team member, from a career perspective, was to get the perspective... (01/17/07 09:00 PM)

Badmouthing the competition. A great post from the always great tompeters!... (12/12/06 08:47 AM)

Sole Source Contracts.

That's the lesson (or rant) for today.

(12/12/06 08:42 AM)

Guess what is the top B2B marketing tool?. Us poor B2B marketers...the top three things buyers look for in a product aren't under our direct control...price, service, quality. We can add sizzle to these, but ultimately, the buyer will discern the truth.

So what is our #1 marketing tool? Amazingly it is something we've only had for ten years...our websites. Results of a user survey by ThomasNet were summed this way:

"Of course, competitive pricing, good customer service and high quality are a given, but the next single most important thing buyers mentioned is a detailed, user-friendly Web site. "

The article has lots of other handy tidbits from the survey:

Comments by users like this:
"Provide enough information within their Web site for me to make an educated decision-? comparative product details, listed prices, and list of distributors that I can purchase from if they don't sell direct."

This factual gem:
36% of the time users will seek out new suppliers for a new purchase.

Look at the top two of '10 Things Buyers Look For In a New Supplier'
1. Easy-to-navigate Web sites with accurate, detailed product and pricing information
2. Companies that are easy to find and have a strong Web presence

This shouldn't really be news to us B2B marketers...but after ten years, we may have grown complacent about our websites. From the details of this survey, I say our target audience has become even more discerning and faster to pass on poor (to them) websites. We can't become complacent!

Read more: It's Not Who You Know. It's Who Knows You (07/29/06 02:28 PM)

How to Clarify Objective & Strategy with the “Because Test”. The right way to start a conversation, a meeting, an idea, a project, or a company is with the right objective. Unfortunately it doesn’t always start this way. I thought Dell folks were pretty good at starting with objectives until I got my Six Sigma green belt and started to see things through a DMAIC lens (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control). It was amazing how many meetings started with the “Improve” phase immediately, before we had properly defined, measured or analyzed the problem. We were still successful through execution and correction, but we could be better. Test if you’re starting with the right objective by using the word ‘because’. Simply add the word ‘because’ after you describe your objective. For example, I hear marketers say ‘we need community’ or ‘we want to add social networking to our site’. Now, if they were forced to say, “We need community because…” it would help clarify why this is the objective. We need community because competition has it. We need community because there’s a lot of hype. We need community because we think our customers would like to talk to each other. ?? Perhaps we’re starting with the wrong objective. Is Community really the objective, or a means to the objective? Maybe the objective is to ‘drive conversion higher because marketing costs are skyrocketing”. And therefore, community could be a strategy to meet the objective. Or maybe not. It depends on the root cause and environmental factors of the situation. Why is the... (07/29/06 02:28 PM)

More on the Marketing Bullseye: What does it look like?. Have you ever been asked to launch a strategy, project or campaign that you knew wouldn't make a big impact to the business? I have, many times over. Why does this happen? Do these scenarios sound familiar? The CEO saw an idea work in a previous company and wants you to do the same thing. The sales leader insists a certain strategy is required to close sales A meeting created momentum for an idea, which came out of nowhere. Consultants have come in and presented their strategy (enough said) There’s pressure to copy what competitors do If you’ve been pulled off course from prioritizing the most impactful activities to drive business, you’ve shot an arrow and missed the bullseye. Hopefully your actions impacted something relevant to the PL…otherwise you missed the target all together. I’m not suggesting ideas and initiatives from these origins are doomed to failure, but in a world of limited resources, you have to separate truly impactful ideas from the rest. And usually the sources of many ideas don’t have the measurement, wisdom or rigor to determine if it’s a “bullseye” idea. And by “bullseye” I mean impact to the income statement – revenue and margin dollars. Not advertising awards, not making the CEO happy, not looking like the competition, or checking a marketing tactic box. The bullseye is reserved for marketing strategies and tactics that make the biggest impact to the business, before all overs. And if also proven as such, you will make the CEO... (07/29/06 02:28 PM)

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