Blog posts
The Art of Flows
Writing is a powerful and well-tested marketing tool. The use of extended written materials is a key part of much technical marketing: white papers, brochures, documentation, and more. Creating a whole book to tell the story of a product or capability is less common, but no less valuable.
Over the past several months I’ve been co-authoring a book with ...
More >Marketing with integrity
I’ve spent years in the marketing business, working with companies large and small. I’ve been on the inside as a Vice President, and on the outside as an Executive Consultant.
There’s a key problem with a lot of marketing.
Integrity.
It’s too easy to get hung up on making your product look better than it is ...
More >Segmentation and the power of focus
The more companies I talk to, the more convinced I become that thinking clearly about the segments you serve is the key to effective marketing.
The value of segmentation is really that it causes you to be objective about the kinds of people who will find your products and services interesting. Objectivity includes understanding the positive and negative aspects of ...
More >Innovation is not optional
Most people would agree that innovation is important. But not every company takes it seriously. Innovation is what keeps your business relevant as the needs of your customer change, and as your competition evolves.
It’s tempting to believe that in a cost-driven, mature market, efficiency is the key – that close management of costs and efficient and predictable processes are ...
More >What is Web 2.0 really?
60% of online news is now published by individuals, rather than by organizations, networks and commercial portals.
That’s a huge change.
I think the most useful aspect of Web 2.0 is the way these technologies connect individuals and enable individual voices to be heard on the web.
Web 2.0 is based on the realization that even if ...
More >Sales and Marketing MindXchange
I just returned from three interesting days in Tempe, Arizona, at the Frost and Sullivan Sales and Marketing MindXchange. This is a highly interactive event – workshops, facilitated discussions, and a lot of networking.
I was somewhat skeptical at first, but it turned out to be a good thing for several reasons:
- The quality of the participants was high. From many ...
Articles
Differentiation drives your business
We are experts at ignoring and tuning out. We especially ignore things that are like other things we’ve seen before. It’s a natural response to the clutter that surrounds us every day. Our brains have learned to look for the new and the different, and to ignore that which is undifferentiated. Most of marketing is about efficiently defeating ...
More >The Marketing Knowledge Base
Powerful marketing messages are built on real data. There’s an important role for creative work, clever jingles and tag lines, but they won’t work for you reliably unless they are built on a solid understanding of the market.
Market research is a large and complex discipline, worthy of a book in its own right. If you have the ...
More >Brand Magic
I have never been branded in the physical sense; however millions of farm animals over the centuries would attest to its effectiveness. The original of the word “brand” is in old Norse—the language of ancient Scandinavia. It means “to burn.” It was a good idea in Scandinavia to burn an identifying mark into the rump of your livestock, because ...
More >Services
Marketing Communications Planning
It’s easy to imagine that the primary task of marketing is the creation and deployment of communications tools. Certainly this is an important activity, but it comes almost at the end of the workflow for marketing.
- Begin with a clear strategy;
- Identify key segments and their needs;
- Develop positioning and messages;
- Understand your delivery channels,
…and then design the ...
More >Product Launch
Launching a new product is a complex task, and one that is well-staffed and competently handled in many organizations. However, there are two primary reasons why you may want a consultant to help:
- The product involves a new paradigm or entry into a newmarket where you have less experience
- You would like to acquire a set of product launch best ...
Brand Strategy
A brand is first and foremost a promise to the customer. It is intended to cause the appropriate customer to prefer the products and services associated with that brand.
Over the years, marketers have become more and more creative about how they build those perceptions. It’s no longer just about product value – it includes lifestyle issues, fashion, links to ...
More >Links
- Writing for marketers http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/writing/business-economics/marketing/2.xml - ...from Monash University.
- Marketing with Integrity http://www.squidoo.com/marketingwithintegrity - Squidoo provides a platform for the discussion of a wide range of issues. This topic focuses on the relationship between business and ethics from a pragmatic perspective
- Interlink Partners http://www.interlink-partners.com/ - Interlink Partners is a boutique consultancy with a track record of results in semiconductors and software. Their focus is on a high-intensity examination of business issues and opportunities resulting in rapid results. The partners bring deep experience in marketing, operations, venture funding, and international business.
