Month: June 2016

Former Procter & Gamble Chairman, President, and CEO A.G. Lafley is well known for creating the “Consumer is Boss” mantra in the early 2000s, galvanizing the organization behind it, and delivering almost a decade of year on year double digit growth.  Not surprisingly, services and products that think of the consumer as their boss, leverage […]

There is a power to pictures – and that is the reason that perceptual brand mapping can be such an effective tool for marketers. Perceptual brand mapping is the visual plotting of specific brands against X and Y axes, each representing brand attributes that are known to be drivers of brand selection. Done well, a […]

Maybe it’s all the Black Friday deals, the subsequent retail promotions intended to drive sales through the holidays, or perhaps City Sports’ up to 40% going out of business sale that I see every morning on my way to work that have me thinking about “up to” claims.  What are “up to” claims?  To me, […]

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are a critically important business tool. Not only are they an integral part of operationalizing a business’ strategy, but they also enable sound decision-making by Senior Leadership. Unfortunately, KPIs are often designed poorly, making them misused and misunderstood. We encourage you to minimize the negative impact of ineffective KPIs, and instead […]

In many companies today, marketing seems to have two meanings. Marketing means advertising, digital communications, social media, sponsorships – in short, communication to and engagement with the target consumer. This is often how sales sees marketing, as support to generating sales. I get worried, however, when this is how marketing sees marketing. I get especially […]

As marketers who are passionate about building brands and businesses, we know the critical importance of having a compelling and differentiated offering in the marketplace. (As one example, think of the Starbucks offering that many of us know well and love.) But of equal importance is the ability to effectively develop and execute compelling marketing […]

Good marketers have a true passion for the programs that they develop and deploy.  Seeing the TV spot you developed on air, the coupon you helped to create in the local circular, or the redesigned website finally go up can be highly satisfying, as can tracking what are hopefully the positive business results that these […]