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, […]
Category: Best Practices
Marketing Metrics to Drive Business Growth
It is estimated that more than a trillion dollars are spent each year through marketing activities – and that between 15% and 30% of those dollars are “wasted.”1 That’s right – wasted. Understandably, senior marketing leaders are under increasing scrutiny and pressure to prove the value of their marketing investments – however two of three […]
View from the Trenches: Best Practices Research
Many organizations are interested in identifying best practices to help illuminate a path for growth. Often, the task is more complex, and sometimes even more treacherous, than it appears. If you’re not careful, best practices research can turn into a misguided odyssey into literature that ends up serving no useful purpose for the organization that […]
Volkswagen’s Crisis – What Should They Do?
Just days after I had leased a new Volkswagen Passat (my second Passat lease), the news emerged that Volkswagen had intentionally programmed many of their diesel engines to comply with emissions standards only when tested. The rest of the time, these engines were found to be producing 10-40x the emissions limit. While it was initially […]
Brand Strategy for Professional Services Firms: It’s Not About You
If I could give only two pieces of brand strategy advice to professional services firms, they would be the following: Identify the customer segment(s) that you can serve better than your competition; Focus your brand strategy on a benefit you provide to those customers, not your own capabilities. 1: Identify the customer segment(s) that you […]
Time to Elevate Market Vigilance
A key job of strategic marketers is to be on constant look out for changes in their consumers and their markets. But most of us don’t have this on the top of our priority lists of things to do. Most of us analyze our markets and develop our strategic plans for driving growth under the […]
Megatrends Through 2030 – And How to Position Your Business For Growth
Megatrends – global, sustained, macro forces spread over long periods of time – are by their very definition “out there.” And for that reason, they are rightfully challenging for many companies to consider in their strategy development and business planning. First, there is no single, definitive source for megatrend identification and analysis. Instead there are […]
Uber vs. Taxis: Meeting and Exceeding Consumer Needs
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 unique […]
Virtual Reality: The Future of Market Research?
Does qualitative market research need to be done in-person or can virtual research be the new norm? With advances in technology, traditional face-to-face research may become a thing of the past. Ten years ago, traveling to focus groups and conducting one-on-one interviews were standard in market research. Today, virtual research is being conducted via online […]
Is that a Strategy or a Tactic?
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 […]
