THIS ISSUE INCLUDES: •  What's New? •  Going, Going … Gone! •  Resource Referral •  Lessons Learned •  Tips & Tricks •  Community Leaders •  Member Spotlight •  Community Stats •  Your Account Summary •  Success Story •  Special Thanks •  Last Laugh

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WHAT'S NEW?

Dear Askers & Answerers,

Not a lot "new" this week. So I'll be brief. The ETA on the new Resource Library is next Thursday. So watch for an announcement on that in the subsequent newsletter.

One thing you should be aware of is we added another new category for Know-How Exchange forum postings. It's called: Website Critique. This section gathers up all the threads requesting site feedback that have been posted in four or five different categories before this.

This will make it easier for those of you interested in these discussions to watch for new postings. You can signup to receive an email alert any time a question is posted there. Or you can just browse the category page whenever you stop by KHE.

I hope you're all enjoying the change of seasons ... whether that means pulling out your warm clothes or uncovering your gardening tools. Happy autumn, happy spring, wherever you are!

Happy exchanging,

Val Frazee
Moderator, Know-How Exchange
MarketingProfs.com

GOING, GOING, GONE!

Here are KHE's 10 oldest questions. They're likely to close soon. Have an idea to offer? Better do it now!

1. Visual Guidelines
2. Who is the #1 Marketing Company?
3. How to Open Car Accessories Marketing in Britain
4. Branding Charter for Small Local Universal Bank
5. Support the customer's marketing
6. How and Why Protect Intellectual Property?
7. Sales Promotion and Brand Equity
8. Assignment on Coca-Cola - How do i use the four Ps
9. How to Sell Promotional Items
10. Another question about marketing certifications.

RESOURCE REFERRAL: TEXT MESSAGING PLUG-IN

Alistair of MobiMarketing sent me the following offer of a free trial for all of you interested in SMS text messaging:

"We specialize in mobile marketing - that's TXT marketing of the short message service kind. Our leading product for this is MobiSMS for Outlook. It's a plugin for Outlook/Outlook Express which enables you to send an SMS just like you send an email. It includes 1-way and 2-way SMS (replies come back to you as an email), together with a host of other features.

While many of our customers in Asia Pacific and Europe are very comfortable with this technology, the momentum is only just beginning to build in North America. What many marketers are now discovering is that this new medium can achieve remarkable results. Response rates in excess of 25% to qualified opt-in lists are not out of the ordinary. More important, this tool empowers many small business owners to take control of their marketing and to test new ideas. MobiSMS supports over 530 mobile carriers internationally. If you have customers in Kyrgyzstan, Ireland, New York, Sydney or Thailand, it will work. Lots of details can be found on our website at www.mobimarketing.com."

Rather than just talk about it, why not try downloading the product and sending some test messages.

Resource: www.mobimarketing.com/testdrive.htm

I'm always looking for resources to share with our readers. If you know of one, send me a blurb. I'll send you 250 Question Points.

LESSONS LEARNED: PRODUCT VS. CORPORATE BRANDING

Earlier this month john_ellsworth asked the question: When should you stay away from branding your products under the corporate logo? He was looking for ideas and studies clarifying the subject of product and corporate branding. Here are some highlights from the resulting discussion:

• SteveB: My first thought is of P&G – usually strong product brand development accompanied by supportive corporate brand development.


• JBtron: This IS the $64,000 question, and one that has no real set of rules because the rules take their cues from a number of factors: what industry the product or service in question is in, the competitive mix, consumer vs. business-orientation, the economic considerations for the business of each approach, and of course, the opportunity for product launch. ... If the corporation is one that has iconoclastic visual brand equity, like SONY or Microsoft, I would suspect a new product would come under that identity, hoping that the product itself would be “protected” in its launch by the value and reputation of the parent brand. ... The exception here is a company like P&G, which has the global identity, but it exists as a thought/name in the consumer’s mind as a trusted provider of products. [If shown five different treatments of the same caliber, I doubt whether ANYONE could select the current P&G corporate logo in a focus group.] Their products have their individual identities, and once they demonstrate their market power, they become part of the P&G lineup in press and promotion, but never on the product itself in a bold way. P&G isn’t the brand you buy on the shelf.


• SteveB: JBTron makes an excellent point. Companies like P&G, Unilever, J&J, Kimberly-Clark, Eli Lilly, General Mills, Fortune Brands and even Yum! brands are exceptions in the wide world of corporate/product branding. By far the majority of companies incorporate their company names (umbrella style or more directly) into their product’s identification.


• ASVP/ChrisB: How about where the logo may be completely unknown and therefore conveys little or no meaning to a consumer. In contrast, a succinct name including corporate branding gets the product utility or purpose across and starts to build awareness for a company, or allows an unknown product to assume a mantle of authority and respectability by brand association.


• mbarber: Gidday John. Nope no known studies, maybe because its such an open question for the industry. Another good company to look at is Sara Lee whose product diversity is enormous but who also target specific brands that have market appeal in their won right.


• deeps: One more good example, known to all of us is the NOKIA mobile phone company. They do not have any logos and rely on the company name for global branding. And this brand is known to all the people in the world!!


• KANDI: There is a great deal of good information in Aaker and Joachimsthalers’ book “Brand Leadership." ... I think this is a particularly difficult area to tackle. Firstly there is rarely a “right answer.” All strategies have their advantages and disadvantages. The preferred choice should depend on several factors including: your business strategy, your product range, market size, the position, personality, strengths and weaknesses of any existing brands in your portfolio, the elasticity of your existing brands, as above for competitor brands, the ability to differentiate the product or service in question in terms of functionality, design, or emotional factors.


• Deremiah, *CPE: The only thing I can think of where no logos are used resides in the hidden artistic realm of my life experience. In the art world, artists do not use logos. Instead their name is all that's necessary and eventually that becomes the brand for everything they do. When you examine the paintings and drawings of Picasso, Charles White, Charles Biggs, William Carter, Robert Longo or Andy Warhol, you see that logos are not a necessary part of the artist branding tool.


• Jonathan_Ward/CMO: Although there are many approaches to product marketing, the argument of independent product naming versus branding tied to the parent company comes down to budget. First, let me illustrate in simple terms the three primary approaches to product naming and benefits/challenges of each. 1) Power Parent ... 2) Independent Parent ... 3) Independent Product ... In summary, using a naming approach that links to the parent company directly is the best way to build brand awareness and equity over time for the parent. If your goal is to someday sell the company, one of these approaches will bring the highest market value. Also, linking products to the parent directly saves money and time. ... Conversely, the independent product approach allows products to survive and fail without a direct link to the parent. This can be a large advantage for consumers who might have had a bad experience with one product, but are brand loyal to another even though both are manufactured and marketed by the same company. The biggest down-side to the independent product approach is that it is very difficult to manage the brands of stand-alone products.

The Question: Product Logos Versus Corporate Branding

TIPS & TRICKS: EMAIL ALERTS

Have you ever read a question that particularly interested you, posted a response and then forgotten to check in on it later, to see how the conversation turned out? Were you aware you can elect to receive email notifications each time a new response is posted to that thread - including postings by the question author? Well, the good news is, you can. Here's how:

1. Go to Know-How Exchange and login
   
2. View a question page
   
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page - just above the answer box
   
4. Click the link next to "Email Notification"

That's all there is to it! If you decide later that you've read enough, you can always unsubscribe by repeating the above steps.

This also works if you aren't a participant in the thread. All KHE members can choose to follow any discussion happening in the forum. So you'll never again miss the ending!

Have a question? Ask the experts.

Post a brief synopsis below, and invite other members to offer their feedback.

My Question Title

COMMUNITY LEADERS

As of this week, these are our superstars! The Most Inquisitive are those who have asked the most questions. (Where there's a tie, we broke it based on number of points they offered for their questions.) The Most Expert are those with the highest number of Cumulative Points (given to them by question authors for offering helpful answers).

NOTE: These are our top members as of midday October 28, 2004

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: MEET DEN E V

Dennis Vining (aka Den E V) qualifies as one of KHE's early adopters, posting questions and answers since February, when the forum was just four weeks old. His focused writing style - on either side of the conversation - adds clarity to the discussions he participates in. Read on to learn more about this member.

Where are you located?
Morristown, NJ, USA.

Tell us about your company.
Application Consulting Group (ACG) provides Business Performance Management (BPM) solutions that grow sales, increase profits and reduce costs - in excess of $500 million - for over 70 clients. Providing 16 years and 625,000 hours of industry expertise, ACG has implemented more than 500 solutions on time and within budget. ACG leverages technology assets - database and business intelligence tools - to provide client-specific solutions that drive business processes and enable executives to make informed, proactive decisions that drive positive organizational change.

What do you do in real-life?
Director of Sales and Marketing. My real-life roadmap legend reads - If you're not improving you're not growing - nobody stays the same. My real-life is about choices, direction, vision and cause & effect. It's about making a difference and getting where I want to go. In my real-life everything counts for something. Professional skills are useful in personal settings and vice versa. Appropriately integrating these dynamics guarantees a rewarding and purposeful existence.

Did you study marketing in college or on-the-job?
Yes and No. In college I received a BS in Consumer Science. I secured my MBA in marketing last summer. While I respect the sheepskin, the most important things I learn about marketing and business is from trial and error. The best education one can get is "biting off more than you can chew" in the real world. I've worked in fast food, factories, cleaning, sold products, marketed services, and managed people - learning something from every experience. When the experiences stop so will I.

What is your favorite marketing book? Why?
Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors by Michael E. Porter. I don't believe Porter's view-points are original. I believe he is a master at correlating and organizing, disparate components from every business discipline. This book provides an easy to understand framework for identifying competitive business dynamics. It provides questions that identify any organization's strategic advantages and disadvantages. This is the foundation of business and marketing strategy.

What is your next career objective?
My next career objective is to build a family-based operation.

What is the value KHE provides to you personally?
I believe that every person is a sum total of individual experiences. KHE provides a medium for sharing and learning from these experiences. There are few personal or professional challenges that are truly unique. KHE leverages the experiences of participants so I can minimize "reinventing the wheel" every time I face a new challenge. When I turn to KHE: I save time, improve my productivity, and develop better answers to business problems.

Do you have a favorite quote you want to share?
"The measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." (source unknown)

COMMUNITY STATS

Active Unique Participants (to date): 3,021
Closed Questions (to date): 3,375
Currently Open Questions: 116
Total Responses (to date): 25,638
Subscribers to this newsletter: 10,660

YOUR ACCOUNT SUMMARY

These numbers come directly from YOUR profile. Question Points tells you how many points you have available for asking questions in the forum. Expert Points indicates your standing in the community based on answers you have posted. Visit this FAQ, if you want to know more.

Question Points: %%PointsBalance%%
Expert Points: %%PointsCum%%

Click here to buy more Question Points

SUCCESS STORY

Woody Noel (known in KHE as Noel) is a marketing manager in New York City who is well-acquainted with the usefulness of our forum. He has posted 10 questions over the past six months. Here are his comments about one of his more recent questions:

"I would like to express my appreciation and many thanks to the experts, whom have been absolutely tremendous whenever I've called on them. I am pleased to receive their insight, advice and recommendations. As a novice in the industry, resources like the Exchange, and MarketingProfs.com overall, have made the difference when it comes to taking theoretical knowledge and applying it successfully to solve real-world business challenges.

We publish a quarterly newsletter to an audience of about 1500 in the B2B market. The method we've been using since its creation is direct mail. For a while now, I've been thinking about a possible shift from the traditional print method and into an electronic format. The purpose of my question to the experts was two-fold. First, I wanted to know a little bit more about the various technologies currently available for the creation, management and delivery of an electronic newsletter. In particular, I was looking for feedback relating to direct experiences with any of the available vendors in the market. Second, I was anticipating some feedback in the form of the do's don'ts of creating an e-newsletter. And again, the experts delivered on both points.

Pkemper had some fundamental advice that has proven to be very useful in our planning. SteveB was kind enough to research the site and forward a link of past questions on the subject, which too was quite helpful. I've had an opportunity to visit the vendor sites listed by Paul Copcutt, Praf and Allen Weiss, and through that I've learned a lot. Although, we haven't settled on a vendor as of yet, the information received from the experts really opened my eyes to a lot of things, and the advice and recommendations will be referenced as needed as we try to get this thing rolling. Thanks to all of them as well as you, Val, and Allen, Ann and Roy for bringing us the Exchange. It's simply fantastic."

The Question: E-newsletter Creation/delivery Software

SPECIAL THANKS

Thank you, Alistair, Den E V and Noel for providing content for this newsletter. And thanks to all the following community members who have emailed or posted suggestions, technical reports or questions in the last week. Your feedback and energy drives this community's development. We couldn't do it without you!

Kerry, john.storey, Ottawamike, poori, Ricky, pkemper, Sweetasman01, Jett, JBtron, Peter (henna gaijin), ASVP/ChrisB, Michele, tjh, ¤ SRyan ¤.

Finally, thanks to my MP colleagues for making my job easy: Aaron, Sharon, Megan, Ann, Roy and Allen.

LAST LAUGH

This space is dedicated to something amusing I find posted in KHE.

Two weeks ago, alfie posted a serious question about wheatgrass. And several solid ideas were offered in return. Even so, a few of the responses made me laugh. D4Demand offered a creative list of suggestions for messages promoting wheatgrass as "the taste you hate twice a day." darcy.moen's story about Poop Juice also stands out. Be sure to browse the thread, if you're in the mood for a smile.

The Discussion: Need Creative Ideas On How To Market Wheatgrass

Forum Feedback: The Know-How Exchange is still young. So we're constantly refining how things work. We have a gigantic list of action items, and your feedback helps us prioritize it. So please feel free to reply to this email with any suggestions. Thanks, in advance, for your time!

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