- Creating Compelling Value Propositions Can Be Fun by Barbara Bix
It can be hard for companies—especially those that have a steady stream of paying customers—to exert the discipline to explore new markets that may be more profitable. But companies that do invest the effort to hone and validate their value ...
- The Customer Lens: An Approach to Customer Touch-Point Analysis by Barre Blake
Few marketers would dispute the statement that it is the sum of all customers' interactions with a company, over time, that ultimately creates or destroys that company’s brand value. Yet few companies take the time to look at their own ...
- Ten Essentials of Software-as-a-Service Solution Marketing by Peter A. Cohen
Here are 10 essentials of software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution marketing.
- Why You Are Unpopular Online: Six Ways to Doom Your Community-Building Efforts
by Mack CollierCompanies are increasingly looking to create vibrant and healthy online communities for their businesses. But many companies are seeing their efforts fail or produce flat results. Here are six reasons why many online communities never materialize, and what you can ...
- Think and Act Like a Nonprofit to Deepen Connections and Build Relationships by Roger Sametz
For decades, the prevailing wisdom was that nonprofits should learn from for-profit enterprises how to become "more businesslike." Many nonprofits thus embraced best practices in branding, marketing, service delivery, money management, and leadership. They have also learned how to keep ...
- Think Ahead While Cutting Back: Marketing Priorities in a Recession by Pat LaPointe
Where do marketers turn once all the fat has long since been trimmed and all that's left is muscle and bone? And how do we break the downward spiral of cut, cut, and cut some more? Here are some ideas ...
- Marketing Champion Focused on Customer Analytics: Q&A With Paul Barsch, Marketing Director of Teradata by Roy Young
Paul Barsch, Marketing Director at Teradata, the business intelligence and data warehousing firm, is responsible for coordinating services engineering teams to define, build, and bring new offers to market.
A self-described "information junkie" with over 15 years in marketing for information ...
- How to Write a Playbook that Enables Sales Effectiveness by Laura Patterson
The sales playbook captures your company's knowledge about its markets, value propositions, offers, competitors, and best practices.
These are the very elements that fall within the marketing organization's domain, which is why marketing plays a strategic role in developing the ...
- How to Avoid Green Marketing Myopia by Jacquelyn A. Ottman
In 1994, Philips launched "EarthLight," an energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulb with a clumsy shape that was incompatible with most conventional lamps; it had a confusing package—and a $15 price tag compared with 75 cents for the incandescent bulbs. Sales ...
- Premium Store Brands: The Hottest Trend in Retailing by Nirmalya Kumar, Jan-Benedict E.M. Steenkamp
Private labels started as cheap, inferior products and more recently became copycats. Today, best-practice retailers are using "premium store brands" to help position the retailer as a "brand."
In fact, the emergence of the new premium private labels is the ...
- The Four Pillars of Successful Product Launches by Rick Sklarin
Today's leading companies don't rely on chance for market success. They take a scientific approach -- just as they do for product development -- to align company resources and activities for maximum launch impact.
As margins grow razor thin and competition ...
- Squeeze the Lemons for Loyalty Growth by Lynn Hunsaker
Lemonade is refreshing, particularly on a hot day. With a little sugar and a lot of squeezing, sour lemons are transformed into a nice, healthy source of sustenance.
Similarly, profitable customer loyalty can be a healthy source of sustenance for brand ...
- Launching Your Product: Seven Marketing 'Musts' by Gwyneth Dwyer
Whether your launch is for an entirely new product or for a line extension, these seven marketing communication musts will put you on the path to success.
- Marketing Strategy Is the Foundation for Business Success by Linda Popky
Take the time to ensure you have a well-thought-out, fully developed marketing strategy. It may require more work upfront, but it will pay off in the long run.
After all, about the only thing worse than not knowing where you're ...
- Four Critical Keys to Writing a Web Site Homepage by Nick Usborne
Writers face specific challenges when writing a home page. In fact, home pages can be tricky, simply because your page not only has its own job to do but also has to support a group of second-level pages.
Here's how Nick ...
- Virtual Worlds: The Next Realm in Advertising? by Bill Nissim
What do Major League Baseball, Coca Cola, Well Forgo Bank, the W Hotel, and the American Cancer Society have in common? They all use a virtual realm to reach out to potential customers and supporters in novel ways.
- The 10 Cs of Branding by William Arruda
Whether you are working on a personal branding campaign or you're focused on differentiating your company's brand from its competitors, you need to constantly ask yourself if your brand is demonstrating the 10 Cs of branding.
- Is There Value in Your Value Proposition? by Denise Shiffman
With all the emphasis these days on getting your message out using online media, we simply forget to focus on how to develop the right message. Many a company goes to market without having fully defined its customer value proposition. ...
- The 10 Truths of 'Real' Guerrilla Marketers by Alain Thys
Guerrilla Marketing is often defined as an unconventional way of performing promotional activities on a very low budget. While this is accurate, it's not quite right.
The great guerrillas like Che or Mao had something more going for them than ...
- Meeting the CEO's Mandates: Tuning Up Your Customer Reference Program (Part 3 of 3) by Kathleen McBride
Many organizations have had customer reference programs in place for years, but not until recently have those programs begun to capture the executive attention they deserve.