Vol. 2 , No. 29     November 5, 2002

In this Newsletter:

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Mitch McCasland
The Listening Brand

Many brands see advertising as an effort to draw attention to themselves and away from competitors. But the approach that builds relationships most requires that brands listen, too.

If advertising is the talking part of this dialog, then brand research and testing is the listening part of the conversation.

Is your brand a good listener?

Suzan St. Maur
Marketing Message Disasters: Not Just for Small Business Anymore

Surely marketing message disasters happen only to sad little mom-and-pops run by two guys and a German Shepherd selling plastic garden furniture to consumers living inside the Arctic Circle.

Afraid not, folks. It can happen to anyone. Even you.

Across all the industrialized markets, millions are wasted every year on business communication that doesn’t work because the basic message and the thinking behind it is flat-out wrong.

Learn how to avoid a disaster of your own.

David Berkowitz
Weasel to Weasel with Scott Adams

Late last month, Scott Adams kicked off the first National Weasel Day in San Francisco as a shameless plug for his new book, "Dilbert and the Way of the Weasel." In a play on Groundhog Day, the new holiday's lore holds that if the weasel entered its cubicle, the economy would rebound in 2003.

Alan Greenspan, you can rest easy next year; the weasel provided as sound an economic indicator as any that have come out lately.

Read why the time is right for Weasel Day, now more than ever.

A Note to Readers

Listen Up

I saw Mitch McCasland at a conference a few weeks ago. Mitch is a brand expert (and he has the coolest collection of shirts of any guy I know over 35).

Lucky for us, he's also MarketingProfs' newest monthly contributor, and this week he weighs in with a terrific piece about the importance of truly listening to your customers.

"Many brands see advertising as an effort to draw attention to themselves and away from competitors. But the approach that builds relationships most requires that brands listen, too," Mitch writes.

To nurture the growth of a brand that best fits customers' needs, says Mitch, you have to truly hear your customers. And he offers some sound (!) advice on doing just that.

During the cocktail party at the same conference, I met an individual who yakked on and on about his company, his business and his product. He talked on about what he could do for his clients and how well his product performed.

Speaking with him was a little like playing the Kevin Bacon game--there seemed to be one or two degrees of separation at most between his so-called expertise and any topic under the sun... or under the ballroom chandeliers, in this case.

The contrast between the messages of these two approaches was stark, and serves as a well-timed reminder of the cornerstone of good marketing: It's not about you and what you can do, it's about your customers... what they want and how you can offer it to them.

So stop talking. Instead, listen up.

As always, your feedback is both welcome and encouraged.

Until next time,

Ann Handley
Chief Content Officer
MarketingProfs.com
ann@marketingprofs.com

Last Issue's Top 5

Service & CRM Top 5

FREE PRODUCT MANAGEMENT & MARKETING WHITE PAPERS

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Eran Livneh
How To Measure Your Marketing

What is your most important marketing tool?

Your spreadsheet application should be high at the top of the list. These days, running your marketing department without constant attention to the numbers is simply irresponsible.

Here's how to define your goals and measure the impact of your marketing efforts.

Guy Smith
When Selling Is Like Splicing Genes

Selling is a more complicated process than many companies understand, requiring communication with many different "species" of buyers.

The good news is that you *can* master communication with every genotype that your company encounters. The bad news is that like insect species, there are a lot of different genotypes and most of them are a little creepy.

Here's how to sort through the sales process.

Harry Hoover
Why Passionate Employees Matter

Companies spend millions of dollars each year developing mission and vision statements, identifying their brand, and then communicating their brand promise through various media.

Well, employees are the primary “media” in the majority of brand contacts. But in most companies, employees don’t understand the brand promise well enough to communicate it, let alone live it and articulate it clearly.

Clue your employees in. Here's how.

Tig Tillinghast
Dear Tig: The Difference Between PR and Marketing, and All About Tag Lines

This week, Tig gives his well-informed perspective on the difference between PR and Marketing. Also, what's the value of a good tag line?

Read Tig's two cents.

Contact

Publisher: Allen Weiss
amw@MarketingProfs.com

Content: Ann Handley
ann@MarketingProfs.com

Partnerships:
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Ad/Sponsor Information:
click here or contact jim@MarketingProfs.com

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