"It's not news to anyone in our industry that we're having to take on changes of tectonic proportions," Gavin Hilton says in a recent post at the RAPP Blog. The RAPP direct marketing agency serves a range of clients worldwide. The debate still rages, Hilton notes, as to which creative "silo" ... more

A recent television spot for a major insurance company—set to the wistful tinkling of a piano—opens with evocative images from the Great Depression. "1931 was not exactly a great year to start a business," says spokesperson Dennis Haysbert. "But that's when Allstate opened its doors." "And in the twelve recessions ... more

Part 1 of this article series examined the purpose, definition, and metric associated with win/loss analysis. This final part discusses getting started, questions to include in the discussion, when and how to conduct the analysis, and using the findings more

"For several months," says Lori Feldman in an article at MarketingProfs, "I've been asked almost weekly to help someone who's just lost a paycheck to find their next one." Sound familiar? When it first happens to our friends and family, we're very sympathetic—after all, we may be next on the ... more

Did you know that the top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004? Did you know that today's learner will have 10 to14 jobs by the age of 38? Did you know that we are now preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist and will use ... more

In Part I, we suggested a few cuts to make in your current marketing budget to help keep your bottom line healthy during these tough times. Now let's take a look at a few line items you should probably keep intact—or even fund a bit more. According to Pat LaPointe ... more

Here's a scenario many of us have experienced: The CEO sets the revenue goals in the annual business plan; the plan is handed down; and the business units scramble to make the numbers. Only one thing is wrong: We don't know how the decision was made about what matters. Deciding what ... more

As much as we would all like to believe that we're masters of our own destiny, the unfortunate truth in business is that growth stalls. Over the course of a decade, more than half of companies stall... and that's in normal economic times. Given what we're facing now, how should ... more

The need to better align the sales and marketing organizations is generally well known. They are connected through their shared roles in motivating customer-purchase activities and divided by different cultures that concentrate on distinct portions of the customer-purchase funnel. There's no doubt that alignment is good, but what must you ultimately ... more

At a fraction of the cost of traditional media, 3M Canada not only generated immediate sales and new excitement around its Scotch Tape brand but also gathered invaluable intelligence about its target market and forged long-term relationships with consumers. more

You closely monitor the results of your paid-search efforts. Shouldn't you do the same for your natural-search program? In a recent MarketingProfs article, Netconcepts' John Thielmann says measuring your natural search performance is not only a good idea, it's imperative if you're reporting progress to higher-ups. So, where to begin? By establishing ... more

"For too long, too many marketers have underestimated the value of email's impact on offline retail," say Lisa Harmon and Alex Madison in a post at the Email Experience Council blog. If you focus entirely on generating online sales, they argue, you might be missing out on bricks-and-mortar opportunities. They've ... more

"Now more than ever, the email channel in particular is being asked to contribute higher revenue," says Stephanie Miller in a post at the Daily Fix blog. "Yet, we all must make that happen with existing (or lower) resources." Reaching that goal requires innovation, and Miller reports on a number ... more

Welcome to MarketingProfs' inaugural issue of Marketing in a Downturn. We are glad you signed on to receive these once-a-week guides to navigating rough economic seas—and safely making it through to the upturn. We will chart this course together. But if you wish to opt out, just click on the link below. ... more

If our current economic situation can teach us anything, it's that we really can't carry on in personal finance or business (or politics, for that matter) without keeping our wits about us. Check out this great 11-minute video by Jonathan Jarvis that explains leveraging, credit default swaps, and how we ... more

Good PR doesn't come cheap, and if you're not seeing results from your agency, it's only natural to consider other options. But before firing your agency, Todd Defren at the PR Squared blog asks whether you've lost faith in its senior management, or in the team handling your account. Your ... more

As we continue to feel the adverse effects of a global recession, it's only natural to feel a sense of defeat. "Giving up the ghost is a real option," says John Baldoni at Harvard Business Online, "but if you are a manager in a declining business or even a flat ... more

We may be in a recession, but that isn't stopping marketers from spending on search. According to the new 2008 annual survey and forecast from the Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization (SEMPO), spending on search engine marketing in North America is expected to hit $26 billion by 2013, up from $13.5 ... more

Your e-newsletter is an excellent tool for maintaining customer relationships. But it can also generate income if you offer cool ad space in it.  In a recent article at MarketingProfs, Drew Adams explains how to make it more appealing to select advertisers: Make it relevant. Adams offers an example: "For a newsletter ... more

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 on what to cut... and (just as critically) what not ... more

For most CEOs, good marketing is a bit like pornography—it's hard to define precisely, but they know it when they see it. Still, it's clear that one of the problems is that most CEOs cannot put their finger on what Marketing isn't getting done—but they can envision that nothing much ... more

A new trend uncovered by Hitwise reveals that search queries on all major search engines are starting to get longer and longer. In a recent study, the measurement firm found that searchers are typing four or more words at an increasing rate to find what they're looking for. Searches using ... more

Are your sales pipelines feeling a bit clogged lately? Well, welcome to the recession, says Scott Gillum in a recent MarketBridge blog post. "With customers delaying and/or postponing decisions altogether, the ol' pipeline ain't what it used to be," he notes. But, lucky for us, he then offers 7 Pipeline ... more

Under normal circumstances, Dylan Boyd believes email copy should be clear and concise. He explains his straightforward rationale in a post at the Email Wars blog: "[I]f I get 500-700 emails a day in my inbox, then I need to know WHO, WHAT, WHY and What's in it for me. ... more

GM's CEO, Rick Wagoner, has opined that the automaker's biggest blunder was to walk away from the electric car. But GM's biggest strategic blunder might have been its failure to view Saturn strategically—and as a consequence not allowing it to fulfill its destiny as a domestic competitor to Toyota, Nissan, and ... more