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- Are you LinkedIn? Do you Spoke, Ryze, Jigsaw, or ZoomInfo? In 2008, will you get a Second Life? If these social-networking concepts are not on your radar, you are ignoring a dynamic trend that could have a profound impact on key areas of your business, such as revenue growth, talent ... more
Each year, when MLB's postseason culminates with the World Series, all eyes are on baseball—or are they? With most teams out of the running, do those fans continue to watch? Are the resources invested in marketing worthwhile, or in tune with fans' true passions? more- Notoriously private, Warren Buffett doesn't have a lot to say publicly, except for his annual letter to shareholders that usually makes the rounds of the Wall Street Journal, Business Week and other top publications. However, for his marketing programs, and specifically GEICO commercials, Buffett has an open checkbook. more
- With product marketing, your company will be able to prepare the sales channels to relate to the buyer and enable these channels to focus on the most effective messages and programs. You will be able to develop outbound marketing initiatives that move prospects into and through the pipeline to drive ... more
- Marketers love talking about products like the Swiffer or iPod, two colossal successes in terms of brilliance in innovation and new product development. In fact, rumor has it there are more consulting firms taking credit for Swiffer's development and success than can fit into the new Yankee Stadium. The puzzling question ... more
- Kimpton Hotels had successfully created a loyalty program, but its email program was lagging. By implementing an email strategy that focused on segmentation and targeting individual preferences, and by adding a corporate branding strategy, the company increased email bookings fivefold. more
- Online service ShareBuilder 401(k) provides retirement plans exclusively for small businesses. But retirement plans are usually sold in person, not virtually. Here's how ShareBuilder discovered a way to market to this niche that upped its number of sales made via the Internet. more
- Here are the 10 biggest business blunders, and advice on how you can avoid them sinking you (and your company). more
- Marketing is suffering from a crisis of credibility. So what can marketers do to be seen as part of a machine that drives revenue and profits, not just the people who throw parties and buy swag? more
- Cognos held some 10 conferences annually for its customers and prospects. When the software provider tried a single 3-D virtual conference, it reached more active visitors than the 10 conferences combined. more
- Siemens Medical Solutions wanted to elminate links that were secondary to the main offer on landing pages. But Marketing needed to prove its case to other departments. The approach? Test, test, test. more
- Office furniture dealer Panel Systems Unlimited found its sales lagging during an economic recession, and knew that it had to act quickly to position itself for the inevitable recovery. Partnering with Medium Blue Search Engine Marketing, it focused on upping its search engine exposure. The result: sales tripled. more
- Understanding how the Internet changes the rules of marketing is a huge challenge for CEOs: Which practices are obsolete? What new opportunities should be pursued? How do we define success in this new scenario? more
- In a world that is now fully connected, people and businesses are putting their opinions, observations, insights, thoughts, and capabilities online, via some very helpful tools. Here's what one fictitious small business did to grow its customer base, and reach potential customers worldwide. more
- One of the more successful tobacco control programs is the "Own Your C" campaign commissioned by the state of Colorado, which has effectively found ways to resonate with this hard-to-reach demographic. more
- Should a marketer simply start blogging or wait instead until all of the blogging policies and procedures are established before beginning? In other words: Which comes first the policy or the blog? more
- Guinness, the top-selling stout in the world, is facing competition as the beer industry consolidates. It also needs to diversify its customer base, as about 95% of its sales volume comes from four markets. Here's how Guinness maintains its distinctive brand reputation. more
- The hearing aid industry has suffered from an image problem, because the devices were perceived as ugly and just for the elderly. As a result, just 23% of those who needed hearing aids actually bought them. But based on extensive market research, Oticon, Inc. built a cool hearing aid that ... more
- What constitutes marketing operations? Marketing operations adds an emerging dimension to the marketing mix. Enabled by new processes and technology, it goes beyond the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion), and 3Cs (Customers, Competitors, Corporation), to fully round out the marketing mix. more
- Marketers often lament, "If only I had more time...." Improving your productivity by using something like GTD (Getting Things Done) will take you part of the way there. But you also need to become ruthless at delegating. The more effectively you delegate, the faster you will excel in your career. more
- Results from a recent survey found that only 17% of us indicated that our CEOs would give marketing an A. What's more, this study and others continue to suggest that a gap remains between a company's business goals and the metrics marketing uses to measure their impact on these goals. ... more
- In this MarketingProfs Classic, Jim Lenskold reminds us that, since the dreaded annual planning and budgeting process isn't going away, it's time to make the effort to get more value out of the process. Jim writes, "Here are four ways to use financial insight to create more profitable strategies and ... more
- Wi-Gear, an independent manufacturer formed in 2004, was focused on one product—a wireless Bluetooth headset—geared toward the Apple iPod. It had a tiny sales and marketing budget and no outside capital. It needed to grow its distribution from just online sales to other retail outlets, preferably Apple Stores. But plenty ... more
- Kronos had an obvious identity problem that clearly impacted its sales performance, so getting support from the executive suite for a branding initiative should have been a slam-dunk. Except not quite. While everyone agreed there was a brand problem, the solution was costly and very long-term. Here's how Marketing won ... more
- SIGG had been selling its aluminum water and fuel bottles to the US outdoor market for years at a price about twice as much as the closest competitor's. It counted on the Swiss reputation for quality to drive sales—but sales were flat. Then its newly formed US subsidiary made some ... more
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