Customers like to categorize brands in order to make sense of them. That can restrict your offering.
External Influences
Every industry has their unique set of external influences that govern the validity of your business value. Make you that you know the factors that influence your business – and keep an eye on where they’re heading.
Email Becomes “Me-Mail”
Integrating video into your sales and marketing messaging, collateral and customer engagement activities is taking on ever-greater importance. Video captivates audience attention far better than text and/or images alone, and also helps differentiate your company.
Don’t Listen To Your Customers
Customers don’t always know what they want. That’s your job.
The Danger Of The Gilded Cage
Promotion often means rising to the level of incompetence.
What Value Do You Put On Creativity?
Underestimating the value of creativity in your business sets you on the road to becoming seen as a commodity.
The Second Mouse Gets The Cheese
If your business isn’t innovating, it’s going backwards.
Hidden Message
Some thoughts on Microsoft’s latest ad campaign.
Judging A (Note)Book By Its Cover
The birth of a new product segment – and its soon-to-be rapid, untimely death.
How Do Your Customers Find You?
Customers find your business in a variety of ways, via numerous channels. It’s important to be where they expect to find you – as well as not in places where you’re not welcome.
Keeping Your Business Relevant In Your Customer’s Mind
If your company occupies a space that could conceivably be embraced by your current customer base, then why should they continue to buy from you?
Non-Optional Extras: Hiding The True Cost From Your Customers
When you have the gall to charge an extra $500 delivery on a $30,000 automobile purchase, the only thing the customer remembers is the insult of having to pay the hidden extra.
Are Your Marketing Materials Too “Wordy”?
Are you being too extravagant in your textual messaging? Just the facts, ma’am.
Making Lemonade From Lemons
Even once the economy bounces back, we’re not going back to ‘the good old days’. The climate will be different. Customers will be different, so business will need to be different.
Taking it Personally With Printed Cards
If you’re sending holiday cards out by email, you’re totally missing the point.