Archive for the ‘Great Ideas’ Category

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“OK” is not the new “Great”

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

great“Each of us is great insofar as we perceive and act on the infinite possibilities which lie undiscovered and unrecognized about us.” James Harvey Robinson

I was having lunch with a colleague yesterday when a business acquaintance approached our table and some small chit chat ensued. It went as it invariably does:

Acquaintance: Well how’s business?

Me: Business is OK.

Acquaintance: Just OK?

Me: Yes, just OK, but it will get better.

Acquaintance: Well you know Robbie, with the economy the way it is and with people out of work they are, OK is the new GREAT!

Ummm…no, not in my world. In my world, OK is now and always will be… just OK. It is not the new GREAT.

Consider– if OK was the new GREAT:

  • I’d work out at the gym everyday with a 33RPM record player strapped to my back because Sony would have never invented the Walkman which let you “wear your music” and eventually led to the iPod.
  • I still wouldn’t be able to get either of my children outside to scythe the yard.
  • My laptop computer would in fact be my bungalow sized computer and would in fact be very unwieldy in my chair right now.
  • I’d spend twice as long in the restroom as I do now fiddling with those doggone button-fly jeans because I’d have no zipper.
  • I’d have to actually talk to all these people I communicate with on a daily basis because I wouldn’t be able to text them.
  • I’d probably still be sitting in traffic with a folding map on my last trip out of town because I wouldn’t have my GPS to get me outta there.
  • I would be reading at night by candlelight (more…)

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Posted in Creativity, Great Ideas, Highly Recommended, My Life on the MPv2 List, New Ideas | Comments Off

How is your marketing performance?

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

logo-graderBrands are dead. Advertising no longer works. Weaned on TiVo, the Internet, and other emerging technologies, the short-attention-span generation has become immune to marketing. Your marketing performance will determine whethere or not you can overcome these obstacles. Consumers are “in control.” Or so we’re told.

But the real truth is a much more important and lasting cultural shift has happened.

As technology has created avenues for advertising anywhere and everywhere, people are embracing brands more than ever before–creating brands of their own and participating in marketing campaigns for their favorite brands in unprecedented ways. In the process, they–we–have begun to funnel cultural, political and community activities through connections with brands. You can use consumers’ word-of-mouth to enhance your marketing performance without the consumer ever knowing.

What do you know about your product, company or brand? Our FREE marketing performance test is 12 questions that measure 7 key areas of your marketing performance. In just about 15 clicks you can have a thoughtful and measured review of how you’re really doing! Start here.

MarketingGrader.net is fun and it’s 100% free. www.marketinggrader.net


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Posted in Branding, Creativity, email marketing, Great Ideas, Highly Recommended, internet marketing, New Ideas, Research, Search Marketing, Social Media, Traditional Media, Trends | No Comments »

How innovative is your media plan?

Monday, August 31st, 2009

mutliscreenTouch point focused and two-way? Have any idea what I’m talking about? Planners still classify media touch points as “above-the-line,” “below-the-line” and “new,” but planning should always be based on some critical considerations: Which touch point will best reinforce your brand value? And…where will the brand + media equation yield real engagement? Effectiveness will result only where the plan is seamless, believable, personalized, and authentic. There are those engagement words again— personalized and authentic. Media planning innovation and technological innovation are fast becoming one and the same.

Mobile devices, for example, are becoming an increasingly important touch point for consumers and a starting point for migration from desktop to laptop to blacktop. Location-aware software for phones, while still new, will inspire the mobile medium, so expect promotional coupons to show up along with IMs and look for greater granularity in measuring marketing ROI. Marketing dollars transitioning to online isn’t new, but social networks are also becoming more engaged in engagement to help marketers more effectively deliver messages and determine return on their efforts. Take a look at your media plan. Review it for creativity and innovation. Need ideas and suggestions? We’re as close as your phone, your UberTwitter app, or email.

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Posted in Branding, Creativity, Great Ideas, Highly Recommended, internet marketing, New Ideas, Social Media, Traditional Media, Trends, twitter | No Comments »

How is Your Brand Health?

Friday, August 28th, 2009

branding

Contrary to conventional wisdom, there is a key set of fundamental metrics — which can be actively managed — linking the health of a brand to revenue and consumer commitment.

Executives like to talk about strong brands as platforms for sustained growth. In the management literature, the link between brand equity and shareholder value is well accepted. So, why is the responsibility for brand-building not more actively managed in the executive suite?

In our work across sectors, we see companies often failing to “walk the talk” — unable to grasp the link between brand health and revenue commit­ment from customers. They treat brand-building superficially, believing that what matters is making brute-force impressions through large advertising campaigns.

Yet brand health is based on more than image and, through a set of key interrelated measures, can be linked to business performance.

How does the concept of brand health compare to the notion of brand equity?

Brand equity is linked to shareholder value. It is an intangible, long-term measure of a company, which is of little use to executives making investment trade-offs that affect top-line growth. By contrast, brand health is linked to current and future value with consumers and differences in com­petitive position. It is tangible and vital to managing brands and business performance on a forward-looking basis. (more…)

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Posted in Branding, Great Ideas, New Ideas | No Comments »

So much to accomplish!

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

CATAPULT-COVER_tammy-210x300There is so much to accomplish! Our world changes so rapidly and every day seems to bring a new challenge or crisis for a business that is not keeping pace.

“The Catapult Effect” is about new effectiveness in new ways in a very quick time. It can be as simple as closer relationships with customers, speeding a new product to market, or collaborating with a new team. We are talking about transformational change. It happens oftentimes very quickly and not in the most positive of ways. Relationships end, an accident changes a life, a business closes and people lose their jobs. How quickly those changes happen, sometimes in the blink of an eye. The point of the Catapult Effect is to take the crisis and manipulate it for our good or betterment, not for something bad from which we may not be able to recover.

Have you downloaded your copy today? It’s FREE! Get it here

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Posted in About Us, Branding, Creativity, Great Ideas, Highly Recommended, internet marketing, Search Marketing, Social Media, Traditional Media, Trends | No Comments »

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