Does someone in your business ever-so-often ask, "Whatever happened to (fill in the name) and how come he doesn't shop with us any more? Several surveys asking this same question were taken through the years by (but not limited to) the American Society for Quality Control, the Harvard Business Review, U S News & World Report -- even the Swedish Post Office titled "Satsa pa kunden" [...]

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In tough times, the extra bit of creativity could make the difference.  Here's a story you will love: An old man lived alone in Idaho. He wanted to spade his potato garden, but it was very hard work. His only son, Bubba, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament. Dear Bubba: I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I [...]

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I recently came across an article in Forbes magazine that put this topic into clear and unambiguous  perspective (I will attach a link to the full article at the bottom of the blog post - it is a must read).  Following on from my blog post in February: The leading face of change, this article provides some context on the reasons why change not only needs to be embraced, but actively led: "If [...]

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The marketing efforts of many small and midsize companies are often caught between using and ignoring the new emerging technologies.  It's not always about implementing these technologies - that's the easy part.  Just pay some technogeek and voila - you have a presence. The real question owners and marketers for these companies need to ask is NOT: "should I implement these technologies"?  [...]

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Most business people have an understanding of marketing.  They equate that mainly to the communications side of the business: advertising, media, brochures, social media, websites, public relations etc. But how many people understand strategic marketing?  A concept that has a higher level interpretation that focuses on things like target market, positioning, differentiation, the psychology of [...]

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According to Albert Einstein: The definition of Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Death, taxes and change - these are the only guarantees that we have in life.   Death - we can't do much about.  Taxes - well some accept it and others try to avoid it - either way we all need to simply deal with it.  Change - well, that's another story [...]

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"Reality appears to have finally arrived at Procter & Gamble, the world's largest marketer, whose $10 billion annual ad budget has hurt the company's margins. P&G said it would lay off 1,600 staffers, including marketers, as part of a cost-cutting exercise. More interestingly, CEO Robert McDonald finally seems to have woken up to the fact that he cannot keep increasing P&G's ad budget [...]

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I recently posted this question on a public forum and was quite intrigued by the answers. The question further addressed the issue that online surveys may be impacting the answer because it encourages a DIY (Do-It-Yourself) approach to research. Like anything, differing views provide tremendous insight that one can learn from and adapt. Here are just some of the comments - see what you think: [...]

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Prosperity.  Hope.  Success.  These are just some of the things we all look for as a new year begins.  Nothing wrong with that!  But how do we get there if we continue to do the same things we did last year - and the year before that. Here are a few ideas to get us thinking differently without having to challenge ourselves to create a totally new beginning for our future... Learn from the [...]

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Many companies get reinvigorated early in the new year.  They set new goals and decide to “do things differently”.  Very often this includes deciding that they need help with their marketing, particularly if growth or increased sales pipelines are among their overall objectives.  However, if they haven’t hired a marketing company before, they may not know what to look for. Here are some [...]

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