• When is social media and digital marketing right for you?

    This question is often missed when people prepare their marketing strategies - most likely because they don't really ask the question.  Often people are blinded by the bright lights and sexy appeal of anything digital and they fail to ask the really pertinent questions that will help them with the correct answer. Before trying to find the answer to the question above, you should ask a few more [...]

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    What the world's business leaders are thinking

    A new IBM study of more than 1,700 Chief Executive Officers from 64 countries and 18 industries worldwide reveals that CEOs are changing the nature of work by adding a powerful dose of openness, transparency and employee empowerment to the command-and-control ethos that has characterized the modern corporation for more than a century. The advantages of the fast-moving trend are clear. [...]

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    Why do customers leave you?

    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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    Creativity comes in many forms

    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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    Oblivion without change

    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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    New technologies - am I a dinosaur if I don't use them?

    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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    How is marketing different to strategic marketing

    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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    The leading face of change

    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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    P&G To Lay Off 1,600 After Discovering It's Free To Advertise On Facebook

    "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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    Market research as an industry is dying...true or false?

    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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