At best ‘brand’ is a useful word. At worst, it’s a dangerously misleading management tool. It’s hard to talk about marketing without using the word brand (or one of its derivations). Believe me, I’ve tried! But in spite of (or, perhaps, because of) its useful nature, the word brand is functionally bankrupt. More often than […]
[Note: the following post concludes with a challenge. I hope you’ll consider proposing a solution!] I can’t stand it anymore. If I hear one more (otherwise intelligent) person mention the concept of a ‘profitable customer’, I’m going to scream! The concept of a ‘profitable customer’ is as big a nonsense as that of a ‘profitable […]
I’m often asked by clients how to cope with the ‘appeal to brand equity’ made frequently by (some) marketing people (particularly those selling advertising) in defense of promotional activities. (To review my position on ‘brand equity as a management metric’ you might like to read this article. The marketer’s position is typically as follows: We […]
For most of us, advertising is a little like prayer. We’re not sure it provides any benefit, but we do it anyway, just in case! Of course, one difference between advertising and prayer is that advertising costs you money. And, as a professional manager, your job is to maximise your return on capital. In other […]
I’m always bemused by the exalted tone used by salespeople and management when discussing ‘qualification’. The presumption seems to be that this activity somehow adds tremendous value to the opportunity-management process. I suspect, in most cases, it does the opposite! From what I’ve observed, ‘qualification’ typically involves a salesperson making preliminary contact with a list […]
Use our simple five-step formula to turn under-performing lead generation advertisements into high powered sales tools. Bill King and son, Stephen, were facing a dilemma, common to many business people. They had a great product on their hands. Something handymen and tradesmen would jump at. But they were having trouble launching it into the marketplace. […]
If it’s done well, newspaper advertising can be an extremely cost effective way of attracting new customers to your business. However, done poorly, this is one sure way to waste large amounts of money in an amazingly short period! Newspaper advertising gives you access to a large audience for a very low cost per reader. […]
Seminars and workshops are particularly potent business marketing tools. Here’s everything you need to know to use them to generate leads and grow your business. If you’ve ever seen delegates queue to purchase audiocassette programs at a Tom Hopkins seminar, you’ve seen the power of a good seminar presentation. Seminars are a hybrid sales tool. […]
Diminishing returns from lead generation are every promotional coordinator’s public enemy number one. The problem is, all promotional campaigns — no matter what their objective — suffer from diminishing returns. What this means is that the cost per unit of benefit increases exponentially with each repetition of the campaign. If the purpose of the advertisement […]
