The Brand Management Decision Tree
One of the challenges associated with operating a consulting firm in a mid-sized market is that people start to learn your schtick. And occasionally, when we’re out on the town, someone will walk up to us and ask, with a grin, “Do I really need a brand management strategy?” So, to simplify the answer as much as possible, we’ve put together a little decision tree, which we encourage you to download and keep handy.
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All in a Word
Words are powerful things. We count on them to convey meaning. And sometimes they do their job too well.
Just last month, an former colleague told me how proud she was that she was tolerant of a young man I admire.
“Tolerant?” I asked. “What does that mean, exactly?” Read more
Managing ROI with Trade Shows and Conferences
If you manage marketing in the B2B world, it’s almost impossible to escape responsibility for spearheading your company’s participation in industry events. And if your CEO is a stickler for ROI (and most B2B CEOs are), you’re probably tired of justifying the high cost of attendance. …particularly when the only thing you have to show for your investment is a stack of dog-eared business cards and a pile of bar receipts.
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Anticipating the Cost of a Product Launch
One of the questions we field regularly from CEOs is “How much should it cost, as a percent of revenue, to launch a product, successfully?”
The question, itself, is completely legitimate. It’s imperative for anyone who brings a new product or service to market to have a predetermined “point of no return” – even if you willingly ignore that marker, when you actually hit it. Read more
Anything Worth Doing
For years (3 in one industry and 9 in another), I worked side by side – even partnered – with a very wise businessman: two Master’s degrees from Columbia, a serial entrepreneur, and a sensible economist. One day, he said something that made every hair on the back of my neck stand up. It really bothered me. In fact, it flew in the face of everything I held dear.
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Social Networking and Thin Clients
(This article was previously published on SocialMediaToday.com as “Feeling a Bit Gooey Lately? You May be Suffering from Thin Contacts”)
You’ve probably heard the term “thin client.” Simply put, a thin client is a computer or workstation with limited functionality, designed to be dependent on a network server. In a thin-client network, most of the “heavy lifting,” including storage, computation, and even the operating system itself, is provided by the server, while the thin client provides a graphical user interface (GUI) that enables the user to interact with the system. Thin client solutions are very popular because they provide low-cost workstations, require little maintenance, and are naturally theft resistant (because they have little value on their own). On the other hand, thin clients have no value to the user, independent of their network function. Read more
Undo! Undo! – Disruptive Technology and the Problem with Prophecy
Did you ever wish you could “take something back”? You know, like that comment you made at the Holiday party, when you didn’t know your boss was standing right behind you? Or the email that started out as a joke but ended up in the HR office? No, of course not. Smart people don’t do that sort of thing. Or maybe they do…
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When Social Media Accounts Collide
Here’s a great idea. Let’s link our social media accounts together, so when we have something brilliant to say, all of our friends will benefit from our comments. On the surface, that may seem to make sense. It certainly appeals to our egos, and it promises to extend our social reach. But there are networks, and then there are networks.
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Brand Loyalty Isn’t Lost; It’s Hiding
There’s a great new ad on TV. It’s Kayak.com’s “Five-Man Search” campaign. A man sits on a sofa, connected to four cardboard dummies, who (because they are connected to him with poles) mimic his every move. If you haven’t seen it, go find it now.
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