Archive for March, 2008
Hints on Marketing a New Business
My latest marketing article over on Duct Tape Marketing has some suggestions on how to market a new professional business. Although the article focuses primarily on professional businesses like law or medicine, the suggestions are generally universal.
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What are The Branding Words for Your Business?
We’ve covered the concept of personal branding in the presidential elections previously, but I liked the unique take that this article had on the issue. What I really liked about the article was the way they boiled the branding concept down to a few important words. Specifically, the article said:
When you hear the name McCain, his campaign wants you to think of ideas such as ‘courage,’ ‘strength,’ and ‘victory.’ With Obama, it’s ‘change,’ ‘hope,’ and ‘authenticity.’ And, with Clinton, it’s ‘experience,’ ‘tenacity,’ and ‘intelligence.’ Millions are spent creating marketing messages that will firmly imprint these positive characterizations in the minds of the public.
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The Sale is More Important than the Salesperson
There’s a great and telling anecdote on Shotgun Marketing Blog relating to selling to customers. In the story, the author talks about a sales person refusing to give them the purchase contract on a product they wanted to purchase until they had seen his Powerpoint presentation. Think about that for a moment. The customer was willing to buy, but the sales person wouldn’t let them until they had scene all of his sales pitch. Does that make any kind of sense whatsoever?
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Be Careful What You Ask For….
The latest story to make the rounds of the blogosphere is the fact that Starbucks is opening its own social media site, My Starbucks Ideas. The concept is that Starbucks is opening a social community similar to Dell’s Ideastorm wherein the company is soliciting ideas from its customers for improvements to the company. Several major bloggers like Mack Collier, Jeremiah Owyang and John Moore have weighed in on the subject. Though each of the authors applauds the venture into social media, the question that seems to come out of this is whether Starbucks is ready and willing to subject itself to criticism and feedback.
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Sex Sells….. Sliced Mushrooms?
One of the oldest adages in advertising is that sex sells. But this ad is the oddest sex “sells” ad I’ve ever seen:
5 Considerations for Choosing an Effective Brand Name
Many times, the key to the success of a brand is in its name. As much as the product the company offers and the individual characteristics of the company, the name of the company is it’s calling card. The following are important considerations which you should be thinking about in choosing a name:
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