Effective branding creates and maintains relationships with customers; it's very much an ongoing, dynamic process. Email's place in that cycle must be one of regular and relevant communication in order to develop a connection with the consumer (frequency) and to ensure that messages don't languish in the recipient's in-box (relevance). In a 2006 marketing benchmark study, … [Read more...]
Q&A: Scott Berg
Scott Berg is responsible for working with HP's business units to establish a congruent global media strategy as it relates to traditional, emerging media and technology. He has been honored as the first U.S.-based client media judge at the Cannes International Advertising Festival in 2004, and was named one of Advertising Age's Media Mavens in 2005 and was on min Magazine's … [Read more...]
An Approach to Managing Viral Marketing
Most people in the marketing business will have heard of viral marketing, and some will have even attempted to create a "viral." Those who have tried to create their own viral marketing campaigns will probably have discovered that it is not as easy as it seems. Certainly, viral marketing is a tantalizing concept because the cost to distribute your message to millions of people … [Read more...]
The Marketing Times Are a-Changin’
Come gather 'round, marketers, wherever you roam. And admit that the waters around you have grown. And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone. If your job to you is worth savin'. Then you better start swimmin', or you'll sink like a stone. For the marketing times they are a-changin'. (My most sincere apologies to Mr. Zimmerman). So how does it feel? To be on your … [Read more...]
Q&A: Mike Jacobs
Mike Jacobs is chief services officer for iMarketing, an online marketing agency serving clients like Yahoo, Dow Jones, eMusic and AA RP. He is a consultant to several hedge funds and was previously co-founder and marketing director for Expression Engines/Bigfoot Interactive (sold to Epsilon in 2005). More information about iMarketing is available at www.imarketingltd.com. … [Read more...]
The Internet Generation Conundrum
Born with a mouse in their hands and weaned on mobile phones, IM and Facebook profiles, the Internet generation hates me. My carefully crafted collateral, commercials, even my websites are dismissed by this audience as blatant and futile attempts to deceive them. They think I'm selling something that's not as good as I say it is. They believe I am a liar. Guess what? They're … [Read more...]
The Kids Are All Right – Are You the Problem?
I have had the great pleasure, for the better part of the past seven years, to act like a kid, think like a kid and hang out with kids - or young adults as they like to be called - as a part of my day job. When I began working at Creative Strategies in 2000, I was tasked with trying to get inside the mind-set of the youth demographic and learn about their demands for technology … [Read more...]
New Communications Approaches in Marketing
The early part of the 21st century has witnessed an explosion in the number of media that marketers can employ to reach their customers. This began in the 1990s with the use of the Internet as an advertising medium. Web pages became the "new" medium, with banner and other types of similar ads (e.g., buttons, rectangles, etc.) that customers clicked in order to be sent to the … [Read more...]
Q&A: Young-Bean Song
Throughout his career, Young-Bean Song has been at the forefront of analytic research and development in digital marketing. He currently oversees The Atlas Institute, renowned for its pioneering research in all things related to digital marketing. Young's work also includes custom research for Atlas' top agencies and advertisers. PERFORM: There's a proliferation of advertising … [Read more...]
Overlap Matters
Traditional wisdom says that cross-site duplication of online advertising is bad for business. And indeed duplication has traditionally been seen as redundant - a sign of media waste. A report from your third-party ad server would highlight which sites overlapped with which other sites on your buy, and by how much. That way, you could act immediately to pare back the buy and … [Read more...]
The Corporate Website: Five Strategies for Making Your Site More Relevant and Social
Corporate marketing messages do not always reflect the market's perception of a product or service. The practice of "push" messaging was designed to shape a brand and suppress its inevitable weaknesses. After all, even the most reliable products and services have the potential to behave in ways not anticipated by the consumer. And in the past (pre-Web) world, customer … [Read more...]
Web 2.0 and Marketing Strategy
Addressing the Association of National Advertisers in 2004, Jim Stengel, chief marketing officer of Procter & Gamble, threw down the gauntlet. As the man controlling the world's largest advertising budget, his words certainly instilled fear in the minds of the advertising agency executives in the audience. For the brand managers and marketing executives attending that day, … [Read more...]
Can You Connect With The Ad-Averse Segment Of Your Audience?
Your advertising is invisible to a substantial segment of your audience. Intuitively, you know they're tuning out, but you need more than intuition to re-establish connections. The solution for reaching an audience that ignores or pays little attention to your advertising is really twofold. First, you need to gain a better understanding of your audience; and second, you must … [Read more...]
The Customer Advisory Board: A How-to Guide for The Internet Age
Good market intelligence is imperative in today's increasingly competitive environment. Product segments are commoditizing; product life cycles are shortening; and with smart competitors in almost every segment, CMOs and their teams need all the good market intelligence that they can get to develop and implement their marketing strategies. The question is, how do you get good … [Read more...]
Q&A: Keith Pigues
Keith Pigues is chairman of the board of directors for the Business Marketing Association International and a member of the Executive Leadership Council. In 2007, he received the Frost &Sullivan Marketing Lifetime Achievement Award and was recognized by B2B Magazine as one of the leading senior marketing practitioners. Since 2007, Mr. Pigues has served as corporate senior … [Read more...]