November 2012 Blog Posts (8)

Most people think that the purpose of marketing is to sell stuff.



I hear this frequently from clients who load up their emails and face book

content with offers to buy their “stuff”.



Whether it is bowling, hardware, admission tickets to an entertainment

venue, automobiles, auto parts, restaurant meals or computer chips, it

happens all the time.



So I ask a lot of questions of my clients; here is just a sample.



Why do you create content that only…

here are only a few ways to gain market share - which is always a good

strategy - in a slow growth or flat market:



1.    New product development or product line extension. Think apple

computers; new product category (I pod); product line extension, Mac Book

air (the new thin one)



2.    Great customer service to differentiate your product from others in

your category.  Think Southwest Airlines or Nordstrom's.



3.    Price reductions; in the short term…

After considerable urging and death threats from his friends and family, he

made the decision to move out about 10 minutes before the wall of water

flooded his basement and added 8 ft of water to his first floor, destroying

everything on that floor; kitchen, living room, den, bedroom, bathroom and

dining room.

He was one of the lucky ones. The house behind his burned to the ground.



If you would like to contribute to the relief fund for the Rockaways, here

is…

No matter who wins tonight, think about how many homeless people, how many

hurricane victims could have benefited from the ungodly amount of

advertising spent to sway opinions and ultimately votes for "their guy."



Estimates in Ohio alone were that combined advertising by both parties

exceeded $20 million.



Yikes.



Yes, I know there is a great deal at stake, but there's something about

that level of expenditure, (and I'm a marketing guy) that almost,…

Creativity comes from the strangest places and from the strangest

circumstances.



Or as the old saying goes, “Necessity is the mother of invention.”



  In lower Manhattan NY, as residents found themselves in the dark, they

all found that they were without their mandatory issued Android or Apple

cell phones, iPods, iPads, and laptops, which of course need power.



Some hiked uptown to midtown Manhattan with their electronic gear to find

a friend with…

In the aftermath of Sandy and among the many images I have been absorbing

for the past 48 hours, I have to get away from it and get back to my

marketing.  It’s what you read this blog for and I promise to give you some

valuable information.



So I thought that today, I would delve a little deeper into some social

media statistics that are shaping your business.



When the web was new it was about information; then it was about

overthrowing Arab dictators. …

Is it the spirit of the hearty individual or is it pure ego that people

think they can survive anything?  Haven't they learned from Katrina and

other disasters?  Didn't the Tsunami teach them anything?



Obviously not.



A good friend of mine lives on one of the barrier islands off the coast and

he is refusing to leave; even though he is in grave danger;

apparently he doesn't think so.  In fact, he is planning a hurricane

party.



I can't talk him…

The man who could, usually does.

The man who would, usually doesn’t.

The man who should has let the opportunity pass.





If you are letting seasonal opportunities pass you by, you might be in the

“shoulda” category. On the other hand if you’re in the “coulda” category,

here’s some things you could do that you might not have thought of.

(hopefully you have and this is just a checklist





   1. List your top 25 league bowler friends who work at big…