Monthly Archives: August 2011

There’s way more to Marketing than branding

Posted on August 30, 2011 by

Not that long ago it was suggested that a company needed a CBO (Chief Branding Officer). We found that notion disturbing since branding is a function clearly within the purview of the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer), assuming you have a properly … Continue reading →

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The power of social media

Posted on August 29, 2011 by

There is no question that social media of various flavors can be a useful tool for marketers. But it for sure makes lots of money for the social media platforms. The more users of Facebook, YouTube, et al, the more … Continue reading →

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It’s always been about results

Posted on August 26, 2011 by

According to a recent article, Meredith Guarantees Top Advertisers Sales Gains, the print media (or at least some of it) may finally get that is has always been about results. For many decades, print media has been able to offer … Continue reading →

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Hidden costs

Posted on August 23, 2011 by

When I was leaving the Ontario, CA airport the other day after watching the Southwest Airlines credit card people at work (as discussed in an earlier blog post), I decided I needed an ice cream. (People who know me realize … Continue reading →

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Live person selling can be more profitable than web orders

Posted on August 20, 2011 by

Over the past decade or more, companies have been automating their web ordering/selling engines, in the quite reasonable belief that it is a lot more profitable to take orders over the web without a live sales person answering the phone … Continue reading →

Posted in customer satisfaction, retail, sales | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

You can learn a lot just by watching

Posted on August 17, 2011 by

I spent 3 hours in the Ontario, CA airport the other day. There are no airline clubs there, so to work on my computer I sat at a Southwest Airlines gate at one of their work tables and stools. It … Continue reading →

Posted in sales | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Will we kill innovation?

Posted on August 14, 2011 by

I live in Greenfield, Massachusetts, which due to poor planning and bone-headed decisions by town government a couple decades or so ago, is a little bit of the rust belt in New England.  But it wasn’t always so!  In 1912, … Continue reading →

Posted in competitive advantage, Innovation | Leave a comment

What management can learn from political primaries

Posted on August 14, 2011 by

We are in the presidential primary season.  This round, only the Republicans are having a serious  primary, but there is an important lesson to be drawn from either party’s primary that’s valid for corporate management. During the primaries the base … Continue reading →

Posted in competitive advantage, management, product development | Leave a comment

It’s the opportunities, stupid!

Posted on August 10, 2011 by

I just picked up a fairly recent book (it was published in 2009) titled Know What You Don’t Know – How Great Leaders Prevent Problems Before They Occur, by Michael Roberto of the Harvard Business School.   The essence of the … Continue reading →

Posted in growth, management | Leave a comment

The CompleteTask List for Product Introduction

Posted on August 9, 2011 by

We’ve just published a booklet on Kindle written by Barbara Mroz (my wife) titled New Product Introduction – The Complete Task list.  This product introduction process map and checklist was created by Barbara originally for a client who was bringing … Continue reading →

Posted in Marketing, process management, product development, product introduction | Leave a comment