Wonder how productive your marketing is? Don't have a clue? Read on...
The DISPATCHESTM for July 12, 2009 can be found here:
A printer / handheld friendly version can be found here:
It is also available in PDF here:
posted by BDN International @ 8:12 PM
0 Comments
BDNI will not be publishing our DISPATCHES this week as we are celebrating our annual Independence Day Holiday. Look for a new issue next week.
posted by BDN International @ 6:58 PM
0 Comments
magine you have just hired a new Brand Manager to take the lead in developing a brand positioning for a major launch. After a few weeks of work with the brand team, this manager presents his thinking on the positioning strategy -- starting with the proposed Target: "Moms with children, 0-2." Knowing that such a Target means all moms in the market with such children and knowing that you do not have the mega-resources to invest equally well again all of these moms, you immediately begin to question if you hired the right guy. If you're like us, the first questions in your mind are probably some like, "And I hired you to lead the brand team's strategic thinking? Do I really need a high-priced MBA to come up with something as common as this?" No. What you really need and want is someone who can craft a Strategic Positioning Target. That's our subject for this week!
The DISPATCHESTM for June 28, 2009 can be found here:
ARTICULATING A STRATEGIC TARGET
A printer / handheld friendly version can be found here:
ARTICULATING A STRATEGIC TARGET
It is also available in PDF here:
posted by BDN International @ 8:05 PM
0 Comments
A client recently requested us to address the issue of marketers changing campaigns annually. "What are the causes behind this?" they asked. "And, what can we do to manage communication campaigns more effectively?"
The DISPATCHESTM for June 21, 2009 can be found here:
GETTING COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGNS TO STICK
A printer / handheld friendly version can be found here:
GETTING COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGNS TO STICK
It is also available in PDF here:
posted by BDN International @ 9:03 AM
0 Comments
We were recently inspired by one of our highly respected clients. He told the true story of how his Brand Team, faced with a significant volume-versus-plan shortfall, made an unusual move: they asked their senior management for more marketing funds. But in asking for these funds they realized there was an onus on them to demonstrate that these funds would lead to more volume. So they tested incremental spending behind the brand. Where we come from, incremental-spend tests were not only common, they were expected. Senior Management always wanted to know: if we spent more how much better might we do? This week we reconsider this, more and more it seems, lost business-building discipline.
The DISPATCHESTM for June 14, 2009 can be found here:
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO HIGH-SPEND (TESTING)?
A printer / handheld friendly version can be found here:
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO HIGH-SPEND (TESTING)?
It is also available in PDF here:
posted by BDN International @ 6:57 PM
0 Comments
New media is on the tongue of many of our clients. It is as if they have fallen out of favor with the traditional and in love with anything non-traditional. This isn't new. It?s been going on for a few years now. So, what do we do about it?
The DISPATCHESTM for June 7, 2009 can be found here:
A printer / handheld friendly version can be found here:
It is also available in PDF here:
posted by BDN International @ 7:04 PM
0 Comments
So often we hear professional athletes - especially those competing for championships - express their need for getting the "fundamentals" right. Whether it's in passing to complete the dunk-assist in basketball or in turning the picture-perfect double play in baseball, professionals demand of themselves a commitment to the fundamentals day in and day out. So how about those of us who are professional marketers? Do we also insist upon a consistently high level of performance in marketing fundamentals? This week we consider just one of those marketing (we could say, even business) fundamentals: Management by Objective. It seems to us that this is one fundamental that all marketers could sharpen - and adhere to rigorously.
The DISPATCHESTM for May 31, 2009 can be found here:
A printer / handheld friendly version can be found here:
It is also available in PDF here:
posted by BDN International @ 8:49 PM
0 Comments
We like to use metaphors when teaching brand building concepts and principles to marketing managers. As you know a "metaphor" is using one thing to represent another (among other meanings of the term).
The DISPATCHESTM for May 17, 2009 can be found here:
CLIMBING YOUR WAY TO BRAND SUCCESS
A printer / handheld friendly version can be found here:
CLIMBING YOUR WAY TO BRAND SUCCESS
It is also available in PDF here:
posted by BDN International @ 12:03 PM
0 Comments
Today we are dipping into the archives to bring you a meaningful article from the past we first published in April, 2007.
posted by BDN International @ 7:15 AM
0 Comments
Here's a question for you: what role does the Sales Force play in implementing a brand's positioning? Or, perhaps in a more provocative way, is it right to limit a Sales Force's capacity for covering a broad market when the brand's positioning Target is only a portion of that market? Many professional marketers today "professional" as in those marketing pharmaceutical or medical device brands - find themselves with expensive Sales Forces that can cover and deliver brand messages to an entire physician population, even though a given brand they sell has chosen to position itself against only a high-opportunity portion of those physicians. So, to implement the brand in "true" fashion, does the Company restrain the Sales Force to focus for the optimal return with these high-opportunity docs, or go for maximum Sales Force "capacity utilization" and call on everyone? This is the issue we address in this week's Dispatches. But, the issue is larger than it may first appear: it has to do with aiming for the Ideal in Brand Positioning and balancing that aim with the Reality of our Company's established asset investments.
posted by BDN International @ 3:33 PM
0 Comments
Classifications are important. People use classifications to relate and connect. So what are you?
The DISPATCHESTM for April 27, 2009 can be found here:
A printer / handheld friendly version can be found here:
It is also available in PDF here:
posted by BDN International @ 7:50 AM
0 Comments
It has been over six years since we first raised the notion of brands going to market with a "competitive stance." What we meant by that notion is that brands succeed better when they are truly competitive, when they consciously give their customers or consumers reasons for perceiving them as a better choice - in everything they do. Unfortunately, far too many brands settle for being less than competitive - for accepting their brand as merely a good alternative to others. We recently were struck by a simple comparison of one consumer giant's brands versus another's: one with a truly competitive stance across its brands, the other with more of an acceptable alternative stance. And we think the comparison is well worth sharing!
The DISPATCHESTM for April 19, 2009 can be found here:
THE COMPETITIVE STANCE: A TALE OF TWO COMPANIES
A printer / handheld friendly version can be found here:
THE COMPETITIVE STANCE: A TALE OF TWO COMPANIES
It is also available in PDF here:
posted by BDN International @ 8:05 PM
0 Comments
Ever ask yourself if you could benefit from a little extra training? If you're being totally honest, you'd have to admit that we all could reap some benefit there. Read on to learn more...
The DISPATCHESTM for April 16, 2009 can be found here:
WHO NEEDS TRAINING? WHO DOESN\'T?
A printer / handheld friendly version can be found here:
posted by BDN International @ 1:39 PM
0 Comments
Who do you work for? What a silly question! Of course, you work for the company that pays your salary. And, what's best for them is best for you and the brand and the customer. Or is it?
The DISPATCHESTM for April 5, 2009 can be found here:
A printer / handheld friendly version can be found here:
It is also available in PDF here:
posted by BDN International @ 4:23 PM
0 Comments
When we wrote "Creating Brand Loyalty," as the title suggests, the focus was on this thing called "brand loyalty." Our work continues to reflect this in everything we offer to, and do for, our clients.
The DISPATCHESTM for March 22, 2009 can be found here:
A printer / handheld friendly version can be found here:
It is also available in PDF here:
posted by BDN International @ 6:55 PM
0 Comments
Richard Czerniawski is on holiday this week and in his absence we are offering for your reading enjoyment the most often requested DISPATCHES from the past, "Plumbing the Depths of Emotion". Look for a new publication next week.
The DISPATCHESTM for March 15, 2009 can be found here:
PLUMBING THE DEPTHS OF EMOTION
A printer / handheld friendly version can be found here:
PLUMBING THE DEPTHS OF EMOTION
It is also available in PDF here:
posted by BDN International @ 5:59 PM
0 Comments
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
