What's The Objective?

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.

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The DISPATCHES^TM for May 31, 2009 can be found here:

WHAT\'S THE OBJECTIVE?

A printer / handheld friendly version can be found here:

WHAT\'S THE OBJECTIVE?

It is also available in PDF here:

WhatsTheObjective.pdf (PDF File)

CLIMBING YOUR WAY TO BRAND SUCCESS

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).

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The DISPATCHES^TM 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:

ClimbingYourWayToBrandSuccess.pdf (PDF File)

A WORK OF ART

Today we are dipping into the archives to bring you a meaningful article from the past we first published in April, 2007.

Do you consider your marketing communications great works of art? Maybe you should...

To view this article in its entirety directly from our website, please click on the appropriate link below. We have also provided a pdf link if that is your preferred method of viewing. And finally, we have provided a link to our Blog where your comments are always welcome.

Should you experience any problem in opening any of these links, please contact Lori Vandervoort at loriv@bdn-intl.com or call 800-255-9831 (620-431-0780).
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The DISPATCHESTM for May 11, 2009 can be found here:

A WORK OF ART

A printer / handheld friendly version can be found here:

A WORK OF ART

It is also available in PDF here:

AWorkOfArt2007.pdf (PDF File)

SELLING THE BRAND POSITIONING

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.

To view this article in its entirety directly from our website, please click on the appropriate link below. We have also provided a pdf link if that is your preferred method of viewing. And finally, we have provided a link to our Blog where your comments are always welcome.

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The DISPATCHESTM for May 3, 2009 can be found here:

SELLING THE BRAND POSITIONING

A printer / handheld friendly version can be found here:

SELLING THE BRAND POSITIONING

It is also available in PDF here:

SellingTheBrandPositioning.pdf (PDF File)