TWEAKING YOUR COACHING

Far too often client managers use mitigated speech when providing direction on agency creative submissions. We tend to sugarcoat (i.e., to make something unpleasant seem much less so) our comments thereby giving the wrong impression regarding our true feelings about the work and what is needed to make it more productive.

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

TWEAKING YOUR COACHING

A printer / handheld friendly version can be found here:

TWEAKING YOUR COACHING

It is also available in PDF here:

TweakingYourCoaching.pdf (PDF File)

MARKETING TRAINING IN THE AGE OF SAMENESS

For nearly the past twenty years, we have been in the Professional Marketing Training business. And that means we have not only had the privilege of teaching practical, best practices processes and "thinking formats," but we have also had the chance to observe many, many marketing organizations as they try to build their own marketing development curriculum. One thing stands out from these many observations: virtually every marketing organization thinks it is creating a unique curriculum; but because virtually all of them also insist upon the same requirements, their programs end up looking alike. We think it's time for organizations really seeking "marketing excellence" to get beyond the "age of sameness" in their thinking. Read on.

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The DISPATCHES^TM for August 23, 2009 can be found here:

MARKETING TRAINING IN THE AGE OF SAMENESS

A printer / handheld friendly version can be found here:

MARKETING TRAINING IN THE AGE OF SAMENESS

It is also available in PDF here:

MktTrainingInTheAgeOf Sameness.pdf (PDF File)

GETTING CHARACTER REFERENCES FOR YOUR BRAND -- AN UPDATE

This week's DISPATCHES is an update of an earlier publication. We hope you enjoy it.

Why is it that, whenever we think about differentiating our brand positioning, we automatically think only about the brand's Benefits and Reasons Why? Why do we not just as automatically think about making our Brand Character differentiated - from other brands in our company's portfolio and, even more critical, from competitive brands? We think the answer, more times than not, has to do with the ineffective "languages" we typically use to express our brand's character. We need other modes of expression to get this all-important job done right. This week we offer an updated version of Dispatches we first issued in 2002. We hope you find it helpful for your brand.

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The DISPATCHES^TM for August 16, 2009 can be found here:

GETTING CHARACTER REFERENCES FOR YOUR BRAND - AN UPDATE

A printer / handheld friendly version can be found here:

GETTING CHARACTER REFERENCES FOR YOUR BRAND - AN UPDATE

It is also available in PDF here:

GettingCharacterReferencesForYourBrand2007.pdf (PDF File)

BECOME A CHAMPION OF CUSTOMERS

Are you a champion of customers? Only you can answer that question. Read on for an in-depth look.

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The DISPATCHES^TM for August 9, 2009 can be found here:

BECOME A CHAMPION OF CUSTOMERS

A printer / handheld friendly version can be found here:

BECOME A CHAMPION OF CUSTOMERS

It is also available in PDF here:

BecomeAChampionOfCustomers.pdf (PDF File)

WHAT'S IN A WORD

If you think about it, we marketers produce compilations of words. We don?t make the product underneath our brand (Manufacturing does that); we don?t merchandise or display the product in the store (Sales does that); and we don?t produce the advertising that showcases our brand (our Agencies do that). What do we produce? Words! Most of the time, these words take the form of strategic documents or brand plan presentations. So we ought to be darn good with words, right? But, if we're honest, our words often fail us, or at least, don't serve us as well as they should. This week we take a look at some ways to get more from the words we use in one of our most important marketing "productions": our Communication Strategy.

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The DISPATCHES^TM for August 2, 2009 can be found here:

WHAT\'S IN A WORD?

A printer / handheld friendly version can be found here:

WHAT\'S IN A WORD?

It is also available in PDF here:

WhatsInAWord.pdf (PDF File)