All about marketing: September 2009

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Is NFL the most twitterised brand?

A lot of NFL gets on Twitter too. Apart from the fact that NFL Network has exclusive high quality coverage online with 100% video support and lots of fantasy games for the fans, most NFL players incl Chris Johnson are alive and ’speakalot’ on Twitter. Featured here is how one of the better known teams of the NFL, the New England Patriots have made a distinctive interactive app for Facebook..going into grapping the attention and mindshare of a 100 million odd users..it’s great to see something as entrenched as the NFL going out to bat with the invisible continent and get more touchdowns,! Fire away. (mixed metaphors!, maybe just the Dallas Cowboys losing their hold on the game after not making the playoffs)

New England Patriots Choose Facebook as Primary Social Media Hub

You know how bands often tend to put more importance on their MySpace page than on their dot com website? Well, the New England Patriots are now doing something similar on Facebook.

They’ve partnered with Buddy Media to create a new section of their Facebook page, dubbed the “Fan Zone“, where fans can check out a calendar of Patriots-related events, play a Fantasy Forecast game, test their Patriots knowledge in the Patriots Trivia Challenge, send virtual Patriots gifts to their friends and more.

What’s interesting about this new initiative is the fact that none of this is available on the official Patriots website. True, some parts of the Facebook Fan Zone still link to that website, but for the most part, fans would do better to visit the Facebook page than the official, dot com page.

As the importance of social media increases, I reckon that more and more big brands will put emphasis on their presence on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter instead on their official websites. Patriots’ Director of Interactive Media Fred Kirsch explains the move: “We really weren’t anywhere [before] as it relates to social media. We had to get into the game, and to have that kind of audience we have on Facebook, you can’t get that kind of immediate impact on [Patriots.com].”

For more on this topic, check out this article: Is Social Media Making Corporate Websites Irrelevant?

Tags: facebook, New England Patriots, social media

via New England Patriots Choose Facebook as Primary Social Media Hub.

Banks REDUCING overdraft fees??

Yes, really!

I was a bit perplexed as to why Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo would make the decision to lower overdraft fees, especially considering service fees are the lifeblood of financial services companies’ bottom lines. Then I realized the marketing impact of these decisions. These companies can take advantage of the fact that they were the initial leaders in making this drastic change to their respective overdraft policies. Whoever can effectively communicate this fact first could have a huge advantage in attracting new customers and positioning themselves as the bank that “cares” about its customers. I’m sure advertising, direct mail, and branch promotions are soon to follow this news.

The other question that comes to mind is- where is the additional revenue going to come from for these banks? Obviously reducing fees takes away from the bottom line and these institutions may gain market share by attracting new customers, but the additional revenue from the new business wouldn’t be enough. Since these banks are the few large banks remaining after the recent credit crisis, perhaps they have more resources available for acquiring smaller banks and attaining additional business that way.

Regardless, this is a major move in the financial services industry. Perhaps impending legislation was the motive behind the policy changes. Or, perhaps the banks’ “dirty secret” is out and they need to make the move to save face. In this case, it appears as a public relations move to increase goodwill. It will definitely be interesting to see how the changes affect the industry going forward. We’ll see in the future, when these banks announce earnings and if shareholders agree with the decision or decide to sell.

JW's Fabulous(ly British) T's

Some sharp direct e-marketing from JW this morning. Aside from the fact the T’s themselves are pretty darn cute, playing on the Fabulously… tag within an array of rainbow shades, the presentation of the message is adorable.

I’ve seen a few creative pitch decks being put together in a similar fashion to the above lately, and execs seem to be taking their cue from fashion houses and graphic designers on whose labours of love the above format seems to be based. The standard Powerpoint text box is dead – laboriously photographing collections of Post-Its on a white board is the new way to express your creative ideas (and it is worth it).

As if a snapshot had been taken directly from the desk of a designer at JW HQ (staples still intact in the corner of the crumpled notepaper), there seems a desire to stamp authenticity on what could have become a standard e-mailout. The hand-drawn augmentation of the well-established ‘Fabulously British’ tag now synonymous with the brand, is a cheeky rebellious twist at once conveying both credibility and a brand personality not afraid to challenge convention. Rather reflective of their student audience I thought.

And one final thing – pretty brave for a fashion brand to launch a whole new range of T’sjust as the air turns crisp and people are starting to dig out scarves, layers and overcoats. But when you’re a JW staple, who cares about bucking the trend? Sling it over a Raubelin Henley with a scarf and a beanie and you’re good to go.

Blog´s & Marketing Político

Esta es una nota que escribí para la página web de la Asociación Argentina de Marketing Político (AAMP) en diciembre de 2007, muchas cosas cambiaron, otras siguen igual. ¿Ustedes qué opinan?

BLOG´S & MARKETING POLÍTICO

En la jerga popular dicen que los números son elocuentes y hablan por sí solos, es por ello que recurro a estos para comenzar este artículo: En 2007, son más de 70 millones los blogs indexados. Se crean alrededor de 120.000 al día, es decir, 1,4 por segundo. Hasta mediados de 2006, la cifra de blogs se doblaba cada 150-220 días. Esa evolución lleva ahora más tiempo, unos 320 días, algo lógico teniendo en cuenta lo elevado que es el número de blogs actuales. Se publican 1,5 millones de entradas o pots al día. O sea, unos 17 por segundo. En octubre de 2006 se publicaban 1,3 millones al día, unos 15 por segundo. La blogoesfera en idioma japonés es la más activa: el 37% de la actividad en Blogs proviene de ellos. El inglés le sigue muy de cerca, con el 36% de esa cuota. El español contribuye con un 3% a ese total, una cifra pobre teniendo en cuenta que es el tercer idioma más hablado del mundo. Los Blogs cada vez son más populares frente a los medios generalistas: en la lista de los 100 medios más influyentes, 22 eran blogs. Tan solo 12 entraban en ese top hace tres meses.

Una herramienta comunicacional de vanguardia, en un país como Argentina que es el segundo estado de Latinoamérica con mayor cantidad de población con acceso a internet (2.6 millones de hogares sobre un total de 10 millones) representa un terreno fértil para la expansión de las formas de comunicación política, más conocido en este siglo XXI como marketing político.

Si bien el marketing político es una disciplina reciente (sus orígenes modernos se remontan a la década del `50) su espectro y material de trabajo crece y se ramifica de forma veloz día a día, viendo en las nuevas tecnologías y en los blogs uno de sus principales pilares para la ampliación e integralidad de llegada al electorado que cada vez se muestra más reacio y parco a los embates de las campañas políticas.

En nuestro país, según el presidente de la Asociación Argentina de Marketing Político (AAMP) doctor Gustavo Martínez Pandeani, esta nueva arma esta poco explotada: “Por ahora, la utilización de herramientas virtuales por parte de la clase política es incipiente y, ciertamente, tímida. En general, los candidatos y gobernantes vernáculos subestiman la capacidad comunicativa de internet y sus derivados porque no son concientes de su capacidad de multiplicación de mensajes. El uso de páginas web o blogs no está lo suficientemente difundido.”[1]

La fuerza y la llegada que tienen los blogs en la sociedad contemporánea, crece a pasos agigantados siendo el segmento del electorado que va entre los 18 y los 25 años los que más se vuelcan a esta fuente para conseguir información y tratar de conocer a los políticos que están en puja por dirigir a la Argentina.

Sin embargo, Martinez Pandeani también afirma que: “La mayoría de los políticos utilizan sus blogs para decir cosas, en lugar de hacerlo para escuchar. No comprenden que el valor máximo de la comunicación virtual es la bidireccionalidad que ésta posee y su espíritu participativo. El verdadero aporte de Internet a la política es la capacidad de escucha que genera, la posibilidad de recibir información directa de los votantes. Es una pena ver que el furor blogs es hoy en la política local un mundo de emisores y no uno de receptores.[2]

Esta adaptación nacional que se hizo del nuevo fenómeno mundial limita el campo de acción de las bitácoras debido a que la interacción o feed back no son posibles y el votante sigue sin poder expresar su posición, intereses e inquietudes que servirían, en gran medida, para interesar a un electorado apático, incrédulo y poco participativo, perfil que se va asentando año tras año en nuestro país.

Tal como se conoce el marketing político en la actualidad, esta conformado por técnicas de investigación, planificación, gerenciamiento y comunicación que en conjunto se utilizan para el diseño y ejecución de acciones a lo largo de una campaña política, sea electoral o de difusión institucional.

Es en dos de estas áreas, la investigación y la comunicación, donde directamente los blogs se vuelven herramientas modernas y de un creciente alcance social. En el caso de la investigación las bitácoras se convierten en espacio de análisis de campo cibernético en el cual se pueden recabar posturas, ideas, necesidades y búsquedas específicas de la sociedad. Aunque lamentablemente, en la mayoría de los casos de los blogs de candidatos de nuestro país, esta opción esta vedada o limitada a corres electrónicos o comentarios.

En el caso de la comunicación su rol es cada vez más grande y abarcativo debido en gran medida a los avances, tantos en las herramientas del ciber espacio, como así también por la creciente posibilidad de acceso de la población a este nuevo medio de expresión. En lo que se refiere a los elementos con los que se dispone, para estas elecciones, a diferencia de las legislativas del año 2005, los candidatos que optaron por crear un blogs tuvieron la posibilidad de “colgar” (poner en su portal) los spot audivisuales a raíz de la incorporación de los nuevos y más completos servicios que brindan los sitios web proveedores de los blogs, como es el caso de blogspot o fotolog, entre los más difundidos.

En nuestro país se produce, una vez más, una paradoja debido a que, a pesar de ser uno de los país más avanzados en lo que respecta a acceso a internet y herramientas informáticas, vemos que este nuevo espacio o tribuna de llegada a los electores no es aprovechado en su máximo potencial, dejando a mitad de camino la llegada y sobre todo el conocimiento de lo que piensan los jóvenes electores quienes son los más difíciles de convencer e interesar en campañas políticas.

JMC

Entrevista publicada por revista La Tecla, 12 de abril de 2007. http://www.latecla.info

la jerga popular dicen que los números son elocuentes y hablan por sí solos, es por ello que recurro a estos para comenzar este artículo: En 2007, son más de 70 millones los blogs indexados. Se crean alrededor de 120.000 al día, es decir, 1,4 por segundo. Hasta mediados de 2006, la cifra de blogs se doblaba cada 150-220 días. Esa evolución lleva ahora más tiempo, unos 320 días, algo lógico teniendo en cuenta lo elevado que es el número de blogs actuales. Se publican 1,5 millones de entradas o pots al día. O sea, unos 17 por segundo. En octubre de 2006 se publicaban 1,3 millones al día, unos 15 por segundo. La blogoesfera en idioma japonés es la más activa: el 37% de la actividad en Blogs proviene de ellos. El inglés le sigue muy de cerca, con el 36% de esa cuota. El español contribuye con un 3% a ese total, una cifra pobre teniendo en cuenta que es el tercer idioma más hablado del mundo. Los Blogs cada vez son más populares frente a los medios generalistas: en la lista de los 100 medios más influyentes, 22 eran blogs. Tan solo 12 entraban en ese top hace tres meses.

Los blogs son sitios web en el que se publican contenidos uni o multimediales que van desde artículos extraídos de diarios, imágenes, audios, videos, comentarios y que son actualizados periódicamente. Tienen sus orígenes en 1994 y funcionaban como diarios en los que el autor publicaba aspectos de su vida privada, de allí su nombre en español bitácora. En este nuevo medio el usuario puede ser receptor y promotor de la información. Una herramienta comunicacional de vanguardia, en un país como Argentina que es el segundo estado de Latinoamérica con mayor cantidad de población con acceso a internet (2.6 millones de hogares sobre un total de 10 millones) representa un terreno fértil para la expansión de las formas de comunicación política, más conocido en este siglo XXI como marketing político. Si bien el marketing político es una disciplina reciente (sus orígenes modernos se remontan a la década del `50) su espectro y material de trabajo crece y se ramifica de forma veloz día a día, viendo en las nuevas tecnologías y en los blogs uno de sus principales pilares para la ampliación e integralidad de llegada al electorado que cada vez se muestra más reacio y parco a los embates de las campañas políticas. En nuestro país, según el presidente de la Asociación Argentina de Marketing Político (AAMP) doctor Gustavo Martínez Pandeani, esta nueva arma esta poco explotada: “Por ahora, la utilización de herramientas virtuales por parte de la clase política es incipiente y, ciertamente, tímida. En general, los candidatos y gobernantes vernáculos subestiman la capacidad comunicativa de internet y sus derivados porque no son concientes de su capacidad de multiplicación de mensajes. El uso de páginas web o blogs no está lo suficientemente difundido.”[1] La fuerza y la llegada que tienen los blogs en la sociedad contemporánea, crece a pasos agigantados siendo el segmento del electorado que va entre los 18 y los 25 años los que más se vuelcan a esta fuente para conseguir información y tratar de conocer a los políticos que están en puja por dirigir a la Argentina. Sin embargo, Martinez Pandeani también afirma que: “La mayoría de los políticos utilizan sus blogs para decir cosas, en lugar de hacerlo para escuchar. No comprenden que el valor máximo de la comunicación virtual es la bidireccionalidad que ésta posee y su espíritu participativo. El verdadero aporte de Internet a la política es la capacidad de escucha que genera, la posibilidad de recibir información directa de los votantes. Es una pena ver que el furor blogs es hoy en la política local un mundo de emisores y no uno de receptores.[2] Esta adaptación nacional que se hizo del nuevo fenómeno mundial limita el campo de acción de las bitácoras debido a que la interacción o feed back no son posibles y el votante sigue sin poder expresar su posición, intereses e inquietudes que servirían, en gran medida, para interesar a un electorado apático, incrédulo y poco participativo, perfil que se va asentando año tras año en nuestro país. Tal como se conoce el marketing político en la actualidad, esta conformado por técnicas de investigación, planificación, gerenciamiento y comunicación que en conjunto se utilizan para el diseño y ejecución de acciones a lo largo de una campaña política, sea electoral o de difusión institucional. Es en dos de estas áreas, la investigación y la comunicación, donde directamente los blogs se vuelven herramientas modernas y de un creciente alcance social. En el caso de la investigación las bitácoras se convierten en espacio de análisis de campo cibernético en el cual se pueden recabar posturas, ideas, necesidades y búsquedas específicas de la sociedad. Aunque lamentablemente, en la mayoría de los casos de los blogs de candidatos de nuestro país, esta opción esta vedada o limitada a corres electrónicos o comentarios. En el caso de la comunicación su rol es cada vez más grande y abarcativo debido en gran medida a los avances, tantos en las herramientas del ciber espacio, como así también por la creciente posibilidad de acceso de la población a este nuevo medio de expresión. En lo que se refiere a los elementos con los que se dispone, para estas elecciones, a diferencia de las legislativas del año 2005, los candidatos que optaron por crear un blogs tuvieron la posibilidad de “colgar” (poner en su portal) los spot audivisuales a raíz de la incorporación de los nuevos y más completos servicios que brindan los sitios web proveedores de los blogs, como es el caso de blogspot o fotolog, entre los más difundidos. En nuestro país se produce, una vez más, una paradoja debido a que, a pesar de ser uno de los país más avanzados en lo que respecta a acceso a internet y herramientas informáticas, vemos que este nuevo espacio o tribuna de llegada a los electores no es aprovechado en su máximo potencial, dejando a mitad de camino la llegada y sobre todo el conocimiento de lo que piensan los jóvenes electores quienes son los más difíciles de convencer e interesar en campañas políticasEn la jerga popular dicen que los números son elocuentes y hablan por sí solos, es por ello que recurro a estos para comenzar este artículo: En 2007, son más de 70 millones los blogs indexados. Se crean alrededor de 120.000 al día, es decir, 1,4 por segundo. Hasta mediados de 2006, la cifra de blogs se doblaba cada 150-220 días. Esa evolución lleva ahora más tiempo, unos 320 días, algo lógico teniendo en cuenta lo elevado que es el número de blogs actuales. Se publican 1,5 millones de entradas o pots al día. O sea, unos 17 por segundo. En octubre de 2006 se publicaban 1,3 millones al día, unos 15 por segundo. La blogoesfera en idioma japonés es la más activa: el 37% de la actividad en Blogs proviene de ellos. El inglés le sigue muy de cerca, con el 36% de esa cuota. El español contribuye con un 3% a ese total, una cifra pobre teniendo en cuenta que es el tercer idioma más hablado del mundo. Los Blogs cada vez son más populares frente a los medios generalistas: en la lista de los 100 medios más influyentes, 22 eran blogs. Tan solo 12 entraban en ese top hace tres meses. Los blogs son sitios web en el que se publican contenidos uni o multimediales que van desde artículos extraídos de diarios, imágenes, audios, videos, comentarios y que son actualizados periódicamente. Tienen sus orígenes en 1994 y funcionaban como diarios en los que el autor publicaba aspectos de su vida privada, de allí su nombre en español bitácora. En este nuevo medio el usuario puede ser receptor y promotor de la información. Una herramienta comunicacional de vanguardia, en un país como Argentina que es el segundo estado de Latinoamérica con mayor cantidad de población con acceso a internet (2.6 millones de hogares sobre un total de 10 millones) representa un terreno fértil para la expansión de las formas de comunicación política, más conocido en este siglo XXI como marketing político. Si bien el marketing político es una disciplina reciente (sus orígenes modernos se remontan a la década del `50) su espectro y material de trabajo crece y se ramifica de forma veloz día a día, viendo en las nuevas tecnologías y en los blogs uno de sus principales pilares para la ampliación e integralidad de llegada al electorado que cada vez se muestra más reacio y parco a los embates de las campañas políticas. En nuestro país, según el presidente de la Asociación Argentina de Marketing Político (AAMP) doctor Gustavo Martínez Pandeani, esta nueva arma esta poco explotada: “Por ahora, la utilización de herramientas virtuales por parte de la clase política es incipiente y, ciertamente, tímida. En general, los candidatos y gobernantes vernáculos subestiman la capacidad comunicativa de internet y sus derivados porque no son concientes de su capacidad de multiplicación de mensajes. El uso de páginas web o blogs no está lo suficientemente difundido.”[1] La fuerza y la llegada que tienen los blogs en la sociedad contemporánea, crece a pasos agigantados siendo el segmento del electorado que va entre los 18 y los 25 años los que más se vuelcan a esta fuente para conseguir información y tratar de conocer a los políticos que están en puja por dirigir a la Argentina. Sin embargo, Martinez Pandeani también afirma que: “La mayoría de los políticos utilizan sus blogs para decir cosas, en lugar de hacerlo para escuchar. No comprenden que el valor máximo de la comunicación virtual es la bidireccionalidad que ésta posee y su espíritu participativo. El verdadero aporte de Internet a la política es la capacidad de escucha que genera, la posibilidad de recibir información directa de los votantes. Es una pena ver que el furor blogs es hoy en la política local un mundo de emisores y no uno de receptores.[2] Esta adaptación nacional que se hizo del nuevo fenómeno mundial limita el campo de acción de las bitácoras debido a que la interacción o feed back no son posibles y el votante sigue sin poder expresar su posición, intereses e inquietudes que servirían, en gran medida, para interesar a un electorado apático, incrédulo y poco participativo, perfil que se va asentando año tras año en nuestro país. Tal como se conoce el marketing político en la actualidad, esta conformado por técnicas de investigación, planificación, gerenciamiento y comunicación que en conjunto se utilizan para el diseño y ejecución de acciones a lo largo de una campaña política, sea electoral o de difusión institucional. Es en dos de estas áreas, la investigación y la comunicación, donde directamente los blogs se vuelven herramientas modernas y de un creciente alcance social. En el caso de la investigación las bitácoras se convierten en espacio de análisis de campo cibernético en el cual se pueden recabar posturas, ideas, necesidades y búsquedas específicas de la sociedad. Aunque lamentablemente, en la mayoría de los casos de los blogs de candidatos de nuestro país, esta opción esta vedada o limitada a corres electrónicos o comentarios. En el caso de la comunicación su rol es cada vez más grande y abarcativo debido en gran medida a los avances, tantos en las herramientas del ciber espacio, como así también por la creciente posibilidad de acceso de la población a este nuevo medio de expresión. En lo que se refiere a los elementos con los que se dispone, para estas elecciones, a diferencia de las legislativas del año 2005, los candidatos que optaron por crear un blogs tuvieron la posibilidad de “colgar” (poner en su portal) los spot audivisuales a raíz de la incorporación de los nuevos y más completos servicios que brindan los sitios web proveedores de los blogs, como es el caso de blogspot o fotolog, entre los más difundidos. En nuestro país se produce, una vez más, una paradoja debido a que, a pesar de ser uno de los país más avanzados en lo que respecta a acceso a internet y herramientas informáticas, vemos que este nuevo espacio o tribuna de llegada a los electores no es aprovechado en su máximo potencial, dejando a mitad de camino la llegada y sobre todo el conocimiento de lo que piensan los jóvenes electores quienes son los más difíciles de convencer e interesar en campañas políticas. En la jerga popular dicen que los números son elocuentes y hablan por sí solos, es por ello que recurro a estos para comenzar este artículo: En 2007, son más de 70 millones los blogs indexados. Se crean alrededor de 120.000 al día, es decir, 1,4 por segundo. Hasta mediados de 2006, la cifra de blogs se doblaba cada 150-220 días. Esa evolución lleva ahora más tiempo, unos 320 días, algo lógico teniendo en cuenta lo elevado que es el número de blogs actuales. Se publican 1,5 millones de entradas o pots al día. O sea, unos 17 por segundo. En octubre de 2006 se publicaban 1,3 millones al día, unos 15 por segundo. La blogoesfera en idioma japonés es la más activa: el 37% de la actividad en Blogs proviene de ellos. El inglés le sigue muy de cerca, con el 36% de esa cuota. El español contribuye con un 3% a ese total, una cifra pobre teniendo en cuenta que es el tercer idioma más hablado del mundo. Los Blogs cada vez son más populares frente a los medios generalistas: en la lista de los 100 medios más influyentes, 22 eran blogs. Tan solo 12 entraban en ese top hace tres meses. Los blogs son sitios web en el que se publican contenidos uni o multimediales que van desde artículos extraídos de diarios, imágenes, audios, videos, comentarios y que son actualizados periódicamente. Tienen sus orígenes en 1994 y funcionaban como diarios en los que el autor publicaba aspectos de su vida privada, de allí su nombre en español bitácora. En este nuevo medio el usuario puede ser receptor y promotor de la información. Una herramienta comunicacional de vanguardia, en un país como Argentina que es el segundo estado de Latinoamérica con mayor cantidad de población con acceso a internet (2.6 millones de hogares sobre un total de 10 millones) representa un terreno fértil para la expansión de las formas de comunicación política, más conocido en este siglo XXI como marketing político. Si bien el marketing político es una disciplina reciente (sus orígenes modernos se remontan a la década del `50) su espectro y material de trabajo crece y se ramifica de forma veloz día a día, viendo en las nuevas tecnologías y en los blogs uno de sus principales pilares para la ampliación e integralidad de llegada al electorado que cada vez se muestra más reacio y parco a los embates de las campañas políticas. En nuestro país, según el presidente de la Asociación Argentina de Marketing Político (AAMP) doctor Gustavo Martínez Pandeani, esta nueva arma esta poco explotada: “Por ahora, la utilización de herramientas virtuales por parte de la clase política es incipiente y, ciertamente, tímida. En general, los candidatos y gobernantes vernáculos subestiman la capacidad comunicativa de internet y sus derivados porque no son concientes de su capacidad de multiplicación de mensajes. El uso de páginas web o blogs no está lo suficientemente difundido.”[1] La fuerza y la llegada que tienen los blogs en la sociedad contemporánea, crece a pasos agigantados siendo el segmento del electorado que va entre los 18 y los 25 años los que más se vuelcan a esta fuente para conseguir información y tratar de conocer a los políticos que están en puja por dirigir a la Argentina. Sin embargo, Martinez Pandeani también afirma que: “La mayoría de los políticos utilizan sus blogs para decir cosas, en lugar de hacerlo para escuchar. No comprenden que el valor máximo de la comunicación virtual es la bidireccionalidad que ésta posee y su espíritu participativo. El verdadero aporte de Internet a la política es la capacidad de escucha que genera, la posibilidad de recibir información directa de los votantes. Es una pena ver que el furor blogs es hoy en la política local un mundo de emisores y no uno de receptores.[2] Esta adaptación nacional que se hizo del nuevo fenómeno mundial limita el campo de acción de las bitácoras debido a que la interacción o feed back no son posibles y el votante sigue sin poder expresar su posición, intereses e inquietudes que servirían, en gran medida, para interesar a un electorado apático, incrédulo y poco participativo, perfil que se va asentando año tras año en nuestro país. Tal como se conoce el marketing político en la actualidad, esta conformado por técnicas de investigación, planificación, gerenciamiento y comunicación que en conjunto se utilizan para el diseño y ejecución de acciones a lo largo de una campaña política, sea electoral o de difusión institucional. Es en dos de estas áreas, la investigación y la comunicación, donde directamente los blogs se vuelven herramientas modernas y de un creciente alcance social. En el caso de la investigación las bitácoras se convierten en espacio de análisis de campo cibernético en el cual se pueden recabar posturas, ideas, necesidades y búsquedas específicas de la sociedad. Aunque lamentablemente, en la mayoría de los casos de los blogs de candidatos de nuestro país, esta opción esta vedada o limitada a corres electrónicos o comentarios. En el caso de la comunicación su rol es cada vez más grande y abarcativo debido en gran medida a los avances, tantos en las herramientas del ciber espacio, como así también por la creciente posibilidad de acceso de la población a este nuevo medio de expresión. En lo que se refiere a los elementos con los que se dispone, para estas elecciones, a diferencia de las legislativas del año 2005, los candidatos que optaron por crear un blogs tuvieron la posibilidad de “colgar” (poner en su portal) los spot audivisuales a raíz de la incorporación de los nuevos y más completos servicios que brindan los sitios web proveedores de los blogs, como es el caso de blogspot o fotolog, entre los más difundidos. En nuestro país se produce, una vez más, una paradoja debido a que, a pesar de ser uno de los país más avanzados en lo que respecta a acceso a internet y herramientas informáticas, vemos que este nuevo espacio o tribuna de llegada a los electores no es aprovechado en su máximo potencial, dejando a mitad de camino la llegada y sobre todo el conocimiento de lo que piensan los jóvenes electores quienes son los más difíciles de convencer e interesar en campañas políticas.

Zero

Not all successful products developed by your company should sell in the market and make money. They may well help a commercial product to be successful and pull away from the competition. And the way a product manager often runs with that product is to make it applicable for more than one commercial product. I’ll offer two examples.

Feedback. In the era of web-products, collecting user feedback has become easy. But isn’t it surprising how few products actually do it (and amongst those that do, how many actually listen?)? Your company has this enterprising spark who decides to build a feedback system for you to plug into your product as it is shipped to the market. Zero revenue from the feedback product – imagine how much better the mainstream commercial product becomes with this “zero-addition”.

User Behavior. Leads back to a question Seth Godin asks – “what are your assets”? A vastly underrated, yet not so difficult to collect, is user behavior. What does the user do after she has logged into your system. Okay – if it is sensitive I do not want to know the queries she fired, but which pages did she go to and in what sequence? Were there aborted attempts at some functionality? Did she purchase something or did not purchase something that she indicated she would? Imagine the value of this asset when laced up with predictive analytics and product/website improvement ideas that come from mining the behavior content. Standalone revenue of this “user behavior” product – zero.

Product Managers are very often wired for thinking hard dollars, marketing, Product P&L and the like. The lemming that ran against the others had a terribly difficult time and a very different mindset. To build such “zero-revenue” products you would need that.

Image courtesy: Prerido Zero blog

Marketing Team Leader (Plano TX)

Job Title Marketing Team Leader-CV
Location Plano, TX
State TX
Job Type Regular
Job Status Full-time
Job Category Marketing
Job Description Leads and coordinates large (super mega) and/or complex proposals and other marketing efforts in support of an office, District, Division, market sector or service line. Including overseeing the work of staff members. May work with unit leadership to produce programs and initiatives to support the strategic objectives of the unit. Assists Marketing Manager with activities related to day to day administration of the staff; may oversee or manage the day to day administration of the staff.
Viewed as an expert resource; provides technical guidance to others.
Oversees the design of materials with graphic staff
Analyzes marketing costs and provide feedback to local and Divisional leadership.
Leads monthly and regularly scheduled marketing meetings; track action items and schedule/track separate pursuit strategy sessions.
Collaborates with leadership teams on go/no go decisions.
Works with marketing coordinators to ensure schedules are met and that the various aspects of the proposals (Technical Scope, Staff Qualification and Experience, Biographical Data, etc.) and other marketing materials are accurate and delivered in a timely manner.
Provides training to regional leadership on use of HNTB sales tools (leads and fees, sales reports, Momentum) and conduct marketing brown bags to local offices.
Leads special projects as they relate to marketing and publicity in the region (in-house surveys, political support/sponsorship events, etc.)
Assists in the ongoing development and refinement of QA procedures for the unit and serves as quality control reviewer of materials developed by department.
Maintains a solid understanding of and fosters the use of HNTB’s Sophisticated Sales Approach to marketing.
Understands and is a champion of HNTB’s Client Focus philosophy, supporting it by attendance at select Client Service Team meetings and by providing support to Client Service Leaders in the preparation of materials for specific Client Focus activities with Foundation and Strategic Clients.
Understands and implements the use of Momentum and its specific tools, including Client Service Plans, Project Win Plans, Go/No Go Assessments, RFP/Presentation Response Plan, Client Debriefing Form, and After Action Reviews.
Works with pursuit teams within steps 6-10 of the SSA. Specifically, this includes:
- works with individual pursuit teams to develop pursuit strategies through the use of Project Win Plans and RFP/Presentation Response Plans
- actively monitors the effectiveness of the implementation of PWPs and PRPs
- identifies deficiencies in pursuit plans and work with pursuit teams to implement corrective actions
- organizes and facilitate pursuit strategy meetings
- provides recommendations on teaming partners, internal resources, etc.
- works with office leadership and individual pursuit teams to determine specific materials needed and the corresponding level of effort
- takes direct leadership role in the development of pre-sell materials, proposals, presentations, etc.
- works with graphic design staff to plan and produce materials
Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, Communications, Journalism or related area plus 7-10 years of related experience.
Certification Required N/A
Working Environment Office
Apply On-line Apply On-line
Send to a Friend Send This Job to a Friend

http://www.hntb.com/careers

HNTB does not accept resumes from unsolicited third party agencies or recruiters. No fees will be paid to third parties who submit unsolicited candidates in this manner. For information on agency contracts, please contact sseaman@hntb.com.

Marketing / Skechme.com

Company Profile: Skechme.com is a startup based out of Bangalore and are basically in to cartoons and caricatures. We use them for different segments like gifting, marketing, advertising, corporate communications and social media. Initially we started with gifting and are slowly, but steadily expanding in to other mediums. For more information log on to www.skechme.com.

Internship: Marketing

Desired Candidate Profile: Any graduate (MBA preferred)

Exceptional interpersonal skills and ability to develop strong working relationships.
Comfort with a fast-paced, always-on, highly ambiguous start-up environment.
Ability to handle corporate presentations, documents, proposals, and managing the expectations of the customers with development team to create solutions.
Ability to manage the relationship at various levels in the clients.

Job Profile: The person will be involved in marketing functions which includes

Interacting with Customers, Seeking New Clients,. Ability to meet multiple objectives within an organization.
The work will cover areas such as selling ideas, services and products. Selling should be your signature statement. Monitor competitor’s offering, prices and sales.
He/she will be required to identify potential clients, manage existing account/customer relationships. Generating the leads & qualifying the accounts based on the Sales strategies.
Resolve/Coordinate customer complaints effectively.
Understanding the requirements of the clients & positioning an appropriate solution. Would be able to travel on demand as per the Company Policy.

Stipend: Commission + stipend (2k-3k)

Duration: 3-6 months

Location: Bangalore

Contact: Mr. Geeth Founder/CEO, Skechme Software Labs Private Limited, Bangalore – 560076 Mob: +919740853535

The Marketing Mix and Three Elements it Should Have

The “Marketing Mix” can be defined as the basic, tactical components of the marketing plan, also known as the Four P’s. The Four P’s include price, place, product and promotion, and some will increase the marketing mix to the Five P’s to also include people.

Designing a marketing mix to support your overall strategy involves more than choosing the appropriate components to build market awareness. Your marketing mix may consist of a combination of direct mail, email, web site, seminars, public relations and other various tactics you have determined make the most sense given your overall marketing strategy.

Once you have developed your strategy and implemented the marketing mix, you should have some guidelines to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of your marketing efforts. It is important to review the marketing mix and ensure your implementation plan includes the following three elements: consistency, frequency and variety.

Consistency
It is very important to your marketing efforts that everything looks, feels and sounds the same way each time. The element of “consistency” is critical to get all of the benefits that repetition provides. If your clients or prospects repeatedly hear the same message the same way each time, they are able to communicate the message the way you want it to be communicated. We recommend that your marketing communication pieces be reviewed for consistency of your message and branding and where it is not consistent, fix it immediately.

Frequency
Frequency makes a difference but you are probably asking, “How often is frequent enough?” This really depends on your market, what you have to offer and your business goals, but there are some minimum guidelines for you to follow. Once you have prioritized your clients and prospects into primary, secondary and tertiary markets, we recommend you ”touch” your primary market at least twice a month, your secondary market at least monthly and your tertiary market at least quarterly. Providing constant reminders to your clients that you have something to offer is necessary to establishing and maintaining brand awareness. Without this level of frequency, momentum is lost and the impact of your messaging and branding is diminished.

Variety
Consistency and frequency within your marketing mix are necessary, but if they lack variety then your marketing efforts will suffer. If your marketing strategy relies on one or two vehicles (i.e. direct mail and website or advertising and seminars) then it lacks the power of “touching” your audience from many different angles. A combination of activities (i.e. newsletters, webinars, client events, email promotions, public relations and networking) working together allows you to develop a “relationship” with your clients and prospects. We recommend that your marketing activities include both value-add and promotional content and not be heavily weighted on either.

Consistency, frequency and variety are the three elements that every marketing mix should have to build and maintain market awareness. In order to achieve a more effective and efficient marketing strategy we recommend that you periodically audit your marketing mix for these three elements and make necessary adjustments as needed.

The Cola Marketing Group is a results-oriented marketing firm with over 15 years of experience. We provide top talent in all facets of marketing in an efficient, friendly, and affordable manner while focusing on creating measurable change for our clients.

For more information visit www.colamg.com or contact Najat Cola at (206) 992-9125 or najat@colamg.com.

Secretos del Marketin Digital

“Una Persona Trabaja de 8:00 AM a 5:00 PM de Lunes a Viernes y Gana (con Suerte), US$ 1,000.00 Mensuales. Otro Trabaja de 10:00 AM a 2:00 PM de Martes a Jueves y Gana US$ 1,054.42….AL DÍA”

¿Cuál es Usted?

¿Por Que Insiste en Continuar Ganando Lo Mismo, Ya Sea Que Trabaje Más o Trabaje Menos, Cuando Existe un Sistema Comprobado, Que lo Lleva Paso a Paso para Desarrollar y Vender Cualquier Producto o Servicio en Internet y le Enseña a Generar Miles de Dólares Aún Mientras Duerme?

Pagina web:http://www.secretosdemarketingdigital.com/

En el curso aprendera:

Cómo convertir inmediatamente sus hobbys y/o conocimientos en un producto que puede generarle grandes cantidades de dinero. Cómo generar dinero vendiendo productos de otras personas, SIN tener un sitio web y sin tener inventarios y sin tener que lidiar con envíos ni clientes insatisfechos! Cómo encontrar mercados que realmente tienen demanda y que pagan por los productos que por supuesto….¡usted va a desarrollar y vender! Una herramienta que le facilita increiblemente el proceso de generación y desarrollo de ideas, para que siempre le lleve la delantera a sus competidores. Cómo generar tráfico masivo a sus sitio web de forma pagada o gratis. Como usted desee. Hay para todos los gustos y sabores. Las últimas técnicas virales para generar tráfico a su sitio web, sin que usted tenga que hacer nada más que colocar el sistema la primera vez. Cómo utilizar efectivamente y eficientemente las campañas de Google Adwords para obtener el mejor retorno sobre su inversiónen en el menor tiempo posible. Cómo incrementar en un 60% la probabilidad de que sus clientes le compren a la hora de llegar a sus sitios web. Una sóla técnica que fácilmente puede doblarle las ganancias en un par de días. El sistema para automatizar todo su negocio y así dejarlo funcionando de tal forma que prácticamente le tenga que dedicar más o menos unas 2 horas diarias . La fórmula secreta para incrementar sus ventas a través de los autorespondedores. Lo mejor es que es replicable para utilizarla en cada proyecto, no importando el mercado en el qué esté compitiendo. El secreto de porqué el 90% de las personas fracasan al intentar hacer dinero en Internet. (Esta definitivamente NO se la quiere perder) La forma correcta para realizar cartas de ventas y lograr convencer a sus clientes a comprar antes de que terminen de leerla. Más de 12 formas de generar tráfico masivo a su sitio web, logrando así incrementar la cantidad de clientes y por lo tanto incrementando las ventas. Las técnicas que yo utilizo personalmente para convertir mis sitios web en negocios “manos libre”, es decir negocios “piloto automático”, que me generan dinero hasta cuando duermo. Los tipos de productos digitales más comprados por los navegantes de Internet para no incurrir en prueba y error muchs veces, antes de ser exitoso. Una explicación detallada acerca de los puntos básicos que debe conocer para “mercadear” exitosamente sus productos en Internet.

Tambien el curso esta compuesto por:

TEMA I – SECRETOS DE PRODUCTOS DIGITALES
CREACION DE PRODUCTOS

Cómo Generar Sus Ideas y Desarrollar Conceptos
Cómo Investigar el Mercado para Encontrar un Nicho Rentable – Parte I
Cómo Investigar el Mercado para Encontrar un Nicho Rentable – Parte I I
Cómo Desarrollar Contenido para su Producto Digital
Tipos de Productos Digitales para Desarrollar
Cómo Desarrollar Productos de Texto
Cómo Desarrollar Productos de Audio
Cómo Desarrollar Otros Tipos de Productos Digitales

Hoja de Trabajo para Generar Ideas y Desarrollar Conceptos

Tiempo Total: 2 hrs 30 mins

Min
23:51
17.25
24.28
17.18
16.54
11.23
17.52
20.20 TEMA II – SECRETOS DE TRÁFICO ILIMITADO
GENERACION DE TRAFICO

Tráfico de Afiliados
1. Introducción
2. Ejemplos
Tráfico de Redes Sociales
1. ¿Qué Son?
2. Principios Básicos
Tráfico de Blogs
1. Introducción
2. Guía de Como Instalar WordPress
3. Cómo Incrementar el Tráfico de su Blog
4. Cómo hacer Dinero con su Blog
Tráfico de Videos
1. Introducción
2. Cómo Hacer Videos de Tráfico
3. Cómo Subir los Videos a los Sitios Sociales de la forma correcta
Tráfico PPC
1. Introducción
2. Secretos de PPC Parte 1
3. Secretos de PPC Parte 2
4. Ejemplo Real
Tráfico de Motores de Búsqueda
1. Introducción
2. Las Mejores Frases
3. Optimización de Sitios Parte 1
4. Optimización de Sitios Parte 2
Tráfico de Artículos
1. Introducción
2. Cómo Escribir Artículos Exitosos
3. Listado de Sitios para Someter Artículos – Bajar Listado
Tráfico de Enlaces
1. Introducción
2. Metodología
3. Secretos de Enlaces
Tráfico Viral
1. Introducción
2. Cómo Hacerlo
Tráfico “OffLine”
1. Introducción
2. Comunicados de Prensa – Cómo Hacer un CP
3. Control y Organización
Otros Métodos de Tráfico
1. Otros Métodos para Generar Tráfico

Tiempo Total: 7 hrs 07 mins Min

16:46
5:20

15:10
15:00

3:50
9:12
14:16
11:57

11:15
13:31
10:29

12:55
17:40
15:11
15:58

11:26
13:41
20:29

9:12
20:52
10:37

8:58
10:48
15:56

10:33
11:12

15:41
10:42
4:51

10:57

TEMA III – SECRETOS DE MARKETING DIGITAL
Marketing de Productos

Cartas de Ventas
1. 10 Pasos para Generar una Carta de Ventas Exitosa Parte 1
2. 10 Pasos para Generar una Carta de Ventas Exitosa Parte 2
Autorespondedores
1. Qué son los AutoRespondedores (AR) y su Importancia
2. Forma Correcta e Incorrecta de Usar ARs
3. Fórmula Secreta de ARs
Cuenta de Comerciante (CC)
1. Qué es una CC, su Importancia y Cuáles Utilizar
Listados
1. Qué son Listados, Su Importancia y Cuáles Utilizar
Secretos de Marketing Digital
1. Otros Secretos de Marketing Digital

Tiempo Total: 2 hrs 29 mins

Ami parecer el mejor curso para ganar dinero en internet, es el mas completo, sencillo y avanzado a la vez.

Una ves realizada la compra saque una foto (dando click en la tecla que dice “IMPR PANT PET SIS” y pegue en word) a la pantalla o anote el numero de transaccion de paypal y mande un correo a dinerocointernet@hotmail.com para resibir el usuario y contraseña que pide el sitio para entrar.

El costo de este curso es de 147 US, pero yo te lo vendo por 10 US

Promoção Interna: Banca de Camisetas para Shopping Iguatemi

Pensando em trazer vantagens aos colaboradores do Shopping Iguatemi, a Banca de Camisetas de Fortaleza proporciona 15% de desconto em qualquer compra até o final do mês de setembro para funcionários do Shopping Iguatemi Fortaleza. A Maestros criou a arte de panfleto distribuído entre os gerentes das lojas do shopping. Ao todo são mais de 1.500 colaboradores e para ter direito ao desconto basta apresentar o crachá do shopping.

Life comes at you fast. Canon will help slow it down.

I’m a Creative Director and I’m also photographer, so when I ran across this commercial for Canon cameras, I was completely amazed.

Website Screen Shot of the making of the Canon commercial http://www.usa.canon.com/app/html/NFL/site.html#/eosRebelCommercial

Canon has a new line of cameras being released and this commercial for the Rebel T1i is great. It’s not only great for its technical achievement, 60,000 still photos to choose from to make the commercial, but for the way the commercial is created.

This commercial consists of 4-5 different scenes of people playing football. A father and son in the back yard, girls flag football in a dusty sand lot, guys throwing the ball around in the surf, a pick-up game in the street, a high school game at night and finally a pro game in a giant stadium. All of the different scenes flow from one to the other, almost seamlessly. While each scene is being photographed by 10-plus photographers, the differing movements and angles of each photographer’s photos create a wild, yet beautiful panorama of images.

With the advent of the digital camera, the world has exploded exponentially with new and great photography, especially also since the barrier to entry and the learning curve to develop great photos has been lowered exponentially. I love to see great photos. I love to see others revel in their joy of making photos they enjoy.

Maybe this commercial and it’s insight into photographing life will inspire to you get out and make some great photos.

To see the commercial and the ‘making of’ the commercial go to: http://www.usa.canon.com/app/html/NFL/site.html#/eosRebelCommercial

Get a Clear View (part 1)

Many times we can solve a problem by gaining a new perspective that helps us see things a little differently. Sometimes we actually get a better view of a problem. Now, I am often asked by people looking to grow their business, ‘what’s the most important thing I should do?’ or ‘what should I do first?’. My typical response is something like… ‘Find out what your customer is trying to accomplish’. Now this may sound a bit antagonistic but, it’s really not. It’s really meant to offer a fresh perspective on growing a business – a typical problem for a lot of businesses.

The thought of growing your business at a time like this can seem quite daunting. Often we turn to the typical solutions like changing our advertising or trying a new promotion. Now, these things may be exactly what are needed but, many times they are not. Many times they are simply desperate stabs in the dark.

If this feels familiar, let me offer some encouragement and an approach that can provide some direction.

A basic foundation of successful marketing and sales is centered on the customer and their journey. You see, your customer is trying to accomplish something. They are typically trying to solve a problem or achieve some goal. Our job as marketers and sellers of great products and services is to help our customers solve their problem. This seems simple enough but there is a little catch.

It seems like if we just get our name out there and make sure we have the product (or service) the customer needs and our team is eager to sell we should be fine… right? Maybe not. The key here is that the customer may not be ready to purchase just yet. We have to understand that our customer goes through a series of steps in order to solve their problem and… they have to go through all the steps – they can’t really skip any steps. These steps make up what is referred to as The Customer Journey.

A generic customer journey might look something like this:

Now, some customers work through their journey/process very quickly and others, not so much. Some may even get stuck along their journey. Our real job as marketers and sellers is to help our customer move along their journey. It’s not enough to just be willing to help at the end when the customer is ready to make the purchase of your product (or service). We have to provide the help (information, services, samples, etc.) that let them move to the next step in their journey so, they can ultimately buy from us and solve their problem.

My encouragement for you is to work on understanding your customers’ journey. Get a clear view of the steps they go through to solve their problem. Here are some quick suggestions to build a map of your customers’ journey:

Start by simply taking the generic map above and modify it using your team’s best judgment. It may not be perfect but, it will get you started.
Review it with everyone on your team so everyone has a consistent view.
Ask your customers… What steps have you taken already that led you to visiting with me today? What steps will you need to take after we are done today?
Modify the map and review it with your team as you learn more – but at least once a year.
You may have to build a map for each different customer type or segment – just pick one to get started.

Once you have a clear view of your customers’ journey you will be in a great position to start helping. Once you start helping your customers will start moving along their journey. Once they start moving, they will start buying. We’ll talk more about this topic again soon. Until then…

Here’s to making better marketing decisions.

No se pueden superar las expectativas de los clientes...

¡Ya claro! ¿Y qué más?

¿Están contentos porque superamos sus expectativas?

Muchas empresas piensan que si superan constantemente las expectativas de sus clientes éstos se acostumbrarán a ello y pedirán siempre que ocurra esto. Obviamente, no estamos de acuerdo en absoluto con estas empresas.

Lo primero a tener en cuenta es conocer qué aspectos de nuestro producto o servicio son relevantes para los clientes. Superar sus expectativas en apartados poco relevantes puede no tener mucho sentido. Aquí habrá que analizar el ratio coste/beneficio de estas acciones. Hablamos hace un tiempo sobre los componentes de un servicio o producto en este post.

Una vez que hemos estudiado los componentes que superan sus expectativas, es cuando más claro tenemos que tener que no sólo no es malo superarlas, además es recomendable.

Es muy posible que estos componentes de nuestra oferta con el tiempo se conviertan en higiénicos (los clientes acaban pensando que es algo inherente al servicio y que no es negociable) lo que nos obliga a reinventarnos continuamente. Esto es lo que molesta a muchas empresas. La obligatoriedad de estar en continuo movimiento y buscando nuevos campos donde actuar que son desconocidos para ellos.

Pero… ¿No es lo más divertido? Los que se quedan quietos se acabarán quedando los últimos…

borjaime

Marco Sifuentes: La credibilidad como capital

Esta semana nos acompañó Marco Sifuentes, conocido bloguer y actual director de La Mula.pe

El tema que trató fue Comunicación y Política y, en su desarroolo, el conocido Ocram aventuró una frase para enmarcar.

“El principal capital de un periodista es su credibilidad” .

Contundente e indiscutible; queda preguntarse si esto aplica también a todas las carreras de Comunicación. Dicho de otra manera, ¿Es la credibilidad el principal activo de un publicista o un especialista en marketing?

La experiencia nos dice que nos costaría volver a creerle a alguien que nos ha engañado alguna vez. Quizá, con esa lógica, la indicación de Marco también aplique a todos aquellos que de una u otra forma tenemos como materia prima de nuestro trabajo a las palabras.

It's Gonna Be A Party Y'all...

Or not…

Yeah. Probably not. Anyway, with the advent of Windows 7, Microsoft wants you to throw your own little launch party and they’ve even created this (demographically-correct) video (no, it’s only “viral” when it spreads) to show you how it’s done.

Yeah. Whatever. Ixnay on the condescension-ay… And am I the only one who would have loved for the black guy to junk-punch the spectacles-wearing guy? Twice? I’m sure they’re both Republicans.

Anyway…

DON’T THESE GUYS GET IT!? You can’t “create” a vibe where there isn’t one. That means that unless Windows users are specifically asking MS for tips on how to throw such a party, there’s no reason to go this route. Of course, as MS has proved time and again, they don’t know about talking to their people sincerely.

Lucikly for MS, the buzz around Windows 7 as a product has been pretty decent, so maybe the real power-users (who I’m betting look nothing like the vapid bunch in the video) will help their lame-ass marketing stunts by backing it up with excellent word-of-mouth marketing. And then maybe MS can fire whatever schmuck is giving them this ridiculous advice.

Of course, all this hangs off the final release of Windows 7 living up to all its promises…

C’mon Steve…make it happen…

Entrepreneur Best Practices: #6 Learn To Cut Bait …early

Not all customers are good customers, and not all new business is good new business. Entrepreneurs are often faced with a dilemma; do I compromise my price, and or my service to make the cash register sing?…in these economic times I probably should right?

The answer is a definitive: NO.

Market leaders provide value and realize a fair value exchange from their customers.

Market losers chase every sale, and often learn to regret those they should have passed by.

When you land an account, a customer you should have “thrown back” they often bring a new set of problems;

They are often “time vampires”…sucking the life out of you

They do not value your work and will always be working you to discount what your do

They become service nightmares

They often short pay you

They often become a collections problem

Sometimes you do the work and they never pay you (I particularly hate this one)

…that is why we must learn how to “cut bait” and get back to fishing.

I enjoy fishing. I can spend hours out fishing enjoying nature and the quiet. It’s one of the few things I do that helps quiet my busy mind like church. Often times when I fish in a new fishing hole I am not familiar with… I get snags. You know …you have your bait in the water, and something takes the bait. It could be a fish, (and you hope based on how your fishing rod is bending a BIG fish) but more often than not you have a snag.

On rare occasions it actually is a large fish. One time I was convinced I must have snagged my bait on an underwater log and much to my surprise found a large cat fish on the other end of my line.

More often than not though whatever has my bait is a distraction, a snag and it is something that is taking me away from doing what I love to do…fishing and catching fish.

What we must build as entrepreneurs is the discipline to “cut bait” early and get back to fishing.

We often waste too much time “hoping” we have a large fish on the other end of the line when there is a high probability you have a YAFO snag.

For example, ever since my eBook about the 50 ugly truths of being an entrepreneur came out and the pod cast with the struggling entrepreneur, I have been receiving email and phone calls.

I received a call from a local financial planner whose business revenue from fees has dropped over 40% in the last year and wanted to know if my 10 step process would work for a financial planner. The answer was quickly yes as I used this process in the financial industry serving a 401k third party administrator and we quickly grew his business. Keeping with my fishing analogy, I had a nibble.

After answering his questions he asked if he could take me to lunch to learn more…I have one on the line…(I think) As we enjoyed some great Chinese food, he wanted to know my 10 steps and how it works. I explained that that is what people pay me for, however I will be happy to share some success stories I have had using this process. As we closed lunch he asked I send him a proposal and he said …”but remember I am a financial advisor and not one of those big companies you help.”

To a fault I love helping people, so I wrestled with a price model that would drive the growth he needed and compensate me fairly for the time I would be giving his project. I developed a program that had a modest upfront cost, a monthly retainer and an aggressive compensation for me on every new account my work landed for him.

I compromised my standard price model to help him. We went back and forth for days with emails and eventually he asked for only the small upfront fee and no compensation on the business my work would bring him or monthly retainer….and I almost took it, bur instead…

I quickly cut bait.

I should have cut bait even sooner as in the flurry of emails I quickly learned he was more attached to the “cost” and not the “outcome “of my work. He has been paying a coach a modest amount per month for years and thought I should match or beat this price. I asked him to read all the nice comments people I have helped in the past put on my web site, linked in, and so on. I even gave him some past customers to call….but his attachment was on cost not benefits, and he definitely did not have a strong enough desire (yet) to have his problem ( pain) solved.

Where I blew it was not cutting bait sooner. As I have shared, I just love helping people, particularly leaders with an “entrepreneurial spirit”. However after I shared my compensation model and I modified it to meet his needs that we discussed, and he “snagged” I should have cut bait earlier.

While you wrestle with snags other fish are swimming by…often big hungry ones.

Market leaders know the value of cutting bait early and getting back to fishing.

Market losers chase every deal and compromise their business models, products and or services and are always disappointed in the end.

Having reeled in my share of tree limbs in my days on the lake, you spend time that could be out casting into better waters only to reel in something that at the end of the day does not put food on your table.

The opportunity cost of chasing bad business is too great.

How about your company….

Do you chase every deal …compromise your model to accommodate every snag?

How’s that working for you?

Have you trained your salespeople in the value of qualifying new business early, and the power in cutting bait?

Are you currently struggling with what you hope is a big fish….but you know has a probability of not putting food on your table?

CUT BAIT NOW…you will thank me…

Technorati Tags: Entrepreneur best practices,entrepreneur,qualify early,cut bait,good business,bad business,bad business problems,sales,growth,add value,grow your business profitably

Experiencias enlatadas

Muchas empresas se paran a intentar diseñar la experiencia que creen que el usuario debe vivir cuando compre uno de sus productos. El tema es que muchas de ellas piensan que todos son iguales y diseñan una experiencia que de ninguna de las formas suena a personalizada, o si lo hace, suena a prefabricada e industrializada.

¿puede ser la experiencia prefabricada algo personalizado?

¿Cuántas veces nos llaman por teléfono sin conocernos de nada e intentan hacernos ver que necesitamos una compañía que nos cobre menos por la conexión a internet? ¿Acaso saben lo que tengo en casa? ¿Saben qué contrato he firmado? Más importante aún… ¿Conocen mis criterios de decisión?

Está claro que no saben nada de ti, pero menos aún saben si el precio es una variable importante para mi o no, de forma que, si no lo es, no servirá de nada que se pongan en mi lugar y me digan que su producto es más barato.

Lo mismo pasa con muchos vendedores. Por ejemplo los de seguridad. Te intentan vender tranquilidad ante posibles atracos en casa o en el negocio. ¿De verdad piensan que sus argumentos parecen naturales? Suena a que se lo han aprendido y lo sueltan como si fuera un examen oral. Pasa con muchas empresas y en muchos canales. Personal, telefónico, e-mailing…

Hay algunos canales que permiten escuchar al usuario, ¿Podemos dejar pasar la oportunidad? Claro que no. Sólo escuchando al usuario podremos saber qué variables nos llevarán al siguiente estadio de su proceso de compra y cuáles no. Conocer al cliente es algo que no se puede pasar por alto. Dicen que la información es poder, cuanta razón en estas palabras.

borjaime

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to Be Made Into Money : Part One

We begin your amazing Life Jacking journey with the core fundamental principles of how to market anything to anyone. We will be taking a page from the big boys (and girls) of marketing by teaching one of the greatest tools of marketing ever invented : Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. What is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, you ask, and who was this Maslow fellow anyway? Well, it is a fascinating story and one I am always glad to tell.

Maslow was born in a time before the dinosaurs on a distant planet, the location of which he has yet to divulge to us mere mortals. A cataclysm on his homeworld inspired his parents to place him into a deep space capsule and send him to earth where he would be the savior of all humankind. Raised by a elderly childless couple on a Kansas farm, he learned to love and use his powers for goodness, not badness, as the other alien children in his youth were wont to do. Finally, young Maslow came of age one day after finding a crystal pyramid hidden in his otherworldly baby clothes, which taught him the Holy Hierarchy of Needs. This wisdom he chose to pass on to all of the rest us through his job as a patent clerk in Wichita where he invented the theory of Dark Matter.

“Wow,” you might be saying, “that’s an impressive childhood!” I would have to agree.

But what did the Hierarchy of Needs have to teach us all? Why, how to market anything to anyone, the Life Jacking way, of course! In Part One of this multipart series we will be looking at the very base of the pyramid, the one associated with what is commonly termed “survival” needs, but can also be referred to as “the easiest market.” As we move up the pyramid in further installments, the marketing gets more challenging, but for now we’ll go for a ride on the great existential cakewalk that is selling the basic needs of existence to those who need it. Let us begin.

Before we delve into the nuances of the pyramid itself, it might be useful to go over the basic strategy of marketing and selling. Let us now ask the question : What is marketing and selling? To put it simply, there are three basic steps, or processes, to this kind of thing.

1.) You have something someone wants or needs.

2.) You refuse to just give it to them for nothing.

3.) They do what you require to get it.

Pretty simple, and not in that “deceptively simple” way many talk about. This is just pure, honest, simplicity. It becomes more clear when we look at the Hierarchy itself. The base of the pyramid is divided into a few sections of its own, but don’t let that throw you, they fit together rather elegantly to create the world view of your target audience. These sections, or “basic survival needs” are listed on the Holy Hierarchy as Breathing, Food, Water, Sex, Sleep, Homeostasis (it’s okay, the word only LOOKS big), and Excretion. We will now examine this more closely in a Life Jacking Marketing Way(TM).

1.) Breathing : Hold your breath for a couple of minutes and you will immediately see that breathing is important for survival. Breathing is actually one of the more frequent things that people indulge in and is therefore highly marketable. The supermarkets have no end to the amount of things you shove up your nose to aid breathing, as well as things that go across the nose, around the nose, and mention the nose in passing on their way to the pub. All of these things seem ultra-important to consumers simply because we are all very addicted to breathing. Most people would rather die than give up breathing. Breathing is such a fundamental need that in some circles people have given up food in order to have more time breathing.

So the question emerges : How do we sell breathing to those who breathe all the time? It seems like such a simple concept, everybody does it, almost everybody wants to do it, it should be easy to sell. The good news is, it is extremely easy to sell breathing to the general public. All you need is some kind of thing that makes breathing easier, or more fun, or novel in some other way. A good example of this are flowers, which make the act of breathing more enjoyable due to the good smell and poetic licenses of the flower industry. ”Stop and smell the roses” is one of the most powerful slogans ever for a product. It’s simple, easy to remember, and drives people with allergies crazy because it makes them really want to. Once you realize that you can use one breathing oriented product (roses) to make others (those with allergies) need another breathing oriented product (allergy medication), a great tapestry of industry unfolds before you. Has anyone invented rose scented nose spray yet? Will you be the one?

2.) Food : It is simply amazing what people who want food will do to get their hands on some. They will literally beg, borrow, steal, and, in extreme circumstances, grow their own to get it. Food has been a favorite pastime of people since people were invented and the trend looks to be going strong way into the future. Selling food to people is effortless and all that it really requires is that it doesn’t kill the person who eats it. People will generally eat almost anything if you call it food and will come back for more if they survive the experience. There was a time when marketing to those who grew their own food was next to impossible, but thanks to genetic engineering this too has become possible. With the invention of seeds which grow sterile plants, food can actually be sold to people who grow their own food, eliminating the need for a factory, processing, packaging, and shipping heavy cargo. Pure genius. Even though people can go longer without it, food is actually easier to market to people than breathing, in most cases. Don’t forget, that along with food are the food oriented non-food objects that can also be sold to the peoples of earth, such as eating utensils, napkins, and fake food (which is like having a 24/7 working advertisement for real food in the home) as decoration.

3.) Water : Water is the basic ingredient of all beverages, big and small, fizzy and flat, clear and absorbing of all light. Without water, the soft-drink, hard-drink, and, for the ladies, firm-but-fizzy-and-fun-drink industries would not exist. Most people will refuse to eat if there isn’t some kind of water based beverage involved. It is a coincidence of nature that water is also used to grow most kinds of food (with the rare exceptions of Tofu and Grandma’s Thanksgiving Turkey which actually absorbs liquids into oblivion), so water is also a basic need for the survival of other kinds of industry. The earth is 3/4 water, but only a percent of that is what is commonly known as “drinkable” making beer a rare and precious luxury. Water is such an easy to sell item that it comes in configurations ranging from its basic form all the way to water based solids, known as “ice.” You should have no problem selling water to the masses.

4.) Sex : Without sex the human species would cease to exist. Sex literally sells itself (on the corner a lot of times). Paradoxically in relation to the other needs, the selling of sex can actually be hindered by the involvement of the seller, so don’t hover too close over your sex industry or you may creep out your potential buyer. Just let the sex do the talking and stand back to reap the rewards. Once sex is presented it requires no corporate maintaining and though billions are spent on the sex industry, this is only to add flavor, not to keep the industry going. Sex is the easiest thing to sell because everyone wants it whether they know it or not.

5.) Sleep : Ah, perchance to recover from getting and using all those other needs! People get very angry and unhappy when this need is not made available to them and the better the sleep experience you can offer, the more ridiculously successful you will be. Everything from pillows to bourbon is utilized in the attainment of sleep and it is such a powerful need that people will indulge in it at the cost of their own lives. If you can provide a service or product which allows people to sleep and live to sleep again, you have a repeat customer for life. I told you this level of the pyramid was easy.

6.) Homeostasis : This sounds complicated, but it really isn’t. This simply means that people have a need for things to stay the same. For example, a living person would like the process of living to remain the same, so wont betray the living market for death if they can help it. While this may seem more tricky to sell to people, you’d be surprised how easy it actually is. You cater to the homeostatic market by not changing your products function and nature one iota. By doing the same thing as you did yesterday you reinforce in the customer base that you are dependable and have no sneaky newfangled gimmicks up your sleeve. If you do feel the need to excite people with something new (as people sometimes want you to do) you can still satisfy this need by changing the packaging, the slogan (though not recommended), or the way the product is used. By leaving the product itself the exact same no one will see it as a threat to homeostasis. For a prime example of this, look at the car door. Hinge to the front, handle to the back, opens outward. Been that way since the time of the cavemen and while the packaging may have changed over time (the car built around the door), the door remains basically unchanged and people like it that way. Another example is pants.

7.) Excretion : As you may have heard, everybody poops! Industry itself usually has quite a bit of waste attached to it, as many American rivers can attest to, but not many think of the demand side to the waste of industry. The fulfillment of all of the above needs often leads to some sort of excretion of something or the other that the consumer no longer wants around them. This is why waste removal is equal to all other industry combined, as it must mirror the output of that which is consumed. From the chamber pot to the garbage truck, excretion is considered a necessary, if not amusing / embarrassing, side effect of enjoying life. To the savvy businesshuman, however, it is neither of these things, it is to them the very best thing ever. Excretion means the product consumed has been transmuted into a state where it is no longer desirable as the product it was, leaving the consumer to seek a new instance of the product to be supplied by the seller, who can also be there to remove the waste (what a ridiculous term, “waste,” it should be called “gold that no one wants”), doubling their involvement in the consumer’s life. More involvement means more things to market, sell, and reap the rewards of. For every food industry there is a poo industry. For every inhale there is an exhale. For every flushed toilet there is an open pantry and this is the beautiful cycle of life.

This completes our overview of the base of the pyramid and in future installments we will be looking further up the Holy Hierarchy. This may seem like a lot to take in at first, but that very metaphor is a key to understanding the essence of Life Jacking. Here is an excellent exercise…

Exhale as deeply as you can and hold your breath for as long as you can. When it gets to the point you can’t hold it anymore, imagine yourself coming along and providing you with the very air you now suck hungrily into your lungs. Now imagine yourself walking away leaving you to hold the air in for as long as possible. Soon, this too will become intolerable and you will be forced to exhale. Imagine yourself having to come back to you in order for you to exhale, to take the bad air away. That is the very basic nature of selling to people. You be there when they need to inhale, you be there when they need to exhale, and you be the only way they can accomplish these things.

Now tell me that doesn’t make you feel superpowerful. You, my friend, are now well on your way to being a Life Jacker. Welcome to the fold, dear friend.

Take a deep congratulatory breath now and don’t worry, I’ll wait.

Part Two coming soon!

More Resources For You To Use!

We have uploaded a number of documents for everyone to view, and download, on both Scribd and Slideshare – as time goes on we will add additional material to these for you to access. Please give feedback as always, and if there is anything you ant us to try to add – then feel free to suggest something!

We are on scribd at http://www.scribd.com/Acuity%20ETS and Slideshare at http://www.slideshare.net/AcuityETS

Hope you find these two vaults useful!

Optimal Retail - Part 3

My last installment in this “pause” I am pursuing is regarding the need for productivity. Heaven knows that rents and those dreaded “extras” are making retailers small and large weep on a daily basis. The notion of improving productivity (and its cousin efficiency) must be woven into every initiative a retailer undertakes.

As an example, the easiest one to pinpoint is the largest store expense, (along with the label as its largest “bugaboo”) staff payroll. Almost always measured as a percent to sales, the old fashioned way of detecting an increase in productivity is having the percentage go in a downward direction (often what I call a “death spiral”). This does more damage to your brand and any increases in productivity from a sales perspective than anyone can tabulate.

It is an easy thing to do: Decree to “cut payroll”. The Brick and Sears are living examples right now of what happens to sales and profits when a short-sighted leader announces that it is necessary to cut back hours on the sales floor and that the stores must “hit a number without fail”. I wish it were that simple. The Brick has since come back from the brink of insolvency to add more hours and ensure that customers are looked after and sold some merchandise. What a revolutionary notion!

To be honest, if you operate stores, they are your faces to the consumer. This is what the consumer can touch and feel and see. Why mess it up with some arbitrary goal of payroll percent? If you want to talk productivity, then give each staff member a Sales Per Hour (SPH) dollar goal and track it. Once each sales person accomplishes these goals, you have more than paid for their services, added sales and made customers happy. You have therefore improved your brand position.

Or, you can track conversion, which is my favourite statistic. If you increase conversion (increase the number of purchasers from the actual number of people that wander into your store aka traffic), you are improving productivity. That is a goal worth pursuing in store.

Productivity of inventory is another form of generating cash flow and ensuring smart investments and returns. It is obvious that if the wrong merchandise is bought and is therefore not selling, that affects productivity (not to mention Gross Margin per Square Foot productivity as well after you have to take massive markdowns to clear the slow moving merchandise). But you could have the right merchandise, just not in the right quantities. Or you could have the right merchandise but not in the right places (ie what is selling well in Vancouver is not in Halifax and vice versa, therefore you are sitting with productive merchandise but in the wrong places). This makes the art of allocation, planning and distribution very important. Personally, they should be the smartest people in the room.

Productivity in the distribution centres is critical to ensure timely deliveries of fresh merchandise as well as replenishment of fast selling merchandise. But can your distribution centres turn on a dime, re-route, change their daily and weekly routines based on the trends and needs of the business? A flexible system, along with a very clever and sophisticated software package to analyze the business will yield higher productivities as well.

The final element I want to mention regarding productivity is based on the marketing dollar spent in a particular season or campaign. The question usually isn’t whether the campaign worked or was effective, but how does the campaign get measured? How can we tell whether it was effective or not? How do we pinpoint the exact cause of the dip or surge in sales? Those are questions that should be asked before designing and deciding on a particular marketing program.

In today’s retail reality, productivity is king. Every dollar must be squeezed out of every asset from people to real estate to size, colour and style of merchandise, not to mention vendor.

TheRetailTherapist

La forza dei dieci comandamenti – un test veloce

Guardate la matrice sottostante: quali sono le due celle il cui contenuto, se sommato, fa 10?

matrice

Risolto? Bene. Ora immaginate un test nel quale diversi partecipanti hanno 4 minuti di tempo per risolvere 20 matrici simili a questa. Come ricompensa, alcuni fra i partecipanti scelti a caso avranno un premio di 10$ per ogni matrice risolta.

Questo test è stato effettivamente oggetto di un famoso esperimento (Mazar, Amir & Ariely 2008, vedi articolo originale), con esito al quanto interessante.

I partecipanti al test sono stati inizialmente suddivisi in due gruppi. Una volta trascorsi i quattro minuti di tempo, le matrici del gruppo 1 venivano corrette da un esaminatore, addetto poi a distribuire i premi.

I membri del gruppo 2, invece, erano tenuti a correggere da soli la propria batteria di 20 matrici, per poi riferire il risultato ottenuto all’esaminatore; subito dopo i premi sarebbero stati distribuiti ed i fogli con le matrici buttati via, senza ulteriori controlli.

Come si può sospettare, il risultato è che il gruppo 2 ha seguito il modello economico standard del comportamento disonesto: calcolando la somma di denaro attesa, la probabilità di essere scoperti e l’intensità della punizione nel caso in cui si venga colti in fallo, molti hanno scelto di imbrogliare, ottenendo risultati migliori.

Ma la parte interessante viene ora. L’esperimento prevedeva anche un gruppo 3, nelle stesse condizioni del gruppo 2 ma con la differenza che ai suoi membri, prima di correggere le proprie matrici, veniva chiesto di scrivere i dieci comandamenti.

Il risultato sorprendente è che il gruppo 3 non ha imbrogliato ed ha invece ottenuto risultati in linea con il gruppo 1. E non è una questione di fede: l’esito non cambia con partecipanti cattolici, mussulmani, atei, buddisti o quant’altro.

Leggendo il testo originale dell’articolo “The Dishonesty of Honest People: A theory of Self-Concept Maintenance”, pubblicato sul Journal of Marketing Research nel dicembre del 2008, troviamo che il risultato ottenuto è spiegato dalla teoria della concezione di sé (self-concept theory). Essa spiega molto meglio della teoria economica tradizionale – homo oeconomicus razionale – il comportamento delle persone in situazioni quale quella esaminata.

Quando si studia e si considera il comportamento del consumatore è quindi necessario non fermarsi alla teoria economica tradizionale, ma attingere anche al campo della psicologia. Essa infatti considera il comportamento umano nella sua complessità psicologia, tenendo conto di fattori chiave che è importante non sottovalutare – nel caso specifico: la necessità di adeguare il comportamento alla propria concezione di sé; la “malleabilità” con cui, a seconda della situazione, si possono considerare concetti come rubare, imbrogliare, essere disonesti; l’intensità del comportamento disonesto (rubare 10$ Vs rubare 100$); la forza dei dieci comandamenti!

Here I am! Come find me! NOT

So here I am thinking I am up to date with technology. I decide to really get to work on making an online presence for myself only to find out how behind I am. I’m young though right, I have time to figure it all out?

Google analytics: why doesn’t it show me my page stats? I followed the instructions on how to do it perfectly I swear! Turns out it takes a day or so. I know I’m getting more then 0 visitors, I visited my blog at work on all 3 computers today!

WordPress Blog: I want to have multiple pages that I can post blogs to!! Can’t I do that? NO! I figured out a way around it. Pages under the parent of the parent of the parent of. It will work!

Categories, tags? I think I got it, but does it really help get me traffic?

Linking everything to everything?? how does this work? What do I need to do to get my blogs, art, etsy, showing up in google searches???

I haven’t quite figured it out but I am getting there.

This is my first time completely putting all my energy into my art career. Will I ever have time to make art with all this online work to do?

All about marketing

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Is NFL the most twitterised brand?

Banks REDUCING overdraft fees??

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

JW's Fabulous(ly British) T's

Blog´s & Marketing Político

Monday, September 28, 2009

Zero

Marketing Team Leader (Plano TX)

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Marketing / Skechme.com

The Marketing Mix and Three Elements it Should Have

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Secretos del Marketin Digital

Promoção Interna: Banca de Camisetas para Shopping Iguatemi

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Life comes at you fast. Canon will help slow it down.

Get a Clear View (part 1)

No se pueden superar las expectativas de los clientes...

Marco Sifuentes: La credibilidad como capital

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

It's Gonna Be A Party Y'all...

Entrepreneur Best Practices: #6 Learn To Cut Bait …early

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Experiencias enlatadas

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to Be Made Into Money : Part One

Monday, September 21, 2009

More Resources For You To Use!

Optimal Retail - Part 3

Sunday, September 20, 2009

La forza dei dieci comandamenti – un test veloce

Here I am! Come find me! NOT

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