“So, how do you pack a lot of meaning into a little message? You don’t. That’s the first lesson of microstyle. A message isn’t a treasure chest full of meaning. It’s more like a key that opens doors. A message…
Blog Archives
Strategic Marketing: B2B Marketing Campaigns – Back to Basics
Michael said that probably the biggest problem faced by B2B marketers is truly understanding “Who am I targeting?” At a recent Strategic Marketing P2P, we were joined by Michael Stephens, who runs marketing at TeraGo Networks. Michael was there to talk…
Tagged with: 4Ps, Adwords, Atria Networks, B2B, Communitech, Michael Porter, Michael Stephens, Porter's Five Forces, SEM, SEO, Strategic Marketing P2P, strategy, TeraGo Networks, Youtility
Posted in Advertising, Marketing
Posted in Advertising, Marketing
Book Report: Youtility
“If you sell something, you make a customer today; if you help someone, you make a customer for life. Youtility is marketing upside down. Instead of marketing that’s needed by companies, Youtility is marketing that’s wanted by customers. Youtility is…
Tagged with: competition, content marketing, customers, digital marketing, ExactTarget, frame-of-mind, friend-of-mine, Jay Baer, Marcus Sheridan, prospects, Tim Kopp, top-of-mind, Youtility
Posted in Advertising, Books, Marketing
Posted in Advertising, Books, Marketing
When clarity in brand messaging goes hilariously extreme
Most folks in marketing have heard of the concept of a brand identity – the colours, fonts, logos and other visible stuff associated with a brand. Slightly newer is the concept of a brand personality – the characteristics that you…
Tagged with: brand identity, brand personality, Colbert, Double-Beef Deeth, Wheat Thins
Posted in Advertising, Marketing
Posted in Advertising, Marketing
The Third Age of Marketing
This Christmas, I received as a gift the book Youtility – Why smart marketing is about help not hype, by Jay Baer. The title alone had me excited, as over the past year I’ve implemented a number of initiatives around…
Tagged with: 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, @HiltonSuggests, Adwords, Al Ries, Charmin, frame-of-mind, friend-of-mine, Jack Trout, Jay Baer, Phoenix Children's Hospital, positioning, top-of-mind, Youtility
Posted in Advertising, Books, Marketing
Posted in Advertising, Books, Marketing
Dissecting a bad ad
You know what really grinds my gears? Bad advertising. And I don’t mean the so-bad-it’s-kinda-good stuff (I love that stuff), I mean the high-production-value-but-completely-misses-the-mark stuff. Case in point: “RAID”, from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). I get angry every…
Positioning statements in action
A few weeks ago I wrote about positioning statements and value propositions. At a recent tradeshow, we put some theory into practice.
Tagged with: 3GPP, Geoffrey Moore, OpenFlow, Sandvine, SDN, tradeshows, value proposition, virtualization
Posted in Advertising, Marketing
Posted in Advertising, Marketing
Is this art, or advertising?
Recently I was in a Starbucks in Maui, Hawaii – specifically, the Starbucks at the airport. I moseyed on up to the counter and requested a Kona coffee. Me: “I’d like a grande Kona, please.” Starbucks Barista: “We don’t have Kona…
How do you write a winning value proposition?
An awesome value proposition identifies your target audience, gets their attention, and generates an emotional response to the product or solution you’re selling. Every company needs a value proposition; in fact, if your company has a broad range of products, then you…
Tagged with: Brant Cooper, Communitech, Dave McClure, David Cowan, Eric Sink, Front Burner, Geoffrey Moore, Patrick Vlaskovits, positioning, Steve Blank, The Pitch, value proposition, Venture Hacks
Posted in Advertising, Marketing
Posted in Advertising, Marketing
Book Report: Words that Work
“For most people, language is functional rather than being an end in itself. For me, it’s the people that are the end; language is just a tool to reach them, a means to an end. But it’s not enough to simply stand there and marvel at…
Tagged with: Bill Maher, corporate communications, Frank Luntz, George Orwell, Jack Welch, Robert F. Kennedy, Rudy Giuliani, Will Rogers, Winston Churchill, words that work
Posted in Advertising, Books, Leadership, Marketing
Posted in Advertising, Books, Leadership, Marketing
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