I’m all for societal marketing but not for social marketing. What’s the difference? As I explained in a recent DISPATCHES’ article, societal marketing is all about doing what’s right for the customer and society. To repeat what I stated in that earlier article, if, for example, we have “negative” ingredients in our products that could harm […]
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This week I brought my car in for springtime servicing, although spring has not yet sprung in Chicagoland. I use HEART Certified Auto Care to keep my 2007 Porsche Cayman in tip-top shape. Unfortunately, it required more than an oil change and rotation of winter for spring tires. It needed replacement of the front wheel […]
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I’m always harping on the need for marketers to discover their POD – Point of Difference benefit. Not for the sake of mere difference. But, a POD with distinction. Namely, the difference is relevant to their chosen target-customers and meaningful (as in degree of difference) to be of value to them. In other words, this relevant, meaningful difference […]
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My wife and I are winging our way home from Barcelona; I’ve been reflecting on my experiences there. One lesson I recall vividly: my daughter Christina, a chef and restaurateur in Barcelona, took exception to a comment I made that “bread is bread.” “No, Dad,” she corrected, “bread is NOT bread. There’s excellent bread and […]
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I had lunch in Barcelona this week with a client, who is an authentic marketing professional, and also a colleague, and friend. He flew in from Geneva to meet with me. He read chapters from a new book that I will be releasing, hopefully, by mid-year. It is titled, AVOIDING CRITICAL MARKETING ERRORS – How to […]
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Believe it or not, I once had to have a commercial shot three times. The same, exact storyboard. Yes, not once. Nor twice. But three times! It was the commercial, in which the character declared, “Introducing the REACH Toothbrush from Johnson & Johnson.” So, what happened? Well, the first commercial shoot went as planned. However, […]
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It’s the moment we look forward to when we hear, “And the award goes to …” Yet this is another practice (along with attending commercial shoots) that marketers are instructed to avoid, participating in advertising awards. We, marketers, are brainwashed into rejecting the very notion that we, or our agency, should stoop so low as […]
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I had a conference call the other day with a senior marketing manager of a leading QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) chain. He was in Los Angeles at a commercial shoot. Many organizations advise or have policies against marketing personnel attending commercial and print shoots. The rationale is that marketing addressed (or should have addressed) production […]
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Zion Williamson is a college basketball phenom. Zion, 6’8” and 285-pounds, whom many consider to be the number 1 pick in the NBA 2019 draft, at a towering 6’8″ and 285-pounds, has missed playing Duke’s last five games due to a sprained knee. The incident occurred in the first minute of play against their great […]
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Taking annual price increases without adding value to the offering is one of my pricing peeves. Yes, there are others that I believe erode trust in a brand. Specifically, I’m thinking of those enterprises that use variable customer demand-based pricing. I don’t object to all variable customer demand-based pricing. When launching innovations where customer demand […]
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