QUESTION: Shouldn’t brands in high-penetration/frequent usage categories, like soft drinks, or snacks, or confection, aim communications as broadly as possible (especially when there are very high-efficiency means to do so—like TV–readily available)? For more than fifteen continuous years, we were most fortunate to have a client in “true FMCG…” a client whose many Consumer […]
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When was the last time you gave your full attention, and listened, really listened, to the flight attendants as they announced and visualized safety instructions for your aircraft? You probably can’t remember. And, if you are being totally honest you’ll admit not only to not listening but actively tuning-out the instructions despite the fact that […]
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In our last DISPATCHES we had been recounting the little-remembered story of 7-Up’s “wars” against the big colas, Coke and Pepsi, during the 1970’s and early 1980’s. Just as a quick summary, 7-Up’s first attack came in the form of their legendary “Uncola” ad campaign…which had a lot do with their growth to a 7%+ […]
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As it’s now the dog-days of summer, with some extended blazing temperatures across the U.S., we thought something a little refreshing was in order. Since we both were active participants in the relatively short-lived (and unsung) “lemon-lime wars” of the early 1980’s, we decided to summarize our lessons learned from them…principles, mainly, that in any […]
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Your target goal is to achieve a market share of X (whether it be 15, 25, 35% or more) by Y-time. Beyond receiving your weekly (or daily) sales results, and a share report from a custom or syndicated data source, do you know what it takes and if you’ll achieve the target sales and market […]
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Your target goal is to achieve a market share of X (whether it be 15, 25, 35% or more) by Y-time. Beyond receiving a share report from a custom or syndicated data source do you know if you’ll achieve the target goal? This is a difficult question that gets to the heart of your understanding […]
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We’re on summer schedule for writing and publishing DISPATCHES – Insights from the Marketing Front. This means we will going from issuing an article every week to every two weeks. Stay tuned for the next article, which will be available Monday, 18 June. Thanks for your continued readership and encouragement.
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“To…not prepare is the greatest of crimes; to be prepared beforehand for any contingency is the greatest of virtues.” (Sun Tzu) “One thing that makes it possible to be an optimist is if you have a contingency plan for when all hell breaks lose.” (Randy Pausch) As we are both former military pilots (Navy and […]
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Why do you advertise? To generate buzz? To be get target-customers to like your advertising? To inform? Entertain? Do you advertise because that’s what is expected of marketing? Because it’s part of your job description? Perhaps, you advertise because it’s what the business has always done? Is it to generate awareness? Inspire you sales force? […]
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Working recently with a healthcare client brought to the forefront an age-old truth about brand positioning: namely, creating a winning positioning is essential—and admirable; but being unable to execute that positioning in the marketplace, for whatever reasons, makes all for naught. Brand positioning strategies don’t do much for us if they remain locked in our […]
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