AT P&G, THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS “BACK” TO BASICS

We’ve never been shy about recalling our earliest days as marketers working for Procter & Gamble.  Our longtime readers know only too well the many proven principles, quality processes, and best practices that we espouse–and attribute to our P&G training, experiences, and successes.  Though we haven’t been under their employ for well over forty years, we continue […]

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DARE TO PUT YOUR MARKETING ON TRIAL?

If you were to put your marketing on trial, would it be convicted of being dumb? While you might feel offended by the question and vigorously protest that your marketing is not dumb but, in fact, smart, we’d venture you are probably self-delusional. You are not objective. If you are so sure of your marketing, […]

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MEGA-MISTAKES MARKETING THE MASK

“Masks are the best vaccine we have right now.” It was late February, in Bangkok, news of the creeping Corona Virus beginning to buzz around the city.  In high-people-traffic places, like the BTS Skytrain stations and platforms, the government was already handing out free masks to passers-by.  Along the crowded main street sidewalks, however, perhaps no more […]

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THE P&G WAY TO MARKETING EXCELLENCE

We’re alums of P&G (Procter & Gamble) and both grateful and proud of it. P&G is where we cut our first marketing teeth. The company hired Mike despite his not having an MBA. (He has dual masters’ degrees in English and Human Resources.) They hired me despite an MBA with a concentration in finance, not […]

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WHATEVER HAPPENED TO CONTINGENCY PLANNING?

(Note:  We’re reissuing this DISPATCHES article now consciously.  While our content is not a direct analogy, we think the perspective and principles herein apply–to some degree anyway–to our current Covid-19 dilemma/enemy/competitor.  Among the many arguments–yes, and finger-pointing accusations–we hear, is that our country struggles so greatly now with the pandemic in great part because we had no serious […]

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ESTABLISH A BRAND PERFORMANCE DASHBOARD FOR MARKETING SUCCESS

Our target goal is to achieve sales of X, a market share of Y% (whether it be 15, 25, 35%, or more) in Z-time. Beyond receiving our weekly (or daily) sales results and a share report from a custom or syndicated data source, do we know what it takes and if we’re on track to […]

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MOVE OVER CMO. MAKE WAY FOR THE CDO.

(Note:  An article in last week’s Wall Street Journal noted that, once again, the average tenure of Chief Marketing Officers has declined, continuing a longstanding trend in corporate America.  This remains a trend that we have been watching–and occasionally writing about–with no single cause. Though, as both the WSJ article and we have noted, perhaps the most important cause is that […]

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MEMORIAL DAY TRIBUTE

We’re taking a break from issuing DISPATCHES and Marketing Matters today. It’s our Memorial Day weekend. This is not a typical Memorial Day weekend of barbecues, family gatherings, and openings of beaches due to the coronavirus pandemic and the restrictions put in place to slow its spread. However, we all try and need to make […]

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INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD D. CZERNIAWSKI, AUTHOR, AVOIDING CRITICAL MARKETING ERRORS: How to Go from Dumb to Smart Marketing

Q: Why the book and why now? RDC: I believe, as the late Professor Peter Drucker opined years ago, that because the purpose of business is to create customers, its two most important functions are marketing and innovation—which, by the way, are not mutually exclusive. These functions are even more critical today as we live […]

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AMIDST THE PANDEMIC, AN ADVERTISING PANDER-DEMIC

Pander to someone, vb.  To please other people by doing or saying what you think they want you to do or say. “Sean Haney, a digital marketer at a software company, made an ad compilation called ‘Every COVID-19 Commercial Is Exactly the Same’ after noticing similarities as he worked from home with the television on in […]

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