WHAT DOES THE DATA MEAN FOR YOUR MARKETING?

Last week I wrote, “If one doesn’t follow the data, one is accused of being ignorant of science. But from what data is the science drawn? It’s possible that the data is ignorant (drawn improperly), or the manager using it is ignorant.” My musing, “How Good Is Your Data?” tackled the relationship between faulty data and science. […]

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HOW GOOD IS YOUR DATA?

There’s an awful lot of talk during this coronavirus pandemic that we need to base decisions on the science. The “science” is informed by data and vice versa. But how good and, therefore, useful is the data? After all, we must be mindful of GIGO (not GEICO, but GIGO), the acronym for “garbage in, garbage […]

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KNOWLEDGE IS IN DOING IT WELL

During this period of lockdown and social distancing, my Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) School, Gracie Downtown Pensacola, has been closed. However, the school owner and lead instructor has been providing online instruction, live, twice a day, Monday through Friday. It has been beneficial to me. We’ve been reviewing in detail some 80 techniques that we need […]

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TO “TWEAK IT,” OR NOT

Tweak (transitive verb) to make unusually small adjustments in or to (something) The word “tweak” is frequently used by marketers when providing direction to members of their immediate team, support staff, ad agencies, and suppliers. Unfortunately, it is often misused and, therefore, promotes misunderstanding.  For one, a small change in the wording of, say, a promotion can make […]

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KARMA CAN BE A BITCH!

Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, we are in the early stage of what appears to be an economic recession. For some companies and their brands, it may be more like a depression. How long this will last is anyone’s guess? Will we have a “V” or “U” shaped recovery given the massive stimulus being pumped […]

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HOW TO MARKET DURING AND POST THE COVID-19 RECESSION

The coronavirus is devasting lives and an economy that had been the most robust in our lifetime. This brings me to the question: What’s the difference between a recession and a depression? A recession is when you are out of work. A depression is when I’m out of work. What this means is that if […]

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THE ROLE OF THE CMO – 4

We need marketing to work more effectively, particularly in this “age of abundance and sameness” where products are interchangeable and generally acceptable quality (GAQ) reigns. CMOs need to accept the responsibility of their role—making marketing work! It’s not about merely overseeing tactics or serving as senior brand (micro)manager. It’s about making marketing matter. Accordingly, the […]

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THE ROLE OF THE CMO – 3

The role of the CMO is to make marketing work! If marketing is not working for a given organization, it is not the fault of the marketing discipline. Instead, it’s a problem with the way marketing is practiced within that company. The responsibility for failure lies at the feet of the CMO regardless of whether […]

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THE ROLE OF THE CMO – 2

The fish stinks at the head. (A proverb that means the root cause of failure of an organization is its leadership—or lack thereof!) Last week I posited that the reason marketing has lost, and continues to lose, relevance is due to CMOs not fulfilling their roles and responsibilities to the enterprise, which are to:  Create […]

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THE ROLE OF THE CMO – 1

Marketing is losing its relevance. It is becoming small “m” marketing, focused on sales support, project management, and/or tactics. It is becoming transactional versus transformational. There isn’t a line-of-sight to sales from what activities marketers engage in. Yet, in this age of abundance and sameness, where generally acceptable quality (GAQ) reigns, it is more important […]

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