I started this article on the way back from Scottsdale, AZ the day after two of the biggest sports events in the U.S. ended on the same day in the same town. The day, outside of writing, was spent taking part in a sort of “luggage treasure hunt” sponsored by my favorite low cost airline, but that’s another story.

Should the small, medium enterprise ( SME ) sector advertise?

Should large enterprise advertise? A much different question, but from a directional perspective the following test can be both fun at parties, and quite telling. Ready? But, first you have to agree that checking your TiVo is cheating, and Coke and Budweiser don’t count, because they actually are brands.

Deal? All right then, Go! – Name three companies that advertised during the Super Bowl, and what products / services they advertised? [Read more...]

For those of you that have seen the movie “Ray”, you might recall the scenes in which Ray Charles feels the wrist of young ladies he has been introduced to. Singer, musician Ray Charles was blind.

Today, we are all a bit blind when it comes to how we are doing relative to fundamental marketing goals, such as; Generating Awareness, Building Interest, Facilitating Trial Sales and Sustaining Repeat Sales.

So, like Ray, we are looking for “signals” from which we can design. But, how do we get those signals? In many cases there simply is no wrist from which to assess the situation, or even check for a pulse. Much has been written over the past several years about the unparalleled power customers now have, and it may seem to owners, executives and managers that are trying to grow businesses, that their desired audience is actually hiding and doesn’t want to reveal themselves.

Customers and members of a company’s desired audience are not the only ones with new powers. Desktop publishing, the internet, eMail, video and a variety of other new ways exist for companies to attempt to “connect” within a variety of venues relatively quickly and easily. But, which is the best? [Read more...]