One more note about competition.  Over the years, many, many companies have talked about opportunities that pop up when their competition does something dumb, like treating customers poorly.  But those companies are almost always unwilling to use their own marketing to call the competitor out by name, and to position themselves as the happy alternative. …

When you think of branding, you think of the things you can do to make your company stand out.  But what if you could brand more effectively by repositioning your competition instead?  It might be easier than you think.  When HBO wanted to set itself apart, it used the statement, “There’s TV. And there’s HBO.”…

There’s a lot of content being generated every day with the hope that it will go viral — that people who see it will share it, and that the process will repeat itself exponentially.  Studies by the New York Times showed that the stories readers were most likely to share “forced the reader to view…

Want to sell more?  Try this.  For one month, take someone different to lunch every day.  No repeats.  Choose people you haven’t caught up with in awhile — people you aren’t necessarily trying to sell anything to.  Don’t talk a lot.  Do listen a lot.  Ask them about their ideal client or customer.  Think about…

Consider this: a customer who has a problem that gets resolved well is more engaged than one who never experiences a problem at all.  Mistakes aren’t fatal; they’re opportunities to increase customer loyalty.  And mistakes happen.  So the relevant question is this: how much time do you spend training your people to resolve problems well…

Most of us assume we know what our clients or customers know about us, and what they need from us.  And most of us are probably wrong.  Case in point: a recent survey suggests that almost three-quarters of consumers don’t understand all of the ways their bank or credit union can help them.  Surprised?  There’s…

If branding is about being exceptional among your peers, then it makes sense to look hard at that root word: “exception.”  You can literally only be exceptional if you’re doing what no one else is doing, or doing things in a way no one else is doing, or not doing what everyone else is doing. …

It’s amazing how many companies invest a lot of time and talent in preparing email content that’s truly valuable to customers, clients or prospects…then torpedo it with a subject line that says “Your Newsletter for (insert date here).”  Who wants to read another “newsletter”?  Is there no arresting content in it — nothing else that…

According to research, a huge number of people worry every day about their families’ financial stability.  If yours is a company that offers solutions to help them, you have to address this in a clear and effective way.  You should offer to replace their worry with peace of mind.  People are emotional creatures, and we…

It’s interesting that a marketing tool that’s proven to work has fallen so far out of favor.  We refer, of course, to the humble jingle.  Once upon a time, jingles ruled the broadcast airwaves.  And study after study shows that jingles are extremely effective at boosting brand awareness and consumer recall.  So here’s the dilemma. …