Many salespeople agree that loyalty isn’t what it used to be.  The founder of a company recently made an observation about the manufacturing and industrial customers they serve.  If one of his competitors happens to walk in his customer’s door at the right moment, that customer is likely to hand that competitor a project that…

Marketing that gets results is a balance of the technical and the creative.  We know that effective radio spots, for example, have to mention the product or company several times.  On the other hand, we know that effective radio spots have to be creative – they have to conjure up a picture in the listener’s…

In many, many industries, there’s a tendency to play “follow the leader.”  If one company does something and it succeeds, competitors fall in behind it and do the same.  But those copycats never, ever see the returns the leader enjoys and never, ever become the leader.  Why?  Because the leader is doing something different, something…

Here’s a true story.  A company pulled the plug on its print advertising in a couple of the smaller communities it served, and after watching for a week or two, saw that customer traffic remained steady in those markets.  They concluded that they could drop all their advertising, and save a lot of money.  So…

A plane doesn’t lift off the ground right away.  It takes speed and distance to get airborne.  The same is true of any significant marketing effort.  You may see little return at first, and be tempted to end the investment.  But making enough impressions to gain awareness and persuade someone to act takes time.  Stop…

It’s no secret that the Gap family of retailers (Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, etc.) aren’t the apparel powerhouses they once were.  That’s in the physical world of brick and mortar.  But online, it’s a different story.  Gap made a deliberate and concerted effort to make its online experience more like shopping in a store,…

Too often, we make the perfect the enemy of the good.  Your mission and vision are fine – essential, even – for long-term growth, but actual progress requires small, regular, measured steps toward improvement every day and every week.  Whether it’s your marketing, the way you deliver your product or service or the way you…

Especially when marketing resources are limited, every message has to be powerful.  Each one has to push your brand away from the competition and into territory that only you can claim.  But that’s not what most companies are doing right now.  If anything, there is an epidemic of tepid, meaningless messaging out there.  So here’s…

The U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Manual notes that, “the government that is being targeted generally takes a while to recognize that an insurgency is occurring.  Insurgents take advantage of that time to build strength and establish support.”  This translates directly to competition for your company.  If you’ve been around awhile, you’re likely to miss your…

Musician Peter Gabriel made the above observation during an interview about the recording process.  Toymaker Lego found out the same thing.  When they gave their kit designers a smaller range of pieces with which to work, they found that those designers made kits that were just as inventive and that sold as well or better,…