The difference between runaway business success and mediocrity often comes down to having a great sales strategy. Yes, you need a great product that uniquely addresses a market need. And marketing dollars are always helpful. The final measurement success is revenue and profits, so spend the time developing a sales strategy and focus on Sales. Sales. Sales. Continue reading
Southwest is a business in the front, party in the back brand. Before all else, Southwest is a bare-bones player that cares first about delivering the lowest fares. The party in the back is about having fun while doing it… Continue reading
Facebook, Twitter, and Four Square have become the new digital leaders by enabling users to connect with each other and share ideas, experiences, and ultimately their lives. Much of the interactions rely on a visual exchange of text and images. A new startup, Blurts believes there is another sense that can be tapped into to enhance social media. If you were going to guess taste or smell, well the digital world isn’t quite there yet. Blurts is bringing audio to social media in a new way. It’s kind of like twitter for podcasts. Continue reading
Interbrand released its 2010 Best Global Brands report this week (brand report highlights). This is the 12th year that the report has been published, and we’ve often wondered if there are deeper insights that can be garnered from this report. We’ve analyzed the past 12 years of data with a specific eye to the following questions:
1. Do changes in brand value predict changes in stock value, or merely reflect information that is already priced in?
2. Do the brands with the strongest momentum hold up in recessions?
3. Can the report provide insight into the broader market? Continue reading
In the documentary, Art & Copy, creative advertising executives talk about how vilified and dirty advertising is perceived by the average consumer. Some even re-word their job description to appear unconnected to the… Continue reading
Consider your business partnership in a similar light to your significant other: you are in it the for long haul for better or worse (unless otherwise indicated in your agreement, or course). Although some personal partnerships can feel like they have that caveat, business partnerships are long-term, collaborative endeavors and should not be taken lightly. Vetting potential partners is integral to the growth and sustainability of your business, as both of you are shared architects in the venture. Continue reading
This year’s rankings showed significant change with Apple and Google leaping, and Dell, Toyota, Nokia, and Citi plummeting. Interbrand’s report highlights that consumer behavior is more difficult to predict than ever. Interbrand’s best global brands report says, “the current economic climate is a risky landscape for today’s brands … one that is fraught with contradictions and vocal customers scrutinizing your ever move. The same customer might opt to buy an iPad instead of a laptop, purchase private label toothpaste, and then match a Zara skirt with Christian Louboutin shoes.” Continue reading
The latest, largest Mac Pro has 512 gigabytes of storage, which means two Mac Pro’s would yield just over one terabyte of storage. There are 1,000 terabytes in a petabyte. And AT&T processes 19 petabytes through its network each day and Google processes 24…. Continue reading
Think of your brand as you would your body. Imagine three months of eating Big Macs, fries, lounging on the couch, sleeping 15 hours a day. Next, think about three months of eating fruit salad, vegetables, doing Yoga every… Continue reading
Loyalty programs are often discussed through a B2C lens, but B2B loyalty can have impressive returns. For instance, five percent improvement in customer retention can yield 25 percent to 100 percent increase in… Continue reading
While there is hope in the startup world (Q2 2010 featured the highest venture-backed IPO volume and amount raised since 2007), the investment community remains very discerning in their allocation of scarce… Continue reading
One such example was devised by MINI, the automobile brand. At the beginning of June, they issued a bold challenge to automaker Porsche that dared them to compete against a MINI at a particular race course on a particular day. Naturally, one company issuing a challenge to another piques interest, particularly when it’s a cheeky brand like MINI calling the shots. After issuing the challenge MINI had a constant stream of multimedia to maintain interest and was documented on MINI’s Facebook site, like an open letter to Porsche titled “Bring It, Porsche”, a video parody of Rocky IV at funnyordie.com showing the two cars training for the title fight, an image of MINI flying a taunting banner over Porsche’s headquarters, and later on the official letter from Porsche declining the challenge. Continue reading
What is your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy? An effective SEO strategy is informed by optimal keywords, blog content, and content promotion across the blogosphere. The first step in search engine… Continue reading
Link building on external sites, whether it’s through article directories, video platforms or blog directories, can increase “link juice” and drive traffic to your site. The more high quality your “link juice,” the higher Google… Continue reading
