Test Yourself: Are You An MBA Clone?
by Dr. Dan Herman
Standardization in MBA programs results in a similarity in the professional approach and managerial thinking of their graduates. Thus, many executives today turn into "MBA clones." In our hyper-competitive markets, MBA clones pose an imminent and tangible threat to the competitiveness of the companies they work for. What about you? Do you have the symptoms?

Marketing's Critical Role in Pipeline Growth
by Laura Patterson
Today's big challenge is to reduce the ever-increasing length of the sales cycle. As the length of the sales cycle increases, so does the demand for a larger pipeline. Marketing plays a critical role in contributing to the pipeline. This article outlines four steps marketing organizations can take to effectively and efficiently contribute to pipeline performance and the generation of revenue.

Ten Marketing Measurement Questions Every CEO Should Ask
by Laura Patterson, President, VisionEdge Marketing
Marketing has a better chance of success when the CEO takes a role in insuring that the marketing function is aligned with the overall direction of the company. This article explores the role the CEO plays in the establishing the success factors and metrics for marketing and provides 10 questions CEOs should ask their marketing leadership.

The Difference That Makes the Difference!
by Rick Sidorowicz
Jeffrey Fox has written many excellent books and his “How to Become a Marketing Superstar” is one of my all time favourites. This is a quick study that every CEO should read before every single marketing presentation from this day forward. And if you’re in marketing making those presentations, you should read it weekly and then once again before you present anything to your CEO, especially if she’s read it lately.

Making Demand Generation Measure Up
by Laura Patterson, VisionEdge Marketing
Marketing must design demand generation initiatives that help businesses attract better customers. This article offers five immediate steps any company can take to improve its demand generation prowess and suggests marketing metrics that should be monitored to ensure demand generation programs measure up.

Product Portfolio Management
by Laura Patterson
When implemented effectively, product portfolio management improves organizational alignment and performance, reduces waste, and improves customer satisfaction and loyalty. Product portfolio management gives the leadership team valuable insight into how existing and new products are positioned to increase their company’s revenue.

Applying Six Sigma to Marketing to Grow Revenue
by Laura Patterson
By applying Six Sigma to marketing, you can develop an efficient marketing workflow, identify leading indicators of growth and become proactive about performance improvement. Six Sigma provides both a methodology for process improvement and a way for marketing to prove its value.

Improve Marketing and Sales Alignment and Your Company's Revenue
by Laura Patterson
This article explores how to integrate the traditional sales funnel with the customer buying process to create customer-centric opportunity management, improve marketing and sales alignment, and ultimately your company's revenue.

Marketing's Pivotal Role in Innovation
by Laura Patterson
The ability to develop products and services that offer fresh ideas and are relevant to customers is no easy task. This article explores the role marketing plays in innovation and how marketing can lead the innovation charge.

CABs and TABs: Market Research Vehicles Ideal for Every CEO
by Laura Patterson
How to create customer and technical advisory boards - CABs and TABs. These boards, can provide the necessary insight into broader issues and critical forces affecting the market.

The Marketing Hits' Formula
by Dan Herman Ph.D.
The Marketing Hits' Formula and its implementation method allows for marketing innovation that will be accepted with immediate enthusiasm by the target consumers and will spread virally.

Breaking Through at Retail with “Pizzazz”
by Gary Grossman
Smart marketers are learning to start the product development process with the consumer’s viewpoint. They use their understanding of what consumers need and want but can’t get, to help guide design strategies.

The New Market Segmentation
by Dan Herman Ph.D.
According to the conventional segmenting method, people in each segment should differ - to some extent - from the people in the other segments. I'm convinced that you have already found out that it does not work. Here is what does.

Boomer Insights
by Cheryl Swanson
Marketing to boomers - don't treat them as old; and they're downsizing for a fuller life.

"Perplexity Poll" Reveals American Consumers Befuddled by Business Documents
from Siegel & Gale
Confusing information leads to the deterioration of customer relationships, reduced brand loyalty and potential health problems.

About Marketing Creativity
Q&A Session with Drew Neisser
Marketing competes with every creative thing in the communications universe simultaneously, not just other ads or other TV or print, but every divertissement imaginable.

Auto Pilot
by Drew Neisser
You know you've been in marketing too long when you are disappointed by its absence. But that's exactly what happened at the recent New York Auto Show that rolled into town with much fanfare attracting well over a million New York area tire kickers.

Marketing’s Altered States
by Cheryl Swanson
Trends for the projectable future reunite us with the myths and fantasies from which we’ve become disconnected in our sleep-deprived “Survival of the Fastest” era.

A Conversation with Mary Lou Quinlan, Author of Just Ask a Woman
from Mark Fortier
The founder and CEO of the premier consultancy dedicated to women's marketing, Quinlan has personally interviewed 3,000 women -- uncovering profound and enlightening truths that can't be learned from traditional research.

Lost in Transition
by Drew Neisser
Prestige brands risk getting lost in transition, hanging onto traditional marketing approaches while their younger target leaves them behind.

Leaping Into 2004
by Drew Neisser
It feels like there are two runners on, nobody out, the count is 3 and 0 and the manager just gave me the "swing for the fences" signal. Now I know baseball analogies may seem a little out of place in the gloom of winter but bear with me as I make a case for a jam-breaking, base-clearing, innovation-led 2004.

Retailing in the 21st Century
by Pam Danziger
It's not about selling more "things" but delivering a shopping experience.

Hispanic Advertising Trends - 2004
by Luis Garcia
Marketers will increase their hunger for Hispanic insights and community outreach, and lifestyle will begin to set the trend of what's to come for Latinos in advertising.

Gender Blending, Marketing to the “New” Man
by Cheryl Swanson
Inherent is an aesthetic that blends both the “linearity” and “logic” of masculinity with the organic, fluid forms and brightness of femininity, for a truly human aesthetic.

The Faithful Marriage of Guerrilla and Online Marketing
by Drew Neisser
In successful marriages, each partner carries their own weight complementing the other while bringing something unique to the table.

Holiday 2003 Trends Predictions
by Robert Passikoff
Despite a less than stellar economy, consumers indicated that they intended to spend more this year than they did last year.

Ten Retail Tactics to Guarantee a Great Holiday "Gifting" Season
by Pam Danziger
As retailers finalize plans for their most important selling season, holiday gift shopping will play an even more important role as retailers work to make up for the year's weak first and second quarters.

The "Liberteens"
by Nicki Gondell
Forecast to be the largest, most influential group in history, eclipsing even the Boomers by 30%, generation Y has been the subject of numerous studies and much conjecture. We recently looked at this group as an emerging market for a major consumer electronics manufacturer.

A Quick Lesson About November 2nd
by Luis Garcia
What exactly is the Day of the Dead and why you should care.

Market for Self-Actualization: The Ultimate Luxury
by Pam Danziger
We need to view our product offerings through a new lens, to see beyond the physical manifestation of our goods to the metaphysical meaning that our goods embody for the consumer.

Face-to-Face, One-to-One Marketing and Hispanics
by Luis Garcia
What does it mean when someone tells you Hispanics are a "relationship marketing" population? If your current Hispanic marketing program does not include a relationship marketing component, you might want to have a little face-to-face with your ad agency.

Five Things About the Hispanic Market
by Luis Garcia
Hispanics are what has traditionally been considered a "niche" or minority population, but with some 36 million people, they account for 13% of the U.S. population. (One must wonder if the term "niche" market still applies).

Drop in Consumer Spending on Home Furnishings Signals Cocooning's Demise
from Unity Marketing
Capping a year of anemic performance in the home furnishings industry in 2001, American consumers are sending a clear message that continued heavy spending on their home is no longer a priority.

Bubbling Hubris
by Robert Passikof
Coming soon: your brand advertised on Coca-Cola bottles!

You Spent How Much!
by Robert Passikoff
Another inquiry into whether Super Bowl commercials are worth the expense?

Today's Jewelry Market
by Pam Danziger
To grow sales jewelry companies must reach out to the self-purchasing woman and meet her in shopping venues where she is inclined to think about buying jewelry.

Related Topics: Branding | Public Relations | Sales & Marketing

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