Ideas to boost your campaigns

Why do We Need a Marketing Plan Anyway?

by Gwendaline Mazzara

What a silly question, right?

As marketing professionals, we all understand the importance of marketing plans. However, not everyone in your company thinks this way. To some, writing a marketing plan is a waste of time. In this article, you'll find a surefire way to get upper management on your side.

Before we start, here's a quick primer on what role marketing serves.

Marketing:

Communicates a consistent message to the ideal customer. Discovers what customers want and need as well as what price they will pay. Knows where to find customers that will most likely buy. Builds the foundation for sales through multiple channels. In short, marketing creates the sale opportunity.

So, where does the marketing plan fit in? It becomes the roadmap for achieving your business goals.

The Surprising Secret of Successful Differentiation

by Dan Herman

A successful differentiation has two defining characteristics: (1) It is not imitated by your competitors, even though (2) it brings you unmistakable success with consumers.

Impossible, you say? Not quite. I am about to reveal to you the unexpectedly simple and wonderful secret of successful differentiation. Here it is: Do not look for it around the core benefits of your product category; rather, think "off-core differentiation."

"Core benefits" are the benefits that the consumer already expects to receive from a product like yours. This is the list of what's important to the consumer. "Core benefits" are more than the essential product benefits. The core benefits of today's cellular phones include much more than the possibility of conducting a conversation while you're in motion. Everything that the consumer has already come to expect from products in your category is included in the core benefits. These are the benefits that all of your competitors offer, because they constitute the essence of the product and it is impossible to compete in the market without them.

Three Keys to Delivering World-Class Service

by Jay Lipe

Every so often, I'm hired by a company to develop a marketing plan for its business. Yet after conducting my initial assessment, I discover that the company's lack of a marketing plan isn't the problem. The real problem is the company's poor service. For these companies, spending any money at all on marketing is like pouring fine wine down a sinkhole.

If your company's service stinks, fix that first. Then worry about promoting your company.

Why Rebranding Often Fails

by Galen De Young

As competition heats up and sales start to stagnate, companies often seek to breathe new life into the brand through rebranding. In all too many cases, however, those expensive rebranding efforts fail to yield the desired business results.

Here are some of the key reasons rebranding often fails. More than executional mistakes that blunt the effectiveness of rebranding efforts, these are critical errors that almost always lead to failure.

To Innovate—Break a Rule

by Thomas Ordahl

Today, every business feels the pressure to innovate. Innovation is touted daily in the headlines of business magazines, the presentations of consultants, and in the books and conferences of business visionaries.

We feel it in the parity of our pricing and during our strenuous attempts to articulate "unique value." And we witness it as emerging markets move from providers of low-cost labor to competitors, or as new technologies disrupt yet another competitive advantage.

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