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Sustainable Marketing - The Conflict (First of 3 Articles)
David Thorp, Head of Insights at the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) noted,"Marketers should be at the forefront of this change as the key communicators of the brand and organisational values. In the future, marketing will be as much about changing attitudes and behaviours as it is about increasing market share".And, of course, there is a conflict in sustainability, which I’ll talk about in a minute. First let’s look at how sustainability is being pushed by our industry.The GreenAwardsThe 2006

rit the Zen essence.
3. Bizarre TV ads that consumers can’t relate to: one series of ad went along the lines of ‘something you really need’ and ‘Panda Rhapsody’, an ad using a panda bear listening to its MP3 player.
4. Unfocused and fragmented: Zen Jukebox, Zen Nano, Zen Touch, MuVo Slim, MuVo TX.. etc (confusing consumers with too many choices)
5. Special edition signed by Creative Technology’s CEO Sim Wong Hoo… (what?!?)
6. Almost non-existent.

While Creative Technology firs

The Shotgun and Your Business!
Using a shotgun to drive customers to your website, might be a bit over the top!What I’m talking about is the shot gun splatter approach to analyzing your market.I recently saw a video that demonstrated this technique to me and I found it very useful, but a little difficult to understand using the shot gun analogy.So here’s a way analyzing your market that I feel more comfortable with.Look at your target market as a commercial eco system. Everything is related and in some way reliant on each other in one way or anoth

Recently I was interviewed by Marketing Magazine, a local magazine in Singapore that keeps close tabs on the marketing strategies companies of all sizes use to reach out to their consumers. I thought that this is an excellent case study of how important positioning, branding and marketing are for your business.

For their feature story on Branding, the magazine asked for my comments on Creative Technology’s (renowned for its sound card and MP3 players, and most recently for its legal tussle with Apple) branding efforts. While I’m a fan of Creative, I have to say that their branding leaves much to be desired. In particular, comparing the arch rivals of Creative Tech’s MP3 players vs. Apple’s iPod, it is easy to see where Creative’s branding efforts had gone wrong. Below is a simple comparison of its rival’s branding moves.

Apple
(A marketing and branding savvy company)
1. Understands the target market—young people want to be hip and cool. So they created a hip and cool positioning for iPod.
2. Very sleek and minimalist cover design—enhancing the hip and cool image.
3. Great ultra hip and cool TV ad, using black dancing silhouettes (all the better to contrast with Apple’s corporate white) against a colorful background + hit song of the moment ‘Hey Mama soundtrack performed by one of the hottest groups, the Black Eyed Peas.
4. Very focused in the beginning, starting with only one color, one model: The white iPod. This makes it very recognizable and easy to brand.
5. Special edition signed by U2 (very hip and cool band).
6. Featured in many hip TV shows.

Creative Tech
(A tech focused company)
1. Don’t understand their consumers’ desires, preferring to focus on product features, etc (appealing to logic, instead of emotions) and with no strong positioning.
2. Tacky cover designs. Responding to iPod’s sleek design, they asked their own engineers to design their new cover design! Huge mistake! Naming their products ‘Zen’ doesn’t mean that they will inherit the Zen essence.
3. Bizarre TV ads that consumers can’t relate to: one series of ad went along the lines of ‘something you really need’ and ‘Panda Rhapsody’, an ad using a panda bear listening to its MP3 player.
4. Unfocused and fragmented: Zen Jukebox, Zen Nano, Zen Touch, MuVo Slim, MuVo TX.. etc (confusing consumers with too many choices)
5. Special edition signed by Creative Technology’s CEO Sim Wong Hoo… (what?!?)
6. Almost non-existent.

While Creative Technology firs

To Communicate with Impact , Talk to an Ignoramus
Does it sometimes take way longer than you expect to get fundamental ideas across to your audience?When you're promoting new products, processes, services, or best practices, does it take forever to "turn everyone around"? Do customers have trouble getting the most out of your products and services? Do employees have trouble helping your prospects and customers reap the benefits of what you offer?Maybe you -- or the experts who are helping you, whether internal or external -- are too smart!Sometime

) branding efforts. While I’m a fan of Creative, I have to say that their branding leaves much to be desired. In particular, comparing the arch rivals of Creative Tech’s MP3 players vs. Apple’s iPod, it is easy to see where Creative’s branding efforts had gone wrong. Below is a simple comparison of its rival’s branding moves.

While Creative Technology firs

Yellow Pages 101 - An Introduction
Hello, students, and welcome to my classroom. Go ahead and have a seat anywhere. I assure you that they’re all comfortable and have ideal viewing. I assume you’re all business people with an interest in placing or designing cost-effective ads. Then sit back, relax and learn. I am your humble instructor in the mystical and confusing world of Yellow Page advertising. My name is Jeff Hauser and I have a BFA in marketing from Pratt Institute and a masters in teaching, so I’m more than qualified to be your professor. But do I hear a murmur in the bac

od.
2. Very sleek and minimalist cover design—enhancing the hip and cool image.
3. Great ultra hip and cool TV ad, using black dancing silhouettes (all the better to contrast with Apple’s corporate white) against a colorful background + hit song of the moment ‘Hey Mama soundtrack performed by one of the hottest groups, the Black Eyed Peas.
4. Very focused in the beginning, starting with only one color, one model: The white iPod. This makes it very recognizable and easy to brand.
5. Special edition signed by U2 (very hip and cool band).
6. Featured in many hip TV shows.

While Creative Technology firs

Mexican Manufacturing – Maquiladora Manufacturing Services in Baja, Mexico
Consumers in the United States spend almost seven trillion dollars each year on consumer goods. In order to tap into this lucrative market, many major companies manufacture their products in exotic locales such as China, India, or other Asian nations due to their cheap labor and lax trade restrictions. Unfortunately, few of the industries that export their capitol across the Pacific realize that they could save more money with one short trip across the southern border to the maquiladoras of CaliBaja based in Mexicali, Baja California and Calex

l edition signed by U2 (very hip and cool band).
6. Featured in many hip TV shows.

While Creative Technology firs

The 'S' Corporation is a Dinosaur
The ‘S’ corporation is a dinosaur. It has been over-rated and overused as a ‘knee-jerk’ default entity choice when in fact its usefulness is limited to specific circumstances. Many well-meaning advisers have for years urged their clients to use the ‘S’ corporation based upon outdated case law or cocktail party conversations that were a poor substitute for continuing education. As a practical matter, the ‘S’ corporation’s utility is severely limited, primarily because it restricts flexibility, ownership choices, tax savings and liability protecti

While Creative Technology first came up with MP3 players, they lost out their pioneer status advantage due to incompetent branding and marketing strategies. Apple has always been an innovative company when it comes to technology. But more important than that, it has always been a company that is close to their consumers, understanding their desires.

On the other hand, Creative has no strong retail experience. Its earlier massive success, the SoundBlaster, was a technological breakthrough, but it was not really a retail consumer product. Most people who buy computers don’t know whether the soundcard inside their CPU is a SoundBlaster or not. Of course, there are those who demand technological excellence and insist on having the SoundBlaster. Unfortunately, they form the minority.

Sadly for a hip product such as an MP3 player, Creative chose to take the same approach—focusing on technology only, instead of combining it with a massive branding and marketing campaign. It is important to note that Creative’s MP3 players have received many awards and critical acclaims. BUT it sorely lacked the ‘street cred’, the approval from the target market. How many times did you hear someone say “I really want to get the Zen / MuVo / Jukebox”? You don’t hear much of that because they all want an iPod.

That is why Apple’s iPod holds near to 90% market share. Just take a look at the TV ads from both rivals and you’ll understand what I mean by Apple understanding the consumer’s mind, while Creative missed it totally.

So the next time you think that by focusing only on delivering the best product, you will be guaranteed success, think again. Creating powerful positioning, branding and marketing strategies for your business can make a HUGE difference!

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Do you run a business that is centered on other businesses? If so, you likely offer services that many businesses and business owners need. These services may include anything from handling the overflow of customer phone calls to the scheduling of customer appointments. One service that you may want to consider offering, if you don't already offer it, is voice mail service.

Evaluation has possibly caused more arguements in the training world than anything else. Why complicate things!?

Oregon payroll has some unique aspects and conditions. Some of the details and laws are set out in this article including information concerning: tax withholding and reporting; unemployment insurance taxes and reporting; wage and hour laws; and child support withholding.

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