Positioning Process Overview

Last month I was preparing to conduct a positioning workshop for a client. The CFO sent me an email that said: “Is it possible to give me an example of what a positioning statement looks like? I think I understand the concept, but not sure how it looks or will be used…” It occurred to me that my response to him could be useful for...

More Powerful Elevator Pitches

I perfected my elevator pitch 6 1/2 years ago when I started my company. The marketing expert in me was proud that it is succinct, descriptive, and tied directly to my positioning. Last week communications expert Mark Wiskup poked it full of holes. OUCH. In front of a group of 20 potential customers and referrers. Double OUCH. But he was right....

How To Avoid 4 Common Start-up Marketing Mistakes

I have been working with a lot of dynamic, young companies lately as an advisor, mentor and consultant. It’s a lot of fun, and not surprisingly, I see many of the same initial marketing mistakes made over and over. While none of them are fatal, they are pretty easy to avoid in the first place if you just know what to look for: 1. Telling...

I Want My Brand To Be Like Intel Inside

If I only had $5 for every time I heard a client say “I want [insert brand/company name here] to be like Intel Inside.” While I wouldn’t be rich, it would certainly buy me a nice dinner or two. In fact, I was hearing this so much, and from one client in particular, that I finally decided to do some research into how much my...

Lessons from Orabrush’s Giant Talking Tongue

I read an article in this week’s New York Times about how Orabrush has been successfully selling its product via YouTube videos. Click Here to read article. One of the key points of the article is how smaller companies like Orabrush are using YouTube to advertise. Orabrush has its own YouTube channel and many of its videos are hilarious,...

Lessons from a Spectacular New Product Failure

This month we have a guest blogger, Nancy Goldstein of Compass(x) Strategy. While Nancy’s firm focuses on brand strategy and marketing for environmentally and socially responsible businesses, she just couldn’t resist commenting on the recent launch and subsequent discontinuation of the Microsoft KIN. I thought she makes some terrific...

Frame The Problem, Don’t Mandate The Solution

Many wise managers and agency partners have taught me over the years that when asking for changes to creative work, framing the problem you want the creatives to solve, versus telling them how to solve it will virtually always get you the best results. For example, instead of saying this: “Can you make the label bright green?” Say...

Using existing tools to do new things

I read an article recently in National Geographic Adventure magazine (link below) about how a team of climbers helped with an archeological expedition in one of my favorite parts of the world, Nepal. The gist of the story is that for years, local residents of Mustang have “reported seeing old manuscripts fluttering out of [an inaccessible]...

Permission To Say “No”

The businesses I meet with are often struggling to figure out which marketing tactics they should be using. This is where having a marketing strategy can help: It gives you permission to say “no” to tactics which will not clearly help you achieve your business goals. No matter what the size your business or brand, I am willing to bet...