Relationships. Trust. Delivery of superb value. These are core ingredients of a successful service firm. Talk to 100 service firm marketers and leaders, and they'll all tell you (and most of them believe it) that their firm is at the top of their industry in each of these categories. Why, then, ... more

At a time when America is still feeling the sting of a prominent columnist being paid handsomely by a third-party for writing favorable opinion pieces; the nation's most respected newspaper publishing fabricated stories; and television stations running government-supplied and funded video news releases to report stories about the war, more ... more

Last week, we ended the first part of this two-part series with a discussion of the perceived entry barriers to marketing to Hispanics. Now, we take a brief look at the tactics that marketers use to reach the Hispanic market, and discuss in depth Search Engine Marketing as an optimal ... more

The US Hispanic population, with its growing purchasing power and impressive growth in media usage, has companies scrambling for ideas and ways to effectively target this barely tapped market. In this new report from MarketingProfs is solid and hard-to-find data on what organizations are doing effectively to target this market, ... more

Nothing gets the adrenalin pumping quite like an AdWords campaign that delivers a strong ROI. Success brings a big grin on your face when you realize you can invest more in the campaign, expand the base of keywords, and make even more money. The more you spend, the more you ... more

Advertising and marketing has changed. What could possibly be the cause of so many beleaguered established players and fortunate newer ones? more

Shopping portals, comparison-shopping sites, and search engines allow merchants to promote increasingly detailed merchandising offers with the goal of cost-effectively increasing brand visibility, acquiring new customers, and driving incremental revenues. But how does an online retail merchant ensure that third-party shopping destinations and other referral-based merchandising channels contribute to the bottom ... more

Every marketer has by now heard the terms viral, buzz and word of mouth. Some will even have noted terms such as brand advocacy, advergames, blog marketing, influencer panels and consumer empowerment seeping into the industry's vocabulary. Collectively, the latest shift in thinking in the world of marketing has been termed ... more

As a relatively new player in the increasingly competitive comparison-shopping and online retail arena, pricefish.com needed a comprehensive and creative marketing campaign and strategy to re-launch the pricefish.com brand and generate consumer awareness for the site, among other things. Here's how they did it. Get the full story. more

Freestyle may describe a particular type of competition in this year's Winter Olympics, but it more aptly defines the attitudes, mindset and personalities of the games' most controversial and media-savvy athletes. Is their irreverence just a product of the Echo-Boom Generation, or is it something more? Could it possibly be ... more

Even with January behind us, a brand manager is still full of the promise of the New Year. Sure, things didn't go perfectly during 2005. But it's worth taking note of those things you'll solemnly swear you'll never do again. more

With Google AdWords, it is now possible to target prospects at the very moment they are thinking about buying your products or services. Here's how to maximize your success with Google AdWords. With proper preparation and execution, starting Google AdWords can be like planting a money tree that will provide ... more

Keeping a campaign fresh and vibrant—and maintaining its breakaway status—is a major challenge. The competitive landscape is turbulent and consumer perceptions are constantly shifting. It takes courage and perseverance to sustain a breakaway campaign over decades. more

You might have the greatest show on Earth, but if no one knows about it, nobody will see it. For marketing many kinds of entertainment — from video games to live theater — here's what works best. more

Chris Maher is president of Fosforus, a business-to-business marketing, media, and interactive design firm based in Austin, Texas. Those of you who have read his writing on MarketingProfs know that Chris is a little different from your average agency guy. He beats a drum about real connections (not just marketing) ... more

Imagine a world where video, photography, text and music are all available from any device that can connect to the Internet at any time. Whether you're using your computer, iPod, television or mobile phone, you will have the information you need and the diversion you want. Such a fantasy world ... more

In his new book, According to Kotler, Phil Kotler gives a summary of the key principles of marketing and how they relate to current events such as corporate accounting scandals, outsourcing, globalization, warehouse shopping and online marketing. Here is an excerpt of it, based on the thousands of questions ... more

Successfully launching new products gets tougher every year. In the past decade, the number of new consumer products hitting the shelves has skyrocketed by 59 percent, making it much more difficult for new products to win consumer attention. If you've built a better mousetrap and plan to introduce it into ... more

Most people's concept of advertising is limited to the (sometimes woeful) ads they see on TV, or the billboards they drive past. Seeing these, they automatically assume that effective advertising is out of their reach. This couldn't be farther from the truth. Pound for pound, Google AdWords offers everyone, from ... more

This week, our regularly featured "SWOT Team" column gets a new name as it becomes the weekly "Marketing Challenge" column. In it, a reader asks: How do I create a big splash on little cash? Readers respond with four excellent approaches. Also this week, suggest your own answers to ... more

In search engine pay-per-click advertising, the unscrupulous use of a competitor's trademarked terms is a murky business and contentious topic. With a seemingly anonymous perpetrator, it's a relatively easy offense—and sets off a torrent of trademark-infringement concerns for many companies. more

Marketers everywhere are tasked with finding out about causation: "Is this advertising causing people to buy more of our lemonade?" "Is our new viral marketing effort causing our brand awareness to increase?" "Would having blonde hair cause me to have more fun?" It's virtually impossible to answer questions about causality ... more

This week, add your own two cents to the following dilemma: How do you go about promoting a product on a global scale? Also this week, read your answers to a previous week's question: What do you do when an initial marketing campaign isn't flying? more

Recently, search engine revenues have rocketed, with pay-per-click advertising providing much of the fuel for growth. The other side of the coin: advertisers have been using PPC keyword advertising to meet their marketing objectives. But even with such heightened competition, there may be untapped, hidden opportunities for online marketers interested ... more

Online communities have been around for years, but we now have more tools for building them. The options include Weblogs (blogs), wikis, forums (bulletin boards), email discussions and online chats. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. Which one best suits your needs? Also this week, read your suggestions for the previous ... more