Vol. 3 , No. 17     April 29, 2003

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Jonathan Ward
Career Building: A Great Approach to Branding?

“Be true to yourself” is the advice you get in planning a career. Yet companies are often not true to themselves when they establish their brand. They try imitating other strong brands in their own space. Or, they build brands based upon utopian ideals with no realistic foundation.

So, where do you start? Following are some guidelines to help you establish and grow a believable brand that’s consistent with your company’s “true self.”

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Kristine Kirby Webster
The Value of a Brand Lies in Its Service…An Update

In her last article, Kristine ranted about an icon of the American retail environment and its lack of customer service.

As the saying goes…be careful what you wish for. Since the publication of the piece, that icon, Sears, has indeed sat up and taken notice of her.

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Doug Edge
Relationship Marketing King Wal-Mart Still No. 1

Economists and pundits are still reporting how bad the U.S. economy is, but Wal-Mart seems immune.

The retailer just witnessed revenues grow by 12 percent in 2002, to $246.5 billion. And Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was just ranked number one -- again -- by Fortune magazine, leading the top 500 corporations for a second year in a row.

How do they do it? Get the full story.

A Note to Readers

Bits of Wisdom

My friend Nick Usborne contacted me recently. He’s putting together an ebook with advice from some of the best and brightest in the online space. (And for some reason, he included me.)

What he wanted was an answer to this question: "If you could give people doing business online just one piece of advice, what would it be?"

It’s an interesting question. And you’ll have to buy his book to get my full answer. But in a nutshell, what I said was something like this:

“The truth is that the web is simply another platform for doing business—it’s not a special environment where only rare and beautiful ‘e-business’ survives like some hothouse lily.

“If your business is sound—that is, if you have an audience or market, if you’ve tapped into its passion or pain, if you have figured out a way to make money that has some Popeye muscles—well, you’ll do fine. Lean into it, baby!”

Nick’s book will be out some time this spring. But in the meantime, I’d love to hear your response to his question. Email me ann@marketingprofs.com with your own bits of wisdom.

As always, your feedback is both welcome and encouraged.

Until next week,

Ann Handley
ann@marketingprofs.com
MarketingProfs.com

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Strategy Top 5

Karin K. Schaff-Glazier
Strategizing Your Next Move in the Global Game

All types and sizes of companies are finding that a global approach to their business is imperative if they plan to keep their competitive edge and secure their future survival.

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Jeff Kostermans
How to Improve the Quality and Cost of B2B Leads (Part 2 of 2)

If you’ve read part one of this tutorial, you’re ready to start capturing leads.

But before those elusive prospects come beating down your door, be sure you have a plan in place to accelerate the sales cycle. Here are five ways to optimize the capture, management and conversion of those new leads.

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Richard Roberts
You Call That Integrated Marketing Communications?

The advertising industry’s idea of what "integrated marketing" means continues to evolve. Sponsors have gone from making sure their can of Coke rather than a competitive can of Pepsi appears as an on-screen prop, to BMW making its own films. Product placement has become “Advertainment.”

Where is this all heading?

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Tig Tillinghast
Dear Tig: Online Marketing Diplomas, and Is It Okay to Job-Hop?

This week, Tig weighs in with sources for online marketing diplomas and ponders: How often should a marketer job-hop?

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Contact

Publisher:Allen Weiss
amw@MarketingProfs.com

Content: Ann Handley
ann@Marketin 3Profs&# 46com

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