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Joe Zale
How to Raise Prices: Three Key Questions to Guide Decision Making With an improving economy, managers have grown increasingly aggressive in their efforts to raise prices. Unfortunately for many companies, rosy profit projections have been replaced by a frustrating inability to realize long-sought-after price increases. Are you among the managers stung by this fate? If so, here are three questions that should lead to an informed understanding of the problem and where you should focus your energy and resources. Get the full story. Please note: This article is available to paid subscribers only.
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Jared McCarthy
Logos: What Makes Them Work (Part 1 of 2) Developing a great logo is a strange mix of art, science, psychology and (in most cases) a good amount of luck. In this, the first of a two-part series, we'll explain what a logo really is (and isn't!), suggest how to start development, and ask a few questions you'll need to answer before you begin. Get the full story. |
Michael W. McLaughlin
Rules for Rainmakers Many wonder how a rainmaker reels in so much business while others can only shake their heads in amazement. Some suggest that rainmaking is a genetic predisposition and therefore beyond reach for all but a select few. Nothing could be further from the truth. Rainmaking is part skill and part mindset. Anyone who is willing to invest the necessary time and energy can become a rainmaker. Get the full story.
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A Note to Readers Q&A: The Personal Branding Guru If you've been hanging around MarketingProfs for a while, William Arruda should be a familiar face. A prolific writer and speaker, he's authored tons of articles for us as well as led several virtual seminars—most recently, "Marketing Career Turborcharger." In William's view, the concept of the "brand" that we develop for the products and services we market extends to individuals as well. Here's what the Personal Branding Guru has to say about the role branding plays in successful marketing careers. Ann: How do you distinguish between "branding" and "personal branding"? What's the difference? William: It's all the same, really. If you think of a brand as a unique promise of value—every company product, place and person has one. With personal branding, I use a branding methodology similar to what I used in the corporate environment to help professionals and entrepreneurs stand out from their peers by expressing their unique promise of value. Ann: Why would an organization be interested in the "human side" of branding? In other words, what's in it for them? William: Profit. There are really two areas of interest to companies when it comes to the human side of branding. Companies that connect their human brand assets (their employees, leaders, business partners and so on) to their brand are just more successful. When you look at companies like Adobe, Apple, Ritz Carlton, Harley-Davidson... you can see that this is true. When you motivate employees to deliver on the brand promise, they are more engaged and contribute on-brand work every day. Ann: And what else? William: Also, helping employees discover and communicate their personal brands enables them to build their confidence and contribute their unique strengths to the corporate mission. (continued below)
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Ann: Is there a certain sort of company that tends to hire you for their employees?
William: I work with major brands like JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, Warner Brothers, Disney, IBM.... They want their employees to be confident and committed. They know that if they do not deliver innovative products to the marketplace, they will deliver commodities... and commodities compete on price.
Innovation requires creativity and creativity comes from diversity. Diversity means each employee delivering on-brand work in a way that is appropriate for them. You can see the change in employees after they have been through the branding process. Companies invest in this because they see the return.
Ann: What sort of return can they see?
William: Each person's plan is different, but the results fall into a few categories: increased self confidence, better contributor, better leader, better understanding of each team member's unique contributions, stronger commitment to the company.
Ann: How do you measure the branding benefits for a company who might be looking to hire you, when it might be more compelling for them to spend their money on more tangible marketing programs?
William: It isn't usually a hard sell. They are the companies that show up on the Fortune "Best Places to Work" list. The companies want to be on that list. When you think about how much companies spend on branding campaigns, the incremental cost of turning their employees into brand evangelists is really just a rounding error.
Ann: Finally, a bit about you. Can you state your five most relevant and compelling brand attributes (adjectives that describe you)? And yes, I did rip this question off of your Web site's "quiz"!
William: This is what people around me say are my most compelling attributes: Enthusiastic. International. High energy. Passionate. Committed.
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Ann Handley
Chief Content Officer
MarketingProfs.com |
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Sean D'Souza
An Old Lesson on Target Audience... the iPod Way Apple's iPod is a necessity with travelers, teenagers, fitness fanatics, students, business executives and, yes, even grandmas and grandpas. So did the iPod break the rules of staying with one target audience? How can you argue with one billion dollars in sales? Find out how the iPod looked at "target audience" in a different way. And how you can do not just the same, but actually do one better. Get the full story.
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Scott Buresh
SEO: The True Cost of Doing It Wrong While price can (and should) certainly be a factor in the SEO decision-making process, it should not be the primary factor. Unfortunately, many companies that think they are saving money when making SEO decisions find out later that the actual costs of doing SEO wrong can make the "savings" pale by comparison. Get the full story.
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Jonathan Holiff
Celebrity Product Placement: A Primer With more and more companies wanting to integrate their products into the lives of celebrities, now seems like a good time to take a closer look at celebrity product placement. Here are three common approaches and a description of what steps you can take to encourage results. Get the full story.
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Meryl K. Evans and Hank Stroll
SWOT Team: To Blog or Not to Blog? This week, add your two cents to the discussion: What should companies consider when deciding whether to launch a blog? What benefits do blogs offer? Also this week, read your answers to last week's query: What's the best way to reach decision-makers? Get the full story. |
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