I opened up the bright blue Val-Pack envelope this morning like I sometimes do, more out of a marketer’s curiosity than anything else. I don’t use coupons; it’s too much of a hassle for me to save a few bucks. But I do leaf through the coupons just to see who’s advertising, what they’re advertising, [...]
One thing I realized during my 9-5 career is that the things you don’t say can oftentimes be way more powerful than the things you do say. I remember telling my boss, the VP of Sales, a story about a how another VP of Sales in a past job took a huge account that I [...]
As the year moves forward, many businesses and entrepreneurs continue to tweak marketing plans and budgets for the months ahead. When it comes to setting up your public relations/media exposure plan, WHEN you launch your campaign can be just as important as what and how you launch. In the last 16 years of generating media [...]
If I were to ask 100 people to define “Marketing” I’d probably get 100 different answers. The problem is “Marketing” has become a nice little euphemism for dirty words like “advertising”, “sales”, and “direct mail”. I want you to be aware. We all know we need Marketing, but be smart; learn what that really means and don’t just trust any salesperson who calls themselves a marketer and walks into your shop selling the marketing idea of the week. Marketing is a process – it’s not a one-time deal.
Article by Carolyn Higgins Pick up a newspaper, magazine or advertising circular and look at the ads. What do you see? A whole bunch of the same thing: a list of services; a company name; a tagline; a pretty graphic; and maybe an offer. Most businesses think of advertising in one of two ways: 1) [...]
Ready for a pop quiz? Answer the following questions with a True or False and then check your answer below. Your ad needs to be large to generate a good response. Use a lot of “white” space because people will not read crammed copy. Ads with black text on a light background get a better [...]
There’s no question that marketing is changing. Advertising is dying and getting reborn all over the place, and word-of-mouth is leveraged by technology tools. The problem is how, how much, how fast and how does it affect your business? It’s a new world, with a changed landscape. For idea leadership in this realm, look to [...]
We need to start using some new improved superlatives in our marketing copy. “Great!” you say. Yes, that’s the one. Great really grates on me. Great is so overused that it may as well be blank space. Great carries all the impact of a cotton puff. Now, there was a time when great really meant [...]
It’s always surprising to us to see so much advertising, especially in print, which does not work. It simply doesn’t contain the ingredients needed to successfully communicate with customers. If you make a cake, you don’t leave out any ingredients — right? Then why leave out an important part of your advertising message? With a [...]
Right now in Canada, almost 85% of the population uses the Internet and it’s safe to say this number will continue to expand. So why wouldn’t you use your web site to support the advertising you do in all other media? You do have a web site, right? Here’s the scoop: If you read our [...]