Virtual reality will change everything. Eventually.
It was several years ago when I first experienced a virtual and augmented reality test. My head was spinning, and it wasn’t just because of the motion sickness. Like everyone, I imagined endless ways this could be used in a bunch of industries. Sure, entertainment and gaming are no-brainers. But what I viewed—and still view—as […]
An Open Letter to Marketing Managers
We work with a lot of marketing directors and VPs. They are great, driving the big picture brand initiatives. But by far, most of our time is spent in the marketing trenches with the unsung heroes of our profession. Marketing managers deserve a shout-out. So this letter is that. Dear Marketing Managers, Thank you. You’re […]
Big Data? Try Listening Instead.
Big Data is a fascinating concept. Some of its applications are mind blowing. And the cost of employing it to solve problems and answer questions is shrinking. But face it, for all but the most flush small businesses, it’s still out of reach. Big Data requires connecting the dots between the company, its vendors, distributors, and retailers to capture data across the supply chain and at every transactional point. Using that data demands the resources to store it, and the computing power to perform data analysis to support the questions companies want to answer. Which means a lot of time and energy must go into deciding what questions to ask. That’s time, money and attention that many businesses can’t spare.
Brand (over)management: Managing brands with too many managers.
Allow me to wistfully remember a time when a brand’s content was created by just a few people. Renegade factions of product managers didn’t or couldn’t insist on using Comic Sans on sales sheets. Brand managers would have laughed at the idea of anyone having the ability to instantly share their point of view, unedited, […]
In B2B, Brands Still Matter
I was conducting some client research for a commercial product, and the salesperson I interviewed said something that made me cringe. “Brands don’t matter anymore in B2B sales.” Though I did recoil at the notion, I have to admit that he made some really valid points. Google makes it easy to search for the lowest price. Reduce purchase decisions to that and brands start to look shaky.
Three stages of trade show marketing to maximize your ROI
Three Stages of Trade Show Marketing to Maximize Your ROI Fall trade show season seemed to be a good time to revisit our philosophy regarding trade show marketing and participation. Trade shows matter. You don’t always get that message from exhibitors or attendees, but they do matter. You sometimes have to look hard to […]
Five Steps to Better Sales Support
Five Steps to Better Sales Support: Brand Marketing Shouldn’t Get in the Way of Sales Although we write and talk a lot about the idea that long term marketing objectives are important and often overlooked, we have to point out an exception to this philosophy: Sales support materials should be about what’s happening here and […]
Marketing ROI: Look Beyond Current Sales
Marketing ROI: Look Beyond Current Sales We asked marketers who sell through dealer channels about their concerns. Measuring marketing ROI, or return on investment, was number one by a wide margin. We feel your pain. Sales are the only metric that ultimately matters. But in a long sales cycle, how do you know you’re pointed […]
Your Dealer is the One Person Who Can Undo All Your Marketing
Your Dealer is the One Person Who Can Undo All Your Marketing If you aren’t giving your dealers the support they need to sell your brand, then all the brand marketing in the world won’t save you. With very few exceptions, getting a consumer to specify your brand in the custom kitchen and bath category […]
The Senseless Death of a Sales Lead
The Senseless Death of a Sales Lead Sales leads are perishable commodities. From our national survey of kitchen and bath dealers, we also know that the number one concern on dealers’ minds is lead generation. Nobody is disputing on either the brand or dealer side. So why is this such a difficult issue to resolve? […]
Three Proven Tactics to Increase Dealer Sales
Three Proven Tactics to Increase Dealer Sales We’ve worked in several vertical markets, and all of them share common attributes of the dealer/brand dynamic that challenge conventional wisdom. We view the dealer as that critical last mile between a brand and the end customer or consumer. We believe the dealer should be the hero of your […]
