CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES: PRACTICAL TIPS FOR PRIORITIZING YOUR DIGITAL MARKETING EFFORTS.

Marketing hasn’t changed much since the term first appeared in dictionaries in the late 19th century. It’s still about getting stuff from the people that make it to the people willing to buy it. But what has changed—many, many times—are the tactics employed by those of us in the ever-evolving marketing profession. In the last […]

So you think it’s time for a rebrand? Not so fast.

It’s a conversation that comes up on a regular basis. A client says, “we need to rebrand our company.” To which I reply, “are you sure?” You’d think that as a creative agency, I would simply dive in and push for budget approval. But a rebrand is often ill-advised. I’ll outline the pros and cons, […]

Let’s Make the Dealer the Hero of Your Brand

Your dealers should be catalysts that propel your brand forward. Marketing and brand directors will likely nod along and say, “Absolutely, they should be. But they aren’t.” I’ve witnessed frustration on both sides of the fence between dealers and the manufacturers they represent. Like any relationship it requires effort from both parties. But dealers are required to serve many masters, so for better or worse the lion’s share of the effort in this relationship belongs to the manufacturer. Of course, the manufacturers also reap most of the rewards.

Having the ROI conversation before it’s too late.

As a marketing firm, we’re often asked to demonstrate ROI. And we should be. Our clients need to know that their marketing dollars are having a positive impact. But showing a clear return on investment is a team effort—a nimble dance between agency and client. Unfortunately, the ROI conversation often occurs way too late in […]

How to do training that actually works (and creates revenue).

Over and over, dealers in the kitchen & bath industry express the need for quality training materials. Similar to a sales-and-marketing mindset, training materials must be engaging. And no matter what format they were commenting about, dealers agree that boring, confusing, or incomplete material is not helpful and therefore altogether unnecessary. Moreover, outdated materials created […]

Five things to know before creating your new training program.

Training helps professionals become better communicators, more effective managers, or more profitable salespeople. Training is the connection between your people, your products, and your customers that ensures a return on time and financial investment. Training is marketing. It is an extension of your brand. And it is critical to your success.

Training means revenue for brands.

Training helps professionals become better communicators, more effective managers, or more profitable salespeople. Training ensures a return on time and financial investment as it links your people, your products, and your customers together.

Product launches? Actually, they really are a lot like rocket science.

There’s a saying that most products launch like a rocket and drop like a rock. The comparison of product launches to rocket science, well, it’s kind of a no brainer. You’ve got the hours upon hours of research and hard work. The passion and anticipation, with equal doses of hand wringing and worrying. All the […]

Is your tradeshow marketing delivering ROI?

Let’s face it, tradeshows are expensive. In many cases, the total cost of participation can rival an entire year’s advertising spend online or in an industry trade publication. And just like branding campaigns, tradeshows are a long-term investment, where sales cycles can draw out for weeks, months, even years. So how do you know if your tradeshow participation was worth it? There’s a simple answer: Measure, measure, measure. Before you tune out, read on just a bit more. You don’t have to be a mathematical modeling wizard to assess ROI, and we can help.

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.