Simplicity: A Powerful Brand Strategy: The basic concept of some products predicts failure. Not because they don’t work, but because they don’t make sense. Consider Mennen’s vitamin E deodorant. That’s right, you sprayed a vitamin under your arm. It doesn’t make sense unless you want the healthiest, best-fed armpits in the nation. It quickly failed...

Marketers must stay ‘‘on differentiation.’’ While the mind may still be a mystery, we know one thing about it that is for certain—it’s under attack. Most Western societies have become totally ‘‘overcommunicated.’’ The explosion of media forms, and the ensuing increase in the volume of communications, has dramatically affected the way people either take in or ignore the information offered to them...

The Power of the Specialist Brand: When you study the marketing wars, the well-differentiated specialist tends to be the winner. Here are some thoughts on why the specialist brand appears to make an impression on the mind. First, the specialist can focus on one product, one benefit, and one message. This focus enables the marketer to put a sharp point on the message that quickly drives it into the mind...

The Mind and Purchase Decisions: More often than not, people buy what they think they should have. They’re sort of like sheep, following the flock. Do most people really need a four-wheel-drive vehicle? (No.) If they did, why didn’t they become popular years ago? (Not fashionable.)...

What is the difference between an advertising agency and a brand consultancy? We define the two like this: Advertising Agencies traditionally focus on the execution of creative strategies. That is, they will determine the best marketing vehicle to reach your target audience and will use compelling creative to make a connection and entice a reaction. The best ones are strategic in nature and see tactics as a second step...

How Do You Judge Marketing Firms? Different companies have different types of branding expertise. For instance, we (a brand consultancy) primarily focus on market research informed brand positioning, strategy development and brand equity measurement. We want to help organizations differentiate themselves in meaningful ways. That requires a deep understanding of marketing research, consumer behavior and marketing strategy as it relates to business strategy...

Selecting an Ad Agency: Begin by thoughtfully defining what is most important to you in an agency, and clarify where you need the most help.  This will be an important touchstone throughout the remainder of the process...

B2B Marketing Budget Distribution: How are business to business organizations distributing their marketing budgets?

• Trade magazines 23%
• Trade Shows 18%
• Direct Mail 10%

The Power of Brand Consistency: “We thought we’d update the logo a little.” “It’s not a new tagline. It’s just a catchy phrase that we are using instead of the tagline.” “We thought the icon would make a great decorative element.” “We are thinking about creating a new name for the organization.” “We developed a new product so we created a new brand for it.” “We created a different tagline for each audience. Pretty clever, huh?”...

Beware of Marketing Gurus: Marketing is possibly the most widely misunderstood business topic in the managerial world today. The problem of marketing ignorance stems not from the difficulty of the topic. After all, marketing at its core is just about as simple as it gets. The problem is that to understand what a concept like marketing means is one thing, to actually apply the marketing principle to your day to day business life is an altogether more difficult challenge...