Among our clients and colleagues, we’ve seen more activity and interest in, and asked a lot of questions about, what they might do better or differently in marketing this year. Many are downright giddy that 2010 has come to a close and are looking forward to marketing their companies with renewed vigor. Insight180 has compiled a list of tips to get you started on the right foot. The first is especially appropriate for the new year. . .
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, the holidays are here! When it comes to holiday newsletters, now is the time to spread the cheer. Don’t have much time on your hands? Let us make it simple with a few quick tips:
I recently had a client meeting where the basic idea of branding came up as a discussion point. The meeting was with a company owner who was having trouble with business growth and looking for a way to help his sales staff deliver better on every-day meetings and client visits. His concern was a common one: his sales had always come in as a result of a relationship built by a sales people one-on-one with the customer. And the salesperson only had so many hours in the day to feed those relationships.
Just a quick post here about an economic development forecast I attended yesterday for members of the business community in Howard County, MD. Attendees were enlightened and entertained by economist Anirban Basu of Sage Policy. Mr. Basu, smart and sought after economist — also completely entertaining, had even the most serious folks chuckling with sections of his economic forecast titled after popular reality TV shows (American Idle [sic], The Biggest Loser, Survivor and HC’s Next Top Model, etc.). Though all the news wasn’t great, hence the quote in this article title above, there were some positive signs about the future of business, particularly in the Baltimore-Washington region. Overall, the panel that represented real estate, retail, small business and hospitality was cautiously optimistic, and a survey of local businesses was as well. Even Mr. Basu, who last year predicted a much longer recession, provided glimmers of hope.
I recently came across an amusing illustration of branding gone wrong. It’s a parody on how Microsoft might have created the ipod package. If you can look past the clear mac bias (they are pretty good at branding after all), it’s a great example of what NOT to do in both design and brand thinking.
At a panel discussion for enterprising women that I attended last week, I heard a particular sentiment that resonated with me. The point that was being addressed was that changes in the economy, in technology and in the way we work have contributed to a paradigm shift — it’s no longer enough to simply “think outside the box,” because the “box” is no longer there.
