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How Many Of My Advertising And Marketing Dollars Are Wasted? Probably a lot in terms of immediate return, less so over the long run. Advertising impressions are cumulative and the more people hear about you the more familiar you become. The more important questions for most marketers are: “Are our messages consistent and compelling?” and, “Are we focusing on the most important people?” If you have a positive answer to those two questions, dollar productivity is maximized.
Are Marketing And Sales Planning Important For Smaller Companies? Absolutely not! Planning is more important for the smaller company because you can’t afford waste. Proctor & Gamble research shows it takes them 17+ gross impressions to create one buying influence. They may float 5-7 new products a year, hoping for one or two winners. Smaller organizations can’t afford that failure rate and need to be more focused and innovative. What Are Some of the Real Differences Between Marketing, Sales, Public Relations and Advertising? While they are all part of the same process of connecting you with prospective buyers and building mutually profitable relationships, it is good to know several important distinctions. Marketing, the most encompassing of the concepts, is about defining and clarifying those who have a want/need for what you have to offer. Sales is about crafting the transactions so there is a win-win for both parties and includes after the sale support. Public relations is about the ongoing process of reaching out to your markets/publics and developing the ongoing positive relationship. Advertising is reaching out to the markets with a sales message designed to get attention, reinforce image and contain a call to action (compelling). Each has its place in the process. I Read A Lot About Branding, Positioning And Sustainable Identity, What’s The Scoop? You are reading about essentially the same concept. No matter what you call it, and I like sustainable identity, it’s about how you are generally perceived by others (customers, prospects, suppliers, people in the industry) in business. The idea is that your name attached to a product or service MEANS something, quality for example. The more your name is associated with a product or service people want, and they think of your name first when they want to buy, then the more likely they are to buy from you. Sustainable identity is critically important to even the largest companies who spend millions of dollars supporting their unique identity. It is even more important to the smaller firm that wants to parlay every effort into greater sales opportunities. Do Innovation (New Business Development) Programs Really Speed New Products To Market? Yes, if done properly. These programs help you zero in on opportunities and answer the key questions, “can we make it”, “can we sell it” and “who among us wants to make it happen”, rapidly and with some precision. Roll-outs can be accomplished in record times. How Much Do I Have To Spend To Get Good Market Research? As little as $0.00 and as much as you can imagine, it depends on both the quality and uniqueness of the research needed. In some instances, industry or government statistics are available and have more detail than you might ever need and usually at costs in the hundreds and low thousands of dollars. For ongoing, customer research (customer attitudes, customer buying plans, customer attitudes to your people and your competitors) you can do much of it yourself as adjuncts to your monthly business cycle. The results won’t be completely scientific, but you will be maintaining a dialog with your customers that can uncover discontent before it becomes a problem. Custom research, on the other hand, is another matter. A custom study can tell you a lot, but custom surveys and analysis usually cost $25,000 and up. To get the most from your research dollar, know what you want to learn, in terms of results, before you start asking. My Company Got Some Bad Press Recently. Should I Respond? Taking a shot back at the press is usually a doubly bad move. In the first instance, unless the bad press points to an earth shattering event, the sheer volume of other incoming messages will mean that unless the reader/listener/viewer has a particular interest in your information that it will be soon forgotten. A second downside to responding is that it might anger the newsperson, who might then do a follow up piece. There is some good news, as well. While what was said will probably be soon forgotten, a vague recollection that you were in the news might be remembered, which is a plus.
When Do I Take A Pro-Active Stance And Announce Bad News? The sooner the better. When you see a problem that will be picked up by the media anyway, best to get a targeted message out yourself, before someone else writes the story their way. This way, you get to control at least the initial flow of the coverage and its timetable. Also, in interviews with the press, both “no comment” and “decline to answer,” send up red flags. Instead, consider responding ”we haven’t determined our complete response to that just yet, may I get back with you?” I Have A US Patent (or Copyright, or Trademark). How Far Does That Cover Me In International Markets? About 12 miles offshore while still in US Territorial waters. It will also make some people in countries that are our primary trading partners pause before infringing, depending upon the international Intellectual Property rights conventions adopted by their governments. Even registering for, and securing, international patent protection will only protect you so far. In some instances, such as music CD’s pirating is rampant. In approaching any international business, being really careful is key. To be safe, check with your Intellectual Property Attorney to determine what it will cost to seek protection (your first line of defense in protecting your IP) and whether s/he feels there is a cost-justification. I Have A Great Product, I’ve Perfected My Patents/Copyrights/TradeMark, But Don’t Want To Become A Manufacturer. What Can I Do? You have several choices. You could sell the product outright, then it is up to the buyer to commercially develop or continue to develop it. You could broker it, becoming an intermediary, marketing it yourself, while having it made by a contract manufacturer and sold through a separate distribution network. You could license some, or all, of it with the distribution either under your name or that of the licensee (private label). There are many other choices to explore as well. What About Sales Training And A Sales Process, Is There “A Way?” The ways to success in sales, and training for them, are too numerous to count. Certain industries have their leading providers, many individuals and companies craft their own approach. Common to all of them are: focus on the market and what it wants, narrowing on your place in the market and what it will buy from you, focus on consistency and continuity of performance throughout the buying cycle (from want through satisfaction, payment and referral) and documentation and automation to enable smart sales. To explore how Advent can serve your particular Marketing, Sales and IP needs, please contact John Reddish at 1-800-726-7985, or email |
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Frequently Asked Questions 
The Hero's Journey
Most of us have heard of the hero's journey and the late Joseph Campbell who wrote extensively on it and other...
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