Webinars Now! - Best Practice

What's your take on webinars? Do you use this 1 to many medium to increase sales?

Another older article I want to address as I clear things off my desk... Worthwhile? You decide, I only blog to add value...

Some facts from B2B magazine, 10/08:

• Webcast market 2014 - 3.4Billion - reach "more people for less"
• If you can't go face to face...webcasting is an excellent way to reach your audience...
• Webinars "allow you to engage in a conversation at a deeper level with customers."
• And you can track participation extensively!

Best Practices:

• Identify targets and create content just for them.
• Send invitations well in advance.
• Engage & monitor your audience.
• Don't make a sales pitch. "Don't make someone come hear you talk about you, you have to make it about them."

Wow, this last point - is there a clearer way to say it? Maybe I'm being hypocritical as a blogger, but these concepts aren't mine -- I'm just bringing them to my humble reader's attention...

• Last one, which I consider "numero uno" -- Follow Up - Give this some context. But within reason, what else really matters... If you have something to say, why not say it? Don't make someone do all the work on their own. This is known as The Close...

Recommendations to CMOs

Greg Welch, a consummate marketer (who happens to place CMOs), has the following advice... which I mention later rather than sooner as I get back on track with my postings....

Courtesy of Ad Age (1/26/09 - ok I'm digging through old piles):

• Lead from the Front "Reassure your team of the broader mission, progress to date, and plans for the future....Obviously, honest and authentic leadership works best."
• Be a Translator "Explain your agenda & determine how you can deliver tangible business value -- inspire trust & build trust, you need everyone's support. This sounds trite, but assess the value of the CMO role, and leverage it!
• Tap into the wisdom of your firm. Innovation happens from within -- it's just a function of your ability to listen. If you ignore the thoughts of others -- it's YOUR loss.
• Knock on the CEOs Door - Candid assessments from the King are always key - ensure your vision is the same, your career depends upon it.
• Take calculated risks. "Great CMOs take action." Move quickly - pick a pilot to champion, and move from there...

Why Marketing ROI Still Flounders...

A recent study executed by Lenskold Group and Marketsphere highlights an interesting disconnect that occurs as organizations attempt to measure marketing performance. Companies want to measure the effectiveness of their marketing efforts, but they don't budget for it. This is a problem that I've encountered throughout my career, and it's worthy of discussion.

As reported, although 79% of marketers indicate that need for measurement of marketing effectiveness has increased, only about 25% of them had actually budgeted for it. For highlights and the report itself, go here -> http://www.lenskold.com/content/2009mroistudy.html

This problem is pervasive, what are the root causes? Obviously they are complex, but here are some gaps to consider as you attempt to put these measures in place.

Measurement by Tactic
Certain tactics are simply much more difficult to measure than others, so attributing a return to them is tough. Some I've struggled with -- advertising and trade shows. You can cite sales tied in part to the activities, but attribution directly to them is questionable. You end up with "management by anecdote".

Cross-functional Dependencies
You need to tie the work of your sales teams to the marketing activities you execute, but you don't have the authority to mandate their compliance. I basically want to know how many sales calls, RFPs, and new revenue dollars result from a specific effort, but many sales organizations often don't track those things. Or to put it more precisely, sales will often fail to attribute any of those items to something that a marketing activity may have helped them achieve.

Cost of Measurement
Determining the "ROI on ROI measurement"can in itself be elusive. You can make a set of assumptions about lift that can be achieved by allocating dollars to higher-return efforts, but when you determine the data and system support that you will ultimately need for your ROI "inputs", it can be daunting. Leadership has to take the "long view" to reap the incremental annual payoffs -- in contrast to the quarterly reviews their investors require.

I could go on (e.g. team skill set gaps, complexity of sources, etc.), but instead I'll make a recommendation -- start small. Go through the pain and effort of performing the ROI exercise just once, on a meaningfully sized amount of spend, and share that with your CEO. The light bulbs will begin to go off...

Insights from Citigroup's CFO -- Making a Function Strategic...

On a recent Charlie Rose, Citigroup's CEO Vikram Pandit, discussed the future of his bank after the government's recent 40B+ infusion. In describing the future for his bank, and the core approach they use, he indicated the global reach of Citi, and the core functions necessary to execute --- a strong risk management function, a strong treasury function, and strong leadership - in particular the CFO and CEO roles. Ultimately, he justified Citi's decision to keep current management in place by saying that each of those functions and roles are solid within Citi today. In referencing the CFO, Vikram was speaking of Gary Crittenden.

Gary was recently interviewed for Business Finance magazine, and he had some really interesting things to say. Some insights that I'd like to share with you here, from this article:
http://businessfinancemag.com/article/serial-cfo-0903

The insights he shared...

On the value of his strategy consulting background:
"...the primary skill is to understand what the levers are that will influence the financial performance..." for a given company --- those levers change based on the type of company you consult for, but the "...finance is common."

On how you move a function into a more strategic role:

• "...the first step is to make sure that the way people spend their time is dedicated toward higher-value activities."
• "...put all the less-value added information together and put it into a few locations" --- this allows one "to do things in a very common way with common processes, where we can measure and control the quality around each of those processes"

The results of those moves are two-fold:

• "...costs go down because you're doing it with lower cost resources, and as a result you're able to do it with fewer people and you can now get scale effects that you didn't have before".
• "The second thing is that the quality goes up at the same time -- because now you are doing things in a controlled environment, with process control measurements."
• He calls it moving to "more of a fact orientation." (I like that).

On the justification and approach:

• You take the dollars you free up and invest a portion of the savings into developing a more "forward-looking organization"
• You move from current state, to anticipating "what's going to happen in the future"

"This is where the real value is, so how do we do a better job of anticipating how the environment is going to change and making sure that the business is properly positioned for how the environment is going to change."

He also mentions pieces that are relevant in terms of managing talent. By essentially, making it a great place to work, facilitating job rotation, and providing opportunities for career progression. Things all entirely consistent with comments recently made by CMO recruiter extraordinaire Greg Welch in a recent BMA speech: http://bmachicago.org/dec3luncheonreport.lasso

Applicability to Marketing

So if you'll allow me a little latitude here, I would say that regardless of the function --- whether it is finance (in this instance) or marketing --- moving a function from tactical to strategic involves the same steps. Essentially, identifying and simplifying process, moving to achieve cost savings via economies of scale, and then migrating roles to higher order activities. And managing talent is foundational...

Ultimately, these steps secure your talent, and free up your team to examine the existing environment, and perform the anticipation that Crittenden mentions -- the type of critical review of circumstances that lead to better decisions, and competitive advantage.

Amazon's Bezos on Innovation

From the most recent Business Week ranking on innovative companies comes this brief interview with Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon (ranked #11 on BW's list): http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_17/b4081064880218.htm?chan=magazine+channel_special+report

There are some really worthwhile gems in Jeff's comments --- specifically his insistence on customer focus, his belief in commitment to ideas, and his insight into why organization's innovations fall short. These points provided here...

On perceptual risk:

"I believe you have to be willing to be misunderstood if you're going to innovate. That's actually a serious point. If you're going to do something that's never been done before—which is basically what innovation is—people are going to misunderstand it just because it's new."

If your considering a real innovation, have you built in this expectation into your mindset? Is your group committed enough to an idea to weather this period of uncertainty?

On organizations' failure to focus on the customer:

"Companies get skills-focused, instead of customer-needs focused. When [companies] think about extending their business into some new area, the first question is "why should we do that—we don't have any skills in that area." That approach puts a finite lifetime on a company, because the world changes, and what used to be cutting-edge skills have turned into something your customers may not need anymore. A much more stable strategy is to start with "what do my customers need?" Then do an inventory of the gaps in your skills."

How instructive! We all know intuitively that the need to evolve is critical in today's environment, but have organizations internalized that? Up to this point, can we really blame them? What a massive cultural shift and commitment to learning that entails!

This last comment really alludes to the importance of the connection between successful innovation and true strategic alignment within an organization. If a company is not philosophically committed to evolving in fundamental ways, there is a considerable risk that the most relevant ideas may be dismissed because they don't align with current skill sets.

Ultimately, sustainable competitive advantage is derived from a firm's ability to truly identify customer needs, align their innovations with those needs, and ultimately undertake those innovations by developing the skills they need to effectively execute them. A very tall order...

Book Review: The Best Service is No Service

Some quick pointers from a book review I read in WSJ, thought the points were worth citing here, and you can make your own decision on the book itself (see review here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120908736988443809.html).

The book, written by former Amazon cust service exec Bill Price, indicates that since most companies track the wrong customer service metrics (wait time, number of rings before pickup, etc.), their key execs are "in the dark" about how poor their service really is --- "The standard across most service operations is to report and track how quickly things were done, not how well they were done or how often, or why they needed to be done at all."

The book's solutions:

• Change the metrics - some examples - CPX "contacts per order", contacts per unit shipped, contacts per transaction, contacts per customer
• Avoid creating a need for a customer to contact the company in the first place - "Don't just ask how long it took to help the customer, ask how often the customer needed help and why
• Hold weekly operations meetings (over the right metrics) - use meetings to zero in on root causes and solve problems
• Charge the cost of customer support back to the product teams that created the need for it

Having worked closely with a group that manages these functions, I can say that most of these have been done in the past, and may even be standard practice in most organizations. But the opportunities really do lie in "aligning incentives", and finding a way for an "offending group" to bear the cost of the service is an interesting approach.

The other thing that I've seen, and this is reflected in Larry Bossidy's book Execution, is that a lot of the operational meetings can get side tracked relatively easily. When causes are multi-faceted, tasks are assigned, and the rigor around execution and repair ultimately suffers. This is more a function of leadership than the management routine itself however. Just some things to think about...

"Brands listen more than they talk"

Ran across a white paper that Visa's new CMO Antonio Lucio created while he was head of PepsiCo's insights and innovation group, view it here:
http://nevereatalone.typepad.com/blog/files/antoniolucio_thusspaketheconsumer.pdf

In the paper Antonio discusses the role of brand and insights within marketing, and he makes some good points that I'd like to repeat below. For me, the central themes ring true --- the importance of appreciating emotion, insight, and complexity.

Marketers must learn to manage complexity...
...on behalf of their customers, by becoming trusted filtering resources:

Consumers are looking for "...brands and services that can edit and interpret the overwhelming amount of information into a format which can be digested and absolved according to consumers' points of view and/or biases..."

...and within their own organizations, by balancing facts with "emotional motivations":

We need to avoid "analysis-paralysis" and spend more time with the consumer face-to-face. "In this new world, we need to commit to transcend the obvious numbers and words, understand consumers' total brand experience, and dig much deeper into emotional territory."

"Lighthouse Brands" need to be developed - "brands that not only deeply understand consumers' lives but have a true differentiated and non-apologetic point of view on life."

The four key elements to a "lighthouse brand", the result of something he calls "seduction marketing" are:

• "aspirational ego-centrism" - life as consumers would like it to be
• about building emotion vs. reason
• a thorough understanding of the consumer's total brand experience
• intrusive and seductive exhibitionism

The marketing function needs to be brand-centric vs. activity-centric

"...brands have become more complex concepts to understand and to manage....that provide consumers safe grounding and the reassurance of known experiences. The challenge for the Marketer is therefore exponential, as successful mega brands need to be tightly orchestrated to maintain their core essence while building new benefits that will end up reinforcing at the same time as expanding and rejuvenating the Brand."

Consumer insight is the key

"Insight has to firmly guide and audit all decisions on brand and customers.... If we are changing structures and streamlining processes, the one thing that needs to be elevated above all is the voice of the customer."

From Ad Age's CMO Roundtable...

Wanted to present some interesting ideas from a webcast posted today via Ad Age: http://adage.com/print?article_id=125823

Although the use of TV was part of the focus of the CMO discussion, I thought there were a number of useful insights that should be repeated here, primarily on the use of media in today's advertising environment. But first, on the role of TV today, these CMOs believe that:

• TV has always, and will continue, to play an important role in building immediacy and awareness --- and now that there are more media options, the growth rates in "cost per thousand" for TV are starting to slow
• TV is still the only media that can provide truly massive scale and a forum where people can come together and actively experience the same content together (e.g. Super Bowl)
• TV is still the consumption channel of choice for a wide variety of users

But, to segue, as Bob Stohrer (CMO, Virgin Mobile) states "There is a balance between immediacy and awareness that TV still delivers that a communication plan should be architected around." Some other factors that should be considered relative to media spend/strategy:

• CONTENT is still KING - greater specialization in content and media will continue
• People want to interact with your product/brand in different ways --- teens consume media (YouTube, etc.) differently than Baby Boomers (some still read the newspaper)
• Now that there are so many media options it is easier to establish relationships with smaller audiences using more specific methods for fewer $s

From a marketing standpoint, it is a very exciting time. The variety of tools available has never been larger --- the challenge now is to focus on the right ones for your audience. The good news is that, if you pay attention, they will let you know what they want.

Customer Advocacy and Your Business...

Ever since Frederick Reichheld's book The Loyalty Effect was published, marketers have been talking about the role of customer loyalty as a revenue and profit driver. Now that nearly 12 years have past, the critical question remains --- how is loyalty established?

Many sources now consider customer advocacy to be a critical driver of loyalty, and ultimately an organization's financial success. Forrester defines customer advocacy as "the perception on the part of customers that a firm does what's best for them, not just what's best for its own bottom line." Within the financial services space, Forrester notes a strong correlation between customer advocacy and an organizations:

• Simplicity
• Transparency
• Benevolence
• Trustworthiness

Do these qualities ring true as you think about your "advocacy" to various companies? How successful does your organization foster this type of advocacy? Is the relationship that an organization develops with its customers reciprocal?

In the final analysis, I believe the question really does go back to one of value and trust. In situations where I sense that a relationship is "just about the money" it certainly alters my perception of the strength of that relationship. Can we ultimately expect anything else from our customers?

Moving media buys back to the agency...

So I'm not getting my usual reading fixes, and posting yet another piece from WSJ, this one on Publicis and their new joint venture Optimedia Inside.

Interview with Publicis USA CEO, Susan Gianinno:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120287513864964733-email.html

According to Susan, the goal of the JV is to reunite media buying with the creative and planning functions that take place within agencies --- disciplines that separated over time as media purchases became more and more specialized.

The interviewer does a good job of addressing a critical issue --- the disconnect that has developed as agencies developed according to discipline, and then collectively began working independently on aspects of large client accounts as members within a larger holding company. After a while, marketers can begin to feel like they are double paying for services, as they pay for planning within digital, media, and consumer areas all at the same time. As a result, unified branding becomes more difficult as agency specialists focus on different consumer insights. But as Susan states, the problem is more complicated than that, and client organizations are often even more siloed --- something that I can attest to.

In my humble opinion, the reality is that substantive change is difficult for "the establishment", and that can mean the "old guard" marketing (or agency) types that have benefited from older organizational structures, and simply don't have an incentive to evolve. Hence, it's not an "agency" problem or a "marketer" problem, it's a complacency issue that plagues both.

Since a large number of marketing groups are not recognized as strategically important functions within their organizations, status quo thinking is allowed to continue. It's only by taking a long, hard look at connecting with customers, and then unifying those insights in a meaningful way --- on both the agency and client side --- that truly ground-breaking work gets done. Here's to hoping that this effort is a move in the right direction.

Leveraging Social Media for Brands

Came across an interesting article recently in 1to1 Magazine: "Monster Energy Assembles an Online Army" that reveals how one company's social media efforts have evolved (link: http://http//www.1to1media.com/View.aspx?DocID=30644).

Monster Energy originally established a presence at extreme sporting events that was meant to help them collect demographic data on their audience, and that effort led to a companion website.

Organizers quickly realized they needed to provide a reason for visitors to spend time there, and the site's focus moved to:
- helping fans learn about amateur athletes
- helping participating athletes attempt to get sponsored
- allowing participating athletes to distribute information about their performances (e.g. schedule, photos)

Although unclear about the length or budget surrounding this effort, Monster Energy has been able to attract 58,000 users, they have built a demographic database, and they garner visits that run 7 minutes on average.

Do those metrics translate to incremental revenue? Based on the information here, it's uncertain, but this effort certainly provides some insight into how companies are trying to make these efforts pay off, either through increased relevancy, and ultimately, higher sales.

The site also allows Monster to get a pulse of this community, and to evolve with the community as new talent emerges --- blurring the distinction between social media and sponsorship. Just one example of some of the interesting things taking place in Web 2.0...

The Dawn of "Blended Search"

Now marketers have another reason to be concerned about the quality of their search engine marketing (SEM), it's "blended search" --- basically the ability of a search provider (e.g. Google) to provide a searcher with all kinds of media as a result of a key word search; not just text, but video, pictures, etc. A powerful capability for search, but one that poses problems for those of us trying to make sure that the right searches return our products and services to our target audiences. The following articles discusses some of the challenges:
http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070910/FREE/70910029/1109/FREE.

The reaction:

• "Entire marketing strategies will likely shift to adapt to significant changes or improvements in search experiences since search engines are where so much B2B product, solution and service research is being initiated." - global SEO manager, HP
• "Tagging all content appropriately will need to become a requirement vs. an option." - search marketing strategist, Cisco

Essentially, companies now have to move beyond simply making their websites "search friendly". A lot more thinking will need to take place around how users access the product/service data they need, and how that information can be optimized to make it readily available.

The key here is that customers will soon have all the tools they need to access your brand in the way they want to interact with it --- if they would rather watch than read content, you'll need to be able to do that for them. Although it may feel like you're becoming more of a librarian than a marketer at times, take solace in the fact that you will be able to engage with customers in some very compelling ways; it's just going to continue to take more time and effort to get that done. No rest for the weary, but the opportunity to differentiate for those that make the effort will continue.

Are you SEM literate?

If you don't have a solid understanding of work being done in the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) space, you are putting yourself at a disadvantage as a marketer. If you don't believe me, just try to locate your company or your product via search online. Is it easy to find? Are you showing up in the critical "top triangle"?

As the following article discusses, although SEO is still in its infancy, it is also a five year-old discipline, and it is a true "game changer". Can any of us really state that we don't go online to research critical products before purchase?

The article is Tough Questions for CMOs: http://www.dmnews.com/cms/dm-news/search-marketing/42353.html. Some good points that this article makes relative to typical corporate SEO efforts:
- You need to be playing in SEO from a strategic standpoint at some level, regardless of its current ROI to your organization. The skills garnered from experience and the defensive nature of the efforts provide value beyond the pure return.

- You need to make careful Search Engine Marketing (SEM) agency selections. In particular here, not all agencies are the same, and the evolution here takes place quickly. Do good due diligence.

- Search is only a small part of your budget because you don't pay a lot of attention to it. Somewhat "tongue and cheek", but those who are experimenting w/search today, are generally getting a great deal of value out of it, and that is leading to more incremental SEO spend over time. My organization can vouch for this.

- Know your "search share". You need to know how often you end up as part of the critical search results that show up at the top of primary key word searches. This is a "market share" game, and if you aren't acquiring this space, your competitor is. Use cost/benefit, but be aware of the defensive nature of this game too.

There's much more on this. Take a look at the article, but look past it once it's provoked some thought. After recently attending the Online Marketing Summit, I've gained a lot of perspective on this that we are apply in our business. My hope is to post some of the better presentations from that Summit (with permission), but I haven't been able to identify a way to do that via this blog yet. More to come.

Customer Co-Design

This article from the August issue of CFO talks about the role of customer input, and it's likely future: http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/9539646?f=search.

This article helps to emphasize the critical point that the future of innovation and product success really hinge with your customers; and not just customer "insight", but actually getting customers engaged early so that they can react to your product before it launches.

Patricia Seybold is quoted that "at least 50% of a company's innovation should be coming from customer input and designs"... More importantly and historically, P&G's CEO (Alan Lafley) almost two years ago publicly communicated an innovation goal that stated over 50% of new products need to originate from outside the walls of P&G. (Their phenomenally successful automatic toothbrushes are one example of an outside idea they bought and scaled.)

The successes that result from strong customer collaboration are not lip service. The article cites some additional examples that I'll just list here, but there are numerous other examples in the business community today.

Examples:
- Volvo N. America C30 launch - Volvo offers a build-your-own tool on its website prior to launching the C30. It receives over 10,000 hits. Results help them determine the production demand for the product and they also change the features offered as a result.

- Threadless.com - You may have heard of this one. Some Chicago guys get together and launch a website of custom imaged t-shirts where visitors rate designs, and then they are produced based on those ratings. High revenues result - check it out at http://www.threadless.com/.

- Kraft - Achieves 100MM+ in sales as a result of the 100-calorie pack rollouts for various products. Packaging developed in response to concerns from their customers about their difficulties around portion control.

This is just the beginning folks. If you are involved in marketing, and specifically responsible for product management or development, customer interaction is even more critical than it has been in the past. Involve them in proof of concept and pre-launch. If you don't, your doing yourself --- and more importantly them --- a dis-service.

IHOP - A Finance and Marketing Story

Here's a great story that really helps illustrate the role that both finance and marketing play on corporate strategy --- and more importantly --- on profitability. First, some details on the deal (if you are new to it see my previous post: http://marketlevers.blogspot.com/index.html#5254144304795988766. The comments in this post stem from a recent discussion of IHOP's strategy and recent "leveraged repeat" outlined in this article from CFO magazine: http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/9716592?f=alerts.

The Financial Rationale
IHOP was driven to examine its business in depth when its largest shareholder (Southeast Asset Management) filed a Form 13D with the SEC. This action prompted IHOP to perform its own internal review. Management realized that their balance sheet intensive model needed to be refined. The decision was made to perform a leveraged recap to restructure the business.

Reasons:
- Significant reduction in on-going Capital Expense / Cost of capital
- Move from asset-intensive business to intellectual property base
- Significant cash flow upside in move to more direct franchise royalty model
- Return more cash to shareholders
- Allows IHOP to focus on their core operations - pleasing their customers through menu, store and service innovation

Result 1: Core strategy changes
As a result of the review, the core strategy changed focus dramatically as a result of the financial re-engineering of the company. As the last reason indicates above, IHOP moved from a chain operator to an IP "growth engine"; a place where the focus is on executing core competencies, and moving away from operations (like real estate management) that take them away from the improvement of their own business. Marketing and service become clear areas of corporate focus and expertise.

Result 2: IHOP delivers better financial results
As a result of their recap experience, IHOP has been able to:
- Purchase a company 40% larger than themselves (Applebee's) so that they could extract the value from their aged model
- Increase their same store sales by over 2.5% (a significant rise for old, existing locations) as a result of innovations that have been implemented with renewed focus
- Increase in profit by 37% - as Cap Ex and other Liabilities decline...
- Increase in cash flow and stock price

Lesson: This case is a very good example of what this blog is meant to be all about - illustrating the synergies that can be created when solid, innovative financial practice is coupled with a true appreciation of sound marketing. As IHOP continues to integrate Applebee's (and moves its focus from non-core ops to true differentiation in menu, service, and marketing) it will be worthwhile to watch how their stock (IHP), and their customers, benefit.

Words from Kimberly Clark CMO

More wisdom from marketing leaders, via the Advertising Report. Anthony Palmer, Kimberly Clark's recently appointed CMO (a new role for this CPG company), is charged with aligning the organization's brands, integrating the Internet as a channel, and addressing the threat of private label goods. He shared some insights here (some of which I reference below): http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118713327561397831.html.

The role of the CMO is to "...inspire the organization to take calculated risks" and "...have a view about what your brand stands for".

On branding:

• "...a brand is a promise and the product is a delivery of that promise"
• "I believe brands are more salient today to consumers than they ever have been -- they
  are a simplifying mechanism in a world where there are many more options."
• "focus all of your spending on the pinhead of the brand idea and break down
  the barriers to participating in the brand."

I found his articulation of "the brand" very insightful. As a senior marketer you must have a consistent view of your brand, be able to articulate it, and then convey how your product/service is essentially a manifestation of that brand. If you can do this convincingly you can simplify the decision-making process for your customer.

WSJ Review - The Marketing Mavens

Although I haven't yet read this book (picking it up today), this is the second positive review that I've read: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118592406657783899.html.

Important Insights from the article and book:

1) "You must put the customer at the center of your business." - I've talked about this one before, it sounds so simple but is so rarely done. Customer advisory groups and trend-spotting efforts are a start.

2) Four of his "five imperatives" mentioned in the article:

• "Pick markets that matter." - Not unlike locating a good franchise or other business opportunity, the focus should be on where there is truly adequate market demand and growth that will justify investment in the effort.
• "Dissecting markets" or as Mr. Lawton appropriately puts it in the article "Pick the market segments where [your company] can deliver the best product." I would simply insert "value proposition" here. Keep in mind, we can't all work for Apple, and that even when the product may not be optimal, there are opportunities to excel if the product can provide value to its targeted segment in other compelling ways.
• "Secure a differential advantage over competitors" This is a core "competitive strategy" message - find/develop a differentiator that makes your product more compelling. This ultimately would be incorporated into the value proposition above.
• "Measure what matters" This tends to be a fundamental, fatal flaw in most marketing organizations. Tying marketing efforts directly to impact on revenue and profit is truly not as difficult as it seems at times, but it take forethought and executive commitment, and at times those two qualities are absent.

After reading the book, I'll see if there's additional content worth noting for you here.

Case Study: LifeLock

After seeing a full page ad in the WSJ today, I was intrigued by the approach that this identity theft company is using to promote it's service: http://www.lifelock.com/.

In the ad and on the homepage, the CEO provides his Social Security number, and talks about the services that his company provides. The message is simple and compelling --- and I suspect it will be very successful.

The funny thing is, the company actually provides very little that a consumer can't do in about an hour (every three months) to protect their credit; and although the company doesn't directly acknowledge this, they do liken their service to an oil change, and effectively try to convince their audiences that their time is better spent elsewhere --- and for many it probably is.

One final word. Some may have a tendency to discount advertising like this - it's very "direct mail copylike" and the service is simple. Be careful not to do that. I would liken this to the early days of AOL, a company that I mistakenly dismissed early thinking "Who doesn't know they can just use a free browser to access the Internet?" By moving early, building awareness, and adding a little simplicity to the process, AOL grew very quickly early on. The first mover advantage sustained them well beyond what many believed was possible.

More on consumer insight

From this month's issue of "Marketing Magnified" from the CMO Council, a discussion with Gary Cohen, CMO of Playtex: http://www.cmocouncil.org/resources/marketingmagnified/2007/july.asp#gettoknow.

Gary highlights some interesting things that Playtex does to truly understand what their customers want. Among them:
- Councils - regular discussions with heavy users to get "needs and wants insights"
- Internal Brainstorming - identifying "hidden truths" directly from consumers and then distilling them into competitive differentiators
- "Consumer immersion"

He indicates that the "test is how pure the insights are and [whether or not they] can provide competitive advantage."

One obvious key to gathering insights is spending considerable amounts of time with your company's customers. Although obvious, one critical question: How much time is your organization spending directly engaged with your customers? If a meaningful dialogue is not consistently taking place, your company is at a disadvantage.

Who's Who in B2B Marketing

Just published list of "who's who" via B2B Magazine, w/brief profiles: http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=whoswho